Waiatarua Reserve

Ds and I took an afternoon walk through the Waiatarua reserve.This site is a friends group which is committed to restoring the reserve.Ds remembers visiting here with grandma and spotting little grey rabbits hopping out of their burrows in the bank. Quite amazing that we spotted any given the large number of dogs and their owners walking through the park!

Some of the birds you see are:

Black Shag, Black Swan,  Black-backed Gull Blackbird,Caspian Tern,  Chaffinch,  Eastern Rosella,  Fantail,Goldfinch,  Green Finch,  Grey Teal,  Grey Warbler,Harrier,  Kingfisher Little Black Shag , Magpie, Malay Fruit Dove , Mallard/Grey Duck, Myna,Paradise Shelduck, Pheasant,  Plover, Pied Stilt,Pukeko, Red Billed Gull,  Song thrush,

Starlings,Teal, Tui, Waxeye ,Welcome Swallow, White-faced Heron

The reserve is a wetland in the course of restoration. Drains, weirs, bunds and sediment traps form part of a system to treat stormwater and remove pollutants. It provides a sanctuary for birds.

This is a place to walk, exercise your dog, jog and enjoy the landscape.

Outside Te Papa

 Outside Te Papa is a bush walk complete with a cave including glow-worms and stalagmites and stalegtites.

 we wandered over a swing bridge,

 investigated some rock and fossil formations,

 explored a cave or two! We walked amongst preschoolers from a Te Kōhanga Reo. It was wonderful to hear the little ones chatting(and even giving cheek to their supervisors!) in their own language.

 Te Kōhanga Reo is a total immersion Māori language family programme for young children from birth to six years of age.It was begun in 1981 by the Department of Māori Affairs in response to Māori concern to ensure the continuing survival of the Mäori language.At Kohanga Reo all education and instruction is delivered in te reo maori.
 

 Later in our New Zealand visit we were privileged to stay with a couple whose grandson is attending one of these maori language nests."More than half of the world's 7,000 languages are expected to die out by the end of the century, often taking with them irreplaceable knowledge about the natural world, Harrison said."Harrison and Gregory Anderson""Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it's only in people's heads"Harrison and Gregory Anderson.When a language is lost, centuries of human thinking about animals, plants, mathematics, and time may be lost with it.(ref:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070918-languages-extinct_2.html)

Wittunga Botanic Garden

Because May is local history month in our state, we took a tour with some others, including a few homeschooling families, through one of our botanic gardens. The talk focused largely on the family that had bequeathed the gardens to the state but we also delved further back in time.We enjoyed hearing about Sir Joseph Banks and discovered the "interconnectiveness" of people who share interests and live around the same time. We found banks too often be this link.

I love the look of the mallee here amazing to learn:The mallee display one of the most impressive adaptive features in the form of the confusingly named mallee root.  The mallee root - also known as a lignotuber - is not a root at all but is essentially a very contracted underground trunk which grows just below the soil surface and from which the stems arise.  It acts as both a storage and reproductive organ. 

 Its storage function is principally of carbohydrates, essential nutrients (such as phosphates) and some water so that the mallee, once mature, can survive long periods without rain.  Its reproductive function takes the form of multiple growth points from which new shoots can rapidly develop (drawing on the carbohydrates and nutrients) should the above-ground parts of the plant be destroyed by fire or other natural catastrophes.  Most other species of Eucalyptus have similar epicormic shoots on their trunks and larger branches from which new shoots can develop after fires but the mallee protects the trunk from fire and so is much more energy and water efficient.  

Our guide shared some amazing wood turnings he had done with banksias

We were also lucky after the walk to spot 4 koalas in the park. Now this does not cover a large area and two of those we saw were only a tree away from each other. This puzzled us as we had always thought koalas were territorial Definitely need to do more research on this!

We seem to have more succulents in our photos than any other plant type and these were not mentioned in our guided tour at all. But we find them rather interesting, so please bear with us!

"Located in the leafy foothills suburb of Blackwood, Wittunga Botanic Garden contains stunning displays of water wise plants from Australia and South Africa which are especially spectacular in spring.

Established by Edwin Ashby in 1902, the Wittunga Botanic Garden devotes 14 hectares to indigenous and non-indigenous collections. Native birds are attracted to the garden's flowering plants and the shady lawns make Wittunga Botanic Garden a popular setting for family gatherings and lakeside picnics.

The centrepiece of the garden is an attractive lake that separates the Australian native plants featuring banksias, grevilleas and hakeas from the South African plants of proteas and leucadendrons on the opposite side. The garden also features a butterfly garden and a grey box woodland planting, endangered in South Australia."

Mount Crawford in the rain!

 The day was cool but sunny as we set off for our camp-fire expedition in the forest. I love the autumn colours of the vines...and so far a blue(ish) sky

 By the time all 9 cars had met up and were traveling in convoy the weather had changed dramatically!

 But what's a spot of rain when you're all outdoors together enjoying this fantastic site.

 Amongst the tall pines jutted ungainly rock formations, just perfect for climbing over, hiding behind and viewing our domain!

 The first job was to collect enough wood to light a fire!

 Once the fire had been started the children vanished( apart from the "littles") until the call of hunger saw them reclimbing up those same rocks to reach hot jacket potatoes oozing with butter and sticky sweet marshmallows to "wash them down" with!!

 The rain never entirely stopped but we didn't mind!

With good company, great food and a wonderful environment to be in who worries about the weather!

 We were sorry to leave but headed home with a feeling of contentment.

And stopping just a few times to take a few more pictures.

 Of a very beautiful

      Happy

 and memorable day!

 These are cauliflowers growing amongst gum trees

and here are the alpacas in the field of cauliflowers growing amongst the gum trees!

 I love autumn