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Bush Walking Around Jerusalem Bay

About Reflections on Literature, Life and the Imagination

Previous Entry Bush Walking Around Jerusalem Bay Mar. 26th, 2006 @ 08:19 pm Next Entry
I went with a friend of mine Graeme on a great walk around Jerusalem Bay (in Kuring-gai Chase) on Saturday. We found an ancient track that led out almost to the mouth of Broken Bay. My passion is the Angophora, the Sydney Red Gum which moulds itself around rocks into some extraordinary shapes. Each tree is a poem in wood. Here is a visual record of our walk.

Here is the first amazing Angophora which had attached itself top and bottom to a rock ledge:


And once I got the Angophora bug... I couldn't stop:





The Australian poet Judith Wright has talked about gum trees as "fountains slowed in air"... I think this is a fantastic description of the Angophora which moulds itself like water around any obstacle so that it can be securely fastened... it is indeed a fountain ...s...l...o...w....e....d.... in air.....
Chau
MG
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From:tahilder
Date:April 29th, 2006 09:23 am (UTC)

angophoras

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michael

loved your LJ entry on your walk and your love of these wonderful trees. Having done some bushwalking over the years with a friend who familiarised me with these trees, I can understand how you feel. yes, they do grow on you and you begin to notice them as never before.

love your shots of them. I agree they are like very beautiful and powerful poetry. Did you know that if a branch is infected with parasites it is able to drop that branch which leaves a stump or hole on the trunk and so survives the infestation.

About a year ago I discovered a magnificent specimen at the back of the Chatswood Police Station (no, I've never been inside the place, only walking past). Its at the corner of Archer Street and I'm not sure of the cross street, but close to the CentreLink office across the road from the police station. This tree has been left on the block, surrounded by clumps of native grasses, so one can sit there undisturbed and just observe . . .

I hope you can go there and experience it for yourself.

Regards,

tani
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From:michaelgriffith
Date:April 29th, 2006 11:31 am (UTC)

Re: angophoras

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Thanks Tania- I drive near Chatswood quite regularly so I will make a detour next time to see for myself... Angophoras are an acquired taste I think... most of my students think I am talking in ancient Egyptian when I mention the word!@$!!
Michael
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