Week 1 January 2001: A happy and horticulturally successful New Year to everyone. Spent most of this week at Bowral on the Southern Tablelands of NSW. This area has a similar climate to our part of the world although southern winters are less harsh. Lots of exotic gardens around Bowral and also plenty of bush walking areas. We went for a walk in one of the bushland reserves, which comes complete with waterfall. On the way to the waterfall we passed a number of interesting plants including Waratahs, a beautiful Cassinia (Asteraceae family) with golden flower heads and some large Banksia spinulosa with yellow and black flower heads. Walked down to the waterfall, which is about 13 metres high. Not very high by world standards but in this case we were able to walk behind the falls and take some photos looking through the water.
Also visited a native plant nursery near Bowral. Bought a few plants including a pink flowering Kunzea ambigua (Myrtaceae family).
Back to Yallaroo at the end of the week. 6.5 millimetres of rain when we were away. Need some more as things are drying out. Saw two Double-barred finches in the garden. Haven’t seen any of these cheerful little birds for many months.