The weather is still settling but the strong afternoon winds seem to be prevailing longer than usual, I took a boat out on the top lake today to try for a tailor or two but it eventually became so windy and cold that I had to give in! having landed the boat I sat on the quayside and had a cup of tea in the sun, it was up to 23 degrees within the space of as many minutes!
whilst having my tea I noticed this Stingray beside the jetty! look hard and you can see it!

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For those of you with an eye for "Bush Interiors" please note the addition to the studio/office of a rather swish leatherette "Retro" chair! Mike and I were up at the tip yesterday after our 4x4 run in the Forest (as you do !) and we spied the said chair along with one more sitting outside the re-cycling shed, making serious inquiries with the sales staff( a big lady with a flack jacket!) we were told that they were a dollar each and no haggling! we bought just the one and carried it home with great pride before settling it into its new home for a couple of months in the studio before finally ending up as Marys office chair on the Mezzanine! "second thoughts" Mike said "why dont you pop back and get the other one Rob, I could do with it outside the workshop" I leaped into the jeep and flew back to the tip only to be greeted by the local 2nd hand dealer clearing the decks! I ran with speed of a Wilkinson pick-up and swept the chair up like a maiden in distress, touching down at the feet of the lady in the flack jacket, she looked at me slightly oddly and said "you must have wanted that chair really badly darlin, why dont you have that one with my compliments"! little things eh!

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Mike and I went into Bega this morning via a dirt road through the bush,we saw lots of wildlife including Straw necked ibis, Royal Spoonbills and various ducks on a little oasis near the town, our mission was to buy 2 dozen slot headed brass screws from a place called the" bolt barn" the place was manned by a woman who knew more about bolts and screws than any man alive!!!

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Its amazing how rapidly the temperature can change here, one minute its 25 degrees and the next its 14! went to reccy a beach for a bit of surfcasting today only minutes from the clearing , problem was there wasnt a single soul to be seen to ask about the fishing potential! and guess what I dont care! if the fishing is rubbish then can you think of a better place to waste your time! the birds in the photo are wild black swans, and the dry dark woods are the windswept trees of the national park when you play the video clip, turn up the sound!

Labels: News

Last night we went to a preview at a newly opened Gallery in Candelo, it was well attended by what looked to be a thriving arts community, didn't see a lot of red dots but there is after all a recession on! Lou (Marys daughter in law) was one of the exhibitors, we all went for a meal afterwards and when we arrived home Zorro was in the process of holding at bay a ringtailed Possum with a baby on its back up the tree outside the front door! pics are Mary with Kate( her grandaughter) and other photos of the preview

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The weather today was fantastic with temperatures reaching 25 degrees, undecided as to what to do, either fish or cycle I decided to fish, again the wind was up so I had to juggle the boat around to fit the wind and tide, soon however I managed to arrange a drift across the whole top lake! I caught four "Tailor" bass like fish that fight like hell and make great eating, I killed only one because we couldn't eat more than that! so we have fish for breakfast in the morning!

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I drive up to a place called "Narooma" yesterday which took about two hours, a guy had answered my ad in the Merimbular news weekly for old fishing tackle and had some for sale, he lived with his wife in a clearing just like Mike and Mares,had built his own house and had opted "out" both he and his wife worked as cleaners in order to bring in the money and he dealt in his spare time! I bought 8 reels from him and reckon there is a small profit in it for us both, so everybodys happy!
On the way back I called at Brogo Dam, a large reservoir in the snowy mountains having driven the 12 k off the road in order to get there, I got to the boat launch area and found the place crawling with silver canoeists! Im not ageist by any means(cant afford to be I hear you say!) but somehow finding this lot in a remote location like this insulted my sense of "wilderness"
The pics are "Narooma high st" and a "Roo" from the studio window at 0600 this morning

Labels: News

Right along the road from the clearing is a sort of country park called Mandini, it has a golf course and Lakes with all sorts going on including a 12k mountain bike trail through the bush, yes you've guessed it I had to have a go, the first couple of kilometers were fine but then it lead into the Forest and i kept hitting trees! in the clearings i found kangaroos and birds i have yet to identify after this experience i went off to Pambula to fish the incoming tide into the river, the wind was so strong however that i had to abandon the attempt after half an hour, but just look at the picture of my rod and tackle bag and tell me if you can see the difference between this place and any beach in the U.K.!

