Picnic lunch at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
No Comments »16th January, 2009; Category: Holidays, National Parks, New South Wales, Picnics, Sydney
Picnic spot in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
After our walk through a part of the Lane Cove National Park in Sydney we joined the rest of the family for a picnic lunch. We were soaked through as a result of the walk, mostly due to the heat and humidity.
Lunch was mainly leftovers from our Christmas Day family lunch two days earlier. Christmas leftovers make an excellent basis for a picnic lunch. After our delicious meal we sat around chatting for a few hours.
Picnic spot in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
A walk in Lane Cove National Park
1 Comment »14th January, 2009; Category: Birds, Hiking, Holidays, National Parks, New South Wales, Picnics, Sydney, Walking
Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
Several days after Christmas the family had another reunion, this time in the Lane Cove National Park. This park is about a ten minute drive from my son’s home in Artarmon, Sydney. we knew it would probably be somewhat busy because of the Christmas holiday break, so we went early. Before having lunch four of us went for an hour and a half walk through the park.
Members of my family going on a walk through Lane Cove National Park
It was quite hot and humid with no breeze, so in no time we were all soaked from the effort. My son and I had our cameras and we were on the lookout for interesting things to photograph, especially birds. I think I may have converted him to being a moderate birder after he was pleased to receive a bird field guide for Christmas. Perhaps “bird photographer” would be a better appellation.
Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
2008 Road Trip: Unexpected Christmas visitors
Blue Tongue Lizard
On our 2008 Road Trip to Sydney our main objective was to reach Sydney in time for Christmas. This was so we could spend Christmas and New year with our son and daughter in law who live in Artarmon, just a few train stops north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This time our daughter came along too, so it was also a family reunion.
We had a great Christmas lunch and were joined by our daughter in law’s relatives; it was good to see all of them again too. L’s parents only live a half hour drive from us, but we rarely get to see them, so it was good that they could fly over from Adelaide for the festivities. As usual I ate too much for lunch. And dinner.
In the afternoon we were relaxing out on the back lawn. The more energetic ones played a few games; the rest of us chatted and snoozed during the balmy afternoon.
During our post lunch siesta we were visited by a beautiful butterfly. It was a Dainty Swallowtail Papilio anactus and is shown in the photo below. They are quite common in the Sydney area.
Most people drifted indoors late in the afternoon, but my son and I stayed outside chatting. We, too, rarely get together these days, except on the phone. When everything was quiet the resident Blue Tongue Lizard came out to see what all the fuss had been about.
Dainty Swallowtail Papilio anactus
2008 Road Trip to Sydney
Hay Plains, New South Wales
We are off on another road trip – this time to Sydney for Christmas. The photo above was taken on our trip last year; this year we are driving our daughter’s car, but we didn’t stop to take a photo of the Hay Plains this trip.
We left on the Monday before Christmas so this article has taken a few days to appear. Over the coming few weeks I will be adding many more articles about what we did and what we saw. I will also be adding heaps of photos.
On the first day we left home in Murray Bridge soon after breakfast. We stopped at Underbool in Victoria for a very hot lunch. We had been travelling just ahead of a cool change sweeping across the countryside. We had afternoon tea at Piangil on the banks of the River Murray. Soon after we crossed the river at Tooleybuc and into New South Wales. We bypassed Balranald and travelled on across the Hay Plains shown in the photo above.
Because of the heat the birding was poor all day. I saw very few birds as we travelled along.
Royal National Park, Sydney
Royal National Park, south of Sydney
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
After our ten days in Sydney staying with our son, we headed south on our way to our national capital, Canberra. On the morning after leaving Sydney we took a slight detour into Royal National Park, about an hour’s drive south of the CBD. We’d visited this lovely park on a number of other occasions, the most recent was in the year 2000. We had morning tea at the spot shown in the photo above. After this short break we went for a walk along Lady Carrington Drive (see photo below). This track is open to walkers and cyclists. It is an excellent walking track and a good way to see the local flora and fauna.
Royal National Park, south of Sydney