A quick bushwalk, some cheetahs, oh, and one last botanic garden

Ku-ring-gai National Park is very close to our house so it makes a great place for a quick bushwalk, with the hope of some kangy sighting. On a muggy gray afternoon, Donna, Dan, Jack & I walked through the Kalkiri Discovery Center with just that hope. Although we had fun spotting other flora and fauna, no kangies were going to show themselves this day.

I thought this was a genteel way to urge visitors to stay on the track, not wander off into the scrub.

The bloom on the left, perhaps a Catherine Wheel, is from one of the grevillea group, a huge bunch of Australian native trees and shrubs. The big bloom on the right is definitely one of the banksia group. The banksia leaves all look as if they've been carefully trimmed with pinking shears, or for the more current description, a scrapbooking fancy scissors.

 

 In Dubbo, in the center of New South Wales, we took time for the Toronga Western Plains Zoo, a division of the Toronga Zoo near Sydney. It is a drive-through zoo, spread over a huge area, but drivers can stop and park their cars at different animal groups; the animals are in huge paddocks. Visitors can also rent golf carts to zip around the drive. On weekend mornings, intrepid volunteers lead walking tours through the zoo, starting at 630am, a great way to go behind the scenes. Our group leader was really great and after our three-hour walk, we had a chance to sit over a cup of tea with her, her husband and another volunteer and visit about the zoo and Australian life in general.

Donna had a chance to talk with the passionate cheetah keeper and an up-close look at the zoo's two teenage cheetahs. The zoo has a very successful breeding program.

The meerkats at WPZ aren't as numerous as other zoos I've visited, but as always, their antics and social life are wonderful to see. Graceful native black swans have made their home in the ponds at the zoo; our morning guide told us that many native species are returning to the area as the zoo has increased appropriate habitat. The focus on conservation is a given these days in Australia.

Among the native vegetation is the native Australian iris, found mostly in delicate cream colors. For my taste, they are just right, not the overblown look of the bearded iris we see in the US.

All in all, WPZ is worth a trip from Sydney. The Roar and Snore overnight program puts campers in tents near the main pond the zoo for a fun night. Wish I'd thought of it. Our motel in Dubbo was pretty basic and I think the zoo would have been heaps more fun!

OK, one last garden, the Hunter Region Botanic Garden at the mouth of the Hunter Valley, the wine growing region north of Sydney. It was really too hot to think about visiting a vineyard, and I was driving anyway, so we had a look in at the garden instead. Maintained by volunteers, the garden is a showcase of regional native plants. Thank goodness no snakes were on the tracks the morning we went. It was blistering hot, hovering around 100F and very muggy.

The cactus garden is new since my last visit, and very well done.

Aside from the vicious and totally relentless mozzies, the only moving wildlife we saw was this great stick bug. It was a pleasure to escape into the screened cafe for a refreshing devonshire tea.

By the time we got to Denman, at the head of the Hunter Valley, there was definitely no desire to head into the heat for wine tasting. We settled for a nice long soak in the motel pool, and the next morning, a stop at Pulkara Olive Groves where we bought some fun food items.

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