This is really just competing the set of burble about the trip. It will be much shorter than the previous post.
Sunrise was not available due to cloud on the morning of the 4th but we were out there on our morning walk around Commonwealth Park. The entrance to the Park was closed off, explaining why some horny sons of toil had laid the modern equivalent of duckboards (they're a bit fatter - perhaps gooseboards) across the lawns. I have no idea - and as usual the ACT Government doesn't explain- why it was closed off.
Getting down towards the Barbara Hepworth sculpture a shrub had nice white flowers and dark leaves made shiny by the rain.
Up above the shrub is the roost of the fruit bats. There seemed to be a lot less than there has been so I contacted a friend who is part of the monitoring team for this camp. She has advised "
..we almost reached 10k this year 9159 last count 826...". After circling the Nerang Pool we saw the gooseboards in use.
After visiting the library, a spell of worship at the Shrine of Costco and a nana-nap we went to the Canberra Croquet Club for a hit with Rob. Apart from being good fun the objective of this was to try out various types and sizes of mallet prior to parting with some hard-earned for one each. We sorted out the key parameter (shaft length) and will look at various websites to determine the best maker.
We then had a very pleasant evening with Rob and Carol testing some Rutherglen Zinfandel - Rob got it it by accident as part of a subscription dozen - and sundry Indian dishes acquired at the Shrine. All very tasty (in the case of the Zin, noting earlier comments on this variety, surprisingly so).
Next morning off for a walk (even less bats) and then packing. It was dry as we left but we soon got into light rain. Not a problem. As we left Bredbo there was a shout of "Emu" from the passenger seat. I have already used this species for Bird a Day but the location for the species was sufficiently uncommon - Bredbo is the red polygon in this snip of Emu range from eBird -
for me to hang a U-turn and return for a photo.
Buggah! I would have to say if I had seen from 100 m away I would also have been fooled. Nice artwork!
The rain stopped shortly thereafter, as we passed Numeralla. In our guesses of the temperature for Nimmitabel, Frances went for 10C and I went low at 8C. As usual Frances was on the money. Close to Bombala was the very odd sight of a prime mover bogged to the gunwhales in a small dam. All I culd think was that an inexperienced person had tried driving it across a hilly paddock and the truck had got away from them. We'll never know! By the time we got to the town it was raining again.
Once the wipers had done their magic (removing the rain - the bird poop evident in a similar photo on the way up was long gone) the pretty colours were more visible.
There was a lot of standing water in the paddocks as we passed site of the BoM Bombala AWS station. They have recorded ~50mm so far in May. This is will flow to the Snowy but it looked as wet as we started the drop towards Imlay Rd so there will also be a charge heading towards the Towamba (LHS) and Genoa (RHS) Rivers.
Back home - where I have only recorded 17 mm - and unpack. Then down to Betka to look for the Arctic Tern which was not there. The sea was rough.
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