tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91192402012-02-17T09:47:30.635+13:00My mediocre efforts at describing my time in Australia and possibly New Zealand or wherever else I manage to go.Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.comBlogger3421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-54958609129120197632012-01-29T19:50:00.003+13:002012-01-30T00:25:27.157+13:00

In mid December Adelle and I went for a walk in the Ku-ring-gai Chase national park. I had not done these tracks for a while so it was good to combine them in a leisurely loop. The wildlife was good with plenty of reptiles including a nice monitor. There was also a very friendly echidna digging up an ants nest near the track but unfortunately it was a torrential downpour at the time and I was

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-34015340184561676452011-12-04T20:58:00.002+13:002011-12-05T01:06:52.154+13:00

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

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-60527393800176146802011-11-19T11:38:00.003+13:002011-11-19T21:20:29.072+13:00

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

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-17272172828365854002011-11-12T20:28:00.002+13:002011-11-12T20:33:36.415+13:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-76589582313676964692011-11-12T20:22:00.002+13:002011-11-12T20:28:44.782+13:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-67053748400981066842011-09-26T00:53:00.002+13:002011-09-26T01:01:12.186+13:00

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).

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-51069550935037838662011-09-25T23:42:00.002+13:002011-09-25T23:47:59.690+13:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-64121699408103043192011-09-04T17:12:00.002+12:002011-09-05T00:07:08.843+12:00

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

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-31905473063755459722011-09-01T21:41:00.002+12:002011-09-01T22:18:31.921+12:00

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

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-46059088256725953962011-08-13T23:03:00.001+12:002011-08-14T00:24:11.641+12:00

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"

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-85472246129977000762011-07-30T18:12:00.002+12:002011-07-30T20:24:20.476+12:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-31105211538184374532011-07-29T21:36:00.002+12:002011-07-29T23:28:15.878+12:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-4399376468839052882011-07-16T16:07:00.004+12:002011-07-16T16:37:21.722+12:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-9483162197757522412011-07-09T10:49:00.002+12:002011-07-09T10:51:20.078+12:00

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

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-31380410921615547082011-06-09T00:26:00.002+12:002011-06-09T00:43:36.285+12:00

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-ThrushShould have brought a wider angle lens.An AGL in its natural

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-13135552442676800512011-05-31T22:46:00.002+12:002011-05-31T23:15:22.475+12:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-75271798617363440152011-05-25T00:18:00.002+12:002011-05-25T00:43:44.111+12:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-11665865412733407522011-04-24T00:40:00.002+12:002011-04-24T00:46:49.865+12:00

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.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-30790023091382099062011-04-23T21:01:00.003+12:002011-04-24T00:22:44.241+12:00

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.HorseSheepHappy bullUgly chickenUglier pigHelmeted guinea fowl

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-19093784180050919992011-03-13T23:31:00.002+13:002011-03-13T23:53:10.036+13:00

The three of us decided to go to the Royal a week ago. Sadly it rained constantly while we were there so there was not a lot we could do. Still a few spiders about and there were at least 5 kingfishers by the river in Audley including one azure.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-83114313598083132462011-03-07T00:12:00.001+13:002011-03-07T00:14:00.935+13:00

Adelle needed a new camera as hers is all but dead. Should be good when I feeling lazy and don't want to carry 4 kg of SLR around.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-53934265432846738872011-02-27T19:07:00.000+13:002011-02-27T20:07:46.180+13:00

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-3137281308571535992011-02-27T17:53:00.003+13:002011-02-27T20:22:30.250+13:00

After Iain and Paul laid down the gauntlet by spotting the wandering tattler long reef, Allan and I thought we were in with a good chance to see it as well. After all Iain and Paul only have half a functioning eye between them. We didn't time things very well and it took us two hours to drive from marrickville to dee why and when we got there the tide was most of the way in and the bird was

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-68383214518550322572011-02-13T23:44:00.002+13:002011-02-14T00:24:20.959+13:00

A few weeks back after not doing much over the weekend Allan gave me a call to see if I wanted to make a trip to boat harbour to look for a Red Knot.As usual there was a fine selection of waders and we were struggling to find the right bird. But luckily there was someone there who knew what they were doing and we soon had some good views.Sadly I couldn't get any good photos.Some of the other

