First a few photos from my motel with a difference!  I stayed at the Underground Motel at White Cliffs.  Although it probably looks a bit daunting, but it actually felt fairly roomy!

Underground Motel

View from top of motel

On the way to Lake Peery, we came across a newly formed creek. Although it was probably a low lying depression, since the flooding it is now a deeply incised creek! Remember though the flooding in this area started in March 2010.

New creek

Lake Peery is is within the Paroo-Darling National Park.

The Park has two components: the 71,133 ha Nocoleche Nature Reserve, approximately 180 km west of Bourke; and the 67,171 ha Peery component, which is located within the Paroo-Darling National Park, around 240 km south-west of Bourke.

Lake Peery

The land surrounding the National Park is surrounded by private landholders.  There are a lot of ecologically significant wetlands in the area in particular the Paroo outflows. Most of the area surrounding the Park is subject to grazing.

Lake Peery

We went up to the top of Round hill.  I could see Lakes Peery and Poloko, but it doesnt show up very well in the photo below!

View from Round Hill Panorama

The cloud formations were quite interesting on this day!

Clouds

Clouds

The landscape in the area is quite rocky, as shown in the photo below.

Rocky ground

On my trip to Menindee, I came across another Wedge-tailed Eagle!  I would have seen about 40 on my trip! Pity it was cloudy though – doesnt make for a very good photo!

Wedge-tailed Eagle

I crossed over Bonley Creek, near Wilcannia.  It was quite interesting to see a dry creek, obviously affected by the recent flooding. You can see the height of the flooding on the gauge board, it was at about 1.8 metres!

Bonley Creek

Bonley Creek

Wetland Wanderer – Over and Out!

Before visiting Currawinya NP, I took a few photos at Hungerford. Below is the Royal Mail Motel, the only accommodation in Hungerford. It was constructed in 1873 and was origninally made of corrugated iron.  It was originally a Cobb & Co Staging Post, and it was first granted its first license in 1874, which is a year before the town was gazetted. Several of the publicans have served as the postmaster and the tradition still contiunes.

Royal Mail Hotel

The fuzzy photo is of money pinned on the roof in the pub. It is done as a fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctors.  There are a lot of fundraisers throughout the year for them as they are such an important resource in a town as remote as Hungerford.

It was quite a night at the pub.  There were a lot of people in town for the Hungerford Field Day (apparently in Hungerford every 2 years), with about 70-80 people there for dinner!  Everyone was really friendly, I had a great chat with some locals! And it turns out you will always run into someone who knows someone from home!  The pub owner knows the Ferbers, and the Tool man from Broken Hill is related to the Kerleys!! Small world!

Royal Mail Hotel fundraiser

Apparently these ‘people’ have been waiting for the bus for a while.  I dont know why they didnt get on the one that was running between the pub and showgrounds (It was running as the HUngerford Field day was on the following day)!

Bus stop

The entrance to  Currawinya has a great sandstone sculpture as you go in!

Currawinya NP entrance

The Paroo river system is relatively unregulated (only a few weirs, but they dont impact on flow too much), so it was great to see a relatively natural system.

First we visited Caiwarra waterhole.

Caiwarra Waterhole

The next site was Shed Creek, so named as there is a shed nearby (I think it was a shearers quarters, but dont quote me!).

Shed Creek

We then visited Pump Hole which is so named as water was pumped from this waterhole to irrigate crops and pastures for the horses.  Following photos show the what is left of the pump set up.

Pump Hole

Pump Hole

Pump Hole

Old pump

Old pumping system

Old pumping system

We had a quick look for a resident Bowerbird nearby, but he had vacated the premises.

Remnants of Bower bird nest

We visited some old buildings that are left from when it was a farm.    Currawinya National Park incorporates the areas of two former pastoral properties, Currawinya and Caiwarro. These properties originally occupied much larger areas, and included all or part of neighbouring properties. Currawinya was first occupied for pastoral use in 1865, and Caiwarro in 1864. In 1924, the two properties were amalgamated under the Paroo Pastoral Company, although they continued to be managed as separate units. Caiwarro homestead was abandoned and demolished in 1971. Management was moved to Currawinya homestead, and the two leases were formally amalgamated as Currawinya in 1974.

