Weeds (1)

A major problem along Kangaroo Island's roadsides and creeks, are garden plants that have become pests in the bush.

Possibly the biggest problem throughout the Island has been Bridal Creeper, but sometimes it seems that everywhere you look, your eye is taken by what turns out to be a weed of significance.

One of the most chastening moments for anyone at all aware of weeds and their costs to indigenous plants, is the first plant you encounter at the ferry terminal in Penneshaw ... or perhaps I am wrong?

Perhaps it IS an indigenous species?

I cheated.

This is actually the beginning of "my" section of Shorty Creek.

As you can see, it suffers the indignity of being directed through drain pipes for the width of the road. In heavy rains, ofcourse, the pipes are of no consequence.




Looking at it from further around, you can see the tips of a long-dead, fallen tree that we call "Dori's Tree". It is a favourite spot for the youngest in the family to have their photographs taken each time they visit.


Upstream of the road, our neighbours have made a comfortable place for enjoying their view of the creek. It still retains its beauty, despite our need for access.




:)

Prickles! Why?

Perhaps there are reasons other than the (literally) bloody obvious (she says, looking at her arms) but clearly they are barriers against intruders, intelligently designed or not.



This plant, Acacia paradoxa, grows throughout the scrub around the creek.

In places it is continuous and absolutely impassable, while in others it is an occasional plant among many.

Not only are the thorns sharp, but the plant itself grows thickly with stems that intertwine. The many old dead plants are even more impenetrable, simply because the now brittle pieces that touch clothes and even bare skin, catch instantly and break off.

It is gorgeous in flower, however, and must be a wonderful shelter for tiny things.


http://www.anbg.gov.au/acacia/species/A-paradoxa.html

There!

I mean here ... :)

... nearly to the creek.

Almost there; it is just down off the road a bit, see there?






*scrambles down through the prickly (OUCH!) varieties of everything*




...

... down Shorty Road ...

Once to the gate, I turn left ...





... and head on down the hill.










It is a rare walk when some of the locals do not show up, albeit a little "skittery".

From the block ...

One of the pleasures of the creek is getting there on foot.

It means walking out of an almost barren block which was long ago eaten out by sheep.

The eastern end of Kangaroo Island was one of the first-developed and quite productive agricultural areas on the Island, though tourism must be one of the big local earners these days. The sheep have been excluded from this particular block for 3 years now, but their work was well maintained by the local macropods until they too were fenced out and a replanting program begun.

This photo was taken in July, three years ago.



There are clumps of low-growing mallee scrub on all sides of the block, and extensive roadside vegetation corridors are a feature of the Island too, which make the walk out of the block and down to the creek a pleasure in itself.

It sounds innocuous enough, doesn't it?

"SeaLink Ferries
The 45 minute crossing by SeaLink ferry from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw is a great start to your holiday and we guarantee you will feel the excitement mount as KI comes into view.

SeaLink operates the primary sea transportation ferry services between mainland South Australia and KI and we offer a range of convenient departure times, up to 10 per day during peak periods, with the option of taking your own vehicle to KI.

We operate two large, fast and comfortable ocean going ferries. Our luxury ferry "Sealion 2000" is a fast luxurious, international standard passenger and vehicle ferry complete with air conditioned lounge, aircraft-type seating and a licensed cafe. En route, you can sit out on the top deck and enjoy the sunshine and the fresh sea air, or you can relax with a beer, wine or freshly made coffee and fresh snacks in the lounge."

http://www.sealink.com.au/about.htm

I'll tell you all about it on Friday if it all goes well.
If I don't mention it, you will know it was unmentionable.
:)

Rain is welcome; wind, on the other hand ...

I am NOT a sailor.

Even as a child, living on an island off the SA coast, I preferred to miss out on treats like day trips to the Pearsons Islands rather than endure sea sickness the entire time.

Getting to Kangaroo Island entails a ferry trip across the strip of water separating Cape Jervois and Pennneshaw.
The current weather is a worry.

From http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDS20210.txt

Ocean Wind Warning for today
"IDS20210
SECURITE

HIGH SEAS WEATHER WARNING FOR METAREA 10
ISSUED BY THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, ADELAIDE
AT 0551UTC 20 JANUARY 2007.

STORM WIND WARNING FOR SOUTH EASTERN AREA

SITUATION AT UTC
Low 990 hpa near 38S134E by UTC and forecast near 39S138E by UTC, 39S140E by UTC and 40S142E by UTC.

