Seed on the wind: Mexican Butterfly Weed, Asclepias Curassavica

Ok, Ok, alright, I confess. Yesterday's blog post was a ruse. A stratagem. Some might say an artifice. Even other others: a feint. Whatever you call it, it was a deliberate attempt to delude you all into thinking that that was a fresh photo.

Why should I worry? Ive made no 'Phresh Photo Pledge' or such (yet).

I dont know, I dont know! Perhaps I am just Demented with the Power of Plausibility? After all, how would you know if I was lying to you?

Well, how? Smarty-pants.

So now that you are cooking me over an open flame to distill the essence of truth: yesterdays shot was taken on December 21st. Todays shot was taken on January 11th...but the plant is still setting seed pods and opening them as well. Ive collected a bunch of seed, and let some free to do thier thing in a bare patch nearby.

I wasnt feeling too crash hot yesterday, so I pulled a swift one on you, and then when I wasnt feeling at all better today, I realized that the jig was up and I still needed a post for today, and since I was feeling like crap on a clamshell, I just wasnt terribly inspired, so I looked at hundreds of photos waiting to be shared, and this one is the only one that speaks to me, my word, thats saying alot, there are other road trips to cover, and dont ask about the macro lens project....

Oh...well....since youre curious! I shot some honey on a plate one day - 544 pictures of honey on a plate in the sun!! Oh, Dear Reading Several, you have so much to look forward to!!!! I cant wait to ...

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Lavender has a toothache and is not reacting well to a related prescription. She will be her old blogging self again in a few days. Posts may or may not appear during this time, but if they do, she may appear taciturn in an effort to not appear surly, or insane.

Seed pod: Mexican Butterfly Weed, Asclepias Curassavica

Must keep an eye on this seed pod so I wont miss all the seeds flying away.
See the flowers in a previous entry here.

Gundagai, then home

The Most DH let me take the wheel out of Tumut for the short hop up to Gundagai. The plan was to stop at Dog on Tuckerbox and have a bite of lunch and a cuppa there. But when we arrived, it was crawling with people! Which was surprising as it was Christmas day, what the heck were all these people doing sitting around here?

Lucky for me, the ferocity of the sun forced the great throng of them to cling to the shade of nearby trees. So I hopped out of the Rover to take the obligatory snapshots. As you can see, they arent very inspired shots. I was really feeling acutely unhappy about being back amongst people again.

But all that aside, this is a wierd monument based on a fictional dog.Im sorry to say, I just dont get it. More info can be found on Wiki's Dog on Tuckerbox page.




We decided to push on to the next rest area to have that lunch, and The Most DH let me drive all the rest of the way back home to Sydney. He knew I would enjoy driving and thereby be too busy to be sad our adventure was over.

So this concludes our Christmas Refugee Escape 2008. Thanks for coming along with us!

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Additional Trip Trivia:
We were gone 33 hours, 1,231 Kilometres! Our 11 year old Land Rover averaged 9.3 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres. Thats pretty good considering her age, the terrain, alot of engine breaking, a fair bit of air con, etc etc. Blog posts generated by this trip: 16 ??!?!?! Thats Epic! LOL

Crimson Rosella, Platycercus elegans

We stopped for the facilities in Tumut. Just as I exited the Rover, this Crimson Rosella came screaming through all a-blur with a very angry Red Wattle Bird on its tail. They very nearly slammed into me.

Now you must suffer a bit of back story, I know! I know! It sucks to be you. But here it is.

For literally hundreds of kilometres we kept seeing pairs of these birds, but only as they shot up skyward and out of sight. We 'saw' at least sixty of these birds and NONE of them would do me the very small courtesy of allowing a decent photo to be taken. The cheek! And I had special seed mix. Snobs!

This photo is a crummy shot, and the bird knew it would be! You can see that the blast furnace we call 'the sun' was fiercely illuminating the tree's canopy, but not penetrating it. And add to exposure issues, some social ones.

See, I had just boldly walked up to the base of this tree, seemingly talking to myself (in actuality, I was talking to this bird), and the couple who were picnicking at the table just two feet away from my backside were tensely patient. Probably fervently hoping I would bugger off straight away if they tried very hard to pretend they hadnt noticed me.

Well, between the birds' outright scorn, and the growing apprehension from my own species, I made my retreat to the Rover with great reluctance. Snobby birds. Frightened people. Honestly....

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We had a Crimson Rosella in the backyard, back in June 2007
They havent been back, what did I do to offend them?

For more info:
Crimson Rosella at Birds in Backyards
Crimson Rosella at Wikipedia

Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, where?

The Most DH pulled the Rover to the side of the road, abruptly. Clutching my chest I gasped "Whats wrong?". "Emu." He said.


Peering through the camera's viewfinder with the lens out to 300mm, "Uh, no, I dont see anybody out there. You feeling alright? Maybe I should drive for awhile...Oh! Wait a minute, Yeah! Geeze, how'd you see him?"


I got this close before calling off the stalk.



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Another first time wild sighting!

For more info on the Emu:

Emu's at Birds in Backyards
Emu's at Wikipedia

Long drink of water - Talbingo Reservoir

The Snowy Mountains Highway takes us past the Talbingo Reservoir. It is very, very long, but I cant find info on how long. Strange, as it is a manmade lake, Id have thought some one would have wanted to crow about it...


I love the colours as the reservior just keeps going on kilometre after kilometre...


....kilometre after kilometre after....


...Oh look! Theres campers down there, cool.


Oh alright already with the reservior - whats on the other side of the road? Whoa! Random Modern Art, groovy.


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Our map shows that the Talbingo Reservior is entirely within the boundaries of the Kosciuszko National Park...but the far side of the reservior looks to me suspiciously like a pine plantation - how does that work?

Snowfields of the Eucumbene River

After Adaminaby, the road takes us back into the Kosciuszko National Park. At first the terrain is again much like yesterday. We stopped by the side of the road for a few moments to stretch and enjoy the regenerating bushland.





But as we continued, the land began to level off again. And became strangely empty. Snowfields! Millennia of winters snows melting, and running off in great torrents come spring, have scoured the area clean. Bar the grass.


This is the Eucumbene River. Its not much to look at in mid-summer, but I wouldnt want to try to cross it in the spring.