Chimney

Meat house

Little remains of the homestead complex at Caiwarro, as the majority of the buildings have been damaged by flood and subsequently demolished. However, the site offers the opportunity to examine the layout of the homestead area and surrounding yards. This reflects the social stratification amongst managers, jackeroos, stockmen and servants on properties in previous years. The Caiwarro ruins also present an opportunity to observe construction techniques of the time (1890s), most notably the brick and pisé construction which was common in the area.

Garage

Mechanics workshop

Old Homestead

 

The park also contains relics which demonstrate pastoral practices of early settlers, such as sheepyards and runs used by shepherds before the property was fenced, and fences which demonstrate early fencebuilding techniques. A small amount of old machinery, such as the pump used to draw water from the Paroo River to irrigate a fodder-growing area on Caiwarro, remains on the park and is of cultural heritage significance.

Practice tennis court

Can you see the rainwater tank on the dog house! Quite a good idea!

Dog house

After spending a bit of time at the Caiwarra ruins, we went to Corni Paroo waterhole. The Corni Paroo waterhole (and other locations along the Paroo River) are the most popular fishing spots within the park.

An endemic strain of the yellowbelly Maquaria ambigua ambigua has been found here.

Corni Paroo Waterhole

I dont know why, but i have become slight obsessed with Emus on my trip!

Emus

The last two stops were Lakes Numulla and Wyara.

Lake Numulla is a fresh lake and it has areas designated for fishing and canoeing and other activities.

Lake Numulla

Lake Numulla

Lake Wyara is a saline lake, with the salinity getting as high as twice as salty as sea water. Thousands of Pelicans have bred on Lake Wyara, actually tens of thousands!  I have never seen so many!

Pelicans

Juvenile Pelicans

Juvenile Pelicans

I got to witness quite a spectacular! Some Pelicans started riding a thermal and then other Pelicans came from everywhere to join in!!  It was amazing to see!  Once they have been riding it for a while, they form a spiral pattern in the air!! Unfortuately I didnt get a photo of that though!   But it was still an amazing site to see!

Pelicans riding on a thermal

Within the park, there is a bilby enclosure. Predation by introduced and feral animals and competition with domestic livestock are suspected to be the major causes of decline in population abundance and distribution. Consequently, the reintroduction of Bilbies in the park will need to be conducted in a number of phases. It is planned to establish a breeding colony on the park in a predator-free enclosure. Once external threats have been reduced and the population in the enclosure is large enough, the population will be allowed to naturally disperse onto the park and ultimately onto adjoining properties.

 

Bilby Fence

After a great day at Currawinya, I headed off to White Cliffs. There is a gate on the Qld/NSW border, which is due to the dingo fence.

Qld NSW border

The Paroo River at Wanaaring.

Paroo River

I was so excited to see a frog at White Cliffs, and then it turns out to be a Perons tree frog! What a let down!  I see these at home, i want to see something different!

Frog

Wetland Wanderer – Over and Out!

The last major flood in Charleville was March 2010. The township is located on the Warrego River, with  Bradleys Gully running through town as well.

The levee bank on the Warrego prevented the river flooding the town, but the high rainfall event higher in the catchment meant that Bradleys Gully also flooded.  During the wet season, there is usually 0.6 to 1 metre of water in Bradleys Gully, but
during this flood event it reached a peak of 4.2m. In the photos below, the gauge board only goes to 4 metres, so the water was over the gauge board!

Bradleys Gully

Bradleys Gully

As the levee bank was preventing water flooding the town from the Warrego, it also prevented water running from Bradleys Gully into the Warrego.

View from levee bank

There is also a concrete retaining wall which is used during a flood event.  The retaining wall goes over the main highway.  The retaining wall has to be put in place before the water goes over the bridge, otherwise the it is difficult to locate where the bolts go in to hold it in place.  By cutting off the highway, 100 residents are stranded on the other side, but if the retaining wall isnt completed over the highway, flooding will be extensive in the town.  The SES does provide assist to residents when they are stranded on the other side.

Retaining wall

 

Retaining wall across highway

A lot of houses were affected by the flooding.  The SES evacuated people where required (even in a large flood, there is no law to make sure everyone evacuates. People can choose to stay). Some houses built near the river are on stilts to minimise damage to property.

House on stilts

The bottom floor of the hospital was completely flooded.  This also cut all power to the hospital, so the patients and nursing home people (who were evacuated to the hospital) had to be lifted out of the second storey windows using front end loaders!

Charleville hospital

Brand new nurses quarters have just been built near Bradleys Gully and in the event of a flood, they will go under. I’m sure many people are asking why they would be built so close to the gully and not on stilts!

