I have had some feedback to my posts about the Tanjil River (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river/), Latrobe Rivers & etc. Some people phoned to thank me for an enjoyable trip on this section of the Tanjil. They are WINTER canoeists employing sit-on canoes and wet suits to access the much higher river levels usually available in the cooler […]
I needed to give the ‘Tyvek Solo Fire Shelter’ (I posted about here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tyvek-solo-fire-shelter/ ) a little practical test. What could be a better opportunity than the coldest June night since I was born, I thought. Combining Google Earth http://www.theultralighthiker.com/google-earth-gets-a-facelift/ and the GMA maps showing where it is lawful to hunt deer, (http://www.gma.vic.gov.au/hunting/deer/where-to-hunt/deer-hunting-locations/deer-hunting-in-eastern-victoria) I thought
A couple of delightful hours yesterday afternoon. The lower half of the track follows the one of the original Morwell water supply pipelines. There were/are a series of weirs (lowest shown) on the Tyers River long since replaced by the much larger Moondarra Dam. The first pipeline was wooden – you can see the carefully
Della: And look at this little fellow, snapped from our bedroom window yesterday morning….a satin bower-bird, munching the last of the Royal Gala apples with no less than 18 currawongs for company. Our bird book says that it is either a female or young male. I am not sure if the photo does justice to
Spot and I planned to finish checking out the Upper yarra Track on Sunday, but we had to defer as seasonal road closures have come into force. The gates now have all these nice new signs on them. Perhaps someone at DSE has been noting my posts. Now we have dates for the road closures
https://www.railtrails.org.au/ Our taxes have been busily at work creating these lately. There are now some really long ones http://www.murraytomountains.com.au/the-rail-trail/ http://www.greatvictorianrailtrail.com.au/ https://www.railtrails.org.au/trail-descriptions/victoria/gippsland?view=trail&id=143 Some could be combined with an existing hiking trail to make an interesting loop walk, eg the George Bass Coastal Walk and the Bass Coast Rail Trail: http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/352803/Park-note-George-Bass-Coastal-Walk.pdf & https://www.railtrails.org.au/index.php?option=com_railtrails&view=trail&id=203&Itemid=244
It is now common to encounter deer sign on our evening walks though when we moved here a quarter century ago it was exceeding rare: you could search all day for sign and yet be in doubt. Now FOUR species of deer inhabit the forests behind us: red, sambar, fallow and hog deer. During WW1
On Sunday I noticed one of these (a Grey Butcher Bird) killing one of these (an Indian Spotted Dove) as I emerged from my shift at the Yinnar General Store. The former are fearsome predators of small birds and other critters, often impaling their carcasses on branches, etc in order to devour them later, but
Facsimile CoverWhen I was a lad I thrilled to the works of Ion Idriess http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Idriess (and Nevil Shute: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevil_Shute ‘A Town Like Alice’, ‘On the Beach’, etc) I still wonder at his retelling of the Kidman story (‘The Cattle King’) I confess I have not read the wonderful book reviewed so capably here: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2011/09/ion-idriess-and-the-desert-column/ regarding
