Anzac Day weekend
What a lovely weekend! Saturday’s weather was warm and sunny so Clive and I drove to Palm Beach and climbed up the track to the lighthouse at Barrenjoey Head for some wonderful views of the coast down to Bungan Head in the south and across Pittwater to Pearl Beach and Ettalong in the north. On the way up we watched pelicans gracefully enjoying the thermals, para-sailors showing off in the strong breeze and flotillas of yachts, tiny in the distance. It was all incredibly peaceful and we felt a million miles away from Sydney, not just 25.
Sunday saw us up early to watch Rebecca play soccer. The wind howled across the pitch and none of the girls really looked like they wanted to be there – and nor did the adults! Kick off was at 8:20am and the final score was 3:2 to Rebecca’s team, so the goals made it all worthwhile in the end!
In the afternoon, we adults decided to take a 10 minute drive to Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, of no interest at all to the girls. Clive and I aren’t gardeners, so we weren’t drawn by the flora, but as we’d never been there before, we thought we’d take a peek. Situated just off the Mona Vale Road near St. Ives, the garden is really just a series of paths, some more accessible than others, through bush at the edge of Ku-ring-gai National Park.
We parked the car and set off, deciding to take the Solander Trail with a walk-length of 40 minutes. We took a detour onto Bentham Track which was not a sealed road like the Solander, but a rough path over rocks and sandy shrubland. Within five minutes we stopped to investigate a rustling and saw a beautiful echidna passing the time at the side of the path! Echidnas are a bit like large hedgehogs, with orange tips to their spines (see photo!). They’re a protected species in Australia and not often seen in their natural habitat, so we were very lucky!
We had the camera with us and started photographing our small friend. I’d noticed movement in the leaves and twigs and assumed it was a little gecko, which are everywhere, but then it struck me that this particular gecko was very long – it was a snake! Pretty small for a snake (about 12 inches long and narrow-bodied), but a snake nonetheless, the first we’ve seen in our 2 ½ years here. As I was trying to photograph it slithering away, something closer to my feet caught my eyes – it was another snake, again a baby. I started to take its picture, then noticed it had a distinct red belly. When the penny dropped and I realised it was a dangerous red-bellied black snake I couldn’t get away fast enough!
After those sightings, Clive and I lost interest in the flora (of which there was little – apparently, we should have come in the spring) and were concentrating on the fauna, eyes glued to the path and rocks for Mummy or Daddy snake. We decided to cut back onto the main sealed path and hugged the middle! There were a few other people around, mainly families, enjoying the beautiful bush on a perfect day. But they weren’t the only ones.
Yes, we saw another snake, very well camouflaged in the leaves at the side of the path, slithering quietly past us. Clive spotted it and we both froze. Had to get the camera out though and took a couple of pictures before moving quickly away. Thankfully, this was another baby, a little bigger than the red-bellied snake, but still only about 18 inches long, mainly brown but with pretty black and white head markings. Doing an Internet search later, we’re pretty sure this was a young brown snake, the deadliest kind in NSW!
We’d had enough excitement in one hour to last a week – I wonder at what age these babies would be dangerous? Must look it up sometime...
Sunday saw us up early to watch Rebecca play soccer. The wind howled across the pitch and none of the girls really looked like they wanted to be there – and nor did the adults! Kick off was at 8:20am and the final score was 3:2 to Rebecca’s team, so the goals made it all worthwhile in the end!
In the afternoon, we adults decided to take a 10 minute drive to Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, of no interest at all to the girls. Clive and I aren’t gardeners, so we weren’t drawn by the flora, but as we’d never been there before, we thought we’d take a peek. Situated just off the Mona Vale Road near St. Ives, the garden is really just a series of paths, some more accessible than others, through bush at the edge of Ku-ring-gai National Park.
We parked the car and set off, deciding to take the Solander Trail with a walk-length of 40 minutes. We took a detour onto Bentham Track which was not a sealed road like the Solander, but a rough path over rocks and sandy shrubland. Within five minutes we stopped to investigate a rustling and saw a beautiful echidna passing the time at the side of the path! Echidnas are a bit like large hedgehogs, with orange tips to their spines (see photo!). They’re a protected species in Australia and not often seen in their natural habitat, so we were very lucky!
We had the camera with us and started photographing our small friend. I’d noticed movement in the leaves and twigs and assumed it was a little gecko, which are everywhere, but then it struck me that this particular gecko was very long – it was a snake! Pretty small for a snake (about 12 inches long and narrow-bodied), but a snake nonetheless, the first we’ve seen in our 2 ½ years here. As I was trying to photograph it slithering away, something closer to my feet caught my eyes – it was another snake, again a baby. I started to take its picture, then noticed it had a distinct red belly. When the penny dropped and I realised it was a dangerous red-bellied black snake I couldn’t get away fast enough!
After those sightings, Clive and I lost interest in the flora (of which there was little – apparently, we should have come in the spring) and were concentrating on the fauna, eyes glued to the path and rocks for Mummy or Daddy snake. We decided to cut back onto the main sealed path and hugged the middle! There were a few other people around, mainly families, enjoying the beautiful bush on a perfect day. But they weren’t the only ones.
Yes, we saw another snake, very well camouflaged in the leaves at the side of the path, slithering quietly past us. Clive spotted it and we both froze. Had to get the camera out though and took a couple of pictures before moving quickly away. Thankfully, this was another baby, a little bigger than the red-bellied snake, but still only about 18 inches long, mainly brown but with pretty black and white head markings. Doing an Internet search later, we’re pretty sure this was a young brown snake, the deadliest kind in NSW!
We’d had enough excitement in one hour to last a week – I wonder at what age these babies would be dangerous? Must look it up sometime...