A lunchtime serenade from a Currawong

Last weekend we went to the Blue Mountains west of Sydney in NSW for a short break - one of our favourite places in Australia.  The spring weather was glorious, and the nights were still just cool enough to justify lighting the little wood burning stove in the cottage we stayed at near Blackheath and curling up with a glass of wine, bliss.

The spectacular 'world heritage' view at Govett's Leap (note Bridal Falls on the right), also my first attempt at a panoramic stitch with my camera!  Please click the picture and it will enlarge.

We decided to spend Saturday walking the trails around Govett's Leap, a spectacular look-out where we could see for miles across the Grose Valley wilderness and world heritage national park, with a 180 metre drop below us to the base of the sheer cliffs.  We did the cliff-top walk over to the Pulpit rock, which had the most wonderful views, as you can see above.  There was just the sound of the breeze in the trees and birdsong, and the occasional drips from the rare hanging swamps and waterfalls, with the wafts of perfume from the spring flowers filling up our senses!  We stopped for lunch, and a very friendly Pied Currawong Strepera graculina came and sat with us, first quietly watching then breaking into some beautiful calls - I captured the calls on video below, and the spectacular peaceful scene looking down the Grose Valley behind.

The friendly Currawong

A whole year in the gardens

Today my blog is 1 year old!  Which means I've now recorded a whole cycle of life in the gardens on this blog.  I've learnt so much about the bush by writing this and taking photos.  I feel very lucky I've been able to spend so many lunchtimes in these wonderful gardens.  Here is where I had lunch today on the Eucalypt lawn - I had a few lunch buddies too, a Pied Currawong Strepera graculina sat watching in a tree nearby (possibly female as it is more grey underneath) and the Kangaroos were out in force, munching away on more than just the grass!