Nurses quarters

Other towns such as Roma and St George were also affected by this flood, so these towns were not able to provide assistance to Charleville as they had done in other events. Assistance was flown in from Brisbane, with a small contingent of SES people from Toowoomba and a large (60) group from Brisbane came to their aid.

The water stayed up for 3 days, with a peak in flow each day (following a drop in levels).

Some locals are still waiting for insurance to come through, even though it has been more than a year since the event.

The largest flooding event in this catchment was in 1990.

On my drive to Hungerford, I saw a few interesting things.

Emus

Paroo River

White Necked Heron

The Paroo narrows in sections.  This section near Cullamulla is quite narrow compared to further upstream, and there was a small embankment across the river.  Not sure why though…restricting flow for some reason!

Paroo River

Paroo River embankment

After my look around Charleville, I drove to Hungerford.  I managed to get there on one of the busiest days in 2 years!!  Friday is the Hungerford Field Day!  There were lots of great people here, very friendly. But what more would you expect from a town which has a population normally of 8 people!

Charleville to Hungerford

Thought I would give a quick update of my star gazing experience!

Well it was great! I now know how to find celestial south, for photographic purposes!

Through the telescope, we got to see Alpha Centauri, which is a star in the Southern Cross constellation. It is our closest neighbour – about 4.5 light years away. AC is a binary star – it isnt actually just one star, there are 3!

Then we got to see the Jewel Box.  To the naked eye, it is barely visible, but with the telescope it is an open cluster of 150-200 stars!

Iota Canceri was the next one we got to look at.  It is another binary system (only 2 this time though).  One star is yellow, and the other is blue.

Omega Centauri is a globular cluster. Again to the naked eye, it isnt much to look at, but through the telescope it is a cluster made of approximately one million stars!

For the finale we got to look at Saturn!  It actually isnt colourful like you see in posters, it was actually white.  But I could definitely see the rings!

Below is my attempt of a star trail.  Not too bad I think!

Star trail

 

 

 

Not too much to report today.  I drove from St. George to Charleville (via Mitchell).

The landscape on the trip was quite nice.  Varying from Pine to Eucalypts and Boabs.  The drive from St George to Mitchell was a bit nerve racking though as I saw so many animals on the road – dead and alive !  I saw kangaroos, emus and even a few dead cows on the side of the road!! :/

Pine landscape

Eucalyptus landscape

Landscape out of Mitchell

I saw this Currawong while I stopped briefly in Morven. It was going crazy for those blue berries!

Currawong

Once I got to Charleville, I visited the local bakery and found Nippy’s drinks in there!  Ahh the flavours of home!

Tomorrow I will be meeting with a person to talk about flooding in Charleville.  I remember seeing Charleville in the news a while back as there was extensive flooding, so that’s why I wanted to visit here!

I will then drive to Hungerford which is on the NSW/QLD border.

Tonight I am going to the open air observatory to view the night sky!  Hopefully it stays clear!

Today I visited Gwydir Wetlands, which is about 60km from Moree.  Although the wetland has received flows above average, it was not considered a flood.

The total area of this wetland system is 102,120 hectare, and only 823 hectares is Ramsar.

Gwydir River

The wetland and surrounding farmland on Bunnor (property) is set up as a farm/ecostay (it is a working property).  There are a few bird hides, and a small function room which is good for meetings. There were a few Egrets, Nankeen Night Herons, and Darters around when we were in the bird hide.  As the water is fairly shallow ( less than 50cm) it provides good feeding habitat for wading birds.

Gwydir wetlands

The Gwydir wetlands relies on flows from Copeton Dam. Apart of the Water Sharing Plan for this region, ensures that Gwydir wetlands receives some natural flows, but in the last 10 years, this has been relatively small amounts. Of the flows that enter the Gwydir river below the dam, the first 500ML/day goes to the wetlands and any flows that exceed 500ML/day is divided 50:50 split between irrigators and the environment (but not necessarily the Gwydir wetlands).

Gingham Creek

Gingham Waterhole

Water Hyacinth is a huge problem in the Gwydir wetlands.  Booms are used in the wetland to collect the WH and it is sprayed.  Although it is impossible to completely control as it gets in amongst the reeds, the management does reduce its impact.

Water Hyacinth

We did see some Plumed Whistling Ducks (yes they do whistle!), but they flew off before I could take a photo. The ducks below are Pacific Black Ducks and Grey Teal.

