(we've got plenty of time on our hands until the apple picking season starts 2nd week of Feb)
**If you would like to see the photos bigger, please click on them.
Getting ready for our wet walk to Freedom Falls in the Mt Canobolas Reserve. Serious wet weather gear as you can see.
Plenty of weird and wonderful flora and fauna to check out. The flower's scent was unbelievable (we never smelt anything like it), these furry tree sacs looked like they were the birth place of some tiny creatures, and the walk itself was a good 2.5hrs round trip down to the falls and back.
We found a cute little bridge that we had to cross. Leonie doing Dancer's pose just for fun.
Well we finally made it down to the falls. What falls? Where? It became apparent just how dry and in drought this area has been for a while now. The falls as you can see in the above pic with Dom are all dried up. As is the river in the above pic with Leonie (just very small patches of water around). The day before this walk, we had non stop rain all night, and our tent flooded a little (that's another story), and the fact that there is still no water off the falls, so close to a huge downpour like that, just proves the drought is real.
Leonie's makeshift wooden hair clip - twig to hold her hair up, and yes it did the job...very ingenious idea it was. Just before this, we saw a tick on her jacket, which scared the shit out of Dom. It was the size of a small bird (ok not really) and we figured that it had tried to hitch a ride with us from the earlier flowers we were touching and smelling. Dom went through that thing: you know when you see a creepy crawly insect around and then you feel itchy everywhere and feel things on you all day. Yes....this was Dom, all the way back to the car...hehehe!
A very unusual twisting tree. Obviously burnt at some stage in the past, this is what was left of her. It looked like someone (with very very big hands) had held her bottom and then the top and wringed it out like a wet towel.
In a straight line between Sydney and Perth, this is the HIGHEST POINT (1395metres above sea level). Mount Canobolas is an extinct volcano that has impressive 360 degree views of Central NSW (and as far away as the blue mountains too). You can see above that just as we got there, some clouds were passing over the top point where all the network towers are (gives you an idea of just how high up she is). It was eerie, yet beautiful too, like an evil Stephen King film unfolding in front of you.
Above shots shows us...playing around. Of course such a majestic sight calls for a yoga pose (Leonie in Utpluthih Pose...yes elevated lotus pose). Second shot is Leonie in her FREEEEDDDDDDOOOOOOM pose, and third is...um.....Dom.....doing...um.......something!
Above shots shows why they consider the area so important. Mayor Thomas Mitchell ascended the mountain during an expedition in 1835. This would have been so hard, as the mountain terrain is steep and dense. He had help from Aboriginal trackers we read (the grave site of one of these trackers is near by and is the first grave site of an Aboriginal that has both a western tombstone and Aboriginal tree carvings to signify his deeds).
Second and third pic is Leonie in her funky yoga pose. You can see as the clouds have passed over....the fantastic 360 degree views you get. Rolling hills, vineyards, farms, cows, sheep, and pine forests all around.
LOVE!!!!!!!
These big guys were grazing just along the side of the road in there paddock when we came past, so we thought we'd have a friendly chat with them. We know, we know....the black and white one looks so much like our 'Happy'.
A good leg workout on our walk, calls for a rewarding, hearty meal. Pumpkin, Ginger, and Bacon slow cooked soup....finished off with Snowpea Sprouts and a dollop of Sour Cream + Crusty Sourdough Bread. Wowwwwwwwwwwwww
This was all cooked in our cordless, powerless, amazing slow cooker. This will be one of the best buys of the year for us when full winter comes around :)
No recipe was followed to make this amazing creation and it turned out incredible!! You would pay big bucks for this gourmet meal! Camp style of course :)
But if you would like the recipe please feel free to ask, Leonie wrote it all down.
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