Muogamarra Nature Reserve

On the weekend I visited Muogamarra Nature Reserve off the Pacific Highway near Cowan. John Tipper set up the reserve in 1934 in an effort to protect the flora and Aboriginal and European heritage of the area. He established a volunteer bush fire brigade and an environmental study centre to help the cause.

The reserve is only open to the public six weekends a year, and I'm afraid if you want to go in 2011, you'll have to go next weekend (10-11 September 2011). There's a range of walks from an easy 1km loop to a longer and harder 10km loop. Each of them is an opportunity to see a huge range of flowers, views across Brooklyn and the Hawkesbury River, and see a little history of the early European settlement.  Peat's Crater is home to a rare osage orange hedge, which keeps people busy trying to control it's spread into the neighbouring bushland. The reserve was made all the better for me because I had good company, but I'm sure anyone would love this place :)

Lyrebirds

I've been meaning to take a walk in the hills behind my home in Kiama ever since I moved back here. When I lived here ten years ago, I was in the habit of walking up there every week with my dog, Digger. There's still a good amount of remnant rainforest there and it's a pleasure to see and hear the profusion of wildlife hidden away in the hills.

I was delighted to return last week and see four different lyrebirds (pictured left). It must be mating season, because they were dancing on their dirt mounds, singing with tails in full display. Lyrebirds are amazing. You can hear them well before you see them, and their call is distinctive simply because it's not theirs. They borrow their calls from other birds, and even from man-made things. I heard one switch from a magpie to a kookaburra to a whip bird and then a bell bird. Every now and then they quit mimicking and start making a chuck chuck sound. They're spectacular to listen to, mostly because their calls are so clear and so loud, and you get so much variety. I've never heard it, but lyrebirds also mimic other sounds, like chainsaws, phones, camera shutters etc. The males do it to show off to females. The more complex their song, or combination of bird calls, the better. Watch this great video that demonstrates their call...

Floods



Photo from the Sydney Morning Herald March 22, 2011



I work in Wollongong and live in Kiama, which means that to travel home I have to pass through Albion Park Rail. Big problem is Albion Park Rail had over 220mm of rain in nine hours on Monday and it was still raining late that night. Roads were closed, eight schools were evacuated, and the poor little souls were waiting at the local Fire Service for flood levels to drop. One man got too close to the floodwaters and was washed away. Trees were across the roads in several places and for some reason a butcher passing through Kangaroo Valley lost his load, leaving carcasses strewn over the bends on the road.

The railway line between Unanderra and Nowra had closed as the ballast for the lines had washed away in three different places. The Princes Highway was open, then closed, then open again, but so slow it wasn’t worth the trouble. Many other major roads were closed leaving people stranded. I ended up taking a train to Sydney, as the idea of hours to travel home and then go to Sydney anyway the next morning was a bit much. My heart nearly stopped when my train to Sydney stopped for a while because of a signal failure, but after an hour we were on the move again. It turned out that the road was closed the next morning, so if I had gone home I wouldn’t have been able to get to my meeting in Sydney the next day.

So I went to Sydney with only the clothes on my back and a two day stay ahead of me. Excuse to go shopping? My sister came to the rescue and washed my clothes at night and lent me other clothes. After being away from home five out of seven days the previous week, all I wanted was to be at home. But it wasn’t to be. Nothing serious to complain about, just a bit of inconvenience...

Dog sledding

It seems about the right time of year to throw this one in. I've been busy packing and working late, so I haven't been up to much.

A few years ago when I was passing through Canada, I spent a few weeks skiing near Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. I'd always wanted to try dog-sledding and found a fantastic company called Snowy Owl near Canmore. The thing I liked best about this company (apart from the gorgeous location of their tours) was their ethical stance on their dogs. It was easy to tell that the dogs were well cared for and lived for the job. They were straining on their leads from the time they were taken out of the transport to when they were tied up to the sleds. While they were running, they were far more comfortable than the person sitting in the sled. In this position you feel every bump straight through your tailbone. Driving the sled was a little better, but this meant you were responsible for staying upright and convincing the dogs to stop.

One of the funniest aspects of doing the morning tour, was watching the dogs try to go to the toilet. The other dogs would be pulling away at the sled, racing along, when suddenly one of the dogs would decide to squat and put the brakes on. He'd get dragged along for a bit, until the other dogs finally got the message and slowed down.

