Santa gave me a new camera for Christmas and I was itching to get out and test it!
It was 28 degrees out so I slopped on some sunscreen and slapped on a hat and headed bush!
I'm glad I had a can of aerogaurd with me, the mozzies were thirsty for blood!
LANGWARRIN FLORA AND FAUNA RESERVE.
My adventure starts of at the old fountain. Its hard to imagine that there was a hospital here less than 100 years ago.
If you chop a gum tree down, and don't cut it low enough, it will start to grow fresh branches. It will take years for it to get back to what it was, but at least it is still living.
Christmas beetles like eating the young leaves of a gum tree. Did I find the elusive beetle today? No I bloody didn't!
It wasn't from lack of trying either. They just aren't around like they used to be.
Geoengineering! They reckon if the trail disappears it is a contrail, if it sticks around, it is a chemtrail. Lets see.
The emu wren track! Lets go down that way!
Every now and then I spot these pink flowers growing on the side of the path. Luna would like these.
Check this Cuscuta vine out. It is a parasitic vine that can do a lot of damage in the bush. Click HERE to read more about it.
Spitfires! These caterpillars are best avoided. In fact, they aren't really caterpillars but the larvae of a spitfire sawfly. If you brush up against these critters you will know about it! They ooze a noxious liquid from their mouths that irritates your skin. They don't spit fire like the name suggests.
Looks like they are sticking around.
You could hear these manuka trees buzzing with activity. The flowers were attracting heaps of bees.
Where'd it go?
Hmmmm. Decisions.
There is a lot of wild parsnip here, I mean a lot! Should I...
Bugger it, why not! You only live once. It even looks like a parsnip, a wimpy version maybe but hey, I'm not going to complain. Now that I have picked one I am going to have to eat it! I will let you know how it goes @lyndsaybowes!
Here is the reservoir. They reckon if this wasn't built, the army that trained here would have perished in the Aussie summer. Apparently they were really wasteful with water. One night a pipe was left open all night and the water made a little swamp. The night sentry knew it was running but never turned it of because no one had ordered him to!
Its dry up this end. They lined the base of this reservoir with coking coal. Maybe to give the water that cool, char filtered taste. Fuck knows.
An old bottle! Marchants soft drink. Its from the 1920's! What a sweet find! I love finding stuff like this. This one was just sun baking in the mud. It's a keeper!
It's nice and cool under these trees.
Dune track. I wonder why they call it that. I hope I don't get eaten by giant worms!
Ahhh. A sand dune. The trail cuts through it.
Some footprints and, well, I hope it was someone dragging a stick in the sand and not a snake. Especially a tiger snake. I got chased by one once. Well, I think I did. It came at me and I ran and never looked back!
The ants nests are pretty big in these parts.
Big, but the ants are small.
This isn't a two headed butterfly...
This is an Australian native she oak.
These don't tickle when you stand on them in bare feet. They are natures lego.
Nice view from the top of the dune. I'm glad someone didn't build a house up here. It's the perfect place for a well needed drink of water and a cigarette. I've been walking for nearly two hours now.
A golden dragonfly! It was nice of it to pose for me. I thought I blew it when it flew of but it came strait back. I think it was teasing me.
I wonder what critter made these tracks!
The SEC track!
Should I turn left?
Or should I turn right?
Looking at that hill you would think the answer would be a no brainer, but I turned right.
There is more of those pink flowers out here.
Pretty!
Not so pretty!
This moth has seen better days. The bigger ant was trying to get the moth back to camp. He would be a great hunter in the eyes of his tribe if he can manage it. I don't think there will be much left when he gets there if the smaller ants have their way!
SEC stands for State Electricity Commission. This track is really an access road to these towers. If you stand under these with a fluorescent light globe, and hold each end, the globe will let of a soft glow.
Looks like a nice little spot off the track to explore.
It is well shaded here. The perfect spot for fungus to grow.
If you have read any of my other walk posts, you will have seen photos of bull ants. Bull ants hurt like mad when they sting, but these little terrors hurt more! They jump to! Thats where they get the name Jack jumper. These ants kill more people per year than snakes and spiders. If you disturb their nest, run.
More fungus!
Long? Does that sign say long? Damn. I'm glad I brought plenty of water. Dehydration sucks and if I didn't have the water, I would be feeling it about now.
Seed pods. Im not sure of the species of tree, sorry. Maybe someone can clear that one up in the comments.
I wonder whats living in here. I'm not game to stick my head in for a look. This is Australia. Our wildlife is deadly.
A harlequin beetle! It has been over three hours now and this is the first beetle I have spotted. it is pretty hot in the sun though. You would have to be mad to be out in this heat.
I wonder whats down there. Looks spooky.
The tee trees are pretty thick here. You'd be exhausted trying to get through there. I am glad there is a path.
I don't know what made this nest. Its either spider of caterpillars. I didn't see anything crawling around and i wasn't keen to bust it open.
I have no idea what this is either. It could be part of an old car. There are a few in this bush. For now we will just call it junk.
Hey look, some junk!
My battery is starting to run out, both my camera and my body. This has been a looooong walk.If I keep going this way I'll reach the car in half the time.
Spider! Did you think I was going to make a bush post and leave out a spider? I spotted this one s legs poking out from under some bark. So I peeled it back to have a look! While that was happening, I slowly became aware of something coming through the bush behind me...
An echidna! Cool! You don't get to see one of these everyday unless you are checking your pocket change! I have seen a couple in this park in the past but didn't expect to see one today!
Oops, I think I breathed to loud and scared it. At the first sign of trouble an echidna will dig in. There is no way you are just going to pull it out of the ground. They anchor themselves really well and leave no places to grab them. Just look at those spikes!
My battery ran out about two minutes after seeing the echidna. I wasn't peeved about it. I had taken plenty of pics and really enjoyed myself, plus, I was fairly knackered and had a long walk back to the car. These #walkwithme have really got me of my arse.
Thanks for reading my post, if you made it this far, good on ya! I know it was a long one. I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers.
