Nature Detours & Derailments

A lovely Sunday afternoon after a busy weekend and a previous week of various family members in different stages of the flu and Best Beloved (BB) & I with our youngest (Moozle) in tow decide to go on a nature ramble.

So off we go down our street but before we reach the end of the road we get talking to a neighbour's son who is moving back home and has a truck on the side of the road with a range of worldly goods belonging to himself and 2 other family members who are also moving in. 

There being no one else in sight to help, BB offers the services of himself and three of our sons who are enjoying a leisurely afternoon are at home after an early morning start helping out with the setting up at church. So off goes Moozle to call her brothers to come and assist and when they arrive she & I continue walking and leave the men to their labours……………

The local bush regeneration folk have very helpfully put up signs on various trees and ferns around the place. I often get the names of  ferns mixed up so I wanted to take some photos with the bright idea that we should go around our place and put signs up on all of our flora.

      False Bracken Fern

Also known as the smooth-barked Apple Gum and Rusty Gum, these trees shed their reddish bark profusely in summer. They are also the trees most likely to drop branches around here. Their life span is about 150 years.

Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) - lovely tall, straight tree with very distinctive rough bark. The crushed leaves smell like turps. I've read that timber from this tree is one of the most fire resistant timbers that can be found anywhere.

Flooded Gum - also known as Rose Gum. Huge and quick growing.

We wander back and meet BB and we decide to go up to the lookout not far from us.

This is our favourite spot to come and get some perspective, to pray and get some time out as a couple.

Cavities under rocks and lots of places to explore, quite steep in places

BB is thinking like a 20 something  and jumps across some rocks suddenly twisting his ankle…..very painfully. I get him to stagger back to safety and leave Moozle to keep an eye on him while I go back home to get a car & a young lad to help……..

So here we are at home with BB lying on the lounge with a very fat left ankle.

Some great images to help identify Australian trees and their fruit/flowers.

http://www.allcreativedesigns.com.au/pages/galltrees4.html