Blue Mountains Journal

Photo: Lizard, Mount Hay On an earlier visit to Mount Hay I took this photograph of a lizard basking in the afternoon sun. He was an obliging fellow, holding his position just right for ages. You can’t see it, but the lizard is surveying the fabulous wilderness landscape that keeps drawing me back to Mount Hay. This time the lizard’s perfect viewing spot was taken by another photographer capturing the frozen pose of more models having their moment in the sun. Words to walk with: From Ecclesiastes 1 in the Holy Bible (New International Version) “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains for ever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course … The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

After our walk to Fortress Rock we continued the drive to Mount Hay. Earlier in the year I showed some pictures from Mount Hay after the December fires. I had promised myself to go back and see what it looked like some months on. Photo: View from Mount Hay, early evening While the ground is green where there was ash in December, there are still plenty of sticks where there were once trees. However, there is also good growth occurring. Click here February 10th to see how it looked soon after the fire and then at the picture below of the same clump of as it appears today. Words to walk with: From Fire-Stick Farming by Mark O’Connor a contemporary Australian poet. "In the hot calm the bees are loud, working wings and elbows with an angry sound, as you leap the tussocks, amazed at your ignorant creation, the shapes and passions hidden in a sheet of flame. And above them all a new forest rising."

In summer time these paths are edged with flannel flowers. On this walk there was just one left. Other tiny flowers taking their place in their own season. Photo: Flannel Flower, Fortress Ridge Track Words to walk with: From So Fair, So Sweet, Withal So Sensitive by William Wordsworth “So fair, so sweet, withal so sensitive, Would that the little Flowers were born to live, Conscious of half the pleasure which they give; That to this mountain-daisy's self were known The beauty of its star-shaped shadow, thrown On the smooth surface of this naked stone!”

The bush cocoons with silence. Soft hush of footsteps on the sandy track. A distant toot from a steam train sweeps us to a past era. Jarred by the groan of a motorbike stirring up dirt somewhere through the trees and a helicopter flying like an angry gnat along the cliff face. Words to walk with: From the sonnet The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”

This weekend we headed out on the long bumpy road to Mt Hay, breaking the trip part way to walk out to Fortress Rock Lookout. It’s an easy walk mostly along a fire trail, leading to a wonderful 360 degree view of windswept heath and sheer cliff faces. Photo: View from Fortress Rock Lookout Words to walk with: From Psalm 62 from the Holy Bible (New International Version) “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

The elusive male bower bird is deep glossy blue, almost black, with lighter blue eyes. He is fond of blue objects which he collects to decorate his bower – an odd assortment of blue feathers, blue plastic bottle tops, blue drinking straws and blue clothes pegs – to impress the bevy of females that are currently frequenting the trees in our garden. These lovely ladies are camouflage green with beautiful sapphire blue eyes. Young males are also green until they are about 7 years old. Photo: Satin Bower Bird ( Ptilonorhynchus violaceus ) Words to walk with: From the Penguin Book of Australian Slang by Lenie Johansen Bowerbird – Person who collects an astonishing array of sometimes useless objects.

The Liquid Ambers in the street colour much earlier than the tree in our garden. They are now quite bare and have dropped their spiky seed pods to the ground. Flocks of noisy galahs are feasting on them all day. Photo: Galah ( Eolophus roseicapillus ) Words to walk with: From the Penguin Book of Australian Slang by Lenie Johansen Galah – Fool, ineffectual person: e.g. 1. He made a proper galah of himself. 2. That silly galah can’t do anything right!