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Yesterday we went up to a small one horse town called Cobargo, almost like Totnes in the outback! lots of craft and art shops,we drove back along the coast and stopped for lunch at "Bermagui" linked with Hemmingway for the big game fishing the season is in its infancy but the boats are all being prepared ready for the off

pics today are- Bermagui boats, me feeding a butcher bird,yours truly and "my" jeep for three months! and Zorro hiding!

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Meet Zorro,he is a cross between a marsupial, a beagle and a human being! he lives at the clearing and runs the perimeter every day but never steps an inch over it (thanks to his electric collar) he sees off Kangaroos,monitors,Magpies,Wombats and anything else that takes his fancy!

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Well I have to say that week one was far from dull! the most amazing array of wildlife imaginable and most if not all in the clearing( I think I feel an exhibition theme building here!) this morning I was watching two kangaroos boxing only feet from the studio window! I did manage a few as yet unseen pics before the camera got drowned so these will be on today's blog and the good news is that I managed to buy another camera on Ebay yesterday so that should be here by Wednesday, the parrot in the pics is a sulpher crested Cockatoo usually found in mobs of fifty or more, this one seemed to be a loner but still managed to blow the house down with its squawking! the other pictures are a pair of Galahs,the sea eagles nest I was pointing to just before I capsized and Pambula heroes Jon and Steve!

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A Quiet day is ordered by Dr Mary today, after all the drama of yesterday! Ive spent the last 24hrs trying to salvage what i can from the ruins of my camera kit but to no avail! so today just a shot of my hosts on the beach at Eden and the beach itself.

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Day six and the first kayak trip! the weather has been improving by the day but there have been some very strong winds picking up at around midday. we set out at around 9 o'clock to paddle down towards Pambula Beach from a place called Broadwater, there was quite a strong breeze when we set off and we pitched in for a brew on a small spit of sand within view of the sea, there was Jon( Marys son) his friend Steve,Mike and I,on the way back the wind picked up and although this made the paddling easier there were strong side gusts every so often and we had to adjust steering,if you look at the photos you will see me pointing at the shoreline where I had spotted a huge sea Eagles nest, seconds after this there was a gust of wind and my kayak capsized with me in it! I surfaced and both Steve and Jon were heading for me at pace! I managed to grab the bow of Steves kayak and hang on, Jon collected my kayak and paddle and with Steve sitting astride his and keeping it stable, Jon paddled in and took my camera bag from around my neck(this had probably caused the capsize in the first place) and between us we managed to paddle,kick, and usher all three kayaks plus me in the water to the shore! I think I must have been in the water for about 20 minutes and kicking for the shore helped to keep me from getting cold!
the guys were fantastic and at no time did I feel under serious threat, there is always a downside however and in this case it was the demise of my camera and telepohoto lens plus the new 8 gig flash card i got in Singapore! still thats what insurance is for and although it will be a couple of days before i get re-rigged at least everthing turned out O.k.!