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-82104994044092577782011-01-05T23:27:00.001+13:002011-01-05T23:32:02.111+13:00

Born Tuesday 04/01/2011 and weighing 2825 g.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-39355607479535960182011-01-04T23:07:00.002+13:002011-01-04T23:21:37.443+13:00

Being lazy we decided to do a walk that we had already done a month ago. Still it is a lovely walk and did not disappoint on the wildlife front.Copper-tailed Skink (Ctenotus taeniolatus)Cunningham's Skink (Egernia cunninghami)Tawny-crowned Honeyeater (Phylidonyris melanops)Giant RoachWhite's Skink (Egernia whitii)Jacky Lizard (Amphibolurus muricatus)Water Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii)

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-27931019023002805022011-01-03T12:44:00.004+13:002011-01-03T20:33:58.327+13:00

We are rather limited in what we can do at the moment so decided to go for a walk at Kurnell.The bird life was not that impressive.Insect life was only slightly better.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-64442231461226065612010-11-23T20:36:00.002+13:002010-11-23T21:44:33.534+13:00

On the weekend Allan, Adelle and I went for a we stroll in the Royal. We started at wattamolla beach and headed south to a lovely rock pool and waterfall that is a few hundred meters up Curracurrong creek.There were plenty of large eastern water-dragons around.This one was quite friendly or thought it had found a giant grub to eat.The waterfall.Yabbie

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-12288551710879101582010-11-23T01:26:00.001+13:002010-11-23T01:29:12.831+13:00

Had a few native bees on the feeble collection of weeds that grow on the balcony. Better than caterpillars at least.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-27867594707851727142010-11-14T22:33:00.002+13:002010-11-14T22:59:37.128+13:00

I did the Marley track twice last month once with Allan and once with Adelle, but it is a nice little walk so well worth the repeat. Deer pool would also be worth a visit in the warmer months.Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)White's Skink (Egernia whitii)

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-57915538021439579432010-11-13T11:41:00.002+13:002010-11-13T12:04:15.724+13:00

Iain keeps dragging me out to Shane's park so often that I am getting the impression he like the place. Sadly we didn't do very well there as far as birds are concerned but that may have been due to the large number of people riding around on motorbikes.Magnificently feral

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-66510037687108573622010-10-27T19:32:00.003+13:002010-11-13T11:40:56.725+13:00

Perrys lookdown is well renowned as a good place to stretch the legs so a fews weeks back in some reasonably mild weather Allan and I went went for a wander up and down it. Didn't see much in the way of wildlife but there were plenty of other punters out for a brisk stroll.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-2196102287738467162010-10-16T00:43:00.002+13:002010-10-16T01:48:08.792+13:00

Adelle and I went to Ojia's and Adam's wedding a few weeks ago on Hamilton island. The island is quite developed but there was still some wildlife left in places and we managed to see a green turtle, a monitor, a green tree snake a few birds, some live coral and a heck of a lot of dead coral. There were also golf buggies to drive around the island but unfortunately ours malfunctioned so we spent

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-23988355399265099872010-09-19T12:22:00.004+12:002010-09-25T23:17:29.767+12:00

Adelle, Bill, Allan and I went for a lovely walk in the blue mountains a few weeks back. After considerable deliberation on the way up we decided to go to Mt Banks which turned out to be one of the best walks that I have done in the blue mountains. The view from the top of the mountain is not that spectacular but it is possible to walk round to the cliffs overlooking the grosse valley and get

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-4329048354674200482010-08-29T01:46:00.002+12:002010-08-29T01:49:56.340+12:00

Went to barren grounds nature reserve for what wil probably be the last time as Allan finally managed to see the ground parrot. Sadly I didn't get any good photos of the parrot but did get a reasonable one of the beautiful firetail.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-30403445716571386122010-08-06T00:45:00.003+12:002010-08-06T10:23:32.850+12:00

Twice a year the whales migrate past Sydney and put on quite a good display. We decided to go to kurnell and have a look. There were a few hundred other punters there but the vast majority stayed within 50 m of their cars so the cliffs were pretty quiet which meant we could do a bit of bird watching as well. In the end we saw 2 or 3 humpback whales and more importantly a magnificent male

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-1738310847119456992010-07-18T21:50:00.002+12:002010-07-18T23:04:05.032+12:00

