Powder Puffs

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Powder Puff Flowers

There seems to be
a preponderance of puffy flowers
blossoming around town at present

So I sent my camera out on a mission
to track down some of the red puffs

Next door I found one
called the New Zealand Christmas Bush
Pohutakawa in Maori

See the beetle emerging
from the starburst flower
with bright glowing tips

The little fuzzy frosted buds
tight balls of pent up energy






the flower cradle
now empty of its bloom

Not far from home
I found the Powder Puff Bush,
the Calliandra
which comes from Brazil

The Pohutakawa and the Calliandra flowers
are similar but the leaves
and buds quite different.

Even within the same species
I noticed a colour variation
as I went from shrub to shrub

The buds nut-like clusters
and the spent flower like
tousled cotton threads

The tips of this bloom
also glowing yellow

(Click to see up close)






The flower an unopened
tightly packed sphere of life
beside the cotton candy






One bud bursts ....

and then some more

now almost a scarlet tutu

before it becomes a pom pom

a thing of beauty

a red powder puff



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A Tale of Two Tea Trees

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A Tale of two Tea Trees at Tea Tree Bay

One of the beautiful beaches
on the headland in the national park
is named after the native Tea Tree...

But which Tea Tree?
You see there are two Tea trees ...

This gnarly old grandad of a tree
is a Melaleuca - a tea tree,
commonly called a paper bark

for this reason

and it is from the Melaleuca
that tea tree oil is obtained
Tea Tree oil is both a fungicide and an anti-biotic.

Tea Tree oil is good for tinnia.
Hands up those with tinnia...



When son#2 went to the school camp at Googa
he took with him a bottle of Tea Tree oil.
Unfortunately in transit the bottle broke
filling his toilet bag with oil.

Now Tea tree oil has
a very strong and pungent odour
somewhat akin to deep heat
and for the month of the camp
son#2 had to clean his teeth
with a brush that never lost
its Tea tree aroma or flavour.


I can't recall
the status of the untreated tinnia
after one month of camp...

The other Tea tree is Leptospermum
which comes in a variety of shrubby forms.

It is from the Leptospermum
that the rain water
running in little streams
through the forest and into the ocean
obtains a brown colour resembling black tea.

It is said that Captain Cook, on the Endeavour,
when voyaging to the Southern Lands
boiled the leaves of the Leptospermum
to brew a Vitamin C rich beverage
to ward off scurvy in his crew.



But now the question remains...
After which tree is Tea Tree Bay named?



And the answer...

I don't know
but would imagine that because
of the large stands of paper barks
in the bay
it is likely to be the Melaleuca,

but then again
when it rains the tea coloured run off
rushes down the hillsides in little rivulets
merging into a stream which exits the forest
and empties into the ocean
at Tea Tree..

so it could be the Leptospermums
that give the bay its name...


But whatever the origins of the name,
because there is only walking access,
it is a beautiful, peaceful bay
as they all are in the Noosa National Park...


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Wallum

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Wallum

Yes, it is an Aboriginal word
for Wallum Banksia
which is found growing
on the coastal lowlands
from Northern New South Wales
to southern Queensland

Here we are in Wallum country
looking across a sea of Wallum Banksias
to the Pacific ocean

We are on the other side
of the Noosa Park Headland
to where we usually walk

This coastal area is exposed to the east
and the south east winds

the vegetation hugs the ground
or grows with the prevailing wind

Prickly Moses - Acacia Ulicifolia

The term Wallum is used to describe
the coastal vegetation types
grown on the sand dunes
and flat undulating country
with acid soils and a high water table

My friend took me into the Wallum area
of the National Park from Sunshine Beach
and we were greeted formally
by the official welcome party

Who's giving the speech
You or me?

Undecided still

Ok, so it's left to me...

Well you all know the song...
you told me so recently
Here we go...

"Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree-ee..."

Lets take a closer look
at Poor Man's Gold

Wallum includes a broad spectrum
of vegetation types

Wet woodlands with Scribbly Gums and Banksias
merge with wet and dry heathlands

Colourful shrubs, grasses
and sedges can be found

Eucalyptus Gummifera
-Red Bloodwood

Wildflowers can be seen
all year round on the Cooloola Coast

Large matted balls
of Curly Sedge Grass

the tousled clusters of which
looks reminiscent of
curled gift wrapping ribbon

And against a rain clouded sky
the king of the heathland Wallum
the Casaurina, struggles
against the coastal winds




Wallum Part 2 to follow


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Blue Skies

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Blue Skies...

After more than two weeks of rain in Queensland the blue skies have returned. Our area received over 300mm (12") in a few days causing flooding in the hinterland where one of our neighbouring towns was flooded twice in two weeks. The rainfall is good news for the dams and our water restrictions have been eased.




Inland on the floodplains of Southwest Queensland tens of thousands of water birds have flocked to take advantage of what the experts describe as the best conditions in 20 years.
Many more birds will be arriving soon at Lake Eyre in South Australia as it fills with flood waters from Queensland rivers.

At Lake Machattie, north of Birdsville this week an estimated
30,000 pelicans massed on two sand bars, tending eggs and chicks.

One indigenous ranger said that the extent of
waterbird nesting was the greatest in memory.

At another colony 80,000 ibis are nesting and there are also ducks, spoonbills,
egrets, cormorants taking advantage of the floodwaters to breed.

Without occasional flooding the future of many of these
species would not be assured.

Vast areas of the inland that have been bare earth for years
are now meadows of lush grass.

It is a mystery how birds know when and where to head inland.

Altogether another reason to be filled with awe and wonder...

Sourced from The Weekend Australian April 18-19, photos by David Sprouke
For more photos see the article here.
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