Monday, July 4, 2011

MY WORLD ~ A Long Walk


1,000 miles from home, near Porepunkah, Victoria, we enjoyed
a quiet holiday with daily walks. This was one of the long ones.

Down a disused, leaf-hidden path in an Elm thicket we went . . .


with bright fungi lit by a stray sunbeam,


down to the Overs River where it flowed tranquil and wide.


Our shady untrodden path was like something out of a half
remembered fairy tale and, as things happen in fairy tales and
dreams, from this cool moist thicket,


we were shot out into the stark sunlight with hard baked
earth to plod upon . . . and a late and rather moth-eaten
butterfly.
Once again, Stewart M has risen to the challenge and identified
this little pretty as a Meadow Angel, a very apt name too.


down to a river-bend that was anything but tame. The flood
had ripped up trees along the bank and built up a whole gravel
pit of broken stones on the inside curve while tearing down
everything on the other bank.



The smooth flow of the river, was here a raging torrent.


The built up gravel and debris on the inner curve.


Walking along the dense scrub along the bank we heard the
twitter of small birds and even managed to see some in the
gloom. Here a Grey Fantail sat momentarily still


and a hen Wren too.


Another bright butterfly bumbled along on a sunny patch:
Stewart M's identification, a Yellow Admiral.
Thanks again Stewart for coming to my rescue!


as emerald green mosses glowed among the pine needles
in the old forest.


The Prof, having safely negotiated this small swimming pool,
is dwarfed by the forest.


I scrambled through the bushes and was rewarded by a little
bit of lost history as I came upon these old posts, and there
were many more, driven into the river-bed. It looked like a
long forgotten mooring and landing place for river traffic.


Onward, ever onward. By this time we were far from our
starting point, getting tired and just a teensy bit crabby and
were cheered by this live bird-bridge across our path.


Some pine mushrooms, that someone had obviously enjoyed,
growing on an old stump


and a luminous patch of cow-parsley finely iced with dew,


a magnificent view of Mt.Buffalo


and the tiniest Oxalis I had ever seen, the flowers a bare 1/4",
taking me back again to fairyland.


A bare half mile and we were back at our home away from home.



They all enlarge it you have the time and patience. Sorry this was
such a long post, you have no idea how many pictures I DIDN'T
show you.

Do join in this great meme that lets us all see what is happening
elsewhere in the world. Just click on the MY WORLD logo in my
side bar and bingo! you can wander at will across the globe.

23 comments:

  1. It was a fun post, perhaps a bit long (but so was your walk!) but also tons of fun. :)

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  2. Arija, it was a privilege for me to accompany you on this walk. Truly, an unforgettable and poetic experience: every photo and every word. Thank you for sharing this.

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  3. What an incredible place, Arija! And how wonderful to be able to walk there! Love the waterfalls! Your photos are breathtaking as always and the next best thing to being there myself! Hope your week goes well! Take care!!

    Sylvia

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  4. Such beautiful scenery, Arija!!!

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  5. Very nice photos - I love hikes like this. That footbridge in your previous post is awesome!

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  6. thank you for sharing your gorgeous walk with us! I loved seeing the eaten mushrooms, fun.

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  7. Wow, you packed a lot into this walk!

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  8. Beautiful photos, what a great walk! I loved the beautiful butterflies! :)

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  9. oh the reflection shots were spectacular! first beautiful blue skies, then ending with the trees and leaves. just yummy!

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  10. THanks for taking me along on this walk.The scenery is gorgeous and so varied.

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  11. You have a variety of themes. Wonderful going through this collection.

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  12. I really need to do more walking and hiking... to be able to see things like these... great photos.

    ~ Jo's Precious Thoughts ~

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  13. Such a lovely and inviting place to walk. If you're like me I'll bet you have at least 100 photos from just one walk. I'm glad, because now I feel like I went along. Thanks Arija.

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  14. Arija, I enjoyed the walk you took us on. The place is like a fairyland!

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  15. Hi Arija, great walk, lovely shots.
    go to my website for a link to e-mail me about the white-winged fairywren, cheers
    tony

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  16. Hi there - I spent more time than I care to recall trying to get a decent picture of your second butterfly - a yellow admiral - this summer!

    Well, there's always next year!

    Nice post.

    Stewart M.

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  17. This reminds me of the treks I took in NZ. Thanks for the tour!Hope you'll take us on another walk soon, Arija.
    Rosie

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  18. I enjoyed your walk, seeing the river and trees is just beautiful. And I loved the butterflies and birds. Thanks for sharing your world.

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  19. Hi there (again) - just to cement my reputation as a legend in my own lunch box (or a bit of a smart Alec!) - I think that the first butterfly is a Meadow Argus!

    If you ever get a chance to get hold of a copy of the 2 volume CSIRO book on butterflies, grab the change, it’s a work of art! But having said that Google images helps as well!

    Thanks for the comments - I really like our 'conversations'

    Cheers - Stewart M.

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  20. Such a beautiful walk. Thanks for taking us with you through your photography.

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  21. Oh my Arija. What a wonderful walk you have taken us on. I would have loved to join you. So many beautiful places to take photos.
    B.

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  22. What a fantastic walk! Beautiful photos!

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