Over the long weekend last month, Allan, Gemma, Adelle and I headed up to Barrington Tops National Park. Despite the cold the Polblue camp ground was reasonably crowded with large 4WD vehicles and there unique occupants.It was also rather cold for most of the days we were there and when it was it was not cold it was raining so it reminded me of home which was nice. Just to prove it does snow in

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-52733236325737599662010-06-27T02:05:00.002+12:002010-06-27T02:30:56.762+12:00

A few weeks back my parents visited so I decided to do a walk which Allan had be talking about for a while. The weather had been rather wet for the preceding week or so which meant for the first time since I arrived in Australia that when I went to see a waterfall there was actually water falling rather just a couple of stagnant pools. Just to prove the point for the doubtful septics here is

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-24252883554772053092010-06-19T23:53:00.002+12:002010-06-20T01:19:53.611+12:00

After considerable effort I managed to convince Allan, Gemma, Iain, Emily and Adelle that a weekend in the Yengo NP would be worth the trip out there. People in Australia don't seem to like going out in the rain for some reason. Turned out to be pretty reasonable weather in the end and a few nice birds were about but the only nocturnal wildlife consisted of one frog.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-34635958733310425612010-06-14T23:15:00.003+12:002010-06-14T23:17:12.803+12:00

A quick wander around Olympic park a month ago produced spectacularly little.This eel was rather friendly though.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-13957759175805433002010-05-19T22:07:00.002+12:002010-05-19T22:33:59.867+12:00

We went for a kayak a couple of weekends ago in Bundeena with my father. Saw a hobby which was good as it was about time. Also got some very good views of an azure kingfisher.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-35032622494978932332010-05-04T10:10:00.002+12:002010-05-04T10:19:40.390+12:00

Making the most of the Monday public holiday over Anzac weekend Adelle and I went for a climb at Mt York. It had been a while but I eventually remembered how too lead and managed to get up 5 climbs, albeit rather short ones.The obligatory arse shot.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-81792739242918490452010-04-20T00:02:00.003+12:002010-04-20T23:07:24.958+12:00

I measured the box and it came to a glorious 55 m2. Not too bad for a peasant like me but it would be nice to have something a little larger. Sadly everything in my price range tends to be one and a half hours commute from work such as this gem. Might just have to wait till the market collapses or just move back to NZ.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-65404180100413366492010-04-10T20:25:00.005+12:002010-04-18T23:15:02.594+12:00

Over Easter Adelle and I decided to do a three day walk in the blue mountains. Sadly with the first 4 hours being a leechey, nettley hell my keen tramping partner became phenomenally less enthusiastic. Mind you the leeches were considerably worse than I have ever encountered before with half a dozen crawling over your shoes at any moment and a bit of blood was lost. Therefore, we decided to cut

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-76873536721079362942010-04-05T14:14:00.002+12:002010-04-05T23:35:49.567+12:00

Making the most of our annual pass it was decided that we should go for a we walk in the royal a few weeks back. With Bill, Allan and Adelle along it was a pretty good turnout. We went from the forest path car park at one end of Lady Carrington drive up the couranga track to where it meets the uloola track near waterfall and then followed that down to Audley for a few Ice blocks to stave off the

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-39232747925927875282010-03-26T23:41:00.002+13:002010-03-26T23:45:40.170+13:00

Went for a week walk around the forest loop last weekend with Adelle, Ruth and Nicola. There was not much wildlife about so we spent most of the time getting attacked by leeches and clambering over rocks and logs.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-44981192468022811352010-03-08T21:54:00.002+13:002010-03-08T23:41:59.985+13:00

Allan and went for a wander around the Barren grounds nature reserve on Sunday. The weather was perfect with low cloud enveloping the reserve ensuring it was nice and cool and allowing us to do a 20 km walk without the threat of heat stroke.Sadly the only things we saw were a few tadpoles and a bassian thrush. Christmas Bell

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-59156787508979283222010-03-06T20:23:00.002+13:002010-03-07T01:16:42.682+13:00

My brother and his family drove up from Melbourne a few weeks ago for a quick visit on their way up to Queensland for a holiday.Sadly while they were here the weather was horribly hot and sticky but we did go for a picnic in the Royal National park and then did quite badly at trying to find a beach.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-59508042697148920902010-02-06T11:51:00.003+13:002010-02-06T13:00:42.360+13:00