We did our sledding on a trail in a valley high in the mountains. With gorgeous scenery all the way, we had plenty of opportunities to stop for photos. The dogs were friendly and we were allowed to pat them, much to their delight and mine. I would definitely do this again!

The First Emperor

On Sunday I escaped the heat with my brother at the NSW Art Gallery, where we saw The First Emperor exhibition. There was a bit of a crowd and a 15 minute wait in the line, but this was pretty bearable, especially as the air-conditioning was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity outside.

The exhibition is small but well presented and informative. It gives you a taste for more, and I now very much want to go to China to see the entire collection of entombed ceramic warriors. You get to see one of each type of warrior, from kneeling archers to charioteers and their horses. There are a good range of bronze artefacts, including the half life-size bronze horses and chariot, which are inlaid with gold and quite stunning. The best thing about the exhibition is the story, which captures you through the excellent presentation of reading panels. Well worth going to! Check out the video below for the full story. The exibition is open until 13 March.

Buying a used car

I'm not surprised that used car salesmen have a bad reputation, because frankly some of them deserve it. You'd think in this day and age it would be rare for one to be condescending to women. First guy I saw refused to budge on his inflated price. He told me that he couldn't do that because the floods in Queensland were pushing up demand for used cars. I don't see why pressure on car sales in Queensland should make me buy an overpriced car that I would immediately lose money on. The people in Queensland wouldn't benefit, it'd just be more money in this guy's pocket. The salesman had a full lot of cars, so it didn't look like Queensland dealers were taking away too many of his options. Just before I left I said I would be looking at other cars and would get back to him. He lost me when he said I should go and talk it over with my father. Aghhh! My father is senile and wouldn't even recognise the make of the car I was looking at.

Fortunately later today, I found a car that seemed a reasonable deal (it was even within the guide price suggested by Redbook) from a dealer of luxury vehicles. Someone must have traded their humble wheels for a Range Rover. The dealer was polite, respectful and didn't say a single dodgy thing. He even agreed to a reduced price. These things had a lot to do with me agreeing to buy his car. I have to admit, it was also nice to shop for a car inside an air-conditioned building on a 40 degree day.

I'm tempted to call the first salesman of the day to give him some tips on public relations and dealing with female customers...

Thunder canyon

Another brilliant canyon and a veerrry long day. There's no easy way to enter Thunder Canyon. You can enter by staying on the top of Lightning Ridge to the end, doing an easy abseil and then entering the creek. Another alternative is dropping off the ridge a little earlier and scrambling down some ledges. We took the third option and went straight into the creek rather than moving along the ridge. We quickly entered thick scrub, the kind where a machete would be handy. Worst of all the scrub included blade grass and a few of us were quick to pick up some significant cuts. It was impossible to walk in the creek, so we bashed our way through, making slow progress until the creek began to open up. 



Photos by Deb



We soon forgave our leader when we entered the canyon proper. Thunder Canyon is stunning, as is the end of Claustral Canyon (Thunder Gorge) where we finished the trip. Picture steep walls, narrow passages, deep water and challenging obstacles. I've never spent so much time sliding down rocks on my bum before. I eased my way down sections without the aid of ropes that I never would have contemplated if I hadn't seen someone do it before me. We also had two sections where we just used hand lines to help us down rather than abseiling. I've never done that before and was surprised at how secure I felt. Doing a canyon backwards to exit Thunder Canyon was challenging at points. A few scrambles and a couple of difficult climbs (for me anyway) and we were out.

I got to see glow worms in a cave that we had to swim into, and I had my best ever abseil. We dropped twenty metres through an opening down into a deep pool of water in a cave. I was thrilled :)

White water lilo

(Photo to come) Rapids terrify me. I'd be fine if you threw me out of a plane or off a cliff, or made me camp alone in a blizzard. Put me on an inflatable mattress on rushing white water and my face becomes screwed up with fear.

I had an inkling that I had this fear when I agreed to join a group of people liloing down the Shoalhaven River for two days. This fear was partly based on a previous experience white-water rafting on the White Nile in Uganda and partly founded on a known inability to control to much degree what happens to me in a rapid.

Liloing conjures up images of floating along a gentle river, watching the scenery pass by and enjoying the sunshine. For the most part it is like that. The Shoalhaven River valley is beautiful, with occasional cliffs cutting through the bush on either side. We could sit up on the long quiet sections with our back resting against the pack tied to our lilo. Just a quick flip forward on to our stomach was all we needed to do to prepare for the rapids. It takes a while to work out the best arrangement, so sometimes my 'quick flip' resulted in a splash and a swim.

