Laratinga Wetlands Mt Barker South Australia
Laratinga Wetlands Mt Barker South Australia
Just over a half hour drive from home is a place I like to visit but don’t get to as often as I would like. The Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills section of the Mt Lofty Ranges is a mecca for local and interstate birders. The wetlands consist of about a dozen ponds which make up the sewage works of the nearby town.
By the time the water reaches the final ponds it is purified enough to be used on nearby farms as irrigation water. In the meantime, the various ponds play host to a wide range of water-birds including ducks, ibis, herons, egrets, grebes, cormorants, dotterels, plovers, swamphens, coots and moorhens.
Purple Swamphen
The area around the ponds and the entrance paths have been wonderfully landscaped, with lawns, shelter sheds – it rains frequently in Mt Barker – barbecues and public toilets. Around the ponds and picnic area many trees, bushes and smaller plants which add the great environment which attracts many bush birds, including parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, honeyeaters, finches, pigeons, doves and swallows.
You can see more photos of the birds seen here on my other site Trevor’s Birding.
Further reading:
Galah
Grey Teal
Laratinga Wetlands on a cold misty winter’s morning
Burra Gorge, South Australia
Burra Gorge, South Australia
Late last year we travelled to Peterborough in the mid-north of South Australia. We were visiting family and on the way we stopped at the beautiful Burra Gorge for lunch. This gorge cuts through the hills to the south east of the old mining town of Burra. It is a popular picnic area with picnic tables and toilets but no other facilities.
It is also a popular camping area, as shown in the photo above. Our visit was during school holidays as so there were quite a few campers and caravans in the camping area. All campers have to be self sufficient as far as food and water is concerned. The nearest shops are in Burra, some 30km away. There are also no powered sites.
Burra Gorge, South Australia
Lakeside Model Railway, Clare, South Australia
Lakeside Model Railway, Clare, South Australia
The Lakeside Model Railway at Clare is a five minute stroll from my daughter’s house. It is situated in a lovely park like setting next to Lake Inchiquin, a popular picnic spot next to the Clare Country Club and Golf Course. On a regular basis model train enthusiasts hold meetings here on their extensive track layout. Rides on the model trains are extremely popular.
Click on the photo of the sign to enlarge so that you can read the days and times of operation.
Lakeside Model Railway, Clare, South Australia
Lakeside Model Railway, Clare, South Australia
Lakeside Model Railway, Clare, South Australia
Lakeside Model Railway, Clare, South Australia
Happy Birthday to my blog
Ama Dablam, Nepal
This blog about my travels is now four years old.
I started this blog exactly four years ago in the dining room of my son in Sydney. He had just set up the domain name and busily went about teaching me how to blog. He was a good teacher for I was soon off and away with blog entries. And I haven’t let up in the intervening years. I try to post every day but during the last two years I have also been trying to complete my Master of Arts in Creative Writing which has impacted on how frequently I have been able to write articles here. I’m also in the last stages of completing the writing of a novel for children as part of those studies. It has all taken a lot of my time.
During the life of this blog I have written about many places, including a visit to Thailand and trekking in Nepal. By far the majority of the nearly 600 articles are as a result of travelling here in Australia, including New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and my home state of South Australia of course.
I’d like to thank all my many regular readers, those who have occasionally dipped into various pages and especially those who have taken the trouble to leave comments. I value you all – you people make this blog a worthwhile endeavour.
A special thanks to my son Sim’ who looks after the background administration of this and my other blogs, keeping them ticking over nicely.
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
The Bluff, Victor Harbor, South Australia
The Bluff, Victor Harbor, South Australia
The Bluff is a prominent feature of the seascape at Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia. It is on the edge of the seaside town of Victor Harbor which is about an hour’s drive from the state capital, Adelaide.
The Bluff is a rocky outcrop of granite jutting into the skyline to the south west of the town. There are several walking trails to the top but these can be demanding to the unfit person. There is a road to the top and excellent views can be seen from the lookout, including of Victor Harbor, Encounter Bay, Granite Island and the Southern Ocean stretching to Antarctica.
At the base of the steep hillside there is a small parking area and a spot where there is excellent fishing from a jetty. In the photo above you can just make out several cars and the jetty on the lower right hand side of the photo (click on the photo to enlarge the image).
The Bluff, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Further reading with more photos: