Veronika Wild

Just a quickie today as I am about to head off to Perth - the FI/FO Grandma flies again! I'll just post a few pics from the last bush trip to show you how it looks in Christmas mode. Waratah, my all time favourite Myrtle and Mountain Berries Berries and Bauera Sorry, don't know the name of this one Or this. I'm hoping someone will tell me as I haven't bought the plant book yet More Myrtle Keep safe and see you next year!

Our Postie Spreading a bit of Christmas Cheer It must be that time of the year again. There are carol singers in the mall and I had a nice chat with Mrs Claus down in the Cat and Fiddle. The real frenzy hasn't started yet, but give it another week. I'd better finish getting that Christmas mail out.

Leaving Tasmania and No, I am not flying this one - leaving it to Virgin Translations: * What Tasmanians call  Bass Strait ** Means Fly In/Fly Out in Mining Speak Just paid my annual state visit to the National Capital to see how the other half lives.   It was a bit different this time. Previous visits to my son and his lovely wife have usually involved a hectic nightlife –drinks at the Geology Bar followed by the odd party, then maybe a 2 a.m. visit to Civic to check out the trendier pubs and clubs. Even if we didn’t go out, we would sit up late to marathon the latest movies. Now that there is an adorable new  baby in the house – the main reason for this visit, our most exciting nightime adventure was going late night grocery shopping. On the one night when we did stay up to watch a movie, we all fell asleep, which was not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the film. Not that I didn’t have an excellent time - lots of baby cuddles with that delici...

More Correctly - Superb Fairy Wren Malurus Cynaneus - photo with kind permission from Graeme Chapman Passionate ornithologist, Graeme Chapman, formerly of the CSIRO's Division of Wildlife, has kindly allowed me to reproduce one of his photos here, since I had such difficulty getting a photo of these cheeky little birds  while at Narawntapu. They have a very interesting life story too, one I wasn't aware of until I read about it on Graeme's website . Nor was I aware that there were so many varieties. See Graeme's main website www.graemechapman.com.au for exceptional  photos and a wealth of information on Australia's amazing birds.You can even hear the birdcalls they make. In 2004, Graeme was awarded the John Hobbs medal for his work with amateur ornithologists, especially Birds Australia which has now become www.birdlife.org.au/ ‎

Not New Orleans, but sounds like it  It isn’t often that we have free entertainment in the street/ courtyard. Today it was the Hobart Jazz Club, playing up the hill at the Mayfair. Great fun – cheap wine, cheap food and good   company, all within walking - even crawling distance of home. Is that a bit of product placement I detect in the corner? Never mind they gave out prizes too, so I'll forgive them. Nothing like a couple of glasses of wine on a sunny afternoon to make one feel forgiving. The Jazz Executives belt out a tune This is the other group,   whose name I didn't catch. Excellent voice on the lead singer. At least two of the ladies from my dance class were there and when they played some of those Broadway numbers, we were up and dancing.  We had fun even though I have as yet, very little idea of the steps. Hey! They were playing our songs. Nor were we the only ones happily making fools of ourselves. This next picture isn't ...

Not the Sea Urchin I saw at the Seaside Festival but one of the same Longspine type ( Centrostephanus Rodgersii) kindly sent to me by Jemina Stuart -Smith at Redmap* Update "Hunting the Wild Waterfalls- Adamson's Falls"   posted 19/11/2015 Talking to a member of Birdlife Australia at the Taroona Seaside Festival yesterday, I was able to confirm that the bird  I saw was a lyrebird  and yes, they do nest in trees at night! Birdlife Australia works for bird conservation and also runs a variety of volunteer programs. I'm looking forward to learning more about our feathered friends, maybe even getting some decent pictures, and am really pleased to have found people who are able to answer my many questions and identify some of the plants and animals I have encountered on my travels.  Update " Narawntapu Day 2 - posted 2/11/2015 Re: The high intertidal range in the North of Tasmania (Baker's Beach) and in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Also at the Seasid...

This is an awesome waterfall Billy Brown's Waterfall proved to be somewhat elusive. There were supposed to be hand written signs somewhere, but I didn’t see those and drove clear through Judbury and Lonnavale before coming upon someone who knew where it was. Not that the trip up the valley alongside the Huon River was wasted - the grass was high and green, hay making was in progress complete with the luscious the smell of of freshly mown grass. There were sleek horses in paddocks along with alpacas with that enigmatic smile they have when they are just about to bite someone. Baby goats (kids) leapt into the air with all four hooves as only young goats can to express the sheer joy of life. This is a magnificent waterfall, but now I know why I have never seen it on any tourist map. It is not for the faint - hearted. This road, when I finally found it, was even worse than the one I was on yesterday, the more so because it was longer,   steeper, and  rockier.  A...