Spring at Anglesea

The heath at Anglesea is on the verge of breaking out into its usual spectacular spring display. We've had a little more rain this year so it should be great. There were enough spots of colour to give us a taste of things to come.

My daughter in WA told me last night that they're having the best wildflower season in 12 years over there. I knew I should have booked a ticket. But right here is pretty good.

Here are some of the plants we found flowering. I'm happy to be corrected on any of the names.

Hibbertia riparia Erect Guinea-flower

Leucopogon ericoides Pink Beard-heath

Pultenaea dentata Clustered Bush-pea

Billardiera scandens Common Apple-berry

and, I had to add an orchid of course.

Cyrtostylis reniformis Gnat Orchid

Point Addis

My toes start to curl and my stomach 'churns' - I'm on the edge of a cliff, any cliff, any edge, even in my dreams. But the best views are from the edge, so that's where I go - but not too close thank you.

This week I took my visitor to Point Addis near Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road. If you ever head down that way, don't drive past the signpost to the point. There are several walks from the carpark that make the diversion worthwhile. The views are spectacular and the heath wonderful.

The photo below is of the point from a spot on one of the walks, and shows the road leading to the point and the steps that take you down to the little beach. The second photo shows you one of the reasons why I don't like to get too close to the edge. It's so easy to forget that these cliffs look the way they do because they've eroded. That means that chunks fall into the water. That means I don't want to be there when that happens.

I'll give you another really good reason to visit Point Addis. The elusive Rufous Bristlebird can be seen there if you are prepared to just sit and wait. They regularly run around the carpark and nearby open spaces, and sit on top of the short bushes to sing. These two photos were taken by my friend Sigrid with her fantastic SLR.

Trim beauty

A colony of the beautiful little Trim Greenhood Pterostylis concinna is flowering in a bush block near Drysdale on the Bellarine Peninsula. How do I know it's a Trim and not a Striped (or Striated)? It's got a very distinctive v-notch in the apex of the labellum.

Point Lonsdale surprise

How did I miss this? There are two large blocks, next door to each other, right in the middle of Point Lonsdale. And I didn't know they were there.

One, called 'Ballara', belonged to Deakin (the Prime Minister) and the other, called 'Arilpa', to his son-in-law Bookes. The vegetation is remarkably intact, and the Swan Bay Environment Association has been given permission to collect seed there and survey for orchids (about 12 species I think).

Is it possible that both blocks will be preserved intact in the future? They must be worth squillions.