Labels: News

Today I'm going to start to research the local saltwater flyfishing hot-spots, as always the best way is to find a local enthusiast who usually cant wait to put you on the right lines, so Mike and I are driving into Eden to pick the brains of the guy who runs the local tackle shop, the pictures are of the local beach and estuary and the little bird is called a "splendid fairy wren"

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I went for a walk in the bush this morning to soak up some of the sounds, the most fantastic experience listening to all the forest birds, its the beginning of Spring here so everyone is nesting, fighting for territory and preparing for the busiest season of the year! as i wandered down a track between the trees I heard a rustling sound so stood still, emerging from underneath some dead bracken came this odd creature called an Echidna, an egg laying mammal fairly similar in appearance to our own hedgehog only three times the size with some awesome looking spines! I managed to get very close and was able to get these photos

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Mike and Mary have a very large pond in one corner of the clearing and apart from the usual Ducks,Herons and the most amazing chorus of Bullfrogs is also home to terrapins and other weird creatures, yesterday we decided to "plumb the depths" just to see if there was any prospect of perhaps introducing fish at some point in the future, we did this using the kayaks and long poles, the conclusion albeit temporary was that all the introduction of fish would achieve would be feeding the herons! but it was great fun nonetheless! pics today are Mike and I plumbing the depths, a Kookaburra, white necked Heron and wood ducks below the bird feeder

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There are many species of Kangaroo in Australia,ranging from the giant red of the interior to some of the smaller wallabies and Pademelons, although quite common they are shy and difficult to approach,sometimes they can be seen in "lying up" in some municiple field in some of the more built up coastal areas but the eastern greys we have at the clearing are altogether different, one quick movement or loud noise and they are off into the bush on those great powerful legs, they live in groups called"mobs"consisting mostly of females with the much bigger males being more prominent in the breeding season the young are called "Joeys" the pair in the blogg very gingerly approached the studio last night at dusk so the pictures are a little grainy. The add on Parrot is a Crimson Rosella

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Because Mike and Mary live in what is effectively a clearing in the forest, the wildlife has become very used to the human presence as opposed to the opposite situation in which animals that have never seen humans before often display the same trusting behaviour, how much damage has been done between these two ends of the spectrum? 1. greater Cory Brown 2. King Parrot 3. Rainbow Lorikeets

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I wasn't really intending to start blogging the wildlife until I had the "feel" of the place but this morning there was a shout,loads of barking from the dog and squawking from the birds, I ran to the garden and found this 6ft Lace monitor(called locally goanna) being held at bay up a small Euc tree! I got very close and so did Mike and managed to get these close up shots without realising that if either of us had been bitten by this carrion eating carnivore then the chances of avoiding infection and almost certain serious risk of death were very slight,in addition to which we were told that we had been underneath it whilst it was being held at bay it would have urinated on us and if encountered in open ground the best option is to lie flat on the ground because by remaining standing the monitor would mistake you for a tree and clamber up before concluding that you're not and then you would probably be bitten and peed on at the same time!

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Hi all
Had the most amazing flight down from Sydney in a howling westerly gale and bounced and corkscrewed on to the runway like a Jackdaw in the wind!

Well,here is home base for the next three months,its the most amazing colonial pile in 41/2 acres of carefully managed bush garden, its then surrounded by 28 thousand hectares of national park! as you can see its all open plan and completely functional, I'm off today to seek out some of the wildlife that lives in the garden 1. the studio 2. the house, the rest are different views of the house!

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Arrived in Singapore and am visiting my first ever internet cafe, this is a wonderful city! loads of fantastic tropical plants, I flatly refuse to "do the sights"so am spending my time roving around the bustling markets which is great fun,managed to almost start WW3 by eating a very nice Muslim gentlemans specially prepared vegetarian breakfast by mistake on the plane!I have to say it tasted awful

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Hey! This is one mother of a Perch! 4lbs and all fish, put back safely to fight another day!

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Here are a few examples of my art... Click on the picture to enlarge.

Sea Trout

Rising Sea Trout

Autumn Woodcock

Eider

Kingfisher

Landscape

Items of my art are available to buy via:

DELAMORE GALLERY - DELAMORE PARK, CORNWOOD, DEVON, PL21 9QP
THE JERRAM GALLERY - HALF MOON ST, SHERBORNE, DORSET, DT9 3LN

Labels: Gallery