The Bunya Pine is an ancient tree, a living fossil from the age of the dinosaurs
These magnificent trees are very rare and found in only a couple areas of Queensland.
The Bunya Mountains lay west of Brisbane, the capital city Queensland
In an area called the Scenic Rim
The road to the Bunya Mountains takes you through the Somerset Region
An area with an interesting history and some great riding roads.
The historic town of Marburg has some very beautifully restore light timber framed buildings typical of Queenland early construction
The hotel is beautiful, well restored good food and a cold beer.
There is the old seminary which is now a winery, reception centre and accommodation is another insight into the early days of local European settlement
The Bunya Pine in the seminary grounds a reminder that this is the right track to the Bunya mountains
Coomba Waterhole is virtually at the base of Bunya Mountain a nice stop off .
The area had recently been burnt in bushfires and the fire tolerant Balga Grass Trees were flourishing as part of the regeneration.
The Bunya Mountain was declared a National Park in 1901 and there are beautiful walks through the forest
The Bunya pines grow higher than the forest canopy, which is mainly eucalypts. These eucalypts grow to about 45 metres high buy Bunya Pines of over 60 metres have been recorded
When you look across to the forest from the mountain lookout. You can see the Bunya Pines sticking their prehistoric heads out above the forest canopy.
Bunya Mountain is a rare and beautiful place to visit
The panorama from the Bunjil lookout at Maude north of Geelong takes in a valley in the Barabool Hills where the Moorabool river has cuts its path
Bunjil the Eagle is the dream time creator of the lands and the people that traditionally inhabited the land now known as Victoria Australia
Bunjil is depicted as a Wedge Tailed Eagle, Australia’s largest bird of prey
A majestic bird in flight
The lookout Bunjil Lookout is shaped like an eagle its powerful bill in front and the huge wingspan behind
Many decades ago the air over the Barabool hills would be full of soaring wedge tailed eagles but after years of European settlement the great bird is listed ad threatened in Australia
I parked my Moto Guzzi in front of the look out
The emblem of Moto Guzzi is the eagle, a mythical eagle inspired possibly by the Golden Eagles that live in the mountains that surround Lake Como, the home of Moto Guzzi.
And looking at the two emblems together I could not help but think of how eagles have inspired us through the ages from the Dreamtime of the oldest culture on earth to the modern machine age
And despite this inspiration, this fascination the awe which these mighty birds install in us
We don’t treasure them, but have hunted eagles over centuries, destroyed their habitat and threatened the beautiful birds that are so inspirational.
The old gold mining town of Steiglitz is an interesting stop to look at an old settlement village
And in contrast to the indigenous names of Barabool and Morrabool the is the sister villages of Maude, Meredith and Elaine the run from south to north through the hills.
A stop in Geelong for a coffee and the view over the bay that was created in the dreamtime by Bunjil the Eagle.
On the Umbrial Pass in the Stelvio Region of the Italian Alps
There is a memorial to the to the Italian Aviators of WW1
And at the crown of the monument is the Golden Eagle in flight
Carlo Guzzi and his co-founders of Moto Guzzi were veterans of the Italian WW1 airforce.
And maybe that is their affinity with the eagle and how it found its way to being the emblem of the Moto Guzzi motorcycle.
A 33 hectare urban forest created in the 1970’s from an old bluestone quarry
What a wonderful vision of the then Local Government Council to create this haven in what was then a very industrial suburb devoid of open space.
Only about 12 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne
The fate of the quarry was sealed when the digging hit an underground spring and the lake was formed.
Over the the four months of the Melbourne lockdown I have walked the trails of this urban forest.
Seen the changes as winter turned to spring and now as summer approaches.
The trees in blossom
The resident black swans with their cignets
The flock of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos that came for winter and went back bush in the Spring. Unlike us terrestrial animals free to fly to and fro as they please.
The bird life by the lake is vibrant wattle birds, butcher birds all too quick for amateur wildlife photographer like me
But this little blue wren wasn’t shy and struck the perfect pose.
The hard bluestone walls that surround the lake loom large and bare the cracks from the many explosions that were used to extract the bluestone.
Those cracks now form handholds for climbers to practice their skills.
And in the rock faces there is the subtle marks of human presence
Mosaics of the birds in the park
And as the days got longer and warmer and summer is only an month or so away
The Blue Tongue Lizards come out to bask in the sun.
Walking in Newport Lakes and cycling on the Williamstown bay trail (posts here, here and here.) have made me appreciate my local space very much. How lucky I am to have access to these elements of nature in a big city.
After for months of lockdown in the City of Melbourne the restrictions that have kept Melbournians separate from the rural areas of the State will be lifted in a few days.
The Mighty Breva will roam again across the local countryside, on the coastal roads and over the windy mountain passes.
But before I sign off my local explorations
A pelican in flight a couple of evenings back down at the Koroit Creek estuary.
The Ostrich the largest bird in the world (followed by the Cassowary and Emu found in my home Australia)wanders the plains grassy planes of Africa including the Masai mara.
A flightless bird it sometimes crosses path with the Secretarybird
While a flighted bird it spends most of its time on the ground hunting. Unfortunately this unique bird is disappearing and is listed as vulnerable. The Secretarybird gets its name from the spikey head quills that are, I’m told, likened to the pencils that secretaries used to place behind their ear.
The Secretarybird has a featherless face and predators beak like a vulture.
The vultures featherless head and long featherless neck though is specially designed for this carrion eater.
But is was the colourful birds this I were one of the highlights of the Masai mara for me.
