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:

My Family and one other animal

Not quite the Durrells, if you know what I mean.

I’m very fortunate that they live only 6 kms away. There was a big milestone on Friday as we celebrated C’s birthday:

A toast with non-alcoholic bubbly

Red cyclamen from me

Whale shark t-shirt from my sister

Sushi feast, half demolished

Dessert was rhubarb and apple crumble with custard, a favourite of JL’s, but not on the menu for a long time.

Rocky patrolled the table looking for crumbs, but didn’t get his photo taken.

From Russia with Love

Remember the James Bond film, starring Sean Connery as 007?  I’ve just borrowed the title.

There’s a recent BBC documentary Our Man in Moscow describing a year in the life of Steve Rosenberg. He is one of the few western journalists who have managed to stay on the right side of the authorities. He posts regularly on YouTube. All this has set me thinking about my own experience in Russia.

In 2000 I had been attending a library conference in Stockholm. When it was over, I decided to take a trip to St Petersburg, via Tallinn in Estonia. Fortunately I met some Brits who warned me to be especially careful about my currency declaration. It was vital to declare everything to the last cent with no rounding up or down.

On the St Petersburg train, in the middle of the night, there was a tremendous banging on the door of my single sleeping compartment. I was to prepare for a currency check. (This, by the way, was the only time that a Russian spoke to me in English). In the next door compartment, I could hear a Canadian traveller being intimidated by the guard. When it came to my turn, the guard seemed surprised that I was not shaking in my shoes as I handed him the form and displayed my currency. He went away disappointed, unable to fine me like the Canadian. On reflection, this seemed to be a scam that would only work with people in single compartments.

In St Petersburg, I stayed in an international youth hostel near the Moscow Station. There was a 5-exit roundabout and I had to be careful to take the correct exit or I would be completely lost. The hostel served breakfast, which was a poor imitation of a western one. There were cornflakes which appeared to have less nutritional value than the packet. There was some pale pink watery jam, supposed to be strawberry. 

The highlight of the trip was finding my way to the Hermitage Museum, two days running. I had free entry with my students pass (I was doing my PhD at the time). All in all, it was quite an adventure. I still have these souvenirs, depicting Russian folklore:

Friday Night Dinner

Cooking dinner for the family on Friday, I’m always on the lookout for inspiration. Vegetarian or fish dishes are always on the menu. Sometimes it’s paella, with a long list of ingredients. We also like creamy fish pie, topped with mashed potatoes. A recent dish was fish parcels (which I first enjoyed at a Parador on the Camino). This is my version:

This was barramundi, served on a bed of onion slices and topped with lemon and red capsicum. It’s foolproof because the steam from the veggies ensures that the fish is cooked to perfection.

The lemon tree in the garden at Como is absolutely full of baby lemons. There are far too many to do any good:

Some Fridays I run out of inspiration and just resort to F and C from Johnny’s Fish Bar.

Lunch by the Sea

Val chose the venue. It was the best! We went to Floreat Beach Kiosk: not an actual kiosk, but a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating:

We both chose a Caesar Salad. There was also free sparking water on tap, which I’ve never seen before. What a good idea.

After lunch we went for a walk south. All along this coast, the views are lovely. The cranes of Fremantle docks are just visible in the distance. A few wildflowers were out:

Hardenbergia

Looking out to sea

Can this really be the middle of winter?

Burswood Bridges Bushwalk

It was a good turnout for the latest bushwalk: 15 people. It started literally just down the road from where I live, so there was no excuse! We met at Taylor St Carpark and set off eastward, crossing the bridge to Heirisson Island:

It must be years since I explored this island, even though it’s just on my doorstep. It’s bigger than I remembered:

Looking back across the river

There was a lot of standing water after all the recent rains and several people wished they had brought better footwear.

We all decided on the shorter version of this walk. We did around 11,500 steps or 6 kms. It’s a while since I walked so far, so I felt very pleased with myself at the end.

A group getting prepared for the zipline: no thanks!

Lunch at the end of the walk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirisson_Island