Over the Australia day long weekend (it was a long weekend if you took the Monday off) Allan, Gemma, Adelle and I went down to the Ben Boyd national park for a few days followed by a night at Kosciuszko National Park.The campsite at Ben Boyd was very nice and although it was full the people there were all pretty quiet. Ben BoydKosciuszko NP on the other hand was possibly a little more scenic but

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-21988019736537265612010-01-19T10:35:00.002+13:002010-01-19T10:55:38.062+13:00

On Saturday morning most of us were ready to go at the relatively keen hour of 8:00 am.First up on the list of places was windsor downs, where looking at the oversized houses provided significantly better entertainment than looking at the birds. Mostly because there were no birds to see, it was also starting to get rather hot.Next we went to Bushell's lagoon and didn't see the grey plover or

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-62217972564826923672010-01-10T17:51:00.003+13:002010-01-10T21:34:06.095+13:00

Adelle and I spent Christmas and new years in NZ over the holidays and it was lovely with nice mild temperatures and very little time spent in the city.Christmas at Nana's.Raglan's new years parade. It was substantially better than standing amongst the sleazy sweaty throngs of subhumans in Sydney in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the spectacular waste of money that is the fireworks on the

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-36345862843535562452009-11-12T22:46:00.003+13:002009-11-12T23:51:25.721+13:00

We went for another walk in the royal on the weekend but did not have much time as we had to do some tilling in the bathroom. Therefore we chose to do the forest loop walk, which is at one end of the lady carrington drive. I have done it a few other times and do remember there being a few leeches on previous occasions but not as bad as it was this weekend. Still although I got about 20 on my

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-73934561287517071972009-11-02T10:41:00.003+13:002009-11-02T10:59:47.763+13:00

Sunday was hot and I was sporting a headache so we decided to go for a walk along lady Carrington drive. The birds and reptiles were out in abundance and a light coloured goshawk even flew over but did not linger long enough for me to confirm the identity. Golden WhistlerVariegated Fairy-wren

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-40900965577897548932009-10-06T20:27:00.004+13:002009-10-13T00:03:08.504+13:00

Adelle and I decided to take an extra two days off over the long weekend and go on a road trip.On the first day we drove to Willie Retreat in the Macquarie Marshes. It was a nine hour drive which is quite reasonable by Australian standards and leaving Sydney is always a pleasant experience. I had been to willie retreat before but it was in winter so didn't previously get to experience the green

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-27097831180202204362009-09-29T21:11:00.002+13:002009-09-29T23:40:41.837+13:00

Adelle I and 10,000 or so other punter did the Sydney spring cycle on the weekend.It went well and despite having a gammy knee seemed easier than previous years. I also cycled home afterwards while Adelle got the train and despite taking it very easy at just over an hour to cycle home I still managed to beet Sydney's public transportation system quite easily.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-57039088487959972932009-09-23T22:40:00.002+12:002009-09-23T23:17:24.547+12:00

Managed to cycle from Marrickville to Cape Soleander and back on Saturday. Did not see any particularly interesting birds unfotunately but it was a reasonable ride none the less at just under 70 km. Which is next to nothing by Tour de France standards where most of the stages are nearly 200km long but it is a start and should help prepare us for the cycle Sydney which takes place on Sunday.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-45467250329809959882009-09-14T23:32:00.002+12:002009-09-15T00:01:51.737+12:00

I went for a nice walk in the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve on the weekend. The park is very nice and rarely has an over-abundance of annoying tourists. Also being spring the wild flowers were out.I did the Griffiths trail and Kangaroo ridge walk which combine for a nice 20 km outing, but with wide grassy tracks where you only need to look down when snakes move from just in front of your feet it

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-80241029885612217912009-08-22T17:58:00.002+12:002009-08-22T18:58:32.205+12:00

We hadn't been camping for a while so it was decided that it was time to go to the capertee again.Escaped from Sydney prior to rush hour which was good as some less fortunate people got stuck on paramatta road for an hour or even took a tour of bilpin courtesy of their tomtom.We even had a display of what passes for winter in Australia with frost early in the morning. Mind you it still got into

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-41777019718479888742009-08-06T20:32:00.001+12:002009-08-06T20:32:16.241+12:00

