Steam Trip

Today involved a bit of travel back and forwards, including taking a bus from this old station 

to meet this train which had travelled from Melbourne.

We boarded the train and travelled back to the the station where we had left our car.

We didn't wait around to see the engine turned on the turntable:

Because our accommodation for the night was back in the town where we had boarded the train.

It was a fun thing to do, and good timing that it happened just when we would be in the area.

Last thing at night we had a good view of a fireworks display in the town where we are staying, so that was another lucky coincidence. 

Along the Murray

The start of a delightful walk of about 4.5kms through Kings Billabong Wildlife Reserve:

Sign which is slightly hard to read, but the walk we did was the loop track from "You are here" to the bird hide which looks out over the water in roughly the middle of the sign: 

It was a very pleasant day for it, not too hot and sunny, or too cold.

 

Have you ever seen a pedestrian crossing where pedestrians don't have right-of-way? 

 

I wonder why even have a crossing point?

 

 

In the afternoon we took a slow trip up the river on this paddle boat: 

The trip took just over 2 hours, and it was relaxing to watch the world go by. We sat outside to enjoy the sights, but this is the carpet inside:

Cute!

Now we head south towards home. 

Being Flexible

We had a private tour booked for today, to take us to Lake Mungo. Unfortunately our tour guide had an accident which left him with broken ribs and stuck in Melbourne unable to drive. So we had to come up with plan B.

We are in Balranald, a small town of around 1,000 people. Apparently there are a lot of frogs.

Frog themed climbing frame.

We visited a few interesting spots around the town. The Yanga National Park is nearby, so we explored there. This is the Murrumbidgee River:

Finding new species that don't occur in our region has been interesting. Check out these grasshoppers I saw in the national park:

 

Heading North

 This morning we had a tour of a privately-owned wetland restoration project. It  was very interesting but I only realised later that I took almost no photos. This was the start of the path through the wetland:

And the rest you will have to imagine!

We then continued on the next part of our journey, which took us further north into apparently dangerous country:

 

Here's the view from the balcony of the lakeside cabin where we are spending tonight:

They weren't lying about it being lake-side!
 

Weekend in Castlemaine

 This weekend I am at a conference not a long way from home. Here is a sweet vase of native flowers on our table at the Friday night dinner:

Saturday involved a couple of walks in the local bushland.

Mostly on small tracks, looking at wildflowers, but this was just heading back to the cars at the end of the morning exploration. 

Also a quick visit to Castlemaine Botanic Gardens between the bush walks.

Their wisteria is at its peak. Ours at home is just starting.
 

Bits and Pieces

I took a few photos of spring happening around the garden, then my camera battery went flat, and then when I tried to get to my blog I got an error message that I didn't have time to resolve.

So here are a few random things!

A cockatoo starting to have a nibble of a high window frame early one morning. I don't want to encourage that behaviour! 

It flew off when it noticed me.

We had quite a lot of rain last week. Over 70mm at our place. So we went to see how Lal Lal Falls was looking:

 This is a pot near the front door, with a forest of Ajuga in flower:

And this is a miniature iris:

And the only shot I managed of orchids in the greenhouse:

Then my camera told me the battery was exhausted!

 

Happy October!

 This morning I found that the quince tree has started flowering:

 

Then as I was having my breakfast I checked in on the peregrine falcons nesting in Collins St in the city, and saw that the first egg has hatched:

And not long after the first chick was also eating its breakfast: