Sightings of this Brushtailed Wallaby at Dangar Falls campground near Armidale was the best part of that visit. As elsewhere, the Falls themselves were suffering from the drought.
But at my final Gorge camp, at Apsley Falls near Walcha, there was an audible and visible waterfall. Perhaps because nearer to the coast, so more rain?
Plus there was another Brushtailed Wallaby!
The view of the Gorge was tainted forever for me when I read that from the 1830s increasing settler numbers caused much grief to the indigenous people. I know, that happened everywhere; but here a party of settlers on horseback chased a group of Aboriginal people to the edge of that cliff… and over, to their deaths.
After that, the plunging steep sides filled me with horror and I had to turn back to the land above the Gorge, to the relatively healthy creek that feeds those falls.
And to allow the bush to soothe and surprise me again.
Unlike at Bimblebox, termite mounds are not common in this country, but especially in this vivid colour, so unlike the soil here generally.
The slim sinuous white gums kept catching my eye. Snow Gums are found here; is that what these glowing beauties are?
Our senses and sensibilities are in tune, Janet!
I feel the same about that place in relation to the violent war crimes committed there. I think I have a photo of that same glowing tree…dont know what they are but so sensuous the way they appear to stretch their slender limbs and revel in the last rays of sunlight.
That’s interesting re the termite mound colour, Bob. Thanks! Fascinating re th tennis court colours. Yes termite ‘dirt’ was often used for earth floors in homes too.
I rarely travelled to Armidale without stopping off at the Apsley falls. I believe the colour of the termite’s mound is related to the nature of the wood they consume. People around Guyra, where I grew up, would crush the ‘ant nest’ and use it on the surface of the bush tennis courts. White gum and peppermint would produce a beautiful hard, white surface. I enjoy your blogs.