Left the house around 30 minutes before sunset arrived at our campsite around 22 minutes before sunset.

Enjoyed a cold beer on arrival.  As it got dark we were visited by a ring-tail possum, several kangaroos and a tawny frogmouth.

Cooked a leisurely meal, drank a leisurely bottle of red and retired to the sounds of the bush, oh and Lulas distant barking, curse that dog !

Woke to the sound of rain on the roof, thats one thing camping always seems to initiate somehow.

After breakfast this morning we packed ( for about 10 seconds) and headed for home, well for the house, technically we were already home !

Might go again next weekend, it's a nice spot.

As Australia endures massive forest loss, hundreds of houses lost and loss of life due to unprecedented bushfire, an unfeeling , non-thinking person stated something like :

" now's the time you want the greenies to be hugging the trees "

the clear message being : burn greenie burn.

I dislike facebook intensely, partly because it enables such divisive crap to be spread so easily.

Here's a definition I found :

greenie - Wiktionary

https://en.wiktionary.org › wiki › greenie

greenie (plural greenies) (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, slang, often derogatory) An environmentalist; someone who shows concern for the environment.

‎English · ‎Noun

Isn't it absolutely UNFATHOMABLE that the term greenie can be considered a derogatory term !

Personally, I think greenie is a word people who don't give a shit, use to describe people who do.

I'm a greenie, all my friends are greenies, my parents were greenies , if the world was 100% greenie, the world wouldn't be in its current state of climate crisis.

We and our neighbours are intending to plant 3000 trees this year, if I live long enough, and if those trees manage to survive the seemingly impending apocalypse to reach huggable proportions, I'll be hugging each and every one of them. (and my neighbours too, if they're lucky !!)

Further very relevant info regarding "greenies" and environmental burns : HERE

Here's a LINK

Bat , hard to photograph ! I'll keep trying. 19/04/19 Bat , hard to photograph ! I'll keep trying. 19/04/19

Out of the corner of my eye, while looking at the bats, I saw a flash. It was a meteor ! Of course it took too long to re-frame and focus for the actual object, but got a clear shot of its smoke trail which hung in the air for a time,

And, all the while I'm concentrating on looking UP, this guy took advantage of my perceived lack of interest in him, to sneak within 9 metres of me to get a drink from the bird bath !

Pretty eventful 10 minutes actually !

Western Grey visits the bird bath 19/04/19

At last 3 nights were available, so we headed to SA's southern ports region. Staying at a Coorong campground on the way, due to a late getaway on the Sunday, we camped in Beachport Conservation Park for 2 nights. Nice spot except for the duck shooters !! Won't make that mistake again ! I'd been impressed by the coastal scenic drive at Beachport on a previous visit to the region, but this time was amazed by the spectacular coastline at Southend.

It's up there with the 12 Apostle coast in my opinion, though on a smaller scale, but no tourists !! Except us of course !

Trip photos : HERE

Beachport

Near Beachport

Had a great time, staying at Mambray Creek campground for two nights, where we had a wonderful encounter with a lace monitor. Then up to Willow Springs Station for another two nights and finally, Aroona Valley campground for the last two nights.

Drove through Brachina Gorge a couple of times, Sacred Canyon a real highlight and then Moralana Scenic Drive another day. Bunyeroo Valley always spectacular.

Still quite a lot of flies, so thinking maybe August or early September next time !

All the photos are : HERE Aroona Valley

Aroona Valley

I went over on the ferry with the campervan and undertook a 4 day walk into Pine Valley from Lake St Clair before catching up with Angela in Launceston for the rest of the trip.

We headed west, briefly visiting a favourite old haunt, Cradle Mountain enroute to remote Corinna for a couple of nights. We finally rode the Wilderness Railway from Strahan, a trip we never managed while living in Tassie, then on to Battery Point in Hobart where we couldn't quite get enough of the delights at the local bakery or of the blue eye trevalla at Mures on the waterfront ! A cruise to Tasman Island from Port Arthur completed our southern sojourn.

Heading north, we had a couple of days catching up with friends in and around Launceston, before making our way back to Devonport for the crossing back to the big island.

Photos from the trip are HERE

Mt Geryon, Lake ElysiaMt Geryon, Lake Elysia

Mt Geryon from Lake Elysia

yum !excellent bakery in Battery Point !! Jackman & McRoss

Excellent bakery in Battery Point !!   Jackman & McRoss.

Cruise Boat Tasman IslandCruise boat nears Tasman Island

Cruise boat nears Tasman Island

In June we purchased a bushland property of approx 100 acres in Mc Harg's Creek (Prospect Hill), near Meadows in the southern Mt Lofty Ranges on the Fleurieu Peninsula, around 50 kms south of Adelaide.

The building of our new house commenced in September 2014 and I moved in on 27th of August 2015. After getting a new job in SA, Angela moved over in May 2016.

The local wildlife liked to keep an eye on proceedings !

16-11-14

All the proceedings can be found here :  The house build

at Ilk Cafe & Gallery http://www.ilk-cafe.com/   at 149 Rosevears Drive, Rosevears on the West Tamar.

Exhibition dates are from July 4th till August 26th, though the cafe & gallery take a winter break

from July 16th till August 7th.

Please go and have a look, and while you're there indulge in some of Ilk's great food and drinks and make sure you leave room for dessert!!

In December I received two " Honorary Mentions" in the "Images of 2011" competition at Nikonians, an online, USA based Nikon users group. One in the Black and White category and one in the Nature category.

Here's a link to the Nikonian magazine with the prizewinning photos from 2011, pages 8 & 11 refer to my photos, "Wild West Coast"  and "Rocks at Low Head"

http://www.niknians.org/ezine/eZine51.pdf

I've actually done quite well at Nikonians, back in November 2010  I had my photo "Red Apples" chosen as a chapter opening photo in the  RockyNook publication "Mastering the Nikon D300/D300s" by Darrell Young, a 400 page users handbook about that camera. I was sent a copy of the book as a thankyou.

In July 2011 I received an "Honourable Mention" for my photo titled "Wild West Coast" entered in an online art contest based in the USA. Here's a link to the subsequently published art magazine including my photo.:

http://issuu.com/artistportfoliomagazine/docs/issue4/1