Well deserved rest

Well, I am  off- into the channel country of outback Queensland in persuit of family  history, birds and the smell of open spaces. I  look forward to returning to the city  of Sydney (not).

Here is a poem that sums it all up  for me....

Clancy  of the Overflow.

I had written him a letter which, I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just `on spec', addressed as follows, `Clancy, of The Overflow'.

And an answer came directed, in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
'Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
`Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.'

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving `down the Cooper' where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the 'buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal --
But I doubt he'd suit the office, Clancy, of `The Overflow'.

so.... you  can "stick" the city where it fits you. Me?  I  hope to  see a vision splendid!

See you  all soon!

Recent events

Tankers arriving in the street.

Being quite busy in recent weeks I was not to sure what to post. So here are some more photos of the bush fire event. It was all terribly serious and demonstrates just how quickly fire spreads. Here are photos of the tankers in the street, the trailer loaded and ready to evacuate as well as Dave in his fire brigade uniform.

More tankers arrive.

Over recent days I have walked into the area where the fire hit. Its really quite daunting to see just how much heat it generates, and how quickly the fire moves. It behaves not unlike Ocean currents, where there are bigger "waves", "rips" and "tides". Its all just so dangerous. After a few weeks the smell of fire and heat still exist and the helicopters still patrol. We have had a couple of flair ups but nothing out of control.

Packed and ready to roll.

The bike riding continues and I have done a couple of rides in the National Park on the mountain bike. The ankle is holding up well but i am very unfit-failing to climb the hills I used to do in one hit. However, the weight is coming off and each ride gets better. I was dissapointed to see that Cannondale now manufacture in China- no longer are their bikes "Hand made in the USA". Sad but a sgn of the times.


The Cannondale packed for its first mountain bike outing.

The recent ride I did was again at Mount Banks. Easy grade with a couple of steep pinches thrown in its a good test of the bike and me. The fire trail has a lot of larger loose rocks and sand so maintaining good balance is the key. Lunch was at my favorite cliff face which looks down into Blue Gum Forest and the Grose River. I often look into this area and recall all the fantastic walks I have done since the mid 1970's! Gosh I am getting old.

The Prophet at my favorite spot

I think riding the bike at 51 is not the same as riding as a 30 year old! So I dont expect to break records now, prefering consistancy and overall health as the goals. We shall see.

Bush fires

The 6 horse power fighter pump and hoses

Here we go again. Bush fire out of control to our west. Helicopters flying overhead with buckets, fire trucks in the street. I am so glad I neurotically clean my gutters and prepare my home with the fire pumps etc. I sit and watch the embers fall from the sky and wait....

3/9/2012 Update. The fire last week came within 200 metres of the houses and in some cases right up to the back fence. We had 120 fire fighters on the mountain and water bombers working for days. The fire is now just a back burn and the rural fire service and national parks officers will take advantage of the conditions to continue the burn off. This gives us about 5-7 years of safety from other fire threats.

It took me about one hour to have the house ready including all the buckets, mops, ladders gutters, the car and trailer packed. So I was pleased with myself.

Bird of the Week.

Brown Goshawk. ( Photo courtesy of Tassie Birds blog)

Well, I took the mountain bike out for a ride and went well. Its surprising just how quickly the body gets back into the swing of things. The bikes rear shock needs attention as its rebound felt awkward.

Perhaps the most interesting bird for me on this ride was a Brown Goshawk. Quite a common bird of prey they have interesting barring across the chest and a very long tail. It was not too impressed with my presence, which generally indicates nesting nearby. I hope so!

Bike training.

The dirt lane between the Polo fields.

In 2010 I was in England and I did a number of walks and a bike ride. On the day I climbed Skiddaw peak I noticed my right ankle was a bit sore. On the decent it got worse as if the nerve was being hammered. A few weeks later, I was riding a bike, in borrowed bike shoes and I crashed. The foot did not release from the pedal and I twisted the same ankle.
I put up with this until last year when I had surgery.

The Cannondale Synapse is an excellent training bike. ( Note its covered in dust!)

So, its been 2 and a half years since I really put training klms on a bike. I have done some small rides but really lacked inspiration to "hook in", and have done very little in the way of major walks. So my fitness has really suffered and I put on a bit of weight.

This week I decided to start some light training to get the ankle to flex and to improve my overall health and fitness.

I started in the Hawkesbury lowlands which is like riding through English country side. I have posted about it before. It was a steady pleasant 25kms and I hope to ride it every 2nd day. So far so good.

The ankle? well, it seems not to mind the rotation of the pedals however its still a bit tender, and perhaps it will never be right.

The route.

I have chosen the Cannondale Synapse to train on, as its light and nimble. I will move to the mountain bike once I have built up some stamina. It had been a while since I rode it, and its heavy by comparison. The Synapse was covered in dust, however a pump of the tyres and it was ready to go.