We have been doing quite a bit of cycling recently due to Adelle purchasing a new bike.A few weeks ago we cycled from Marrickville to Sydney Olympic park and back and then last weekend we went from Marrickville to nearly Kurnell and back.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-43504046292977223672009-07-13T00:27:00.003+12:002009-07-13T00:37:03.462+12:00

Thought I better throw in a token post.Unfortunately any photos involving "crowns" have been permanently misplaced.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-25007367171977137472009-06-26T00:08:00.002+12:002009-06-26T00:26:41.892+12:00

The final part of the honeymoon saga.After spending most of the first day at Uluru it was time to visit the Olgas/Kata Tjuta.The olgas are a great place and have a reasonably good walk called the valley of the winds which is well worth doing.From HoneymoonThere were even wild flowers.From HoneymoonThe rock was also a nice solid conglomerate unlike the flakey stuff on Uluru, would be quite good

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-27818295713306848142009-06-18T21:42:00.002+12:002009-06-19T00:25:22.749+12:00

The saga continues with more photos of Uluru.These were hard to get as I had a 70-200 lens on a 1.6x body so that I could only fit half of it in from the sunset viewing location.Luckily I found a good programme on Linux that makes it easy to join it all together.From HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonAfter the rain there was a nice sunset.From Honeymoon

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-51868437930341358952009-06-13T23:07:00.002+12:002009-06-14T01:47:15.643+12:00

When we finally made it to Uluru it was raining rather heavily which turned out to be a good thind as that way we got to see the waterfalls running down it.From HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom Honeymoon

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-30708677557737425352009-06-11T23:20:00.002+12:002009-06-12T00:16:53.682+12:00

Even more pictures of things seen around kings canyon and on the way to Uluru.From HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonDesert OakFrom HoneymoonBlack breasted buzzardFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonMt connerFrom Honeymoon

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-16848014887111761522009-06-11T23:16:00.002+12:002009-06-11T23:20:01.413+12:00

Even more Kings Canyon since I could not fit it all in the first post.From HoneymoonWestern bowerbird with bower, seen near the garden of eden on the rim walk.From HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonSpinifex

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-61596290190989397612009-06-11T22:55:00.002+12:002009-06-11T23:15:39.738+12:00

Kings canyon was the next destination. It has some great sites but unfortunately like 99% of the outback every second stone is sacred which means the areas that the public are allowed to go are very limited. From HoneymoonCrater rim walk.From HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonThere were flocks of spinifex pigeons everywhere, quite lovely birds actually.From HoneymoonFrom Honeymoon

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-62026028359018177282009-06-11T00:39:00.002+12:002009-06-11T00:44:51.955+12:00

From glen helen we decided to drive down to kings canyon in one day which was quite a drive 6-700 kms or so but with a 130 km/hr speed limit it didn't take to long.The first stop on the way was Henbury meteorite craters which is an imprssively desolate area which would also be a good place to camp.From HoneymoonFrom Honeymoon From HoneymoonMajor mitchell's cockatoo, there were six in one

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-80050176083368405912009-06-10T19:55:00.002+12:002009-06-11T00:35:42.993+12:00

On our final day in the west MacDonnell National Park we visited the ochre pits and ormiston gorge.Firstly another picture from Glen Helen.From HoneymoonIf you strain your eyes you can see the brown falcon on top of the tree.From HoneymoonOrmiston gorgeFrom HoneymoonFrom HoneymoonWestern bowerbird

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-70631329014518868252009-06-07T01:12:00.002+12:002009-06-07T01:16:23.391+12:00

Things around the west macdonell national park.Paddy melons were quite numerous on the sides of the road as well as in the river beds.Nearly every night we were in glen helen we had dingos visiting. There were also a few of them wandering around the kings canyon resort.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-14915314909673253792009-06-07T00:34:00.002+12:002009-06-07T01:11:21.886+12:00

After we finished the walk we spent a few more days camping at glen helen and doing day trips out from there. On the first day we went to Ellery creek big hole and Serpentine gorge.The Big Hole.Serpentine gorge was particularly good for the birds with flocks of zebra and painted finches coming it to drink along with grey headed, brown and white plumed honeyeaters as well as budgies and a western

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-47559508084335803302009-06-07T00:17:00.002+12:002009-06-07T00:33:26.212+12:00

