Pillaga

We live in the Pillaga and visit the scrub often 

and sadly there are so many weeds

 it is full of farmer's friend, various burs and prickles and cactus 

that get stuck in our Doberman's feet his name is Jerry 

and we have poodle called Indigo Blue. 

They are like brother's although Indi and Jerry are different breeds.

This is a pretty part of the scrub but
these plant's are not native to the Pillaga
they might have come from peoples garden's.

The forest is good to ride bikes in and walk in
but our poodle is a prickle collector and
even though the forest is a wonderful place,
it is a bad for walking fluffy little dog's :-(

There was hardly any cactus 30 years ago,
 but then kid's attacked it with stick's
and spread the seeds and piece's and and
now they are every where.

The Pillaga forest discovery center is a nice place run 

by national parks and wildlife service
 they have a gallery space and usually have an exhibition happening
 and there is a  photography exhibition at the moment. 

It is interesting noticing the differences between places, 

here there are many more grass parrots 

 than there are up at the Clarence and no lorikeets.

There are mapped bird routes through the Pilliga and over 

 240 recorded species including 

the  beautiful barking owl and the turquoise parrot

 as well as other endangered species of birds.

Sadly walking around this town we also come across dead animals

the people around here are really  into a blood sport called pigging

 where they go out with pig dog's and hunt and shoot pigs it sound's disgusting

they also kill other animals and we have found their remains.

  

Sculptures in the Scrub

We went on amazing walk in the Pilliga Scrub
called " Sculptures in the Scrub "
it had nice flowers along the track and trees
the flowers out there are in the national park and
  the plants that grow there are very different
 to the plants that grow in the scrub near our house,

       

   The sculptures were nice,

 some are made from metals and some from stone, 

and the newest ones out there are bright coloured mosaics. 

 and the walk was good too, 

it had some really amazing views across the gully.

 Even though I wasn't in the mood for it, it was still great.

Walking can make a bad mood into a good mood.   

                           

I think it would be a good walk for everyone, it is not too long
  only 2km all around on a loop and it is easy walking
 with really good steps and the cliffs have guard rails.
It would also be good for someone
 who was getting a job as a forester
 because it has good and bad trees in the surrounding forest ,
my dad is a forester and he has taught me what trees are good.

                                                                       and bad
       

Clarence River

The mighty mighty river
The Clarence River
is our favorite river.

We enjoy walking our dogs there.

  It is where our home is. 

This is a bend on the river at Copmanhurst 

and my family spend a lot of time here

walking, swimming, relaxing and having fun.

The Clarence River is 394 km long

and it travels through Copmanhurst, Grafton, Ulmarra, Cowper, Brushgrove, Maclean and Harwood and then it flows into the Pacific Ocean at the river mouth between Iluka and Yamba.

 it's a  wonderful place.     

                                                               

Mystery Tree

There is a beautiful  tree in our backyard

and it is blossoming

We think it might be an apricot tree

well, we hope it might be an apricot tree

we don't really know what it is.

Its a nice tree

The bees love it so much they are knocking the flowers off and we can hear them buzzing away happily when we are working in the garden,

 its a nice sound.

This tree of mystery is in our vegie garden

right near the back fence and the compost.

Do you know what type of tree this is?