Life Outside

The laundry was getting rather stinky, the chick were outgrowing their house and they mostly had all their adult feathers so it was time to venture outside. The chick were 5 weeks old when we began the transition to the coop. We were fortunate to have a week of sunny warm weather which allowed the chicks to have day visits in their coop. Trying to catch them at the end of the day was a little testing!

Needless to say they enjoyed stretching around, having sand baths, lazing in the sun and generally exploring their new environment. By the end of the week we thought they were ready to have an overnight stay. However we received a text from our concerned neighbour who could hear lots of loud cheeping (she had initially thought it was her new chicks who were unhappy). Turns out that our chicks wouldn't stay inside their chicken house where they were suppose to roost for the night. Instead they were huddled together on the concrete floor next to the garage cheeping unhappily! So we relented and brought them in again.

The next day Andy made a sliding door for the chicken house which would allow us to lock them in for the night, thus educating them on where they were meant to sleep. Worked a treat and for the next five nights we placed them inside and closed the door. By the sixth night, they'd figured it all out and were happily inside when we went to check on them.

A Day to Remember...

Ella's cricket team was given two fantastic opportunities to rub shoulders with the best. Not the ideal timing...mid week of term 7 involving  long day starting a 6.30am and finishing at 10.30pm but it was one of those once in a lifetime type opportunities, you know the one you grab with two hands and don't let go!

Ok so it's really all to do with media coverage - our club has secured a grant from Commonwealth Bank who at the moment has a real focus on promoting women/girls in cricket.



The first engagement was a training session with cricket superstar, Meg Lanning who is currently captain of the Southern Stars, Australian Women's Cricket team. The session took place at their home ground from 7.30 - 8.30am and the girls loved it.



Their next highlight was at the T20 International at Manuka Oval. This was the last event in the Ashes series with Australia already retaining the Ashes. The girls received free entry with an adult to the game. Ella took Andy and Sandra to the match.

The girls greeted the Australian players as they ran onto the field in the second half. Ella received a signed hat from Megan Schutt, the sensational swing bowler who had 10 wickets to her name after the ODI leg. She was pretty stocked about that!

Katy and I watched from home.... spotting Ella, Andy and Nana on the TV (thank goodness for pause and rewind).

Although the camera focused on Beth Mooney who had scored 117no, Ella can be seen at various moments in the background! An exhausted but wired Ella returned home a tad after 10.30pm. Needless to say it took her a little while to get to sleep.

In a Blink of an Eye

The cauliflower was looking so, so good. I was patiently waiting for it to bulk up a little, like the ones at the supermarket. In a blink of an eye, my beautiful cauliflower went to seed :( Nevermind there is always next time.











My attention has turned - the raspberries are looking great. We have had a heap of self seeded tomatoes spring up around the place. I rescued and transplanted 5 seedlings which sprouted up in the chicken coop (luckily the chicks haven't ventured into their proper house yet).

 We have had a bumper crop of snow peas and strawberries. Both are very delicious!

4 Weeks Old

The chicks are growing fast and will soon run out of space in the rabbit hutch! They are losing their soft baby fluff and are acquiring their adult feathers. Thoughts are that Clover may be a rooster and possibly Mystery.....

Brumbies

The last day of the CFP retreat. Luwei's flight back to Tassie left around 5 pm, so we had a deadline by which to get home. This meant a short morning walk in hope to spot brumbies on the Cooleman Plains.

After mostly packing up, we left Ella to play with Wally, Kial and Kelsey while we drove back to Blue Waterholes from which we walked south along a fire trail. The recent rain made the track sticky and we soon found the soles of our shoes caked in a lovely layer of thick mud! As we wandered through the scattered woodland area, we caught a glimpse of a small group of three brumbies. Unfortunately they were spooked by our presence, galloping off down the small gully.

However a short distance later, we emerged on to the Cooleman Plain, a vast flat area covered in tussock grass. Also known as a frost hollow, it is where the cold air collects dropping the temperature inhibiting tree growth and where the brumbies love to congregate. We were in luck!




Horses were introduced into the Snowy Mountains area in the 1830's when the first European's arrived. These horses were essential for those pioneers living in these regions for both travel and moving stock. Some of these domesticated horses escaped or were purposely release during times of drought or to improve the quality of mobs and wild horses quickly became established.

