Little Cove Walk

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Little Cove Walk

 

Slip into your thongs...

or do you call them flip flops

  or jandals -

if you are a New Zealander,

or slippers -

as in Hawaii...

  

Let's walk down the lawn

and cross the road

  

to the steps

  

down to the boardwalk

  

 I am taking you for a walk

just a little stroll today

it is so hot

I thought you might like a swim

at Little Cove

  

What's that?

  

who's this 

  

oh 

you little beauty

it's the Blue Faced Honey Eater

  

taking refuge

in the shade 

of the palm fronds

  

see you later

  

we turn left 

and amble down hill

slowly

  

we are heading 

for this cove

  

which looks so cool

and inviting

  

it's not too busy today

  

and the sea is calm

  

 

we'll find a spot

with some shade

  

down we go

  

 you can fish

  

or swim out the back

across the cove

  

have a try at 

stand up paddling

  

snorkle

at the edge 

of the bay

  

body surf

  

or even share

a little romance

  

now we have cooled off

let's head back home

 

and if we get hot

we'll take a little rest

where the brush turkey 

has created a mammoth nest 

on the bank

and we'll look out 

over the ocean

of Little Cove

my new home...

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Walking in the Garden

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Garden Walk

 

Let's continue our walk

through the new coastal garden

  

Old dwarf date palms

form a sentry line at the lawn's edge

Phoenix Rubellini

are elegant palms

  

with beautiful notched trunks

  

but wear, 

at the base of the leaves

a nasty armour

of spines

which prick and poison

with a vengeance

I have been told

 that they were used to line Booby traps

in the Viet Nam war

  

watch your footing here

see the pink ribbon

don't trip on that buried metal stake

  

under the palms 

I have planted native Gingers

  

In my clearing 

I found this glossy graceful palm

which appears to be a cycad

remember those ancient plants 

from dinosaur days...

but a different cycad 

to the one I am familiar with

this one -

which the moths are also very familiar with

they lay their eggs in the leaf nest

and the larvae munch through the leaves

I don't like to spray

so I have left them to it...

  

the many old gardenias

that I found

gangley and metres tall

are now leafing up again

after a harsh prune

  

when I removed 

a blanketing maze of vine

from the old trees

I found a row of frangipani trees

which are deciduous here

once cleared of vine and watered

they put on a show

  

White and pink flowering varieties

coloured the gardens 

and dropped their ornamental blossoms

on the road beneath

 

the insidious vine

seemingly pretty and green

that covers my garden floor

and latches on any woody surface

to begin

its heavenward climb

  

along the road edge 

I found one of my most loved flowers

the agapanthus

so I have been filling in spaces and corners

with more pots of blue agapanthus

and lined the driveway with white ones

  

Blechnum

is a new fern to me

a native, it will grow in semi shade

to about two foot tall

 

One variety of Blechnum
has new fronds emerging in a brown tint
Unfortunately the caterpillars
love the tender new fronds
and strip them
I am hoping
they will tire of their over indulgence
soon

 

The old palms

are patterned by lichens

  

and the glorious Australian tree fern

creates a lacy shade over the rockery

The tree fern produces millions of tiny spores 

which cover my tiled deck

with a carpet of fine dust...

A small price to pay...

I can hear the water 

lapping over the edge 

of the infinity pool

which suggests to me

that it is time we took a break

and had a dip to cool off...

Happy walking...

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Whale walk

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Looking for whales...

I left home before 8am
trying to beat
the school holiday walkers
and the sweaty joggers
on the coastal track
but they had the same idea...

however by the time
I had walked out to Dolphin Point
the crowd had thinned
the day had warmed


See that tiny yacht out there
he knows something
we do not....

can you see it
a faint spout

at least I can now say
I have seen my first whales

walking back
facing the North Shore

I could see
trails of smoke

the night before
returning from the wallum
I noticed this blaze



(as an aside,
those houses
you can see on the river
are found on the back
of the island
where I live)










and hoped it was
a controlled burn

from the river level
near home
it feels closer
but confined to bush scrub
and across the river

back on the whale walk
leaving the coastal path
I decide to detour

through a stretch
of eucalyptus forest
hoping for some surprise birdies
but all was quiet

until I entered the rainforest

and way up there
I heard the eerie cry
of the shy cat bird
who meows
like this,
almost a baby cry










wikimedia commons




the catbird
ailuroedus crassirostris
rarely leaves the safety
of the tall rainforest

and I heard the whip birds
high overhead
whipping and snapping

but I cannot see them
today
and my neck is starting to feel
a little knotted...




so I will be content
with a glimpse of whales
and a glorious spring walk...






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