On the ride I saw- royal spoonbill, firetail finch, superb fairy wren, red-rumped parrot, australian magpie, pee wee, australian pelican, yellow-rumped thornbill, cattle egret, pacific black duck, house sparrow, and my favourite bird. the black winged stilt.

All the birds are starting to display breeding behaviour and nest building. Spring is not far away!

The tale of Yoshimura

For years I have always wanted a Yoshimura. I mean, they add so much more performance, and in such a little well crafted pipe.

The difference in the sound and the way it makes the bike "crisp" is really evident. Yoshimura makes pipes for all sorts of motorbikes, Ours is a carbon fibre/stainless steel combination that saves weight, and adds about 8kw of power to the bike. With a shift in engine mapping, increasing idle by 200rpm the CRF is a crisp competitive ride. Most of all it sound good!

This weekend we spent the day adjusting the settings of the bike. All in all a great way to spend a few hours!

Dave testing the difference on the track

Birds of Kilcowera

Lake Wyara. Expanding the photo displays the huge numbers of waterbirds.

Having just received an email from my friend Ken, who is continuing the work in Roudsea Woods UK, I felt inspired to do a post on the Birds of Kilcowera.

With its eastern boundary backing to the Currawinya National Park, and many of its creeks and run offs filtering towards Lake Wyara, Kilcowera is home to about 180 species over a wide terrain. Lake Wyara lies in a semi closed basin being fed by 5 large creeks. This results in a widely fluctuating water level. In 100 years it has dried 18 times and overflowed 5. This results in beaches at different heights. Dense samphire shrubs, succulents and saltbushes line the shore. To the north large River gums grow on the dunes and, in the water, sea grasses. Lake Wyara is a salt lake, and, close by, separated by a large dune is Lake Numalla. This is is a fresh water lake. It is because of this uniqueness that Currawinya was declared a national park in 1991.

A great Cormorant disturbed by our presence takes to the air for a look. ( photo Dave Cotter)


What is unique about Kilcowera is you can experience as much of this as you wish at whatever level you are at, or just camp, or bush walk, the choice is yours. I was de;lighted to discover that Peter Slater who produced "The Slater field Guide to Australian Birds" has used Kilcowera and left fabulous photographs, books and his old binoculars there. The book is a favourite of mine as the bird drawings are superb, and the book is robust and shaped to fit in a pocket.
A Whistling Kite flies in to take advantage of the water birds lifting from the ground. ( Photo Dave Cotter)

However, with Dave and myself working on Kilcowera we only had a few short hours to do some birding. In that time we had see over 80 species. Some are favourites of mine e.g. Brolga and Major Mitchell, and its always nice to see flocks of Budgerigars, Pied Honeyeater and Australian Hobby.


Map of the National Park and its lakes. To the west is Kilcowera, To the north is Boorara. The map shows the old family homestead locations of Currawinya and Caiwarro.

Birds are a vital barometer to the health of the planet, by simply watching them and keeping a record you can obtain statistics that assist scientist research. I keep lists and can use them the next time I am there and gain a picture over time. Its a good excuse for a walk and also helps you observe other animals. We saw feral cats, pigs and goats whilst out and about as well as Kangaroo.


Red Tailed Black Cockatoos. ( Photo Dr Jim Fowler 2011)

Kilcowera Bird list. Australian Magpie, Apostle Bird, Australasian Grebe, Australian Darter, Australian Hobby, Australian Pelican, Australian Raven, Australian Ringneck Parrot, Australian White Ibis, Australian Wood Duck, Black Kite, Black Swan, Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike, Black-shoulderd Kite, Blue Bonnet, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Blue-winged Parrot, Brolga, Brown Falcon, Budgerigar, Cattle Egret, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Cockatiel, Crested Bellbird, Crested Pigeon, Diamond Dove, Dollar Bird, Emu, Galah, Great-white Egret, Greater Cormorant, Grey Fantail, Grey Teal, Hardhead, Hoary -headed Grebe, Intermediate Egret, Laughing Kookaburra, Little Black Cormorant, Little Corella, Little Crow, Little Pied Cormorant, Major Mitchell, Masked Woodswallow, Mulga Parrot, Nankeen Kestrel, Orange Chat, Pacific Black Duck, Peaceful Dove, Pied Butcherbird, Pied Cormorant, Pied Honeyeater, Pink-eared Duck, Plumed Whistling Duck, Purple Swamp Hen, Red-capped Robin, Red-rumped Parrot, Red tailed Black Cockatoo, Richards Pipit, Royal Spoonbill, Sacred Kingfisher, Singing Honeyeater, Splendid Wren, Spotted Bowerbird, Spotted Harrier, Straw-necked Ibis, Stubble Quail, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Swamp Harrier, Tree Martin, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Welcome Swallow, Whistling Kite, White-faced Heron, White-plumed Honeyeater, White Browed Babbler, White Necked Heron, White-winged Cough, Willy Wagtail, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Yellow- throated Miner, Zebra Finch. Total 83.. July 2012.