Once we got to Glen Helen we were due to start the exciting part of the trip. This was a three day walk over sections 11 and 12 of the Larapinta trail. Sadly we did not have time to do all of the trail.Mt Sonder was the first part of the walk and it easily used up the best part of a day although it was well worth it. Catfish that was in redbank gorge.The scenery was reasonable on the walk.The

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-87483679093955632112009-06-06T22:50:00.005+12:002009-06-07T00:11:54.923+12:00

Since Adelle got her way with the wedding it was only fair that I got to organise the honeymoon.Since I had never been to the outback and it was nearly winter it seemed like the logical conclusion, the other option was kakadu and northern queensland.We flew into Alice Springs which is not a bad town by outback standards, although it pays to be careful when walking around at night.First up was a

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-28180631327813790862009-05-11T21:43:00.002+12:002009-05-11T22:17:35.952+12:00

On Friday I went to the reptile park with the family and pestered a few snakes.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-45585394829735452752009-05-03T15:50:00.002+12:002009-05-03T16:23:14.868+12:00

Last weekend I went back to Mogo creek with Allan.The wildlife was reasonable with the local lace monitor still in residence.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-64869571005509582672009-04-17T01:00:00.002+12:002009-04-17T01:54:15.722+12:00

A few weeks ago I went snorkeling in boat harbour with the dodgy gentlemen below.Sadly there were bugger all fish and the picture below may help expain why.In case you can't see the bastard was going spearfishing in the reserve. There was also 50 people fishing else wear in the reserve which probably doesn't help aswell.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-49548087893608006912009-03-30T00:23:00.002+13:002009-03-30T00:27:17.874+13:00

Last weekend with Iain and his parents we decided to go and have a look for the American Golden Plover that has been hanging around boat harbour.KookaburrasGiant waspA rare bird can bring out all sorts.The one on the left is what all the fuss was about.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-61358483753757824352009-03-30T00:11:00.001+13:002009-03-30T00:23:06.691+13:00

A few weeks ago Sarah was in town so with Adelle we went for a walk in Kuring Gai Chase national park. Adelle

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-86886258451208395822009-03-02T23:35:00.002+13:002009-03-02T23:38:29.179+13:00

Went to the yengo yesterday with Adelle and managed to see a painted button quail as well as an extremely friendly lace monitor.Painted Button-QuailLace monitorRobinJacky lizardTree

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-5069709743988409072009-03-02T23:17:00.001+13:002009-03-02T23:35:17.984+13:00

A few weeks ago I went south to find some birds and temporarily escape Sydney's pollution.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-57326782953330670592009-01-11T13:41:00.002+13:002009-01-11T13:52:18.590+13:00

Well thanks to birding Aus we had a tip off on where a pair of Pacific Baza were nesting so with a near certain tick we decided to venture out.Looking dodgy.Pacific BazaWould never stay still.WallabyNo trip to the royal would be complete without seeing a Lace Monitor.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-13606163279752769802008-12-30T13:31:00.002+13:002008-12-30T17:24:21.089+13:00

I went down to Melbourne for Christmas to spend a week with my brother and his family.Reese and soon to be sibling.Lots of kangaroos only a few hundred metres from the house.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-26827750388500942622008-12-04T21:20:00.002+13:002008-12-04T22:00:00.563+13:00

Went for a walk to spot the flocks of Pacific Bazas that supposedly live on Lady Carrington Drive.Did not see any Bazas but we did see a lot of other wildlife.Flannel Flower Actinotus helianthiTurtlesThere were lots of monitors about, well at least the three that we saw.Water dragonVariegated Fairy-wrenAn attempt at non-consensual mating by a Superb Lyrebird.This one is actually in focus but you

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-29869242920147821652008-11-13T23:01:00.002+13:002008-11-14T00:24:04.048+13:00

Adelle drove me to the reptile park on the weekend, it was hard to tell what was more entertaining the driving or the reptiles. Luckily Australia is reasonably flat so there were not too many hillstarts.The mighty land mullet as magnificent as I had always imagined.Thought I might have had a legitimate tick until I saw the sign for it on the outside of the enclosure.Cape barren goose

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-1966397520754877882008-10-25T11:08:00.000+13:002008-10-25T11:09:10.073+13:00

