Posts Tagged ‘swimming’

What a campsite!

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

We have just spent four fabulous days camping. We have this gorgeous spot we go to which is situated on the South coast of NSW. The water is pristine, the birds were chirping and everybody wore big fat smiles.

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The days were hot and sunny, so just perfect for lazing around in your bathers and a sarong. The plants in the area are mostly coastal species such as Coastal Wattle ( Acacia sophorae), Sea Box (Alyxia buxifolia) and Pigface (Carpobrotus rossii).

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Our fantastic view from our tent. The kids delighted in waking up each morning for a dive in the river and a good swim. Some mornings the tide was really high and I feared we may be washed out, but it always subsided and left nice little swimming pools.

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There were lots of crabs getting about in there and quite a bit of seaweed too. I always wish I could identify the many coastal seaweeds and seagrasses. They look so amazing. Just so textural and structured.

Behind our tent there was a little track that went along for about 20 metres.

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The Coastal wattle was all in seed and had these beautiful curly seed pods all over the trees filled with little glossy black seeds. Anyway, the track led us out to this:

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We spent a lot of time here, swimming, building the most amazing sand castles and making racing tracks for match box cars.

I went fishing quite a few times and suffice to say we ate very well :) Lots of fresh fish on the bbq and some yummy abalone too.

I hope to get back again before the end of Summer, so will take lots of shots then of the flora of the area. Hopefully by then I might have my new digital camera and can do my photos some justice!

Wild Cherries Grow On The River Bank

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Yesterday the kids and I spent an idyllic morning down by our local river. This beautiful river is literally just down the road and around the corner from where we live.

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It was a gorgeous morning, sunny and warm with lots of dragonflies flitting about. The kids spent their time swimming in the river while I threw in a fishing line. I did catch a few fish but only small so they were released back into the river.

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If you look across the water to the other river bank you can see that big tall, very green tree there. It’s the one to the left of the photo. It is quite conical in shape and actually looks a little like a pine. The rest of the foliage is rather dull and grey but this one always looks vivid and lush. The tree is known as Cherry Ballart or Wild Cherry (Exocarpos cupressiformis). The tree is native to the Eastern states of Australia and is often admired for its lovely, pendulous growth habit which often turns purple or bronze in the Winter. The other thing that is amazing about this tree is that it is actually a parasite and lives on the roots of it’s host plant, usually Eucalypt’s. This is no way suggests though that it is a menace. It is a native plant species that is an integral part of the Australian bush. The other wonderful thing about this tree is it produces edible fruit and dense fine grained timber too. The timber has been used for fashioning tool handles and other woodturning work.