Travelling south from Canberra
Nodding Blue Lily (Stypandra glauca)
Our interstate holiday
September 2007
I’ve had a short break from writing on this blog over the New Year. I’ve not been well for most of that time. Over coming days and weeks I intend writing about the remainder of our interstate holiday in the eastern states of Australia. I will include many of the lovely photos taken at the time.
The day we left Canberra the weather turned cold. As we travelled south from our capital city the air temperature dropped rapidly. Although it was well into spring, we were travelling through the highest ranges in Australia. The area south of Canberra is often snow covered for a large part of the winter and into spring. The last time I visited this area was around New Year some thirty years ago. There was even a heavy snow fall at Christmas time that year.
Coopracambra National Park, Victoria
This time we didn’t see any snow, but going by the cold wind it sure wasn’t far away. We had a long distance to travel the day we left Canberra. Although we would have loved to have spent far more time exploring this part of the country, we were running out of days. The route we took gave a quick overview of a large part of Victoria we had never visited before. We decided that we have to correct that anomaly in the near future. The southern coast of eastern Victoria is worth several months of exploration.
As we travelled on into Victoria we dropped in altitude right down to sea level. The wind was bitterly cold and scudding showers made lunch and cuppa breaks uncomfortable. This one day was the only really bad weather day we experienced for the whole trip, so I shouldn’t grumble.
Coopracambra National Park, Victoria
Birding in the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Our holiday in Canberra
September 2007
One of the main incentives I had for spending a whole day in the Australian National Botanic Gardens was to do some serious birding. The day we spent there was a beautiful sunny day but the birding was rather quiet. You get days like that. Despite that I managed to see a nice range of birds, I added a new species to my life list (the amazing Powerful Owl) and added photos of several species to my growing collection of bird photos, including the beautiful Gang-gang Cockatoo (see my photo gallery here).
Red Wattlebird
It is a pity that we only had one day in these lovely gardens. If we lived in Canberra we would be very frequent visitors. The changing seasons would not only be great to see the ever changing variety of birds, it would also be great to see the different plants flowering at different times of the year.
Further reading:
- Lunch time visitors – birds that came to our picnic lunch
- Pied Currawongs – one of the common birds of the gardens
- Gang-gang Cockatoo -more information about this wonderful parrot
Eastern Spinebill
Reptiles in the Australian National Botanic Gardens
4 Comments »29th December, 2007; Category: Animals, Botanic Gardens, Canberra, Holidays, Parks and Gardens
Eastern Bearded Dragon
Our holiday in Canberra
September 2007
When we went to visit the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra I went to see the plants and flowers and the bird life. I didn’t expect to be watching reptiles, nor did I expect to be able to get some great shots of them.
Eastern Bearded Dragon
The Eastern Bearded Dragon I had seen many times before. Bearded Dragons are resident in our garden at home.
This was the first time I had seen a Gippsland Water Dragon. It was minding its own business sunning itself on a rock just above a large pool of water, one of the many featured in the botanic gardens.
Gippsland Water Dragon
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Our holiday in Canberra
September 2007
We had a short holiday in Australia’s national capital Canberra earlier this year. It had been many years – over 30 – since our last visit. Consequently there was quite a deal of anticipation in reacquainting ourselves with this beautiful city. One of the main attractions this time around was to visit the floral display at Floriade 2007. I’ve written extensively about this festival of flowers here.
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
The National Botanic Gardens in Canberra are well set out and beautifully maintained. Although some sections are a little hilly, the paths are very easy to negotiate and are extremely wheel-chair friendly, which makes it very easy for the rest of us. The tranquil setting on the slopes of Black Mountain is a great place to relax, watch the birds, study the flowers or just take time out from a busy life.
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Our holiday in Canberra
September 2007
During our visit to Canberra earlier this year we spent a whole day at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. This time was particularly enjoyable to my wife and her interest in Australian native plants. Her camera was kept busy all day taking photos for her reference library. Annoyingly she discovered that the memory card in her camera failed to download the photos that night, so she lost some valuable shots. We have since replaced the card.
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Further reading:
- My first Powerful Owl sighting – a special bird seen in the botanic gardens
- Lazy lizards – photos of several lizards we saw in the botanic gardens in Canberra
- One bird that finally sat still – about getting a good photo of an Eastern Spinebill for the first time
- Close encounters of the bird kind – up close and personal with a Red Wattlebird
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra