last aussie blog

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I leave Australia for New Zealand on Saturday, so I thought I’d better update my blog. The highlight of my time in Australia has been my tussle with a pine log on my fourth working day, that left me with a broken arm. It’s ironic that in all my battles with the killer trees of Africa, I have suffered no serious injury (just lost gallons of blood), but a soft Aussie tree gets the better of me. It has also meant that I have been unable to use the long lens on my camera to get wildlife shots.
The best of the wildlife that I have been seeing is the birds. The various parrots and cockatoos are amazing and common. I have seen clouds of sulpher crested cockatoos taking off from the meadows as our vehicle disturbs them. I’ve also been interested to discover that the bird you always hear in Neighbours is actually the Australian magpie. They are quite friendly birds except in the nesting season and I’ve actually had one waddle up to me and try to strike up a conversation in that wonderful rich fluty song. In the nesting season, the kids wear ice cream tubs in their heads with false eyes painted on the back, because they apparently aim for the eyes when they swoop on intruders near their nests.
The kangaroos and wallabies are not that obvious and the views I have been getting are fleeting glimpses from the ”troopie” that carries us to our jobs.
I have planted plenty of trees, which is one of the reasons I decided to do this trip and we’ve also cut down or uprooted pine trees that have been left behind after the loggers have moved off. This is very fulfilling, because you can see how the landscape has been transformed by our efforts. One of the places is called Gosling Creek reserve which has gone from a pine plantation to a pleasant wildlife reserve into an area where people can walk and appreciate the returning wildlife as the reforestation brings the area back to life. We stayed in the area for five days, but on the fourth day It was raining quite heavily, so we went for a walk around Mount Canobolas, which is higher than Ben Nevis, although it doesn’t look all that high, because it is covered in trees, which are adapted to thrive in the heavy rainfall and altitude. Although it was raining, it wasn’t too bad under the trees and the rugged nature of the path we were walking kept us reasonably warm. As we got back to the car park and climbed into the “troopie” the heavens opened and hailstones pounded the vehicle.
On Wednesday the 29th I had an appointment at the fracture clinic and couldn’t go to work in the Blue Mountains, so I took advantage of the situation to go to Sydney for three days and do the tourist thing. I had a wonderful time in this amazing city, with it’s Art galleries and museums. I wish I’d had the money to take in a production at the opera house. It’s more amazing in real life than pictures can show, although that doesn’t stop the thousands of tourists from all over the world, including me, from photographing it and the bridge. Sydney is a busy, modern city away from the harbour, not unlike Manchester, with it’s mix of concrete and glass skyscrapers and Victorian public buildings, but as you approach the harbour, it opens up wonderfully. There are three parks close to each other; Hyde Park, The Royal Botanical Gardens and the Domain which are full of people enjoying them; tourists taking in the sights and the locals lying on the grass to eat their lunch or jogging round the paths. If I ever win the lottery, this is where I’m going to live.
I stayed at Sydney Central YHA during my short visit an unknown to me, my daughter Anna was staying under the same roof, although our paths never crossed. She was on her way back to England from Perth after making a quick decision to go home.
Back to Bathurst on the Friday night. It seems like a different world as you step out into the chill air after the four hour journey by rail and bus. This small, quiet city is about the same size as Glossop, but without the hustle and bustle. It does have two cathedrals, which is quite something. This was the first outback town across the Blue mountains as Australia began to spread out from Botany Bay and has many historical points of interest, although it still seems to be waiting for the twenty first century to happen. We are about 2000 feet above sea level which is the reason that temperatures plummet when the winter sun goes down, although Glossopdale beats it easily for low temperatures.
On the Saturday morning we went out on what is called Nature Day, when Conservation Volunteers Australia, (CVA) take us for a trip out. We went to a place called Wentworth Falls village, to walk on the Darwin Trail. In the diary of the Beagle, which I have been carrying with me, Darwin writes ”down this path is a view exceedingly well worth visiting.” I agree with Darwin on this, which should please his descendants. You walk for a mile and a half alongside a small stream and then all of a sudden you come to a vast Amphitheatre with the waterfall to your left, and a drop of over a thousand feet in front of you to the forest below. Darwin actually carried on his journey to Bathurst, but wasn’t very impressed.
After the Darwin walks we travelled to Katoomba to see the Three Sisters and the cliffs beyond. This was the area where the young English lad supposedly got lost for two weeks. It’s quite difficult to imagine how someone with even half a brain could manage this, as it isn’t a vast area, even though it is heavily wooded with high cliffs around the central basin or valley. The lights of Katoomba should have been easily visible from where he claimed to be.
This week we have been in the blue mountains getting rid of pines and putting in stumps to stop the 4wd enthusiasts from ripping up the countryside. Had a good view of some kangaroos and struggled with my big lens to get what looked like wonderful shots. After they had gone, I realized that I had not replaced the memory card in my camera after downloading some snaps from last night. Grrr!
All in all my stay in Australia has been worthwhile, if not tremendously exciting as every week day has been taken up with working, rather than walking through country side full of lion and elephants. The native marsupials in the Bathurst region are quite scarce, and it is the wrong season for seeing reptiles. One day I’ll return to the island continent and see more of wild Australia and maybe even get a good snap of a kangaroo. Darwin wrote "Farewell Australia,...... I leave your shores without sorrow or regret." I am far from agreeing with him on that point.

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