Pangarinda Arboretum
Flowers of a Eucalyptus Tree
One of my enduring passions is birding, or birdwatching. My wife’s passion is Australian plants. So our interests are complementary; I walk through the bush with eyes glancing ever upwards, my wife always looking down looking for plants and their flowers. We both love the Australian outdoors and exploring the wonders of nature that abounds in this wonderful land.
Banksia flower
Sometimes I find myself torn between looking at, identifying and attempting to photograph the birds I see, and the wonderful challenge of taking shots of the wonderful flowers all around. Over the next few days I plan to post a few of the flower photos I have taken at one of our favourite picnic spots, the Pangarinda Arboretum at Wellington, a small town about half an hour drive from our home in Murray Bridge.
Eucalyptus flowers
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Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia
Today we travelled south to the Pangarinda Arboretum at Wellington East. This is about a half hour drive from home here in Murray Bridge. The arboretum is quite close to the River Murray and consists of a series of sandhills overlooking the marina on the eastern side of the river.
The planting of native Australian plants was established over a decade ago by local residents and members of the Australian Plants Society (APS). It is very well established with many 100s of examples of different Australian plants species. Some areas are quite spectacular; I particularly like the area planted up with banksias. These amazing plants have stunning flowers that I have used extensively in my photographic pursuits.
The arboretum is always open to the public; all we ask is that the gates are kept closed at all times – to keep out the rabbits. Rabbits love to chew off the fresh growth on newly planted plants. There are several tracks through the establishment and, although you can drive through, it is far better walking. This way you are able to stop and really appreciate the plants and their beautiful flowers. Don’t forget your camera! At present there are no public toilet facilities but we hope that this should be corrected by the local council soon.
Another reason for taking your time to walk through the plantings is to appreciate the rich birdlife in the area. There are hundreds of honeyeaters, pigeons, finches and a wide cross section of other species present. For a more in depth review of the birds present go to my birding blog by clicking here. Other postings about this place can be found here and here and here and here.
Clare Valley South Australia
No Comments »14th May, 2006; Category: Animals, Art Galleries, Birds, Clare Valley, Picnics, Plants, South Australia
Morning Walk
We spent a very relaxing morning at home. About an hour before lunch we went for a walk. First we visited some ponds near my daughter’s home. Here I observed a flock of some 30 Australian Shovelers, one of the duck species. I hadn’t seen this species in 23 years; the last time was in the very same spot as this morning. We then walked along the banks of the beautiful Lake Inchquin, part of the Clare Golf Club. A delight here was the sighting of about a dozen Bill-Billed Ducks, another hard to see species. They seem to be resident here. We also saw about four Black Fronted Dotterels. This is a beautiful wading bird and a delight to see anywhere.
Model Trains
Next to the lake is a park where the local Model Engineers Club has set up nearly two kilometres of train track. They run their model trains twice a month and provide rides, for a small fee, for those who come along to watch. We stood talking to the members for about half an hour before walking home for lunch.
After lunch we drove to the nearby town of Blyth about twenty minutes away. We went to visit the Medika Gallery run by wildlife artist Ian Roberts. We’ve known Ian for quite a few years yet we’ve been negligent in never having visited the gallery. I love his work. He has an amazing gift of capturing the character of Australian birds in their natural habitats. When I’m rich and famous I plan to buy some of his paintings. He greeted us warmly, and after a few minutes discussion he invited us to visit his nearby bush block.
Windmill Cottage
The Windmill Cottage is in the nearby hills about halfway between Clare and Blyth. Ian is also interested in growing and planting Australian native species. He has a five acre arboretum just down the hill from the cottage, one of the many Bed and Breakfast accommodation places in the Clare Valley. We drove to the lookout he has on the property. Here he has set up a picnic table under one of the large old eucalypt trees. The view out over the Balaklava plains is simply stunning in the late afternoon autumn sunlight. The patchwork of fields, some green with the first growth for the new season, some still brown with the last of the drying grass from last year while others a chocolate brown after having been worked up by the farmers in recent days. The recent rain has been promising of a good cropping season to come.
Wonderful picnic spot
We had brought along a thermos for an afternoon cuppa plus a treat from the local bakery. Few picnic areas could rival our spot this afternoon. I managed some lovely photos in the late afternoon light, often the best time for such shots. As we left we stopped for a few minutes to have a look through the arboretum Ian had planted.
Kangaroos
We surprised a grazing family of three Western Grey Kangaroos. Ian had installed a rabbit proof fence to give the plants a fair go in getting going, this fence was no barrier to these determined animals. They actually seemed to be quite at home and were not at all upset by our presence. Perhaps they are residents.