MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Best wishes from all the Smiths

M&M

DECEMBER 2018 : CANBERRA : National Botanical Gardens

A visit to the National Botanical Gardens on a hot December afternoon.There have been some new additions to our Botanical Gardens which we were keen to explore.A new track has been forged along Black Mountain Peninsular to showcase some native bush trees and plants and opens up scenic views of Lake Burley Griffin. We were also keen to see the new children’s treehouse and the Red Centre garden.

                                                                                                                           

A busy ant with a heavy load

The view from the new look out - the central basin of Lake Burley Griffin and public buildings in the Parliamentary Triangle

We then walked back along the track, crossed Black Mountain Drive to the main section of the Botanical Gardens.

Our first stop was the newly build Childrens’ Treehouse, hidden along the Educational Trail. 

It brought back memories of many excursions to the Gardens with my kindergarten classes.

Then we made our way to the Red Centre Garden, where we were welcomed by a spiny Thorny Devil sculpture.

The garden makes an immediate impact with the deep colours of the sand and rocks and the exquisite tiny flowers which survive in such arid conditions.

Some other gems which caught our eye in surrounding gardens.

And the piece de resistance was this little Eastern Spinebill

Despite the heat, about 30C, this was such a fascinating and pleasant afternoon. We are so fortunate to have the Gardens 10 minutes from home.

M&M

NOVEMBER 2018 : ROBERTSON, NSW : Wilson Family Reunion

An annual reunion of the Wilson family, my mother’s family, at Robertson Inn in the Southern Highlands, NSW.

Sandra, Peter, Jan, Rob, Mum, Dos and Toni

Ros, Chris and Peter Hamilton

Nige, Mum and Tracy

Ken, Cathy, Mark and Sally

Cathy, Rob, Dos, Sandra, Ros, Meg and Jan

Phil and Toni

Cathy and Ken

Sandra, Ros and Jan

Nige, Chris, Mum and Tracy

Jenny, Sally and Nige

Peter and Ken

The whole crew

M&M

NOVEMBER 2018 : EUCUMBENE, NSW - 2 hour drive

Friends invited us to visit them at their lodge on Lake EUCUMBENE, south of Cooma.

Along the Monaro Highway there are several sculptures with the Brindabella Mountains as the backdrop.

Turning off the highway we passed several cattle and sheep properties.

More pasture and feed here for animals compared to the drier conditions at Wee Jasper, north-west of Canberra, on Saturday.

A surprise to see an echidna crossing the road.

The lodge on the shore of Lake Eucumbene. An artificial lake, created in the late 1950s, to provide water for the Snowy hydro-electric scheme.

The lake is considerably lower than it has been in years gone by, as attested by these distance markers

A desolate landscape

Huge bull ants 

We had a long walk along a fire trail, protected from the windy conditions

A small kangaroo and joey on the trail

Not much colour in the pine and gum forests apart from this native pea.

Julie caught sight of this Rufus Whistler, attracted by its beautiful call.

Rain overnight and continuing during the day. A photo shoot with Mark’s new drone.

 Another sculpture near the Cooma airport.

The snowfields are only 45 mins south of Eucumbene. We look forward to investigating these further for some summer walks.

M&M