The tree was located on the corner of the Quilpie to Eulo Rod and the Toompine to Eulo Road. Which is just south of the tiny township of Toompine. The tree has lots of common names including Dogwood, Ngawil, Weeping Emubush, Berrigan, Long-Leaved Eremophila, Native Plum, Emu Bush, Long Leaf Emu Bush, Native Plum Tree, Emu Apple, Emubush, Berrigan Emubush, Juniper Tree, Native Plum-Tree!
Common name wild tobacco. It only grows in shaded areas, which are not that common out Eromanga way. At one sand dune The Doc saw the plant growing around some trees – but only where the bloodwood tree provided shade for much of the day. These images were from a shaded area behind the Eromanga Natural History Museum.
Also known as Prickly Wattle. Images from two locations, first Peglers Pond about 7km east of Eromanga; second some dams west of Eromanga, beside the Cooper Developmental Road. Click on image to see full size.
Shady Lady Red and Shady Lady White.
The Wooly Grevillea. Click on image to see full size.
Commonly known as the Sturt Desert Pea, floral emblem of South Australia. The dark eye version is from South Australia, the lighter coloured eye is the northern or WA form found in the Northern Territory and WA.
It is known by some other names as well including: Swainsona formosa, Showy Donia (G. Don 1832), Beautiful Donia (G. Don 1832), Dampier’s clianth (Veitch 1850), Dampier’s Clianthus (Hooker 1858), Sturt’s pea (Adelaide Advertiser 1858), Sturt pea (de Mole 1861), Captain Sturt’s desert pea (Aspinall 1862), Desert pea (Anon 1864), Sturt’s desert pea (Tenison-Woods 1865), Glory flower (Bailey 1883), Glory pea (Bailey 1883), Sturt’s glory pea (Anon 1886), Lobster claws (The Garden 1890), Blood flower (Parker 1898), Dampier’s glory pea (Guilfoyle 1911), Australian glory pea (Guilfoyle 1911), Dampier pea (Harris 1980).
Creating the colour palettes for the barks, flowers and leaves has been an eye opener. Take Banksia blechnifolia, which The Doc thought was a fairly bland flower, at least as Banksias go. Here is the image:
At first glance it suggests a bland colour palette, until you analyse the palette. Here are the ten most dominant colours including Rose Gold, Big Dip O’Ruby and Turkish Rose:
Further analysis shows 178,775 total colours, comprising 179 core colours. And The Doc was thinking there was two main colours, white and rose-pink.
Some flowers from my Mother’s 80th birthday party and the coastal banksia heath near Lennox Head. Enjoy.
The Doc has spent the last 2 days out on tours, to Sweets Lagoon and Corroboree Billabong (Mary River Floodplain). The Patrol had been serviced and it was time to see the wetlands by plane and boat (to avoid the mud and crocs by doing it on land).
On paper, Outback Floatplanes Adventures trip to Sweet Lagoon looked the better option. It had a floatplane flight, airboat (flat bottom boat driven by a V8 using a propeller), helicopter flight and cruise in a flat bottom boat.
Corroboree Billabong was the Wildlands Ultimate Tour consisting of an airboat and flat bottom boat tour. The BBC has filmed twice here. This billabong has the highest concentration of crocs in the world. The billabong is fed by the massive Mary River Floodplain. The wildlife has to be be seen to be believed. Thousands and thousands of birds, fish a plenty and lots of top line predators like crocs and White Bellied Sea Eagles. The Doc even got to eat some bush tucker from the Sacred Lotus Lily and another flower.
Hands down Corroboree Billabong was better and around 1/3 the cost of the Outback Floatplanes Adventure. Sweet lagoon was expensive at $800 [2017] for what it was, a little bit of the four things from around 8.30am to midday. They even charge a credit fee of 1.5%, unlike Wildlands. As an experienced Outback Traveller The Doc would not do it again, but would return to Corroboree Billabong in a heart beat, and that cost only $240 for both.
The Doc was left with the feeling Sweet Lagoon was all about maximising bums on seats and putting the tourist thorough the production line. This is the first time The Doc felt this on his trips. It was not the people, but the production line process.
The auxiliary battery in the Patrol failed on Saturday morning so The Doc has extended his stay in Darwin 2 days to wait for the replacement. A bit lucky the battery failed while the The Doc was in Darwin rather than in the Outback. The Doc has never seen a battery fail so fast, almost no warning signs (The Doc knew there was an issue Friday, but Saturday morning confirmed the failure). The demands of the hot weather was too much.
This is a sample of the floodplain in and around Mary River and Kakadu.
Corroboree Billbong, water, flowers crocs and birds, all in abundance.
Sweets Lagoon images.
Some more wildflowers from North Head. Enjoy.
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