On the road again

My wife and I are on the road again. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t posted anything over the last few days – we’ve been away from an internet connection. Over the last week we have travelled from home in Murray Bridge all the way to Sydney in New South Wales. We took five days, though one can do it comfortably in two days if you don’t stop frequently like we do. We also took a rather meandering route to Sydney. There were a number of places we especially wanted to visit during our holiday.

Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia

Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia

We left home last Monday about an hour later than we’d hoped to; those last minute things take up so much time. Never mind, we were on our way by mid-morning. By lunch time we had made it to the mallee farming town of Lameroo. Over recent years we’ve stopped quite a few times at the park there for meals or a cuppa. An artificial lake next to the golf course is a quiet spot off the main highway with lawn, seating, a covered area with picnic tables and some interesting bird life, which always attracts me.

A pair of Masked Lapwings had a little one to look after while a Great Cormorant sat resting on the bank of the lake. A mixed gang of ducks politely stood a metre or two away as we ate our lunch. They didn’t get any.

Over the coming weeks I will share some of our sightings, experiences and adventures during our twenty three day holiday in country New South Wales, in Sydney, in Canberra, in Melbourne and country Victoria.

Happy Birthday to my Birding Blog

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I write for three blogs. In addition to this one I have a blog about writing and blogging called Trevor’s Writing.

I also have a blog about birds and birdwatching called Trevor’s Birding. Today is the second birthday of that blog.

I invite you to head on over there, have a good look around and leave a birthday greeting.

Red Capped Robin

Red Capped Robin

Wildflowers of Geebung National Park, NSW

Orchid flower

Orchid flower

Several years ago on a holiday in New South Wales we spent several days exploring the area around Parkes. One of the places we headed for was the Geebung National Park north east of the city.

Wildflower in Geebung NP NSW

Wildflower in Geebung NP NSW

Our interests complement each other; I go to places like national parks to look at the birds, my wife looks at the plants and flowers. I usually have my head up while she has her head down. Both of us also keen wildflower photographers. This trip, however, was before I had my Canon Powershot digital camera. The photos on this post were taken with our old Kodak digital camera. This old camera is still a very good camera and my wife continues to use it frequently.

Orchid flowers

Orchid flowers

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on the photo.

Wildflowers in Geebung NP NSW

Wildflowers in Geebung NP NSW

To see more of my photos of birds, flowers, scenery and much more visit my family photo gallery here.

Wildflower in Geebung NP NSW

Wildflower in Geebung NP NSW

Lavender Farm, Parkes, New South Wales

Flower in a garden in Parkes NSW

Flower in a garden in Parkes NSW

On our visit to Parkes, New South Wales several years ago we did some touring around the town and the nearby district. One of the places my wife wanted to visit was the Lavender Farm on the eastern edge of town.

Flower in a garden in Parkes NSW

Flower in a garden in Parkes NSW

While we were there we visited the shop where they sold a wide variety of products originating from the lavender bush. The owner gave us a personal guide of the small factory area where the lavender is processed.

Lavender bushes

Lavender bushes

During our stay at the Lavender Farm I was free to wander through the garden looking at the flowers as well as all of the birds to be seen there.

Flower in a garden in Parkes NSW

Flower in a garden in Parkes NSW

Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

The radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales

Radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales

Radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales

On our trip to Parkes in the mid-west of New South Wales we travelled the short distance north of the city to the radio telescope. This telescope has been there for many years and I had long wanted to visit it, but this was the first time for me. My wife argued that she thought that we had visited there early in our married life. It doesn’t matter who was right.

Radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales

Radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales

During our time there we looked through the displays in the information centre. We then decided to have an ice-cream. While we sat eating it we had the pleasure of watching the dish slowly changing position. It is an awesome sight to see such a large structure moving.

This telescope played a key role in transmitting signals to the rest of the work during the first landing on the moon. The story of what happened is the plot of the movie called “The Dish.”