Various walks around Mallacoota

 We have had a very pleasant visit from some Canberra friends and took them for a few strolls (as well as rattling a few hoops on the croquet lawns).  This included our friends joining us in our early exercise walks, which didn't attract photography.

The first walk was to the wastewater treatment plant (aka the poo pits) to check the waterbirds.  Most of the usual species were seen on our basic loop.  A highlight was a posing Sacred Kingfisher: they have not been common this Summer.  As likely to migrate soon this was bird of the day.

Although legless reptiles are far from rare here we didn't see any.  A good looking goanna ascended a little up a tree.  

After waiting for photos it ascended further, showing just how long its tail was.  It is still not one of the big bruisers that can be found.

Crampons au naturel!

In the afternoon we headed for Quarry Beach primarily to show off the rocks, but also because it is a nice place.  One of out friends got a tad excited when he saw a Porpoise come completely out of the water.  The rest of us would have been excited too, but had to settle for this view.

At the Western end of the beach the Cormorant Rock was devoid of Cormorants.

Perhaps they liked their water more relaxed?

Not a great number of birds seen but a very pleasant walk.  We retuned home for rests and naps and then headed to the croquet lawns where the Cricket Team were celebrating the end of their season with a BBQ.  We played a couple of games (very badly in my case) before heading in to the Bistro for a dose of linguine: very pleasant it was.

The first business on Monday was a stroll from Pebbly Beach towards Shipwreck Creek.   A few interesting bits of natural history were seen on the way but photos began at Two Heath Cove with a large rock showing the power of the sea.

Frances is currently reading about geology in this area, primarily a book by Leon Costermans and Fons VandenBerg "Stories beneath our feet".  Leon is perhaps best known for a book about shrubs and trees  but his bio reveals his training in geology! So she took this image of some of the rocks.

The track in to the Cove is a tad overgrown, as illustrated by this snap by Rob.  I guess one cannot expect Vic Parks to fuss about keeping tracks not designated by them clear.  Note also the pink tape marking the entrance/exit from the side track (there is more at the Cove end to help us spot the way out).

On the way back we spotted this nice fungus: to my surprise it as a bolete (with a pore surface rather than gills): possibly Austroboeletus sp.

There was next a loud squeak from our leader as she spotted a local having a nap beside the track.

A little bit of the red belly can be detected in this image

Having got the manual focus mode to work I thought I would use it!  This does reveal the Gahnia seeds on the snake's head!

We don't often see echidnas around Mallacoota and this one was wandering across Lakeside Drive.  It dug in at the bottom of a steep bank.  Although we have been advised that they shouldn't be moved (so they can follow their scent trails back we reported it to the local carers who would try to shift it up to the top of the bank (as it was less than 25cm off the road).

More croquet followed, with me playing a little better.