AREA AFFECTED
Area bounded by 36S129E 34S135E 36S140E 38S141E 44S141E 42S129E 36S129E.

FORECAST
Clockwise winds strengthening to 30/40 knots around low and increasing further to 40/55 knots within 250 nautical miles of low centre in west and northwest sectors until 201800UTC.

Rough to very rough seas rising to high N and W of low. Heavy swell.


WEATHER ADELAIDE"

And for tomorrow; "Southwest winds and showers will gradually ease during Sunday as an intense low south of Mount Gambier moves away and a high forms over the Bight. "

Rain at last :)

After a long and hot spell, South Australia seems to have had good general rains.

Unless Kangaroo Island missed out, and the coastal and ocean waters warnings, sheep grazier alerts and radar images suggest it didn't, then there will be a creek to walk.
:)

From here:
http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/sa/forecasts.shtml

For some people it has been too much and/or too late and for others, too soon; with flooding in the north and my cousins' grain crops between Cowell and Whyalla, just ready to reap.

Google Map's image updated.

The opening post, "Where is it?", says that the detail of Shorty Creek on Google Map is poor.

It isn't any longer; it is now clear for most of the creek's length, including the intersection of the creek and Shorty Road.

Unfortunately the definition of most of the area eastwards to the coast is still poor, though a lovely winter-time green.
The dusty sepia colour of the recent satellite pass, however, is exactly what it will be now.
:)

The co-ordinates for Shorty Road crossing Shorty Creek, for those with a regular atlas or even Google Earth ( earth.google.com ) are,
35degrees 47'30.66" S X 138degrees02'4.08"E

The Google Map details are even better then Google Earth, detailing Shorty Road in its entirety if you look at the hybrid satellit + map view.

http://local.google.com/?t=h&om+0&ll=-35.797209,138.053513&spn=0.062376,0.089951

Not just orchids ... grass flowers too.

One of the puzzles for me as I walk the creek is working out which grasses belong there and which do not.

The section that I walk is within a large, protected bush section, but is surrounded by farms, and contaminated by many of the pasture grasses.

Jessop, Dashorst and James's recent publication, "Grasses of South Australia; an illustrated guide to the native and naturalised species", is exactly what I need.

Need?

Needed ... for our household now has its own, treasured, copy, courtesy of the brother of one of those named in the acknowledgements.

:)



Click here for ECO Info Online's news item about it:

http://www.ecovoice.com.au/enews/enews-34/grasses_of_sa_enews34.php

One book for Home and Away

For a person with an interest in the plants of the Adelaide Hills AND Kangaroo Island, this one is a treat.

There are others as well, and I will get to those later.

There is surprisingly little on the net about this publication, although the second edition has just been released.

The Mosquito Orchid

The Mosquito Orchid


Acianthus exserta occurs along Shorty Road and Shorty Creek.

The heart-shaped leaf is itself only the size of a child's thumbnail and the flowers (surprise surprise) the size of a mosquito.

I don't expect to see these or any other orchids when I return next week, but I am still learning about indigenous plants and animals, so my expectations are held loosely.

Not only a camera, but also ...

... one of these.

See?















No, not the teenytiny Acianthus, but the GPS tool.

This was a Christmas Gift, two years ago and has not been used (properly) yet.

Last year when I took it, the battery was flat, so this time, it is a simple three step procedure:

1. Find the thing
2. Replace the battery
3. RTFM.

Then I ought to be able to locate all my favourite places and blog them neatly.

On the other hand, that is _so_ not me ( or it would have been used before this and not put down in such a safe place).

It _has_ been a long time ...

... but next week I will be going back to visit the creek again.

I wonder if it will still be a creek at all.

Maybe, and much more likely, it will be a series of still, small pools.

Either way I will be happy to walk it with a new camera at the ready.

It is a Canon 400D
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos400d/

and made possible by a gift of Canon lenses and the purchase of the Digital SLR body.
I now have a set of rings to help with close ups, as well, and am looking at an adaptor so that our old zoom lens can fit.

The previous digital camera was not SLR and took a full second to take the photo, so anything that moved was a goner.

So far I have been practising in the garden at home, where we also have a small creek with a pond on it. I am posting those pictures on Flickr as "justjjoke", should you be interested.

There are yabbies in both creeks, but I don't know if they are identical species.
Here is a Garrod Yabbie.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/justjjoke/357541355/

I wonder if I can find some old pictures of the creek at this time of the year ... hmmmmmmm ... it is now 38C outside here in Adelaide, so an inside job, looking for photos of Shorty Creek is an appealing option.
:)