Some time in the impenetrable mists of last year I dusted off my EOS 3 film SLR and invested $35 in a role of Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. Although I consider myself a digital native, my first 'proper' camera was actually a Pentax MZ50 film SLR. Those were still the days (only just) when film was readily available and at the end of the roll I would walk down to the corner shop and get it sent off to be developed.
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The Beautiful Brindies
On Tuesday I took my new-to-Canberra housemate Zak up in to the Brindabellas to experience the real Canberra bush. Ostensibly I was going to check on the flowering of the Critically Endangered Brindabella midge orchid, but it was mostly an excuse to get outdoors and enjoy the fleetingly cool weather. It was the first day below 30° C in several weeks and I was keen to be walking.
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Unknown wasps and the Bush Capital
Drum roll please...
A major part of my Honours was to find out what (if anything) was pollinating the Critically Endangered orchid Caladenia actensis. It was a complete unknown. After several weeks of fruitless searching, I found some on the Majura Training Area. This is it!
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Nothofagus moorei: these tall, majestic trees are considered 'ancient' relics of Australias Gondwanan past, once abundant but now limited to pockets of suitable climate in mountains along the east coast.
Trees in New England
One of the most amazing things about New England National Park was the trees. Of course, the highlight of the show was the Antarctic beech, Nothofagus moorei. Somewhere in the order of 100 million years ago, Australia, South America and Antarctica were joined in a supercontinent known as Gondwana. The climate was wet and temperate - perfect conditions for Nothofagus. At the time, Nothofagus were common, much more common than they are today. As Australia separated out from Antarctica and started to drift northward, it started to dry up and temperatures increased. Deserts started forming across central Australia becuase there was so little moisture. The Nothofagus, which needed moist and cool conditions, was gradually replaced by more arid plants like Eucalyptus and Acacia. Now, they are restricted to a few spots in the mountains along the east coast, relics of a time which was cooler and wetter.
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Wright's Lookout, New England
Not all that far from Point Lookout in New England National Park, there is another lookout called Wright's Lookout. Unlike Point Lookout, there is a walk involved in getting to the lookout - about 2km, not far. However, on the several days that we decided to be there at sunrise it meant hiking out from the campsite in the dark, through the misty beech rainforest.
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