Beside the Lachlan River
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
From Lake Cargelligo we travelled on towards the town of Condobolin. Here we bought fuel for the car and a special treat from the local bakery. As we travel we love checking out local bakeries. We often compare the vanilla slice made in various bakeries around the country with the slice made by our local bakery back in Murray Bridge. Many fail the taste test.
Just a few kilometres out of Condobolin we had a minor accident. A small flock of Galahs feeding on the side of the road were too slow getting out of our way. One of them clipped the very edge of the windscreen and was probably killed instantly. I didn’t dare look back. The impact took a small chip out of the glass but it did not shatter. I’m thankful for this. If it had shattered I would have been wearing a mouthful of glass, feathers and blood. The Galah didn’t get off as lightly, and that upset me.
Lachlan River crossing, Waroo, NSW
Mid-morning we stopped at a locality called Waroo. We crossed a small rickety bridge and found a lovely picnic spot next to the Lachlan River. At the moment it should be renamed the Lachlan mud gutter. There is precious little water to keep it flowing. Rain is desperately needed in the catchment area.
Lachlan River crossing, Waroo, NSW
A new town, a new park and a new bird
Cocoparra National Park, central New South Wales
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
Our destination on day two of our holiday was Lake Cargelligo. The quickest way would have been to go from Hay straight to Rankins Springs, but we had travelled that route several time before. We’d never been to Griffith so we took a slightly longer route. This route also took us past the Cocoparra National Park which we had missed on our previous trips in this area.
We stopped briefly in Griffith to refuel. The size of this large rural centre surprised me. It has a population of over 24,000 and looked interesting enough for a return visit in the future. With the Cocoparra NP only 25km to the NE it would be good to be based there for a few days. After refueling we headed out towards the national park. We had an enforced stop for five minutes at a red stop light in the middle of nowhere. Roadworks can do that to you.
On arrival at the Cocoparra National Park for the very first time we stopped to survey the map at the entrance and then we chose Jack’s Creek picnic ground. Unfortunately we only had time to visit one spot in the park. As we drove into the picnic area we were immediately greeted by a family of White-winged Choughs, a group of noisy Apostlebirds and a Peaceful Dove calling somewhere nearby. The Choughs were feeding young in a nest in the car park. The Apostlebirds objected to our visit and the Striated Pardalotes just kept on their incessant calling in the tree above.
Cocoparra National Park, central New South Wales
We went for a walk along a walking trail for about an hour. This took us through a rocky gully with sandstone rocks being the feature. There were enough plants flowering to keep my wife happy and enough birds singing and flying around to keep me happy. I was delighted to see a Speckled Warbler for the very first time. It is always good to add a new species to my life list (a list of all the birds I’ve ever seen).
After our walk we had afternoon tea and then headed off towards our destination for the night.
Wildflowers at Cocoparra National Park
A Birdcage with the birds on the outside
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
On day two of our holiday in New South Wales we drove from Balranald to Hay in the morning. When I say “to Hay” that is strictly not true. We actually drove “past” Hay not stopping at all. The main highway we were on skirts the southern edge of this large rural town on the Murrumbidgee River. We had no need to stop. This lovely town serves a vast tract of grazing and farming land in the western part of the state of New South Wales.
Birdcage Rest Area, east of Hay NSW
As we drove on from Hay the countryside started to change. We had driven across the saltbush covered Hay Plains earlier in the day where there are few trees and bushes. Now we were seeing taller trees, especially along water courses.For lunch we stopped at the oddly named Birdcage Rest Area, shown in the photo above. There were many birds in the trees all around, but I didn’t see any cage.
Yellow Rosella
For our picnic lunch we made some delicious sandwiches using the tailgate of the Mazda Bravo as a table. The folding chairs came out from the back and we enjoyed the birdlife all around us as we ate. My attention was divided between eating my lunch, watching the birds with the binoculars and taking photos of the birds. Somehow I managed to juggle all three tasks without spilling any food.
Some of the birds seen include Laughing Kookaburras, White-winged Choughs (feeding young in a mud nest (see photo below), Apostlebirds, Yellow Rosellas (see photo above), Willie Wagtails and Galahs.
It was another wonderful lunch break.
White-winged Choughs' nest
Travelling from Lameroo to Balranald
Balranald Caravan Park, NSW
On the first day of our 2007 holiday in New South Wales and Victoria we travelled from home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, through to Lameroo where we had a picnic lunch. After lunch we travelled on into Victoria. We drove through the small towns of Murrayville, Underbool, Ouyen and Manangatang, where we stopped briefly to refuel. Several times we stopped on the side of the road for my wife to take photos of native plants flowering. I took the opportunity during these short breaks to take a short walk and to observe the birds along the way.
At Tooleybuc we crossed a very narrow bridge over the Murray River. This bridge allowed only one vehicle at a time to cross. Fortunately the town is rather small and the traffic is never heavy, so it would be rare to have to wait more than half a minute for the bridge to clear. Crossing the river meant we were now in the state of New South Wales. That meant we had been in three states of Australia in about three hours.
We pressed on towards our destination for the night. Originally I had planned to reach Hay by sunset, but our late start in the morning meant we would be about a hundred kilometres short of there. We settled for a cabin in the caravan park of the small river town of Balranald. This park is right next to a busy interstate highway. The heavy trucks roaring past all night were a little disturbing, far noisier than what we are used to at home. Despite that we managed a reasonable night’s sleep.
One disturbing sight just before reaching Balranald was a dead kangaroo on one side of the road and a dead Wedge-tailed Eagle on the other. This is the largest of our birds of prey and a magnificent bird to see soaring on high. This unfortunate bird must have been feeding on the carcass of the kangaroo and hadn’t flown away in time to avoid being hit.
New contact form for this blog
No Comments »4th August, 2007; Category: General
A new feature on this blog for my readers is a Contact Form.
This will now be a constant feature on the side bar under the Contents heading. It is for my readers who wish to contact me via email for whatever reason – rather than leaving a comment or question in the comments section.
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Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens