The Past Week (b)
Aunty B lives in an early 20th century weatherboard cottage in a coastal suburb of Sydney. It is only three streets away from where my paternal grandmother lived so it is all very familiar to me. Her home is really lovely, has a beautiful garden and we both enjoy staying with her very much. There are certain things we do each time ... walk to the shops along the back streets, take some flowers to the bushland cemetry where Mum is buried next to Aunty B's husband (along with many other relatives), visit Uncle G and Aunty D, eat fish and chips by the beach and take a walk along the harbour foreshore.
We had decided that on this visit our harbour walk would be at night so we could watch the city lights, so as the sun was setting we took the bush path past Forty Baskets to Dobroyd Point. It was a perfect evening, the birdlife very vocal as they went about roosting for the night, the track deserted and the views spectacular. We ate our picnic tea watching the Manly Ferry pass to and fro between Manly Wharf and Circular Quay and with our torches lighting the way we returned in the dark.
As we walked towards a huge gum tree our attention was drawn to a high branch and on it six kookaburras were snuggled together, all facing the same way with their downy feathers fluffed out. We could only see them from their undersides but gazed at them, thankful for this special treat - they looked so very cute. I had never seen them grouped like that before and wondered if they were young ones not long out of the nest but is it the right time of year as we've seen magpies and swallows actually nesting now? (My Dad has since told me that a pair of kookaburras usually raises about four young and they stay as a family group until the young are well and truly mature. We must have seen last year's hatchlings...they looked like they were almost old enough to fly out into the big, wide world.)
The harbour waters looked inviting with the reflected light, so we decided to walk into Manly as well. This section was a paved path, easy to negotiate in the dark, which passed by some stunning homes - new, old, creative, bland but all with fantastic views. A couple of friends were playing their guitars down by the water's edge, many were out on balconies, some had bar-b-ques underway and Manly was buzzing. It was such a beautiful evening to share with my darling.
We had decided that on this visit our harbour walk would be at night so we could watch the city lights, so as the sun was setting we took the bush path past Forty Baskets to Dobroyd Point. It was a perfect evening, the birdlife very vocal as they went about roosting for the night, the track deserted and the views spectacular. We ate our picnic tea watching the Manly Ferry pass to and fro between Manly Wharf and Circular Quay and with our torches lighting the way we returned in the dark.
As we walked towards a huge gum tree our attention was drawn to a high branch and on it six kookaburras were snuggled together, all facing the same way with their downy feathers fluffed out. We could only see them from their undersides but gazed at them, thankful for this special treat - they looked so very cute. I had never seen them grouped like that before and wondered if they were young ones not long out of the nest but is it the right time of year as we've seen magpies and swallows actually nesting now? (My Dad has since told me that a pair of kookaburras usually raises about four young and they stay as a family group until the young are well and truly mature. We must have seen last year's hatchlings...they looked like they were almost old enough to fly out into the big, wide world.)
The harbour waters looked inviting with the reflected light, so we decided to walk into Manly as well. This section was a paved path, easy to negotiate in the dark, which passed by some stunning homes - new, old, creative, bland but all with fantastic views. A couple of friends were playing their guitars down by the water's edge, many were out on balconies, some had bar-b-ques underway and Manly was buzzing. It was such a beautiful evening to share with my darling.
posted by Kathy at 2:50 pm
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