Fire King! (8-10 September)

Fire King fun!

It had been a while since our last fire sculpture, so we planned another attempt as a finale on our last night.  Nick found a suitable log and transported it back to camp in three sections.

The afternoon was spent pleasantly, preparing our latest Fire King for firing.  Vaughan assisted by chiseling out the rotted middle of the log pieces and gathering some pine needle "hair" (for photographic impact).  At one stage our wooden monarch had a leaf tongue also.  He was lit in the early evening, when there was still plenty of natural light.  Initially he had wonderful flowing smoky hair but the flames established fairly quickly and he burnt very well for several hours (before partially collapsing over the cooking grate, which prompted detailed discussion of various fine-tuning needed for our next effort)!

When we returned home on Monday afternoon, we called into a service station for ice creams.  The attendant asked if we had been concerned about the bushfire which had closed the nearby freeway and we responded that we had been blissfully ignorant of any drama.  Back in the car, Vaughan ventured his opinion that there hadn't been a bushfire - just people confused by all our Fire King's smoke!

Feelin' Blue? (8-10 September)

7-year fully-fledged splendour!

We often see a few Satin Bowerbirds when camping in the Watagans.  On this visit we noticed one of the males had a new bower, still only a few steps from the road and easily visible on our walks to and from the loo.

I did a sneak one afternoon and stood for a while watching him weave more bits.  He had a very impressive collection of bottle caps and a few blue feathers also. (On one of our previous camping trips I had caught a glimpse of the male bower bird in flight, carrying off blue treasure)! Vaughan found some blue ribbon near our tent and wanted to take it over for the bower but we said the bird didn't need any decorating assistance!

Vaughan came back from a bike-ride the next day to see if the ribbon was still near the tent, cos he had seen a bit at the bower.  He was very chuffed when he realised the bowerbird had picked up the piece he had wanted it to have!

The bower bird seemed a lot more bold than on previous visits.  He actually came down when the currawongs were scrabbling for bread and biscuit pieces.  His family were more cautious but we caught glimpses of several "green birds" also.

The females and juveniles have similar plumage - the males take seven years to acquire their beautiful glossy blue-black feathers.  You can read more about them here and listen to a short sound file of their call.  On one of our earliest forest trips, Erin's cockatiels came camping with us.  By the end of the stay, the male cockatiel could do a very good bowerbird imitation!

Wat, again?! (8-10 September)

It was a weekend of simple pleasures

Nick's roster presented another camping opportunity about two weeks after returning home from the Warrumbungles.

We planned to head into the Watagans on Friday afternoon (even voting ahead of the local election) but the week threw a few surprises, which impacted on our enthusiasm for packing/preparing - so we left on Saturday morning instead.  It is only about a 50km drive from home to our usual camping spot, so we arrived around 11am and started setting up.  I had packed a thermos as well as some picnic lunch provisions - and the currawongs arrived in a gang as soon as I started making sandwiches. When our backs were turned a small group positioned themselves on top of the trailer and inside Elmer, no doubt on a mission to steal the bread!  (Nick nearly lost a sandwich later in the afternoon when he left it unattended)!

It was a laid-back weekend where we didn't do much at all really - just simple stuff quite close to camp, which suited our physical and emotional energy.  Vaughan was happy dip-netting in a nearby small dam, riding Harry Potter broomsticks (made from pine branches) or running on rolling logs.  Of course, making fire-king sticks is still one of his favourite activities - and he convinced Nick to have a go too.  We all enjoyed fire-gazing on a night, with torches at the ready to spot for small wallabies and bandicoots.  Simple stuff.

Heaton Lookout

We went up to Heaton Lookout after our leisurely breakfast.

We found the nearby geocache and had fun looking through the loot, even though the view has been much clearer on other visits.

More than a beakful?!

Nick cheffed bacon and eggs (in toast) for breakfast - and the currawongs very much enjoyed pecking through the bacon rind. This dopey fellow would get a beak-full, drop it and start all over again!

There were many birds about at breakfast-time. The lady satin bower bird was quite high in a nearby tree, keeping an eye on us. A young male visited also. He was mainly glossy blue-black but still had some juvenile feathers across his shoulders, so looked mossy! As usual, there were black cockatoos occasionally screeching in the distance.

Fire-gazing

Nick and I enjoyed sitting around the fire, listening to the possums grunting.

I read Steve Irwin's biography a while back - he would often make a big fire at the back of his property and spend time fire-gazing.

Monster moth

This huge moth visited when Nick and I were washing up.

Initially it seemed intent on resting on my boot but luckily was encouraged to find a more comfortable and/or safer roost on the loo paper!

Dessert!

Often our camping meals are experiments, either testing new recipes or alternative cooking methods. This trip I decided to make a steamed pudding in the thermal cooker. As you can see, it worked out well and was definitely appreciated with cheat's custard. (Usually the custard is served cold but we trialled warming it in a billy of hot water near the fire and that was successful also).

