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Published: October 7th 2022
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FIGHT CLUB...Kangaroos Fighting...never thought I'd see it...but now I have...oh my!!!
In 2009 Denise and I returned from Patagonia...driving south in a 4WD from Bariloche in Argentina down gravel dirt Ruta 40 in and out of Chile...through volcanic plug wildernesses... needle peak mountains... iceberg laden glaciers...fresh and soda alpine lakes...rushing rivers...the Most Beautiful Place in the World 'Torres del Paine'...meandering through Tolkien forests one day...
"Peligro Peligro" (Danger Danger) roads and lush green or brown dry estancias that stretch forever the next.
Patagonia is National Park Heaven...pristine and inviting...sensational.
Always nice to return home to our own Heaven...northern Sydney bordering Berowra Valley National Park...views from our deck we have enjoyed for over 30 years...miles & miles of bush with Sydney's deepest gorge...our Garden of Eden...our Aussie backyard.
But on our return from Patagonia we walked out the back to enter the bush...and recoiled in horror!
There was a 4 foot high, metres thick impenetrable wall of miniature pitchfork burrs blocking our way...
'Biden' is the scientific name...
'Farmer's Friend' to sarcastic others...a nightmare to remove from clothes.
So we decided we had to form our own Bushcare group to recover our
bushland backyard to remedy the horror we had returned home to.
Denise walked up the hill knocking on doors bordering the bush...and as is her way 5 of our nearest neighbours answered her call...
Alan Avenue Bushcare Group formed...under the mantle of Hornsby Shire Bushcare that provides a Trainer to each group...heaps of groups of volunteers weeding the bushland of their own backyards or others 'cos they enjoy digging about outdoors...(some actually enjoy weeding!!!)...ensuring the edges of the natural resource of The Bushland Shire of rivers, escarpments and eucalypt forests receive monthly makeovers.
We got rid of the Biden burr wall and ensure it does not return...our bushland backyard constantly changing but more pristine than ever.
But the greatest benefit was we got to know our neighbours...5 to 6 couples enjoying
'Hornsby Bushcare's Best Morning Tea' after two hours Bushcare monthly (we received an Award titled that one year)...have Christmas feasts together twice a year (all are fabulous cooks except me)...and also try to holiday together annually.
Each holiday destination is far from home in New South Wales and sensational.
Anita & Scott missing this year as Scott racing his yacht in the Whitsunday Classic in
Queensland.
This year we hired a 3 bedroom cottage for 5 Ruth, Peter & Ann, David & Else, and an adjacent 2 bedroom riverside cabin for Denise and I at Sussex Inlet on New South Wales South Coast...within driving distance to lakes and beaches that have made the South Coast famous.
An area ravaged by the 2019 bushfires that has recovered magnificently.
Much of our time together are the fabulous meals and camaraderie that we have developed over the years...not living in each other's pockets but we are all very close.
A Biden burr wall brought us together 13 years ago but it is the joy of friendship with accepting and generous neighbours that keeps us together.
How often rare that is but how lucky are we?
We had a long walk along the river at Sussex Inlet on the Sunday...I lingering behind with my camera as usual...catching the light and reflections delighting my fancy.
Late that afternoon while the others rested following another long lunch and beach walk, I grabbed my camera as I had seen a kangaroo looking into a driveway as we returned to our lodgings...chances are he has moved
on...but what if he hasn't?
He of course had gone but the river is just there...so that is where I headed.
About 10 kangas grazing...not perturbed by my presence.
But as I moved away two males started fighting...must be breeding season I reckon.
Punching, scrapping, clawing and kicking on and on...click...click...click...138 still pics a'pumpin'.
I walk away with the biggest smile on my face...reminds me of my Horses Fighting blog in Kyrgyzstan...like that I've never seen this before...hope they come out OK.
And only then did it hit me...I should have videoed it!!!
But as I returned to do so...they hopped away disinterested.
"You had your chance buddy", said one.
"There's no such a thing as a free lunch", said another.
Oh well...will there ever be another chance?
******
As dusk closed around me as I wandered away...I was reminded of the classic song by the Small Faces
"Lazy Sunday Afternoon" (enjoy the audio video in this blog).
"Lazy Sunday afternoon, I've got no mind to worry, close my eyes and drift away
Here we all are sittin in a rainbow...
Cor blimey hallo Missus Jones how's your Bert's lumbago?" "Mustn't grumble" was her reply.
"There's no one to hear me, there's nothin to say, And no one can stop me from feelin this way. Lazy Sunday afternoon I've got no mind to worry Close my eyes and drift away." Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
P.S. Sing along but the song only works on page 1 of this blog
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Wow
Watching them fight is pretty cool. Your intro makes me want to go back to South America.