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-49091447118978680402008-10-08T23:02:00.001+13:002008-10-08T23:11:57.056+13:00

Some pictures from the capertee valley.I did not take that many due to the rain.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-25518010859563559302008-09-29T22:34:00.002+13:002008-09-29T22:46:18.819+13:00

Some photos from a park a few hundred metres from Adelle's house.Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)Eastern Water-Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii lesueurii)Eastern Water-Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii lesueurii) the red chest indicates it is a mature male.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-82648011511072976572008-09-27T22:38:00.003+12:002008-09-28T03:55:41.682+13:00

Adelle and I went for a walk to Taffy's rock on the weekend.Surmounting Taffy's rock.View Larger MapOn top of Taffy's rock.Heath Monitor (Varanus rosenbergi)

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-58208496195441300582008-09-13T23:23:00.002+12:002008-09-13T23:44:19.071+12:00

Well after approximately 100 emails or so a trip to the Budawangs was finally organised.Getting out of Sydney was a bit of a drama but it eventually happened and after a quick involuntary detour to Menai we were on the pacific highway.The road to the wogwog camp site was pretty good apart from a little bit just before Nerriga where the mighty Magna was temporarily waylaid is some particularly bad

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-40966056515255964972008-09-03T21:49:00.001+12:002008-09-03T21:51:53.988+12:00

Went for a wander by the cooks river near my house on the weekend.Adelle took this photo of some red rumped parots and a "yellow" crimson rosella being pestered by a noisy miner.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-7734469434681016032008-08-28T21:58:00.001+12:002008-08-28T22:23:23.595+12:00

A few pictures from the Yengo NPWaratahSpotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-32849426586957449092008-08-18T10:13:00.003+12:002008-08-18T10:21:46.445+12:00

Went for a quick look out west with Iain yesterday.Castlereagh was as poor as usual, with buff rumped thornbills being the only bird of note.Bushells lagoon was better with some brown quails but pitt town lagoon was poor.Scheville (probably not spelt like this) was alright with a good view of a creasted shrike tit.Brown QuailAgain, although slightly blurred.Golden headed cisticolaCreasted

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-65808373329752795362008-08-03T23:25:00.002+12:002008-08-03T23:31:38.634+12:00

Adelle, Simon and I went for a we wander over Mt Solitary on the weekend. The walk links Katoomba and Wentworth Falls and although it was the third time for me it was the first time in winter which makes it a lot nicer as in summer the heat can be brutal.The three sisters at the start of the walk.Heading up the last little bit before reaching the top of Mt Solitary.Glossy black cockatoo, there

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-32138175047941960482008-07-27T20:03:00.002+12:002008-07-28T01:07:18.442+12:00

Went for a wee cycle today around Olympic park. The bird life was all right but not spectacular.There was a birds Australia display there in a few of the buildings which was nice.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-37715409051475187122008-07-20T02:48:00.002+12:002008-07-20T02:58:05.544+12:00

Got bored and changed my Linux distro from Ubuntu to Fedora. Pretty much the same really except I liked the package management in Ubuntu a bit more. Still got everything working after a while.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-90055531705771374562008-07-13T14:34:00.001+12:002008-07-13T14:37:39.959+12:00

A few pictures from the CaperteeThe Glen Davis campsite.CockatoosBirdwatching

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-91880798063514470222008-07-13T14:33:00.000+12:002008-07-13T14:34:38.522+12:00

Mogo campsiteBridge remains

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-31497567301977685932008-07-13T14:30:00.000+12:002008-07-13T14:33:31.029+12:00

Colo riverIt took a while to get the sand out.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-25709081679013591982008-07-13T14:28:00.000+12:002008-07-13T14:30:17.903+12:00

Not many birds this time unfortunately.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-65819715359437146802008-07-13T13:39:00.000+12:002008-07-13T14:28:14.321+12:00

Another picture of the frog seen in the Royal NP.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9119240.post-21864911151135029752008-07-08T22:24:00.002+12:002008-07-08T22:27:37.192+12:00

Went back to the Capertee and saw lots of lovely birds including the mythical turquoise parrot.It was very nice and the Glen Davis campsite is an amazing place with the strangest little shop that never sells anything or has any customers. There is also alot of untouched virgin rock in the area for those that are interested as well.

Jarrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434239625757713621noreply@blogger.com0