It’s nice to see that this inner city industrial site has been turned into open space and that its wetlands are part of water recovery programs! It fulfills my interest in industrial archaeology and tickles my love of wildlife.
I am not sure about the inner city love of dogs! Perhaps it’s because I grew up with dogs on a farm; dogs that were there to work!
Having escaped before 5.00am, we were through the city and in Taree by 9.30am today, even before the Taree Regional Art Gallery opened, so we went straight to the Taree Bicentennial Garden (more a parkland along the banks of the Manning River, squeezed in on an isthmus between the main river and what is still called Browns Creek.
That’s when I discovered that the 100-400m lens I brought was the one for the 7D Mark 11 and I had brought the EOS R7 without the adaptor. That lens is useless for this trip. A mere weight in the car! Oh well, scenery shots are what’s on offer.
As we walked along the path, we came to the end and discovered that there was now a new bridge over Browns Creek, linking the parkland to Chatham and to the potential old lands on the river bank that are now occupied by the empty shell of the old Manning River Cooperative Dairy.
One writer on Flickr also wrote:
“Presumably the path will eventually be continued east to the proposed future redevelopment of the old Peeress Butter Factory site fronting the Manning River. That project, which has been in the planning phase for many years, will potentially revitalise the historic Chatham Manning River front and will be known as ‘Figtrees on the Manning’.
In the longer term it will also extend to Taree Recreation Centre at Chatham.”
Apparently, there is also a new walking cycling trail completed in December 2021 which links from under Browns Creek Bridge along the western side of Browns Creek through mangrove swamp forest and rainforest all the way to Muscio Park.
While it was needed and while it is a great addition to Taree, I am not impressed by how it was proclaimed by the National Party!
Talk about slush fund pork-barrelling! That is blatant!!! In case anyone is aware, it was not their money. It was our money, via our taxes.
The old dairy co-op factory
I have discovered that this derelict area is now called “Figtrees” in the Mid North Coast and it has plans for redevelopment. It is an 81 page Master Plan and it is intended to provide:
“a range of development outcomes including commercial and retail outlets, residential units, modern adaptive reuse of some of the substantial old dairy factory buildings, and a commercial marina. The commercial marina and a proposed ‘boatel’, will encourage
“A major outcome of this rezoning was to open up the foreshore for public use and to create an off-road pedestrian / cycleway link between the Taree CBD and the recreation / entertainment precinct to the east of this site.
The site will ultimately enable the construction of around 500 residential units and have a range of commercial buildings which can be occupied by cafes, restaurants and other businesses.”[2]
I smell another chance for National Party pork-barrelling.
Having cancelled today’s walk, for fear of my entire party being struck down with sunstroke, I also remembered the advice of my dear, recently recovered friend, Teresa, who told me that “At our age to keep busy is best way to live, enjoy what we can do, I have a friend age 75 had 5 strokes since Covid, she cannot move the left side of her body. Enjoy each day because we do not know what’s round the corner.” Now I read that as saying “you might die tomorrow” so I still had to escape into the bush, even if I retreated inside by 9.30am. By then the forecast temperature was a distinct possibility. At 9.00am it was already 27 degrees!
There was a temptation, I should note. Within a short walk of our unit, inside Royal National Park, along the Engadine Lakes Fire Trail, I had heard that there were orchids and I was determined to find them.
Searching for orchids, especially the Midge Orchids (Corunastylis) lends itself to slow walking. They are small and easily overlooked. When I crossed over the railway into the park, I dropped to a slow crawl and kept my eyes alert by the sides of the path and my ears tuned in to the sounds from above.
Those sounds included Fantail Cuckoo, Red Wattlebird, Crimson Rosella, Striated Thornbills and Grey Butcherbirds but by the time I returned home they faced serious competition from cicadas!
At eye level the first attraction was this Garden Orb Spider (Eriophora sp.), its little eyes looking out at me from its web!
My first Midge orchids were, shall I say, past it! I trust they had lived life like they might die tomorrow. But they were producing their seed, to create the next generation!
Seeding Midge Orchid
However, soon enough I began to find flowering specimens!
Corunastylis fimbriata or Genoplesium fimbriatum if you prefer the other version
Actinotus minor
When one spends so much time prone, taking orchid flowers, it’s natural to look skywards occasionally
Corunastylis rufa
Now, safely within a shaded home, I can know that today I have already lived!!!!
It’s February and there is a field trip for the local three Australian Plant Society groups. Spies have reported some good sightings of summer terrestrial orchids …. so off we go!
Having left our 4-bedroom house with a sprawling garden, lots of native plants and bushland almost on our doorstop, I feared we would be bereft of wildlife.
Well, it’s now almost six months later and below is a chart of the bird life recorded from our balcony. OK, from inside occasionally! That Boobook Owl came to me via its call when I was firmly tucked up in bed.
There were others on the list that were added with just the one sighting. Despite the regular sightings of Figbirds just 400m away in the centre of Engadine shopping centre, only one was recorded here. On the other hand, while it appears only in one month, the Olive-Backed Oriole was a regular for that month.
The Australian White Ibis, living up to its urban reputation, was spotted right next to the garbage bin enclosure for our block of units.
And the late entry, an Australian Hobby, swept in two days after the mass arrival of cicadas. It then sat on a power line some distance away and managed to consume at least one for the evening meal.
It will be interesting to see what else transpires over the course of an entire year.
And what a year it has been!!!!! As I write this, I hear the news that the AAT has been abolished. Perhaps, along with the creation of an anti-corruption at the Federal level, that is the best news for good governance for a long, long time.
And now, as we head towards 2023, let us hope for equally good news in protecting our fragile planet. Perhaps….
In the meantime, here, attached, is my 2022 life in pictures. Some were taken with a mobile phone, the odd one with an IPad, some with a point and shoot and some with various lens on two different digital Canons! Shooting without evil intent!!!!
Our Natural World 