Ducks on Gingham Waterhole

The recent inundation event did result in a bird breeding event.  There was 300-350 pairs of Magpie Geese, as well as ducks and Nankeen Night Herons breeding in the wetland.

Swamp Buttercup

Boyanga Waterhole

Boyanga Waterhole

Coobah and lignum

The property “Old Dromana” has not received flows for a number of years.  The photo below was taken at this site. The wetland is surrounded by Coolibahs, and the vegetation on the wetland is Water Couch and Eleocaris sp. (as well as some Nardoo and 14 other species of plant).  Prior to this inundation event, the area that was inundated was mainly covered in Lippia. There has been quite a lot of frogs breeding in this area… we could hear a couple Eastern Sign Bearing Froglets calling.

Old Dromana

The photo below is of an irrigation channel that is connected to the Gwydir River.  This channel is actually wider and deeper than the photo of the Gwydir (one of the first photos!). Water is pumped from this channel into a large dam.

Irrigation channe

Environmental water has been delivered to Whittakers Lagoon over the past three years. A total of 230 ML has been delivered.  While it had water, Comb-crested Jacanas were recorded there, which are vulnerable in NSW.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/media/DecMedia10121601.htm

Whittakers Lagoon

Photo below – wider part of the Gwydir.

Gwydir River

I saw some cotton plants on the road on my drive from Moree to St George. They hadnt been harvested as they are outside of the paddock.  I have seen so much cotton in this area!  Harvest has just finished and there are a lot of bales sitting in paddocks waiting to be picked up.  Apparently there is so much cotton in the area, the gins will be processing right through until next years crop is harvested!

Cotton plants

Cotton plant

Photo below – The Balonne River , St George.  It is quite a wide river!

Balonne River St George

 

Well tomorrow I am driving to Charleville.

Wetland Wanderer – Over and Out.

Well Day 16 wasnt too eventful.  Just a drive from Lightning Ridge to Coonamble (2 hours).  But before I left LR I did manage to find the perfect opal necklace!  And the right price too – it was 50% off !  Gotta love a bargain!

On my drive I came across some white stuff on the road…is that snow??  At closer inspection I discovered it was cotton!  I have seen a lot on the roads since!

Snow or not

On the drive from Coonamble to Quambone (to meet with expert to go to Mac Marshes) I saw these cattle being driven down the road (you know what i mean…not literally driven!).  I have seen so many signs for stock on roads and havent seen any…until today!!

Cattle drive

While I was waiting for the expert to arrive, I saw this family of quails foraging in the grass.

Quail family

Egrets Spoonbills and White-necked Heron

Darters

Ibis

Big Terrigal Creek

The view from the bird perch (bird watching viewing platform) shows all the dead trees in the creek. These trees provide great habitat (perches) for many birds!

View from Bird Perch

The Reed Beds provide great habitat for birds, for feeding and breeding.

Ducks at the Reed Beds

Egrets in flight

Egrets and White-necked Heron

Egrets

Creek in Macquarie Marshes

Just when you think snake season is finished…we see a Red-bellied Black Snake sunning itself!! It was seriously about 1.5 metres long!!  I was about 5 metres away from it!  Red-bellied Black Snakes are known to be quite docile.

Red-bellied Black Snake

On my 4 hour drive to Moree, I took a few photos of the storm clouds in the distance.  Luckily it didnt rain too much where I was!

Ominous sky

I also came across a cotton field which had recently been harvested.  You can see the bails of cotton in the background.

Freshly picked cotton

Ominous sky

Today I visited Lightning Ridge.  Within 15 minutes of arriving, I was on a bus doing an Opal tour.

First we visited an old camp site, which was apart of the old township of Nettleton. Not sure when the town was relocated and renamed though!

Old Camp

Our second stop was to Lunatic Hill open cut mine.  It was named Lunatic Hill as the locals said the guys who decided to dig there were lunatics!!  The opal layer (only found a specific soil type) was 45 metres under the ground!

It is one of the largest open cut opal mines in NSW, and one of the richest sources of black opal was found.  The Halley’s Comet Opal was found here, which is the largest black opal nobby ever found.  It was found in 1986, and sold for $6 million !!!

Open Cut Mine

We got to fossick a bit too!  Although many people have been over it before, people are still finding good quality opal in a pile like this! These stones have been tumbled and it is easier to work with and handle once it is like this.  You need to look for potch or common opal on the side of the stone, which is a poor quality opal, but this can indicate that there is better quality opal inside.

