New abode

Well we moved house again as for the second time in 6 months the landlord decided to sell up. Anyway the move went very smoothly despite the rain. The new place is definitely quieter even though it is right next to the train tracks. The only problem with it is the strata won't let you put anything on your balcony as it might distract from the speculators investment properties.


Claire will miss her tiny bit of ground.

Easy birding

I went out for an afternoon of birding with Iain and Emily who have written a far better report so have a look at that.

I have to say though it was possibly my first ever sucessfull twitch as usually we just end up driving for ages to find some bogans killed the bird with their dogs.

Scheyville NP was very good for the birds for once although the humidity was close to 100% as it had just rained which was quite an experience.


Awful photo of a painted snipe.


There were a lot of old houses that the state goverment was wasting money on when it should be working on pest destruction and reforestation in the park.

Home

After visiting Wanaka we also went home for a couple of days.


There were plenty of Tui in the bush at the back of the house.


Visiting Great Nana.


Feeding the food.

Wanaka

A few weeks ago I met up with the family in Wanaka for Mums 60th.

We did a couple of walks.


Blue pools was quite nice.


A tomtit was being quite friendly as well which was good as it took a while to get a decent shot.

We also went for a walk up to the rob roy glacier.

Sadly no one wanted to climb sharkstooth.




And a compulsory visit to puzzle world for the midgets.

A little bit of wildlife

I went for a quick wander in lane cove national park yesterday again. Once you get off the main tracks there are some very nice areas.
There was quite a lot of wild life around but I only managed a mediocre photo of a Variegated Fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti).

BBQ and not much else.

Not a lot has been happening lately we had a BBQ at the in laws and NZ hasn't choked yet although there is still plenty of time for that.

Ku-ring-gai chase national park

Now that we only live 15 mins drive from Ku-ring-gai chase national park it would be rude not to visit reasonably often. It is a fairly crowded park but no worse than the royal and if you walk a bit you can quickly get away from the crowds.


Carrying Claire.


Lunch


Ducks

A birthday party and other things

A couple of weeks ago we went to Jessica's birthday party. It was good to see Di and Dans new place and I managed to convince Iain, Paul and Emily to walk there through lane cove national park.
In the shot below Iain demonstrates how to cross a raging ford just like Bear Grylls.


The theme was cowboys and indians and claire did her bit with a token feather.


In other matters our sterile flat finally gained some wildlife in our sterile yard.


Keeping the grass down.

Lane Cove national park

The good thing about moving away from Marrickville is I now live in a suburb that is not predominantly populated by welfare dependant ferals. The next best thing is I am now a lot closer to the bush with the lane cove national park about a three minute walk away.


He was paranoid about leeches.




Keen bush"walker"

Permanent Residence

I applied for my permanent residency on the 26th of February 2009 and it finally came through on the 29th of July 2011. Who said public servants were not efficient. The best part is I did not even need a dodgy arranged marriage to get it.

Museum

Since it was school holidays in NZ Mum and Josh came for a visit to see Claire and perhaps me as well. It rained every day that they were here but we still managed to get out and do a few things. A visit to the museum was probably the highlight, and I have to say it is quite amazing how little changes at the museum.

Capertee

Yet it again we went to the mighty Capertee. It has been improved since I was last there and now it is possible for even dodgy little 2wd cars like the masda to get across the ford at the bottom of the river.





By far the highlight of the trip was a visit to Simmo's museum.

Moved house

We moved house a few weeks ago and are now finally back online.

Kanangra-Boyd National park

Allan and I went for a trip to Kanangra-Boyd NP a few weeks ago in search of the elusive Red-browed treecreeper. It turned out to be even better than I remembered with some very nice scenery. We managed to find the red-browed treecreeper in the camp site and a Spotted quail-thrush on the drive in as an added bonus.


Spotted Quail-Thrush


Should have brought a wider angle lens.


An AGL in its natural environment. I think it was a bit camera shy.

Kurnell

Went for a wander in Kurnell a few weeks back. Did not see anything particularly fantastic but it was a good stretch of the legs anyway.

Wentworth falls

Allan and decided to stretch the legs on a pretty wet day up in Wentworth Falls. We did the Charles Darwin walk followed by the national pass and overcliff tracks.

Due to the rain the waterfalls were better than usual.

Botanic Garden - Mt Tomah

After braving the Easter show the next day we decided to do something more relaxing and go to the botanic gardens in the blue mountains. The gardens were nice but the colossal drive to get there I could have done without. I really need to move somewhere nice and small where it is easier to get around.

Royal Easter Show

I had been to the royal easter show once before and was not really impressed with what I saw. Part of the problem then was we went in the evening as some bogans wanted to watch other bogans riding motorbikes. This time I was dragged there by my parents but as it was during the day I got to see a few animals.

Horse


Sheep


Happy bull


Ugly chicken


Uglier pig


Helmeted guinea fowl