Bradleys Head to Balmoral

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Hey Everyone!

We're back and we have been busy since our last entry. Heidi is really enjoying her job and she feels challenged and is continually learning new things. She really likes her co-workers as well which makes the whole experience that much easier. Matt has been getting to do a fair amount of travelling around NSW for his new job and has seen some pretty unique and pristine ecosystems. He has been electrofishing in Wollongong, gill netting fish in the Narrabeen estuary, and looking for weedy sea dragons off Port Botany to name a few of the projects.

We have been doing quite a bit of sight seeing around Sydney over the weekends that we have been here and about 3 weeks ago we went on a great hike right in the middle of Sydney. We came across some great views and found some pretty interesting wildlife, some of which we have attempted to share with you in these photos. We are continually amazed at the amount of land that has been set aside as national parks even right on the water in the middle of the city, which creates a nice environment for a host of different birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians, and marine creatures.

We started this particular hike at Bradley's Head, which is right next to the Taronga Zoo. The hike weaves in and out of bush land providing lots of different vistas and habitat to flip over logs and look for critters as it meanders along the coast line. We were by no means rushing as we stopped to take photos and smell the flowers and the hike took about 4 hours in total.

We ended up at Balmoral Beach right at sunset and decided to treat ourselves with some cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine on the beach. We settled in and the rain that had held off all day finally broke just as we uncorked our bottle. At that point we were invested and sat in the rain till the moon came out and all the cheese was gone. It was a great day and we look forward to doing more of the trail that continues on beyond Balmoral on up to Manly. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Matt and Heidi

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Photos

Gecko
Found this guy hiding behind the bark of a dead tree and his camoulflage is so good he didn't even try and run off when we found him. He was happy to pose in a number of different positions for us before we stuck him back in his hiding spot in his tree.

Fungus Beetle
This beetle was eating away happily on this bright orange fungus.

Huntsman Spider
Apparently these guys have a pretty painful bite, but certainly aren't dangerous. This guy is about 3 inches wide in the picture.

Comments

[Jeff and Christie Wooton]

Heidi can you please send us a picture of Matt next time he passes out in the bushes next to the unknown cool flower with Geckos, Huntsman Spiders, and fungus beetles on him? I hope all is well guys and hopefully we'll get out there with the Kents in the near future. - The Wootons