Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra. Gay your life must be.
We saw two kookaburras in the koala park we visited outside Perth, and we have seen countless gum trees driving across the open expanse of Western Australia. I had this song stuck in my head for at least 500 kilometres of our longest drive. Sorry if it gets stuck in yours now.
It's a red trunked gum (eucalyptus) that we have found to be so beautiful and that I wrote about last blog. Given there are 900 varieties of gum trees in Australia, I haven't been able to identify this beauty's complete name, though three have been suggested by locals: the Salmon Gum, the Red Gum and the York Gum. The trees line the highways starting about 200 km east of Perth. They shed their stringy bark as they grow, and red is the dominant colour of the trunk, but grey, brown, black and pistachio green can be seen from a close distance too. I think the red variety is the prettiest of all as the colour of this tall trunk mirrors the reddish earth we can all picture as being the base of the Australian landscape. I could drive forever on these roads and never tire of these graceful things.
If I could paintl, I'd try to capture it to hang in house (I may settle again one day). I think Carol Finn, the Haliburton painter, would do a stunning job replicating them. My photos do not do them justice.
Laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra. Gay your life must be.
We saw two kookaburras in the koala park we visited outside Perth, and we have seen countless gum trees driving across the open expanse of Western Australia. I had this song stuck in my head for at least 500 kilometres of our longest drive. Sorry if it gets stuck in yours now.
It's a red trunked gum (eucalyptus) that we have found to be so beautiful and that I wrote about last blog. Given there are 900 varieties of gum trees in Australia, I haven't been able to identify this beauty's complete name, though three have been suggested by locals: the Salmon Gum, the Red Gum and the York Gum. The trees line the highways starting about 200 km east of Perth. They shed their stringy bark as they grow, and red is the dominant colour of the trunk, but grey, brown, black and pistachio green can be seen from a close distance too. I think the red variety is the prettiest of all as the colour of this tall trunk mirrors the reddish earth we can all picture as being the base of the Australian landscape. I could drive forever on these roads and never tire of these graceful things.
If I could paintl, I'd try to capture it to hang in house (I may settle again one day). I think Carol Finn, the Haliburton painter, would do a stunning job replicating them. My photos do not do them justice.
The red gum may be the prettiest tree, but it is not the nicest smelling. That honour, in my limited experience, goes to a tree Molly and I searched out in a park in the sleepy town of Bruce Rock. We picked different variety of leaves as we walked smelling the different eucalyptus fragrances. But there was one we could smell but not find. Eventually we found the lemony - nutty smelling leaves and took some home to enjoy. The closest smell I can think of is Murphy's Oil.
It's too bad we aren't here to see all these plants flower in the spring.
It's too bad we aren't here to see all these plants flower in the spring.
These are 4 of the 900 varieties of leaves on the eucalyptus trees. The one of the right smells the best.
Enough about the trees...
We spent 2 nights in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, the mining town 550km east of Perth. I wouldn't want to live in this isolated place, but it was interesting to visit. It seemed most people were away on holidays as the campground was pretty empty. One day in the pool we finally met some people, but they scurried out as soon as the regular afternoon storm started rolling in - so much for getting to know people.
The museums were interesting and the open pit gold mine is huge and interesting to see. Try to find the regular sized pickup truck on the road with the big dump trucks.
We spent 2 nights in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, the mining town 550km east of Perth. I wouldn't want to live in this isolated place, but it was interesting to visit. It seemed most people were away on holidays as the campground was pretty empty. One day in the pool we finally met some people, but they scurried out as soon as the regular afternoon storm started rolling in - so much for getting to know people.
The museums were interesting and the open pit gold mine is huge and interesting to see. Try to find the regular sized pickup truck on the road with the big dump trucks.
Our two nights in Bruce Rock were fairly quiet. Most of farming community had gone to the coast for summer holidays, but the 120 who stayed behind came out to celebrate Australia Day (Jan. 26) at the community pool. We joined them for their games, bbq and intense summer sun; the boys definitely got too much and are still rather pink.
I'll let the kids tell you about that (I know I said they could tell you about the animal park too, but we've been without internet for days).
I'll let the kids tell you about that (I know I said they could tell you about the animal park too, but we've been without internet for days).
We thought our drive from Bruce Rock to the coastal city of Busselton would take 3.5 hours. Unfortunately, we underestimated and spent about 6 hours in the car instead. The pretty red trees kept me happy for the first 300k, but once they disappeared and the wheat fields just kept going, I was officially bored. The kids were good sports about it. The drive made us realize just how big Australia is (the world' 6th largest country), and we have seen such a small portion of it.
We were all delighted to get out of the car by mid afternoon.
We were all delighted to get out of the car by mid afternoon.
Busselton is a recreational town full of summer sun seekers. We're happy to be amongst people again. We'll spend 5 nights in our two bedroom cabin in a Holiday Park with many other Western Australians. Hopefully the kids will make some friends to enjoy the beautiful beach with, and help them dodge the jellyfish like creatures called "stingers" that can sometimes be seen in the shallow waters. They sting like a bee, but much more intense, apparently.
Last night at sunset, George and I saw a bottlenose dolphin just 15 feet of the shore. Molly was a little jealous so I know where we'll be tonight.
Last night at sunset, George and I saw a bottlenose dolphin just 15 feet of the shore. Molly was a little jealous so I know where we'll be tonight.
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