We started and finished at Bungonia. The first day we did a 2km walk before doing 10km on the river. The second day was 5km on the river and then a 5km climb up a steep hill back to the car. On Saturday night we pulled into a beach below a fabulous campsite on the side of the river. We shared some wine and food while we dried our lilos around the fire. Most of us were quickly off to bed under our tarps to recover and store up energy for the next day.

Because of recent rain, the river was at 1.5 metres and flowing fast. This resulted in a mixed bag of less rocks to go around because you could just go over them (good), faster flow (bad as you have less control in the rapids, good because it means less paddling), and trees in the river (very bad). The rapids for the most part weren't bad. If there was any difficulty though, I found it! I hit submerged rocks, got folded up between trees, screamed, walked around the tricky parts, came off my lilo, but I survived fine and was soon joking about my reaction once I reached calm water.

I may try liloing again, but with some modifications to my equipment. It seems to be easier on a lilo with more loft, and a paddle is a definite asset. I'd like to try it when the water is not so high and definitely want to lilo the Wollangambee - this river is apparently more like a canyon.

Indoor climbing

Going straight up a vertical wall isn't easy. I've put it off for years partly for lack of a partner and partly because my arms and shoulders are weak and I doubted I could do it. Not so! With the help of some regulars from SPAN, I whipped straight up a green route, touched the roof and abseiled back to the floor. The ClimbFit gym in St Leonards has a great range of climbs, including overhangs and bouldering walls. There's plenty for a beginner like me to try. I did my belay training, completed quite a few green climbs, and even tried a few blues. Early in the night I could finish the blue routes, but after two hours I had no more lift in my legs. I was stoked to last that long, and was pretty pleased with the blue routes I did finish. For something that didn't pick up my heartrate that much, I was sweating like I'd run a mile. The next day I had a nice ache all over, which was enough to make me feel like I'd had a workout, but not enough to make me walk like an old woman. And I know you're meant to use your legs the most, but bring on the great arms and shoulders I've seen on female climbers :o)

Third tunnel of aggression

I had a weekend catching up with friends and didn't do much, so I thought I'd write about something I did that proves it's a small world.


Back in 2004 I was passing through South Korea on my way back to London. I took a day tour to the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea. We visited the third tunnel of aggression, dug by the North Koreans in an attempt to cross the DMZ into the South undiscovered. The tunnel was discovered in 1978. Three others have been found and there may be as many as ten more!

Imjingang Station, waiting for the reconstructed
railway line to open to Pyongyang

I had finished walking through the 265m of tunnel open to the public and returned to catch the train back to the surface. Suddenly I heard my name called out, and I turned to see an old school friend just entering into the tunnel. 73m under the ground and I run into someone I hadn't seen in years. I'd heard she was in India, she knew I was in South Korea, but what are the odds of meeting each other in a part of the world that no country can lay claim to?

Parramatta RiverCat

http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/meadowbank-rydalmere-parramatta-featherdale/

After a short and illustrious career in Parramatta I felt it was only fitting to ride home in style on the Parramatta ferry. The wait on the wharf at Parramatta was pleasant, watching birds swim across the weir and children play on the perfectly groomed grassy banks. I'd chosen to take the 7.15pm ferry direct to Circular Quay, with one stop at Rydalmere. The day had finally started to cool off and a light breeze was blowing. I was happy the tide was high enough to allow me to catch the ferry from Parramatta. If you aren't so lucky, it's a bus ride to Rydalmere to meet the ferry in deeper water. Initially the pace of travel is slow and perfect for enjoying the banks thick with mangroves and water birds. Once the river widened enough to make the far shore a challenging swim, the ferry sped up and only a few hardened souls remaining outdoors to fight the wind. It was a gorgeous night and ideal for seeing the grand houses that line the river banks. This was a wonderful way to leave Parramatta. If only the timetable had been a bit more convenient (many of the peak ferries run to Darling Harbour) I might have done this more often. It was quiet and eased the soul far more than a packed train ever could.

Corkscrew canyon

AWESOME!!! Went canyoning on Saturday in Mount Wilson. We dropped off the Bells Line of Road into Corkscrew Canyon, which led into South Bowens Creek canyon. We had two abseils down waterfalls in Corkscrew, and one abseil down a waterfall in South Bowens. The most exciting part of the canyon probably wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been caught behind another group on an abseil. The group ahead were abseiling down a dry cliff next to a spot where the creek dropped down through a channel in the rock.


