Galahs

Flowering quince

Quite by accident, I discovered the identity of the flowering shrub outside our flat.  We've been wondering ever since it began blooming last July and bearing fruit sometime last summer.  (You may have seen it mentioned/photographed in blog posts here, here, and here..)  It is a flowering quince. 

It's a little earlier this year, but it's already at it again.  I noticed the first bud last Wednesday and we have a blossom today.

The first blossom on the flowering quince outside our apartment

Happened across another bush on a walk around town last weekend,
this one loaded with buds

Wyrrabalong National Park

We stopped for a walk at Wyrrabalong National Park (South) on our way down to Gosford.  The park is a rather narrow strip along the coast and we walked the coastal track from one tip of the park to the other.  We meandered through eucalypt and banksia forest, past several different kinds of acacia and through coastal heathlands.  We saw a fair bit of wildflowers including some we'd never seen before.

Crackneck Lookout is roughly the halfway point and was a popular place for whale watchers.  We didn't see any whales when we stopped for a snack on our way down, but on the return trip we stopped again and were fortunate enough to see some distant whales off the coast.  Someone with binoculars said it was two adults with a calf, but when they surfaced it was impossible to tell with just the naked eye.

A variety of acacia

Some type of coastal banksia

Looking northwards towards The Entrance

Whale watching at Crackneck Lookout

Saw these wildflowers along the path quite a few times, but they
weren't identified on the 'flora and fauna' visitor's information board.

Eriostemon

We first thought this was a pea flower, but turns out
it is something quite different (see below)

Driving down to Swansea and The Entrance

Seagulls over Caves Beach

Sunday was the Central Coast Craft Beer and Cider Festival, held in the little town of Kincumber, which is a little bit north of Sydney and close to the city of Gosford.  We drove down to Gosford on Saturday so as to avoid a long and early trip Sunday morning.  It's such a pretty drive from Thunderbolts Highway (from Uralla to Walcha to Gloucester) to Bucketts Way (from Gloucester down through Stroud to the Pacific Highway to Newcastle.)

We stopped for a picnic in Swansea in a lovely park overlooking Caves Beach and the Pacific.  Our next stop was Wyrrabalong National Park, which is made up of two areas: the North park and South park, one north of The Entrance and one south of it.  We've driven by the exit for The Entrance several times on our way back from Sydney, so it was kind of fun to finally pass through.  The city is named for the body of water on which the city is located.  A narrow strip of land separates the ocean and an inland bay, connected only by a thin channel.  That is The Entrance.

Past Gloucester

(A lot of cities around here could make you think
you're in the British Isles)

Art along the highway barriers

Approaching the ocean

Caves Beach

This magpie would like to remind you there are No Dogs and
No Motorbikes, No Glass and No Littering at Caves Beach

There's a pretty big prawn between Swansea and The Entrance
(but not as big as the Big Prawn outside Ballina.)

Driving through Wyrrabalong National Park (North)

Tiny birds

Managed to capture some of these quick little birds yesterday, as well as an elusive new honeyeater that I've never photographed before.  The lighting was just perfect for the wrens-- but not so much for the honeyeater.  Hope I have better luck next time!

Wallaby Video

I've been meaning to include more videos on the blog lately, just for fun.  Here's a wallaby we saw out at Wollomombi last December.

Vegemite Chocolate

We bought some special Limited Edition New Release Vegemite Dairy Milk chocolate the other day. As to be expected, it's pretty salty. We were a bit nervous about it, but the vegemite flavor is pretty slight, so as long as you eat the chocolate piece all at once it's not so bad. (Probably won't be buying heaps of it though.)