Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney, Australia

 Wandering around the grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens in the Fall can still amaze and lift one's spirit.  Being a bit more temperate than Southern Indiana, from the imposing "tree" near the main entrance to the tropical plants, the rose garden or the vast collection of calla lilies, the visitor can stroll amidst acres of neatly-kept flora and a few "fauna".

Flowers Along My Path

As a child growing up in Bicknell, Indiana, we had a big yard and a large garden.  The garden provided much of our diet in those days: tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, corn, zucchini and anything else my mom could can or freeze.  She bought peaches and we picked cherries or  blackberries that she could can and store in a room in our basement.  We had enough until the next spring planting season.

I loved the planting part; not so much the picking.  Mom would hire the man down the street to till our garden with a single plow pulled by a horse.  Watching the soil turn into rows and smelling that fresh dirt was intoxicating.  Then, scrambling over the rows, searching for worms was even better.  By the time I was in sixth grade we had a small tiller that I could operate.  When the weeds started to grow, I couldn't wait to take that tiller down between the rows of tomatoes or corn and watch the magic of the tines roll those weeds, pulling and cutting them into mulch. Then we moved.

 Some 50 years have passed, but I can still smell the dirt. On a small scale, with patio containers and dirt in bags, I attempt to grow a tomato or two.  I'm not usually successful and head for the Farmer's Market in Columbus, Indiana, hoping to score that one tomato with just the right ripeness, feel and sweetness.  I discovered that heirloom tomatoes are my best bet.  (I guess I am an heirloom as well.)

My love of the garden has led to my love of just about all living, growing things.  When we travel I find myself shooting pictures of flowers, all kinds of flowers.  I've decided to dedicate this post or two to some of my favorite flowers. Double-click on a photo and you can see them in full screen. Enjoy.

Newfoundland15 - Avalon Peninsula3 - St Mary's Ecological Reserve

Talk about a "natural high", the fossils, the brisk wind, tenacious plant life and a curious seal made this one of the most perfect days ever.  Happy that we took the time to visit the fossil beds, we motored on to St Vincent's where we had heard that whales can often be seen near shore.  We pulled into a parking area with picnic sites next to a rocky beach and started to get out of the van when a fellow camper from Ontario motioned to us to stay put.  He had been watching the whales all day from his motorhome.  Yes, they were that close.  He told us to look for gannet flying overhead because they look for fish.  The whales know that and they follow.  Schools of fish come really close to shore and the whales follow.  This was too good to be true!  We stayed the night.

Whale watching at St Vincent's

The long curved beach with a steep sand and gravel mix provided the opportunity for excellent viewing.  We saw 10-12 humpback whales cruise the shoreline.

We had been fortunate that we had arrived during a period of clear days, so we left the next morning for St Mary's because we knew we wanted to see the gannet colony there.  No need for a guide to take us; we hiked out 1.5 km to the gannet colony.

Atlantic Gannets at St Mary's Ecological Reserve

Murres and kittiwakes

In the second picture taken from the footpath, the middle bluff looks like it sticks out and this is where we walked to and sat down just a few feet from the gannets. Wow!  To our right were the murres and razorbills (black) and some Black-footed Kittiwakes. To gain some perspective, slightly above and to the left of that middle bluff, it looks like it is a bit level and there appears to be some yellow there.  That's where all the people were. I know, you can't see them; but compare that to the size of the bluffs and you can get a sense of what 100's of thousands of gannets look like when they come to Newfoundland to nest.

Knowing we had just experienced a most spectacular sight, we were feeling pretty content and so on day #42 we were ready to leave Newfoundland.  We were not scheduled to leave on the ferry just yet, but we drove to the ferry dock at Argentia and asked if there was room.  No Problem! One week ahead of schedule. but early enough in the season to get a space for the van and a room for the night aboard.  As we enjoyed a buffet dinner, we watched dolphins and whales. Such a nice way to say goodbye to Newfoundland.

Newfoundland14 - Avalon Peninsula2 - Mistaken Point

Portugal Cove South rest area

We moved our van across the road to a pleasant rest area in full view of Portugal Cove South, a small well-kept village.  While waiting for the tour the next day, we drove on down to Trespassy for lunch and made our way out to yet another lighthouse along a single-lane dirt road which we shared with some local walkers.  I haven't mentioned it, but everyone in Newfoundland is a walker.  With footpaths criss-crossing rocky hills and disappearing into thick pine forests, there are plenty of places to walk.  We even spotted them walking along major highways, miles from anywhere.  Good idea.

The Rookery

A drive and hike out to The Rookery was an introduction to what we were to see at St Mary's Ecological Center later.  These rocky cliffs host 1000's of kittiwakes, murres and gannets.  We were not able to see the puffins up in their burrows, however.  We would have been better with a spotting scope here because of the distance to the cliffs.  The best opportunity was yet to come.

Meanwhile, after a dusty 15-km drive in the National Parks Service van, we hiked out 6.0 km across the barrens, tuckamore, a river and several hills along the old road/path between Long Beach and The Drook communities.  These were among small remote villages set up during the fishing season where young men, eager to meet young women, had to first hike this route to the nearest village of any size, battle other young men for a dance with a pretty lady and then trudge back to fish for yet another day.

Just looking across the barrens, one might conclude that nothing exists here, but that would be misleading.  The constant wind keeps the plant life very short.  Trees look more like small bushes.  Even irises here are in miniature.  Yet on this barren grow berries that are so vital to migrating birds.  The migrating Whimbrel feeds on the crowberry in August before that 4000-km trip to South America.  Different berries attract different birds and so on.

The path to Mistaken Point

As our Parks guide explained, we had to take off our shoes and don booties because, while we were allowed to walk on the fossils, they were trying minimize our footprint, letting only the wind and sea take its toll.  The fossil beds were created by volcanic eruption 450 million years ago and are the oldest multi-cellular fossils in existence as far as we know now.  By establishing a reserve, not only are the fossils protected, but the barrens are included as well.  After taking photos for an Earthcache, we began to walk back to the van, a much harder walk against a 30-35 kt breeze.

Plants along the path:

Iris, dewberry and crowberry (not yet ready) survive along the path and play their role in the ecology of our planet.

After a day like this, I understand the song of my childhood:  "Oh Lord, My God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made....Then sings my soul..."