Carisbrooke Park instead of Cobbler Creek.

It was a total fire ban today, so Cobblers Creek Conservation Park was out of the question, but we opted on the spur of the moment to drive across to Carisbrooke Park and walk there instead.  This is a local park in Salisbury council area and very green most of the way around.

There was a bit of water in the creek at the start of the walk (near Main North Rd)

There is a lovely new cover here which would be ideal for a schools championships orienteering.

Some lovely old fig trees

and gum trees

We all thought that this deserved a photo - we were all missing Brian.

We peered through the windows at the old waterwheel museum (not open) .  This might be interesting to see sometime when it is open.

It's open on the first Sunday of the month apparently https://sacommunity.org/org/195128-Salisbury_Waterwheel_Museum

We stopped at Pitman Park for morning tea beside some roses and a waterfall.

  and watched this fella walking around picking up bits and pieces.

Not long later we passed this quiet pool and then crossed under the Salisbury Highway and made our way out to and under Waterloo Corner Road.

 We turned around just past the 5km mark as the sun was starting to show some bite.  Not long afterwards we saw this bloke conscientiously searching for discarded metal items in the heat.  I hope it was worth the effort for him.

As we were about to cross back under the bridges the Indian Pacific headed out of town just ahead of us.

 We followed this ridge line for a while (It was the location of the most shade)  and stopped to look at the old well/tank (now filled in).  There must be a story here, but there was no sign to explain.  Salisbury is quite an old area though, and the stonework looked old.

Something a bit different- a HUGE teddy bear checking out over his balcony. 

Lunch in the shade.

Last part of the track back

The Weir with running water near our car park.

Thanks Doug for your flexibility.  You saved us from the disappointment of  going home without any walking.

Coastal walks and beaches 14/10/19

We spent the morning (after a sleep in) driving around to various beaches and having a bit of a stroll and a look.

If you can follow the path we took you will see number 3 is virtually on the coast.  The photos directly below are of the beach area near there.  There is an island (with a cache) which you must be able to get to at low tide (it was not low enough this day and time) . We were a bit disappointed about that , but fascinated by the rock formations (horizontal rock slabs) - see picture 2.

We also enjoyed the rock pools between the slabs where lots of shells and crabs played.

Some of the rock was very much a conglomerate and appeared like it had been man made- but we don't think it was.

We also saw the first few of many of these blue balloons lying on the beach.  We surmised that maybe it was a sea creature of some type.  You could stamp on them and they popped like a balloon.  Having googled a bit since then, I think they may be bluebottle jellyfish which have washed up and dried.

We were also fascinated by the sign at the entrance to the beach  and wondered how we could possibly drive within 200m of the shore irregularly - eventually we realised this was for PWCs (personal water craft = jet skis and the like) . We saw a number of similar signs while we were in the area. I guess the noise is a problem for residents and maybe they are a safety issue as well.

Further around the bays (near number 6) we again stopped to admire the beach and see if we could find a cache - once again foiled by the water height . Another quite pleasant beach though - and the homes on the north eastern hill overlooking the bay would have a really lovely view of waves crashing and people playing on the beach.

We back tracked a little and went to about number 9 , where we parked and headed off by foot up the Banksia walk to Burrewara Point.  Not far in we found the disused bunker - the remains of radar station number 17 from WW11, and finally succesfully located a cache hidden there as well.
Apparently the radar could plot a ship location that was 100 miles away! It was amazing how close to the track the bunker was and how well hidden in the thick bush. At one stage about 50 people worked here.

This is what the track looked like for some of the way.

We located the fully automated lighthouse and survey marker much closer to the actual point

Just after we left them we heard the sound of crashing out to sea and , on closer inspection, realised that there were whales down in the water.  Trevor rushed further out along the point to get a good view.  I stayed up higher where I thought there might be a better vantage point from behind all the foliage.  Sure enough there were hump back whales - including a baby who was having a whale of a time breaching almost continually as it  headed along the coast line with mum happily moving along behind.
We stayed and marvelled at the sight for a good while as they moved further along.

The banksia walk was not called that for nothing. There were lots of fantastic examples along the way.

...and a few of these lovely , translucent paper flowers.

A few seals sunning themselves and soaking up what warmth they could from the rocks.

And this well disguised fellow popped in to just say hello.

Love these unique pods

We admired these purple buds that turn into white flowers.  How does that happen?

And we missed the opportunity to take a photo of the echidna who ambled across in front of us- took too long to get the Echidna CSI app out and enabled.  By then he was gone.

We headed home for a rest after all that excitement.
I returned the jigsaw and borrowed another one, then started sorting it out for edge pieces.

Finniss conservation Park/ Mt Magnificent Walk 12th November

Bob did a good job of leading the walk last Tuesday.  Apparently this was a walk initially dreamed up by Brian - and a good dreaming it was. 
We met at Prospect Hill and car pooled form there.

I missed tracking the first section of the walk as my watch would not get a lock on the satellites  - By the time we had made it almost all the way down the hill and it was virtually morning tea time, I was about to stop looking... so you have to imagine that first bit on the map and the long downhill  on the profile picture.  Bob reminded us to enjoy the downhills now as it was going to be uphills later.

In total it was agreed that the walk was around 13.9km long.

As we headed down the road from the start we had some lovely views of the surrounding countryside.

and some of the locals came to say hi.

Of course there were some treats to enjoy as well.

When we got to the bottom we had to ford the river .  Beda found extra rocks to drop in, and led us across the stepping stones, then held the tricky branch back on the other side to allow us to pass.  Some got wet feet, but none fell in.

Then we were rewarded with a stop for morning tea.  Apparently this is an old campsite.  Very nice. 

Soon afterwards as we walked along the track in Cox's scrub we found this lovely little birds nest (all lined with possum fur and feathers.  Very cozy in there.

As we left the scrub we had to climb the gate or fence. 

The Xanthorrhoea had some really long spikes on them and were in flower.

Craig noticed these eating their way through the leaves. (but leaving the central vein).  Sorry the photo is a bit blurry. Are they tiny processional caterpillars??

As we got close to the conservation park we were treated with this spectacular view down to the gully below.

and into the park.  Just to the right of the gate we stopped for lunch, overlooking a stand of eucalyptus.

I tried Doug's method of sitting with my back to a tree and leaning against it.  I can highly recommend it as a pose for comfortable reflection.

Not much further up the track (and I mean up) I spotted this little garden in the hollow of a tree.

As we passed along the laneway we found that the cows were also enjoying the grass there.   Close encounters of a different kind were enjoyed.

We ended up at the Meadows coffee shop (one of our favourites) which has less Buddha statues these days, but still provides good and friendly service.