Wet and mouldy

You would think that living in the subtropics we would be well used to lots of rain - well think again! We love our blue skies and dry weather - how else can be get out and about and enjoy this gorgeous part of the world! But just lately the skies have taken to tormenting us with lots (and lots) of rain. So much that I am glad we did not put solar panels on our roof to provide us with electricity!
Saturday was a real "doozy" of a wet day.

It had rained for a week before Colin and I took ourselves off for a few days to Lennox Head and we were lucky to have some days that were not quite sunny, but pleasant enough to go exploring. We arrived home to   almost non stop rain.

These shots were taken from the protection of the back (upstairs) veranda where I ventured out to see whether the water would come high enough to get into our shed where we keep the trailer and Paul's hobby car - which is in bits. You can just see the shed on the left next to our rain water tank. The rain did not come above the ridge  by those two trees so no worry to the contents of the shed.
That green stuff on the surface of the water is a small leafed water weed, the fence between us and our next door neighbour's property was enough to act as a dam to hold it back. When the water does go down that week will remain but it will be a good fertilizer for the lawn! It will be a bit messy and rather slimey for a while but it will go eventually.

This shot shows more clearly the water week - those tree trunks mark the edge of the block of land, the actual creek is on the other side of them.
The next morning the rain had eased (a bit!) and with an umbrella in one hand and the little Samsung camera in the other I ventured down into the squelchy back yard with the two dogs to give them a bit of exercise and to see what fungi I could find. After rain the wood heap is a great source of fungi!

From the shiny nature of the wood you can tell that it is still raining! The wood is completely saturated. Everyday there are different fungi among the cut timber - they only last a few hours before they are gone.

This was a great find - but the photo is deceptive - the fungi are very small so to begin with I almost didn't notice them. Each of those little caps would be about the size of a finger nail - the camera was switched to MACRO mode to take them - the trouble with a point and shoot camera is that you cannot control the amount of flash. Being close to these delicate little things the flash has removed a lot of the detail from them.
What will I see tomorrow? Maybe nothing special at all - but I shall still venture out with the camera!
AJ

After the rains

On a beautiful sunny day I persuaded the family that a trip up into the mountain would be an excellent idea. A picnic was created and packed into the car 'fridge - I pack all the ingredients for sandwiches and let everyone create their own once it is lunch time. Since the temperature was rising and the sun bright I reasoned that most people would either be heading to the beaches or to the theme parks. (This place is a holiday playground with several fun parks). I was right. There were plenty of parking bays free at Purlingbrook Falls and we were able to park right beside the track leading to the Lookout. Madi (short for Madison) is a 12 year old boy and was the only one of the party not to have a camera so I dug out the Samsung from my bottomless handbag and he had a wonderful time with it and was so thrilled to be able to take pictures that I told him were good. He was my shadow for much of the day! He learned how to take Macro shots and became quite excited when his attempts started to give good results.
We were slower than the rest of our party and were lucky enough to see some people aiming a camera into the undergrowth. We discovered the attraction to be a black skink or "land mullet" - a magnificent large one.

f/13  1/30   ISO200   55mm

This glossy black lizard was approximately 500mm from nose to tip of tail. Much bigger than any I had ever seen previously. Madi discovered the advantage to a zoom on a still camera and he managed to get some lovely shots of this lizard. I was using the 18-55mm lens so he was thrilled to be able to take closer shots than I could!

After viewing the falls from the front and seeing the wonderful long drop of water - so dramatic after all the rain we have had - we walked around to see the falls from the other side - not a big walk - and had to paddle over the footpath because the head of the falls was so full it had spilled over the track. I showed Madi how to get low to get a more interesting shot of the racing water.

f/5.0  1/30  ISO 200   18mm

After capturing many beautiful tiny creatures as well as dozens of lovely water and bush pictures we made our way to another lovely waterfall right at the end of the mountain road at a place we know as the "English Country Garden" because of a Tudor building beside the parking area for the falls with that name.

f/9.0  1/100  ISO 250  18mm

From the lookout besides these falls is a magnificent view right over the tree covered mountain tops.

f/20  1/100  ISO200 18mm

I always find that shadows from the clouds make the hillsides even more attractive. The sky looked beautiful today.
After our picnic I wandered around with my camera and although leaving the tracks in National Park is forbidden I broke the rules and stepped over the garden weeds and discovered this beautiful but hidden delight.

f/5.6 1/60 ISO 640 55mm

This amazing display would have gone unseen by anyone if I had not ventured into the undergrowth! All that could be seen from the track was a pale top on an old stump that could not be identified as anything special. I was careful not to crush anything precious and walked back to the track in my own indentations. But, as I mentioned, since the vegetation I stepped on was introduced from gardens I really did not feel guilty!!
AJ

Rain changes

There has been so much rain lately that the garden is surprising me with the changes that are happening. The huge gum tree is shedding its bark and looks like a tramp in worn out clothes.
Incidentally the black wriggly line down the tree is not a row of caterpillars but a tunnel that was created by termites. It was a complete tunnel from the nest that is just out of sight on the other side of the tree where the first branch comes out from the trunk, and reached all the way to the ground. We pumped spray into the nest and the termites are no longer active. (at the moment - we have to keep a check on them)
Beneath the large ironbark (also a Eucalyptus as is the tree just shown) there is a thick layer of bark chips. These bark chips have not been put there as mulch, they are natural discarded bark from the old and very large tree. The rain has caused bacteria to work on decomposing the chips and it has also germinated several different fungi. Most of the fungi are not really eye catching but this on certainly is! I had never seen one like this before so it makes me wonder where the spores came from!
There is a wood heap next to a path. We now use electricity to warm our home so the wood is just weathering away. I had so much fun with the camera around this pile of timber! There are several different fungi. This one is rather cute. It is only small but quite appealing.
I must move out of the garden and see what is further afield!
AJ