After spending today in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, where all around is green, green, green, I’ve been inspired to participate in the current weekly photo challenge: Colour.
We had a lovely time strolling through the verdant Australian bush — past towering straight eucalyptus trees, vast sprays of tree ferns, flocks of squawking sulphur-crested cockatoos, crimson rosellas, galahs, tiny blue wrens. It was a gorgeous sunny autumn day and our route took us in and out of dappled shade, so we could both enjoy the sunshine and gain relief from it as well.
We even saw two Australian native lyrebirds scratching at the edge of the walking track. The male, with its magnificent tail, posed in full view then strutted into the bush at his leisure, tail dragging behind. Then we were treated to the wonderful lyrebird’s song. Lyrebirds are renowned for mimicking all sorts of sounds, including camera clicking, and we got the works. Had I been faster thinking I would have recorded it… I don’t think it’s very common to see lyrebirds in the wild, so we felt extremely privileged.
If you’re interested, here’s a You Tube clip to demonstrate:
It was so good to get away from the city for a day and fully appreciate nature, as well as embrace fresh air and exercise. We walked for over two hours — not an excessively long time, but more than we would have otherwise. (Let’s face it, I spend half my days writing in cafes at the moment!)
I should admit there were, ahem, two cafes today. Grant’s Picnic Ground at Kallista has the most amazing vanilla slices (right), so before our walk we fuelled up with one of these and a coffee for morning tea. And then after the walk we headed to Olinda for lunch.
But for the most part, it was all about the luscious green of the bush, as highlighted in my photo gallery — the first one I’ve attempted. These WordPress challenges are proving excellent at teaching me a thing or two about the features of WordPress!
E V Gregory 
I can imagine the smell of the eucalyptus trees on your walk. There is just one eucalyptus around the corner from my house and you can smell it before you can see it!
I would love to see wild cockatoos and the clip of the lyrebirds is amazing. I have an African Grey who’s mimicing skills are very impressive, but I don’t think even he could do a chainsaw like that!
Love the photos. So pretty 🙂
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Thanks, Kim. I know exactly where to take you to see wild cockatoos! They are quite something. And NOISY!
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Okay, I gotta wonder about the evolutionary benefits of imitating construction sounds, but the birds sure are pretty.
😉
Your photos are lovely, too. Glad you had such a nice day!
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Yeah the construction sounds are weird (we heard similar today!). I think it’s to attract their mate. Or something…
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Ahhh…so lovely. The photos remind me of the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park (adjacent to the Zoo grounds). Mainly because a woman naturalist (who’s name I’ve forgotten), imported the majority of the plant that now grow there (a botanical wonder!) from Australia. Your photos make me long to see these plants and animals in their native environments!
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It’s true Australia is very different from most other places. I don’t recall seeing all the Australian plants at San Diego Zoo — must’ve been distracted by the pandas. 😛
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wow! that bird is amazing. It’s practically a tape recorder. There goes the idea of “bird brain.”
Ellen, I love your photos. Sounds like a lovely day out, especially with the lemon slice…
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Thanks, Suzanne – it was a lovely day out. And that would be a ‘vanilla’ slice – an Australian cake adapted from the French… Essentially a great slab of custard between pastry. Yum!
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Yes, Vanilla slice! My brain was thinking colour.
You have talked about those vanilla slices before and I still need to find a place that makes them, assuming they can be found in Canada…
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Ripe, up in Sassafras, does some of the best coffee I’ve had, and an amazing hot chocolate which I have tried myself but I’m assured is exquisite.
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We almost stopped in Sassafras, but didn’t. I’ll have to remember to check out Ripe next time! Thanks for the tip.
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Great photos, Ellen! I used to babysit a girl named Rosella and have always wanted to see her namesake bird in person, even with my phobia of all things feathered. (Actually, she and all of her siblings are named after birds, though I think her name is the prettiest.)
Looks and sounds like it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. And that vanilla slice looks divine. 🙂
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Well, I was about to suggest you come visit and I’ll take you to feed the birds… but maybe that wouldn’t be your thing – heh. The crimson rosellas are stunning, though. We saw gorgeous king parrots too. And yes, the vanilla slice was divine — would the lure of the mighty vanilla slice counteract your fear of birds? 🙂
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