Red yabby - one of many!
All photos by Mark

It turned out that it was fairly easy to climb down into the channel and come out at the bottom of the abseil. A big person might not have done it, nor a tiny person because of the volume of water rushing against your back as you climbed down. It was pretty exciting and the other girl in the group and I traded a few jokes about being hardcore. It was a great way to get past the other group and solved the problem of getting held up, which I've heard can lead to problems in canyons. The other group ended up catching up with us near the exit, having skipped one of our abseils. We had the option of either sliding down a long tree trunk, or abseiling down a waterfall, and we took the abseil option. 


Once again I was thankful that I was with an experienced canyoner, because I never would have seen the exit, which took off straight up a steep creek wall that required a lot of clambering and trust in a few small trees. The canyons were gorgeous. There's a fair bit of water around, but we only had two sections where we actually had to swim. Given the cold water, I was glad to have a wetsuit on, because after six hours I felt cool even with it on. I think the canyon took us about seven hours and I was so exhausted afterwards I missed the opening night of the Sydney Festival and was still tired the next day. But I'd do it all over again and probably will! This canyon had a bit of everything and I can't wait for the next one.

Women's baths

Recently I've been swimming at McIver's Baths in Coogee. McIver's Baths is the only ocean pool in New South Wales reserved for women and children. It must be strange for boys that have swum there for years to suddenly no longer be allowed entry. Entry is by an honesty system - 20 cents thrown into a bucket through a gate. Changing sheds and showers are at the top, with a great lawn in front. The first (sunny) day I went, there was a group of women sitting there doing crosswords and chatting. The pool is lovely. There are two sets of steep stairs that go straight into the pool that has been carved out of the rock. There's even a shallow area against the cliff. I haven't seen many children there, mostly older women. The other distinctive group was topless women - must feel a bit more relaxed about it at a pool with no men. Apparantly the pool is popular with lesbians, but if any of the women there were lesbian they certainly weren't overt about it. I love how private the pool is, and how it's surrounded by cliffs, and the views are awesome. The other nice thing was that it was obvious that women had formed friendships simply by swimming regularly at the pool.

Ginger for a day

Well the short-lived blonde experiment is over. I can't say I had more fun, because frankly either I wasn't blonde for long enough, or brunettes really do have more fun. I've always preferred natural and blonde was just too hard to maintain. Costly, hours of commitment to get the right blonde, turning yellow a week after a toner even though I used the purple shampoo. Who needs that? I may have a problem with commitment...
Anywho, I've been spending too much money lately, so I decided to sort out my hair myself. Thankfully I did my research, and found out that I could have had a disaster on my hands if I'd gone straight to brown. Apparantly if you do that, you end up with green hair. So for one day I was a ginger. It doesn't look that bright in this photo, but believe me it was. After that exciting day I put in a brown dye and voila, back to normal (well a slightly more mahogany version of normal). Who knows, in a few weeks I could be bald considering the amount of stress I've placed on my hair in the last six weeks. Now there's a new look for me. When's the World's Greatest Shave?

Hieroglyphs

On a fire trail off Woy Woy Road in the Brisbane Waters National Park, there are two large rock faces covered in hieroglyphs. During a walk on New Years Eve we formed several theories about how they got there.
1. A reclusive Egyptologist set up camp in a nearby cave and spent his days carving the rock face, although we're not sure whether the space ships, dog bones and male appendages have much to do with Egypt.
2. Reg Mombassa took a holiday on the Central Coast and ran out of paper/canvas.
3. Aliens landed (hence the numerous pictures of spacecraft) and recorded the things they saw on their visit on earth. The fact that they thought it worth recording male appendages makes one wonder what they got up to while they were here...

There are people out there that believe these are authentic hieroglyphics, but I remain sceptical. Some of them look reasonably true to type, but things like the year 1984, the dog bone and various other carvings just don't fit. If you have a look on the internet, most of the people who do believe they are ancient sound like they may have sampled some drugs recently. Their blogs talk about earth mother trees, yowies, shamans and wierd energy. If you want to form your own opinion, there's plenty of directions to the site on the web, or you could use these GPS co-ordinates: 56 H 342244 6297390. Have fun!