14/5/17 Water & wildlife

  Today was forecast to be wet , very wet , hmm , don't know what happened there ??? It was overcast and the wind had dropped from previous days , so after chatting to Justin we went paddling on the lake .
  The water was reasonably warm with small wind waves , but nothing to be concerned about . The thing that struck us first was the properties that border the lake . Houses were more like mansions on 25 acres and upwards . These were the first 2 , they even mow their paddocks !!!

  Further on in this arm of the lake , the wind dropped and we drifted into a lagoon , water lilly pads lined the edges then there was a grass poking it's head up nearer the edge of the water .

 after getting to the end of this arm , we turned and headed back out into the main lake .

 The cormorants and darters liked the fences on the side of the lake , using them to dry off .

 
 The birdlife was wide & varied - darters , cormorants , pelicans , snake neck herons , ibis , ducks , waterfowl and jacana's .

 Even some black swans appeared to be sitting on a nest .

 Into another arm of the lake there were more extensive houses & manicured properties - a pleasure to paddle through .

  The reflections were pretty good as well - this one particularly !!

 This next photo is a section of the botanic garden that we walked through yesterday .

  After a bit over 2 hours we decided to head back across the lake to the campsite , having paddled 10klms around the lake .
  Back to the van and cleaned the kayak & gear before having some lunch . Whilst cleaning we spotted a drop bear , just lying in wait for an unsuspecting person to pass by below . Here it is poised ready to pounce !!

 There was a grey butcher bird as well .

  After our close call with the drop bear , we had some lunch before loading the kayak back onto the ute . A lady wandered into the scout camp and disappeared into the bush at the opposite end from us , so we decided to go for a walk into the bush as well - keeping an eye out for drop bears !! The forest was beautiful , trees stretching up to the sky , ferns & palms down below , the ground covered in leaf litter and dead branches - stunning !!

  The track  looped around the bush and came back to the camp , another track took us down to the lakes edge , then along the edge back to the van .
  Time for a beer , what a good day , Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there !!!