Campfire scenes

We generally travel with various flora and fauna guides. In the pic at right, Vaughan and Erin are discussing the identity of an earlier bird visitor.

Vaughan interrupted his "fire kinging" to take part in the ID process!

NRMA

Waiting for the verdict ...

While Vaughan was catching the lizard, Nick and I walked about 1km up to the main road to find some mobile reception and call the NRMA.

Reception is quite variable in the forest, so Nick needed to remain standing on a hillock throughout the call. The NRMA man arrived promptly, checked Elmer over, made a few adjustments and suggested a replacement cable - said we had been very lucky - chatted for a while and then drove off. Huge relief!

Wood chopper!

Magic mushies?!

"Spongebob Squarepants mushrooms"!

There was a lady wandering through the picnic area with a small basket, so Vaughan asked her what she was doing - and soon started helping her collect golden mushrooms from the pine needle litter.

She assured us they were perfectly fine to eat and suggested we fry some with bacon and onion.  Vaughan was keen to test them right away - and actually liked them!  (Nick felt they would have benefited hugely from the bacon and onions)!

Seemingly the lady dries the older/larger specimens and pickles the tiny/new ones.  She collected several baskets to take home.

Lounging lizard

Vaughan spotted this goanna wandering through the picnic area, so called me to come and see it.

We followed for a while before he/she had enough of us (or my camera) - and ran off.

Fire King!

Vaughan and I were up the next morning at our usual 7ish. He was happily "fire kinging" soon after getting dressed! (Nick had worked several stressful night-shifts prior to our camping weekend, so was enjoying a well-deserved sleep-in).

Water tank lizard

Vaughan discovered a small lizard living under the water tank, near the toilets.  (You can just see the lizard's head at the extreme left of the pic).

Typically, Vaughan wasn't happy until the lizard was caught!


It took a while but our boy is nothing short of persistent when it comes to lizard-catching.

The golden water tank lizard shown in all his glory in the pic at right.

Possum protest!

Sprung!

Although we are used to many night noises in the forest, Nick and I were woken by loud grunting at around 9:30pm. I grabbed a torch and very bravely strode outside in my jamies to investigate.

I shone the torch around and surprised a large possum next to camp! It was the first time we had seen or heard one and therefore we weren't sure if he was a new arrival or only active in February.

Nick's toes cramped during the night, so he was up again later and spotted roos and a bandicoot also.

Stories by torchlight

Farmyard Tales was our book of choice this trip!

We use battery powered UFO lights in the tent but they are awkward to read by; so Vaughan holds the torch (and sometimes I use a headlight).

Farmyard Tales has several favourite stories - and a camping one!

Forest fix-ups

Set-up was a bit slower than usual, no doubt because we were out of practice!

It had been around seven months since our last camping trip (to Yowah in July 2010) and obviously our tents should have been aired in the meantime. Some equipment checks should have occurred also but luckily Nick soon fixed our leaking air mattress.

February forest

Nick checking for smoke cause (and damage).

It had been a busy month since our return from Yowah - with Nissa returning to Perth, Vaughan starting school and Erin starting TAFE.

Given all the busy-ness, we all were looking forward to a few nights in the forest.

There were a few hiccups at the start, not least was Elmer losing all electrical displays just a short distance from The Pines turn-off.  Smoke was pouring from the bonnet when Nick stopped and we were all very worried.

It was late afternoon, with only an hour or two of daylight left so after some discussion, it was decided to continue on to our favourite campsite - and call the NRMA in the morning.

Undampened enthusiasm!

Playing the ever-popular "Menagerie"

It was a while after our return from "the Dubbo" before we managed a camping trip.  (Our time was taken up with house-hunting, moving and various associated missions - sadly).  Fortunately the October school holidays presented another camping opportunity, so we went back to the forest.  Although we had hoped to have a trailer for the trip we were unsuccessful on our eBay bidding, so traveled in two cars as usual. 

It rained on and off during our stay, mainly showers with some heavier stuff but spirits remained undampened and all enjoyed the time away.  There were a couple of small glitches but in the main tempers remained unfrayed.  Even better, Vaughan was unfazed by the drop loos and happily continued to wear big boy undies!  Hallelujah all round!

We didn't do much really - lots of activity centred around the fire either getting more firewood, cooking/eating or sitting around admiring our burning wood!  

As the tent awning was our only shelter, we headed inside and played games during the rainy periods.  I taught Vaughan to play "go fish" which was quite funny.  He was on a team with Nissa but hadn't got the concept of keeping his cards a secret and when he did, he hid under Nissa's jacket and would pass just his hand out so it was very much like playing with "Thing" from the Addams Family!

The wet weather highlighted a few more items for the camping wishlist - as did all the wood-chopping!  Along with a gazebo, a blockbuster/log-splitter was put on the agenda.  We made do using the tomohawk and a block of wood but on our last day Nick well and truly wedged the tomohawk into a particularly tough log - then broke a hammer trying to get it out again!

The log with wedged tomohawk returned home with us as a King Arthur style memorial to sit beside our "Fire King Chair" from a previous trip!