Have a Go Day

This is an annual event designed to get Seniors to try different activities that will stop them vegetating at home. These include anything from archery to badminton to rock n roll dancing. No canoeing this year, which Lutz used to organise.

It’s only a 20 minute walk from my place, so I got there early as a hot day was forecast. Val was coming on the train, intending to take the shuttle bus from Burswood Station. I sat down to wait for her at the Bus Drop Off Point, glad to have a rest under the trees:

Buses came and went, but no sign of Val. It turned out that there was such a huge queue that she decided to walk. She had come with her neighbour. A German lady called Barbel. Here they are having a coffee:

Barbel is an expert with the iPhone. She solved the problem of my phone failing to ring and taught me lots of other things - but I need to go back for another lesson! My ageing brain was letting me down.

We walked around, looking at all the stalls. There were many freebies to collect and some people were loaded up with everything they could lay their hands on. I just came away with some lip balm and a poster.

I wasn’t looking forward to the walk home, so I went to the Cycling Without Age stand and hitched a trishaw ride in the direction of the Stadium. My plan was to get off half way, when I would be close to home. The driver went out of his way to take me even further, though I was worried about the uphill bit. Then he told me he had power assist so all was well.

I took a copy of their programme. I told him that JL and I had done the Kent St Weir ride some years ago. He said he was doing that one tomorrow. He must be very fit with all that pedalling.

Remembrance Day 

Going back a couple of hours to 11.00 am, Remembrance Day was marked with a minute’s silence. 

My Grandad fought in WWI as a very young conscript. He was lucky to survive all the slaughter, becoming a POW. Enlisted men were not allowed to surrender, so their officer must have done so.  As a POW he learned a lot of German. He never talked about it much, but then we never asked him. He did say they had to live on cabbage and potatoes, but so did all their guards.

That night all the lights on the bridges and Stadium were blood red like the poppies:

Windy Always

It’s said that W.A. doesn’t always mean Western Australia. It also means Windy Always over here. The weather has been really strange lately, but the wind has been pretty consistent. Winter seems reluctant to come to an end. Over the last couple of days, we’ve woken up to temperatures of 6 and 7 degrees! The pool heating was switched on at the beginning of the month, but there has been only one day when the outside temperature was warm enough to go for a swim. C came over, but spent the afternoon trying to remove all the dead leaves and dead insects that had been blown in.

Friday night dinner was still on the winter menu:

Fish parcels

Barramundi w. baked potato

Rhubarb and apple crumble for dessert

E had made some chocolate cookies, which I was given as a takeaway:

Paruna

Today was a public holiday, said to be for the King’s Birthday. C had bought tickets online, so we set off in my car as it’s the most economical on fuel. I was glad to let her drive because of the many hairpin bends on the one hour drive. The final  kilometre was on gravel, when she wished she was in her own car, with higher clearance and new tyres.

Paruna Sanctuary is owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The trails have all been closed for some time, I think because of heavy rain which made them unsafe. The Possum Trail has just opened for the prime wildflower season and it was very busy.

Turnstile entry

You had to enter a code that had been given after the online payment and then enter it again in order to leave.

The first thing we saw was a couple of long drop toilets (which I used to call for on the Camino, but Spain took no notice and they now have a huge litter problem).

It was an overcast day with sprinkles of rain from time to time. I took a photo of C pulling up a noxious weed:

Gladiolus weeding

A selection of wildflower pics follows:

Too many to point a stick at!

Rocky outcrops

The trail had LOTS of steps, up and down and I found it quite strenuous. I am not fit any more for bushwalking. C said I was probably the oldest person doing it. There were plenty of kids as it’s the start of the school holidays. Their noise scared away any bird or animal sightings which was a pity.

We reached the car just as a heavy downpour started. Lucky for us, as there would have been absolutely nowhere to shelter. We ate our lunch inside and waited for it to stop before negotiating the gravel track out. 

All in all, it was a great day.

https://trailswa.com.au/storage/media/kep5xlj359oq/Possum-Loop_Paruna_Brochure.pdf

Kings Park Bushwalk

This walk was last Sunday. I’m a week late in reporting. Val was the leader and told us lots. She had been a voluntary Kings Park Guide for many years.

We started from the carpark near the Pioneer Womens’ Memorial on Fraser Avenue, crossed the road and set off downhill. Our first stop was the Acacia Steps:

On the ground are mosaics of acacias:

There are so many things in Kings Park that I have never seen before.

It was the perfect time of year, when so many wildflowers are coming out:

Blue Leschenaultia

Black Kangaroo Paws

Val asked me to take a photo of the group to send to the Nats Club, but it was hard to get everyone together:

People had spread out on different logs: it was like herding cats!

In Kings Park there are lots of “weeds” that have escaped from domestic gardens and have to be removed. To the untrained eye these look and smell lovely:

Freesias

Forgotten the name!

I brought this one home and put it in a vase. Others picked a bunch of freesias. They are a problem to Kings Park because they proliferate, to the detriment of the native plants. At Wireless Hill, they are fighting a battle against Pink Gladioli, another weed.

Here are some more wildflowers we saw:

Val explained in detail how Kangaroo Paws present themselves one flower at a time for pollination by flying insects:

Nature is very clever!

Spring

There’s something in the air that tells you winter is over. The garden at Como has burst into colour. The wisteria gives off a beautiful scent, as it continues to hold up the deteriorating fence:

The bottle brush is redder than ever and hosts lots of noisy birds high up in its branches:

The Meyer Lemon has also come into flower:

On Friday, C told me to visit Wireless Hill to see all the wildflowers, so I was there on Saturday morning taking lots of photos:

From general shots to close-ups, I really need a better camera, but my iPhone is always in my pocket and ready to use:

Kangaroo Paw

Cat’s Paw

Milkmaids

There are plenty of interpretive boards and occasionally they are actually near their subject:

The most abundant orchids just now are the donkey orchids:

A few elusive spider orchids are to be found:

JL used to be good at spotting these, having grown up in the bush.

Pink lady orchid (I think)

This is another, longer walk, but I didn’t do it this time: