Bangs, Bridges, Bowls and Bugs

New Year's Eve in Sydney is quite a show and a great way to say goodbye to the "Noughties", that is, the decade 2000-2009! Craig, T and Kylie watched the fireworks over the Sydney bridge from a restaurant in downtown Sydney, a perfect view. Tracy, Dan and Abby went to a friends' house, where all 40 kids donned their swimmers and counted down to midnight and jumped into the pool at once. Jack and I stayed home and watched the fireworks over Pittwater, alternating with running inside to see the live show from the Sydney bridge on the telly. Good time!

Next in the round of holiday parties, well at least for us American ex-pats, was watching the Rose Bowl, taped so we could watch at a humane hour. Kylie was with us in Newport while Craig and T went to Hunter Valley for a wine-tasting day. Ex-pat Michelle from Ohio and her family joined the watchers. Dan laid out a sumptuous buffet table for nibbling during the game and had chicken on the barbie for the main event. The kids ranged around the house, grazing like starving wildebeasts. Michelle brought a Pavlova, a very Aussie dessert of fresh fruit and a whipped cream atop a lofty merangue like Yanks would put on a lemon pie. Very sweet!

And on the Bucket List for Tracy and  Dan was a climb on the Sydney bridge, andinvited Craig along too. It was rainy, but they had quite a day, with protective clothing provided by the climbing company. I was very glad to be at home with the cuzzies even on such a rainy day.

 

Rain notwithstanding, we had a lovely bushwalk in Karingai Park from Bobbin Bay, one of our faves. There are always critters to be seen and there were very few other folks around. Jack tried to catch a mud crab (score: crab 5, Jack 0). The walk winds around the bay, then climbs a rocky hill where Aboriginal carvings can be seen on the flat rocks. Then the trail drops into a rainforest gully. We were almost sure that a branch was really a fat python of some kind, but no. But that hollow log surely could be the retreat of some animal or other!

The filmy web over a hole in a gum tree could also have been the haven of one of the world's deadliest spiders, the Sydney Funnel Web Spider. It hides under a web and ambushes prey. When surprised, it rear back on its back legs and threatens, no matter how big the potential attacker is.

Ant lions do much the same thing, but their prey runs to smaller items. Patience, when sitting by one of their traps, will bring the critter out to see what's going on.



Back in our garden, more and more catterpillars are moving around, sampling all of the young plants we've got growing. Plant a garden and they will come. We think this dapper fellow will become a butterfly.

Stink bugs are making sure the species will be available for generations to come.

Even little catterpillars can make serious meals on tender leaves. It's just like the Very Hungry Catterpillar in a favorite children's book.

On our beach at low tide, the rock platforms always turn up something fun. This time, a decorator crab, which is covered with sticky spines to which it attached bits of seaweek and tiny snails. Until it moves, it is almost invisible against the seaweed. There was a family collecting all kinds of little crustaceans and they reported that although small, the decorator crab is tasty eating. OK, I'll pass!

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