These majestic animals hold a special place in Australian history thanks to Banjo Paterson's poem - The Man from Snowy River....

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around 
That the colt from old Regret had got away,
And had joined the wild bush horses — he was worth a thousand pound, 
So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far
Had mustered at the homestead overnight,
For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are, 
And the stock-horse snuffs the battle with delight. 

However for others, the 6000 brumbies that are currently roaming within Kosciuszko National Park, are considered feral animals damaging the alpine environment especially the waterways and the sphagnum bogs. The NSW Government recently proposed a Draft Wild Horse Management Plan which would see the culling of thousands of these brumbies over the coming years. The plan was not well received and is currently being discussed amongst relevant groups.

I must say I'm torn between the two views but I did love watching these beautiful free creatures.

As for Luwei, it was another first for. She declared on the trip on the way back to Canberra who declared that this being her first camping was a wonderful experience and that she would hope to do more in Tasmania.

Cooleman Cave

The forecasted afternoon rain encouraged us to wrap up our afternoon tea break and head toward the shelter of Cooleman Cave. We follow the dry creek bed of Cave Creek a short distance before passing to the 'exit' hole of Cooleman Cave. Guided by Adele, we amble a little further up the valley to the 'start' of Cooleman Cave.

Our girls weren't that keen about going caving which was lucky as we'd left our torches back at the campground. Inside the large entrance cavern, Andy (using his phone as a light source!) and Ella joined Morgan, Griffin, Adele, Josue and Taimoor for small look down the left chamber.

Not keen to venture into the dark confine space of Cooleman Cave, Katy, Luwei and I climbed the hill opposite the cave entrance for a bit of fun.

The caving crew returned. Adele, Josue and Taimoor were very keen to explore the right arm of the cave and after a considerable amount of time crawling on their stomachs in the mud, they emerged from the exit cave! Meanwhile the girls climbed to the top of the hill once again! More showers came through forcing us back into the cave. Time ticked by before we made a dash for the car between rain showers.



Unfortunately after arriving back at the tents, the drizzle set in for a few hours. The girls retreated to the tent listening to an audio book, while we positioned ourselves under the roof of the water tank as well as rigging up a few tarps from Kial's car. As the sun set, the rain disappeared and we enjoyed a lovely evening by the fire.

Cave Creek Trek

Blue Waterholes is located in the heart of the karst country of Cooleman Plains. Limestone has eroded and dissolved over millions of years to form the caves, sinkholes, underground rivers and gorges in this area. The largest karst spring in Australia, the water is tinted blue green as a result of the minerals dissolved from the limestone. The crystal clear water emerges from its subterranean world before flowing down Cave Creek. Although in today's overcast conditions, the water wasn't looking anywhere as near as colourful as we'd seen it before.

Our first adventure was  the Clarke Gorge 5km hike. Descending the hill from the carpark to Cave Creek we quickly came to a halt as the track crossed the creek. As it was only the beginning of the walk and assessing the lack of big rocks for a rock hopping option, we all decided to remove our shoes in an attempt to keep them dry. 

A short distance later, we were treated to an impressive limestone cliff, a glimpse of what was to come. We continued on chatting while we followed the little track. Dandelions were picked and wishes made - another first experience for Luwei!

Around another corner,  Clarke Gorge came into view. The photos definitely don't do this place justice. The steep limestone cliffs were very imposing.  We could see that the track headed across the creek before crossing back again so we decided to avoid this crossing, keeping on the right of the creek and climbed a little higher before carefully traversing a short section of cliff face.

After the gorge, Ella and Josue got bored walking the normal track and decided to rock hop down the river. We left them to it and after a few more shoes off creek crossings we arrived at the top of the falls! It was a scramble down the other side to the base of Cave Creek Falls where we enjoyed a relaxing picnic lunch.

Post lunch exploration saw Josue bravely take a quick dip and several reptiles - water dragons and skinks, were spotted sunning themselves.

The return journey was slightly quicker with numerous people succumbing to wet feet thus saving time not having to take off and put on shoes! Definitely worth remembering for the next time we are here is to bring old shoes. Not only will it be quicker but I think our feet will be much happier.