Australia-New England Northern NSW

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A bit of a drive in the Australian Bush, just over 2000 kms through the Gibraltar Ranges and New England. Some of these pictures are pure Australiana. Starting off with a few road signs that you will not generally see in any other country. In front of the third sign is a flood level indicator, this provides for water up to two metres deep, useful if you are trying to figure out if it is safe for you to drive through; we often do get those levels of floodwater in the annual big wet.










Northern New South Wales is a very suitable area for growing fruit, unfortunately the fruit bats know this as well. This is how the farmers protect their crops.




Some of the roads that we were driving on were not too bad if it were not for all the heavy vehicles that use them. Here is a protest sign sponsored by our motorists association.




The following trees are not natives; they are Jacarandas from South America. There are now so many of them that one town, Grafton has a Jacaranda festival during late October, our Spring.




A little bit further down the road we saw this egg laying mammal or monotreme. It’s a very nervous Echidna or Spiny Ant-Eater that tried to dig a hole alongside this post so that it could hide from us. We grabbed a quick picture and left/




We think that these are recent welcome swallow chicks. If they had been older ones they would have vanished as soon as we arrived.




We are now near to the top of the Gibraltar Range, a World Heritage area. This part is very popular with canoeists and has some great scenery. We have plans to go camping here for about ten days next year; you need that time to do the walks.






This tree is called a Silky Oak, it’s really a member of the Grevillea family an Australian Native.




Cheating a bit here, this one was taken in our garden. It’s a Goanna and we have given it the name Phoebe (most animals and birds in our garden have a name). Phoebe was born three years ago and will probably produce some young herself this summer.




Finishing up with a couple of wild flowers, we haven’t identified them yet but we think that they are probably natives.

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Comments

[Byron Hinterland Accommodation]

Byron Hinterland Accommodation
If you're looking for somewhere to explore in NSW, check out the quaint historic village of Bangalow, just 12 minutes into the hinterland of Byron Bay, on the North Coast of NSW. You will find fantastic eateries show-casing outstanding local organic produce, world class shopping, and plenty to see and do. Bangalow itself is a great stop-over being less than 2 hours to Brisbane, and is ecclectic enough as a destination in itself. If you're travelling with kids there is the Macadamia Castle, Crystal Castle, Whale Watching and heaps more places to go that are kid-friendly. If you're kid-free, then take the time to enjoy the succulent foodie trail that the region has to offer, and Bangalow offers plenty of opportunities to shop-til-you-drop ! There are also lots of galleries and craft/antique shops which are very intersting, in and around Bangalow, if that's more your thing.

[NigWar]

Thanks for the info.
We are familiar with Bangalow. My in-laws lived at Suffolk Park for about 40 years and as they got older we would go up every six weeks or so to take care of the garden and a few other things, did get to know the area quite well along with 814 kms of the Pacific Highway. Bangalow is certainly a very interesting place especially if you get off the main road and go for a walk in the reserve around the back.

[anonymous]

sweet pics