On our tour, we were shown a stone which had some potch on it and he decided to cut it in half which is a massive no no!! And he learnt the hard way why this is, as he cut an large opal in half….in tact it would have been worth $6,000!!! But in its currrent state, is only worth$4,000.

Fossickers heap

 

Amigos Castle

The Astronomers Monument was built by a man called Alex (can’t remember his last name).  He was jailed for murder in 1978.  A few years later, with the advancement in DNA technology it was discovered he didnt do it. He was released after being in jail for 4 years and 8 months (of his 8 year sentence).    He built this tribute to astronomers, which he had been researching while he was in jail. It was a bit sad to see jail bars on his bedroom.

Astromoners monument

It was interesting going into the underground mine.  Although it is at a constant 20-22 degrees, it is not suitable to live underground as there is too much moisture.

Underground mine

Going down the mine

The throw hoist is used to bring the stone which is chiseled from underground to the surface and dumps it in a pile.  This saves the miner going up and down the shaft.  It also enables the miner to work by himself, rather than requiring two people (one digging and the other lifting the rock out).

Short throw hoist

Long throw hoist

My last stop for the day was the the cactus garden.  Lots of cacti from around the world!

Cactus Garden

 

Cactus

 

Cactus flower

 

Cactus Garden

I also paid a visit to the John Murray Art Gallery and purchased a few of his art work.  There are great australiana original and print artworks!

To check out his work, go to www.johnmurrayart.com.au

My last stop for the day was to the Artestian bore baths.  Very relaxing!

Wetland Wanderer – Over and Out!

 

 

 

Fridays adventure started with the long journey from Holbrook to Narran Lakes – the trip took about 5 hours!  It didnt help that I got slightly lost…turns out that detours signs are more of a suggestion!

On my drive, i came to realise why so many roads were inaccessible due to flooding!  On this trip I saw so many signs for Floodways (areas subject to flooding)  Looking at these flood level markers, I realised there would be a lot of water around if there was water up to the marker, as the landscape is so flat!

Flood level marker

Landscape near flood marker

In Walgett, I saw a truck loaded up with cotton.

Cotton truck

Once I finally got to Narran Lakes, we went for a boat ride to see the lakes. We saw so many birds!  Royal Spoonbills, Egrets, Ibis, Nankeen Night Herons, Pelicans and Cormorants!  Below are a series of photos taken on my visit to Narran!

Brolga

Brolga

Midden

Pelicans

Juvenile Nankeen Night Heron

Old Ibis nests

Straw-necked Ibis

Healthy lignum

Female Darter with young

Crowded tree

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

Royal Spoonbill

Little Black Cormorants

Juvenile Royal Spoonbill

Birds

Pied Cormorant

Pied Cormorant

More Pelicans

 

Egret

 

Pied Cormorant

Pied Cormorant

Cormorants on sunset

Birds flying around

Sunset

 

Today’s trip took me to Leeton (NSW) to visit Fivebough swamp.  The drive from Holbrook to Leeton had some great photo opportunites!

Frosty morning Holbrook

Frosty morning Holbrook

Somewhere

A little town called The Rock

The Rock

Foggy morning near Narrandera

Foggy morning near Narrandera

Dewy Spiderweb

Plane

The Fivebough and Tuckerbil wetlands were managed by the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust, but this group has just been disbanded and will now be managed by a NSW state government department.

The photo below was taken from a bird hide.

Fivebough wetland

At the moment, the management of the wetlands is being reviewed.  Some initial issues include weed management, and the potential control of Cumbungi (reed species).  The wetland is slowly being taken over by Cumbungi!

Fivebough track

There is an irrigation channel which runs almost the whole way around Fivebough wetland.  The wetland mainly gets water from irrigation run-off, treated sewage run-off or used as flood mitigation.  It has only been given an environmental allocation on a couple of occasions.

Irrigation channel at Fivebough

The photo below is taken from the eastern side of the wetland.  We were not able to access Tuckerbil wetland as the tracks are still not accessible due to recent flooding.

Fivebough from Hooey Road

Once I got to Parkes, I quickly went out to see the Dish!!  It was quite impressive!  I wish I got there earlier so I could go into the visitor centre! It looks like it is in the right position for a game of cricket !

The Dish Parkes

Anyway that is all for today.  Tomorrow I will be going to Narran Lakes, near Walgett.

Wetland Wanderer – Over and Out!