8th June, 2011 - Bobbin Head

Today we went to Bobbin Head. Bobbin Head is a scenic area that is a "near-urban" part of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Bobbin Head is easily reached by taking Bobbin Head Road through North Turramurra, New South Wales or Kuringai Chase Road, Mount Colah near Hornsby, New South Wales.

Facilities at Bobbin Head include a marina, picnic areas with gas barbecues (coin-operated), a small store / takeaway food shop at the marina, a regatta centre, and a lunch-time restaurant in what used to be the Bobbin Head Inn, which also contains a National Parks information centre. The area also contains many fire trails and a mangrove boardwalk. Aboriginal engravings can be observed along some of the bushwalk trails.

Satellite Image showing Bobbin Head

The walkway approaching the footbridge over the river

National Parks has constructed a wooded path across
the mangroves.

As you walk along the wooden walkway, crossing the mangroves, we saw
some interesting mud crabs.

Because the mangroves are always wet, a lot of moss grows on the trees...

Moss of all kinds and varieties could be seen everywhere.

It was interesting seeing a small Banksia sprouting from a fork in another old Bansia.

Some of the Mangrove trees growing down here.

This fungi shows how wet it is in the Mangroves. It was growing in the leaves of
the Mangrove tree. It is so fragile that if you touched it, it would literally melt!

As we walked further along the trail we saw many more
types of moss growing on the trees.

This is a closeup of the above moss. You can see its flowers and actually a tiny
fungi/mushroom growing in it.

We came across some ancient Aboriginal sites. This was a spot where they ground
their axes and other implements.

This sign describes the site.

This is one of the Aboriginal hand paintings in the area.

Pathways have been made so it's easy to walk along the path

The ancient sandstone colours are quite striking.

Some of the gum trees have unusual shapes and this one had another
plant growing out of it!

This tree was actually growing over a rock!

We saw some unusual shaped trees. They have been there for decades.

This is the track leading to the rainforest. It is noticeably dry and sparse...

..

Compared to the rain forest area we chanced upon...

with its tunnel of dense foliage...

and rock path.

When you get to the end of the path, you come across this beautiful picture of
a rain forest river with its moss covered rocks

It is very quiet and relaxing in this peaceful setting.

All you could hear was the sound of birds and the water falls.

This was an interesting sight to see this fern growing off the edge of the rock.

Some of the wildlife we saw on the way included this butterfly...

This little green tree frog...

And these ducks.

The fungi is prolific here because it is always wet.

The fungi can take on all forms and can make interesting patterns.

18th May, 2011 - Fagan Park, Galston, NSW

Today, we went to Fagan Park, Galston in Sydney's north.

It is 55 hectare area of lush green gardens that was donated by the Fagan family to the Hornsby Shire council. The park is home to the original homestead, Netherby Cottage of the Fagan family, that has been converted into a museum overlooking over 15 acres of parkland.

The area is set up for families and people who love to visit and BBQ.

We too advantage of the fine weather and great BBQ facilities and we had a BBQ for lunch.

After lunch we wandered through the old farm and took some pictures of the old

farm equipment and sheds. This was a chaff cutting machine in original condition.

It was used to cut hay for farm animals.

It was unusual seeing a bell like this on the farm. I'm sure it wasn't used to

call the cows up for milking! But it was interesting nevertheless.

This windmill pumped water from underground to wells on the farm so as to supply

water for the house, sheds (including the milking shed) and animals.

Another shot of the windmill.

Old milk cans used to collect and store the milk for delivery.

One of the Machinery Storage sheds...

Inside was an old McDonald diesel Road Roller.

The shed had to parts to it. On the right was a blacksmith shop which was an area

used to work on farm implements.

These are some of the tools that would have been used...

This is the anvil that was used to hammer out metal objects to shape them...

A heavy duty vise used to hold objects that were being worked on.

Another storage shed with farm machinery stored in it.

This is the old Fagan Homestead.

The Park has lots of different areas representing different countries around the world.

This was the Dutch section with it's magnificent windmill and Canal.

In Holland, canals were used every day with little boats plying the canals.

Bridges had to be made so that they could be easily lifted so that a boat

could get through...

As you can see by this photo the bridge was constructed with a counter lever

so that a person could pull the bridge up easily.

The Windmill is set in a beautiful park surrounding.

I couldn't resist getting Don to take my photo against the Windmill.

This gives an idea of its size.

This was a view of the North American Garden with a typical Georgian Colonial

style house. Being Autumn, the colours in the park are stunning.

Further down the park is a small bridge with Willows along the edges of the lake.

The bright sunny day gave us a great opportunity to take some brilliant pictures

of the autumn colours reflected in the water.

The lake looked stunning!

Across the lake is a wharf that is used for wedding ceremonies and for just sitting

at and enjoying the views.

There is a lot of wildlife and these young ducks were enjoying the sunny day with us!

Mother duck wasn't far away!

Father duck was preening himself in the sun.

There was a lot of Water Hens around both in the lake and sunning themselves on the lawn.

Galahs were plentiful when we were there and they were also enjoying the sunshine.

At the end of the day, walking back to the car,

I caught sight of these beautiful autumn colours!