My first little excursion for the morning was taking my cup of coffee outside and surveying the gum trees for koalas, without success.
I rang the Foster police station and actually managed to talk to an officer who'll organise for somebody to come imminently and pick up the found wallet.
40 minutes later I give up on waiting for the police and put the wallet on the veranda table and head out - just as the police are turning into the driveway. All good. I let him know where it is.
As I head into the park, I once again passed the signs warning international tourists to do the right thing including to drive on the correct side of the road and not to stop in the middle of the road to watch wildlife. A sign in the toilet telling them to put used toilet paper down the pan rather than on the floor would also be useful.
I head out towards the Tidal Overlook Circuit and while I'm watching I am determined to do the first bit to the track junction without too much lingering to look at orchids I already looked at yesterday. I am hoping to find some different species though. I was pretty happy with six species represented by five genera yesterday.
100 m from the turnoff I spot leaves and a bud of something different. The leaves are red beaks that I saw a couple of weeks ago and when I look carefully, I actually find one with the flower spike which is fantastic.
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| Pyrorchis nigricans, red beaks |
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| Pyrorchis nigricans, red beaks |
The buds, I'm fairly sure are one of the spider orchids, but which one I don't know. Not easy to get a focus on such a small subject
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| Spider orchid bud |
Then a few helmet leaves and a solitary wax lips. Further on I would see many, many more of those.
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| Glossodia major, Waxlip orchid |
Strangely enough, my pace has slowed enormously; one cannot walk briskly and look for orchids at the same time.
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Diuris orientis, wallflower orchid
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Diuris orientis, wallflower orchid
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I find some Diuris (and will continue to find these dotted around for much of the rest of the walk) I think they are the same as those yesterday.
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| Diuris orientis, wallflower orchid |
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| Diuris orientis, wallflower orchid |
A little further on and I sighted a couple of spiders in flower and while they're taller than those yesterday, they look similar and while I think they are green comb spider orchids - someone who knows more than me identifies them as small spider orchids
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| Caladenia parva, small spider orchid |
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| Caladenia parva, small spider orchid |
So I've not yet covered a kilometre and I've seen four species in flower and that's better than yesterday.
A little further on and I'm lying on the side of the track photographing a mayfly orchid and a solo walker stops and asks if I'm okay and shares that she was afraid when she first saw me still and prone that she might not need to apply her first aid knowledge.
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| Acianthus caudatus, mayfly orchid |
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| Acianthus caudatus, mayfly orchid |
Nearby there are a couple of leaves I do not know, and while the first is probably not a orchid, the second is identified as
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| Red beak leaf - with a variation |
I stopped for a particularly nice diuryis and notice a spider bud nearby and then a flower and I'm fairly sure it's the different species to the other one. Woohoo. Someone whose judgement I trust identifies it for me.
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| Caladenia tessalata, thick lipped spider orchid |
A small side path heads up to a lookout. It rewards me with a pink finger orchid. The first I've seen in the last 2 days and a number of spikes with buds which I suspect are the same.
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| Caladenia carnea, pink fingers |
The side track leads up onto a granite outcrop, of which there are many, and delivers quite a nice view of the mountains. It is grey and overcast so the view is not as great as it might be.
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| Granite and good views |
And then more spiders, and Diuris are scattered all over as are Glossidia. But these spiders are different again! Probably Caladenia australis, the southern spider orchid. That's 3 species of spiders in the one day. I am spoiled!
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| Caladenia australis, southern spider orchid |
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| Caladenia australis, southern spider orchid |
As I proceed there's a large patch of leaves that I'm not familiar with which are later identified for me as Leptoceraso menziesii, the rabbit orchid. One has a tiny flower bud, but no flowers are to be seen.
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| Leptoceraso menziesii, the rabbit orchid |
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| Leptoceraso menziesii, the rabbit orchid |
A little further around something with quite an odd brownish flower and I can't get close enough to have a good look so a zoom photo has to suffice. It might be Pterostylis sanguinea, the red-banded greenhood
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Pterostylis sanguinea, red-banded greenhood?
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Up on the ridge it's very windy and there are more mayflies and I find a solitary pink fingers almost on the track. It is later identified for me as Caladenia vulgaris, the slender pink fingers.
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| Caladenia vulgaris, slender pink fingers |
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| Caladenia vulgaris, slender pink fingers |
And a bud of what I think is a sun orchid, though one isn't going to see any of those flowers today.
Different leaves again of oval and pointed with a reddish underside and I think they might be the leaves of a small tongue orchid, but I can't see any with flowers.
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| maybe Cryptostylis leptochila, small tongue orchid |
And there are great views too.
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| looking right |
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| and looking left |
It's taken me an hour and 17 minutes to do the last kilometre. As I pass the 3rd lookout, I'm up on the ridge and it's blowing a gale. I decide it's time to walk a bit faster. Plus there's very few orchids along here. Just the old Glossidi being very hardy and poking its head up. I'm relieved when I finally drop down off the ridge into some shelter.
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| Caladenia parva, small spider orchid |
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| Caladenia parva, small spider orchid |
As I walk there are Glossidia everywhere and I spot another spider, lots of leaves of helmets and leaves of red beaks. And then another spider which seems different - maybe a green comb?
Caladenia dilatata??? But someone who knows better corrected me on iNaturalist: Correction:
Caladenia tentaculata Eastern Mantis Orchid
Lookout number one has some seats and is beautifully sheltered so we'll make a lovely spot for a late lunch.
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| The beach by Tidal River |
As I watch the beach down near the Tidal River campsite, it really is not a swimming beach. There are rows upon rows of breakers. It's very much an Ocean Beach, but maybe people swim in the river
As I approach the bridge, that's a very good reason why it's closed. There's a gap in it
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| Bridge definitely not in use |
And the ecology has changed substantially; there's lots of clematis all over the trees. It's rather pretty.
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| Clematis |
I loved that walk; it really delivered delights - a little slice of orchid heaven.
My next stop is squeaky Beach which Hermione said is quite nice and the info in my little cottage says is rated number one the best beach in Australia. We shall see.
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| Squeaky beach |
Squeaky beach is nice, there's some seaweed washed up but that's to be expected after the weather we've had; it's got nice white sand. It's got some good rocks at the end. Don't tell the world but I reckon we've got better beaches in Tassie.
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Interesting rocks
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There's a couple of brave souls who appear to be going for a swim despite the warnings of rips. They just go about thigh deep, take a bit of a plunge and come out again. Seems it was just for the photo opportunity.
I certainly didn't expect to find any orchids on my way across the sand dunes to the beach, but as I'm coming back I notice quite a profusion of leaves of helmet orchids on the sides of track.
I head into Foster to wash the car (I can't take a filthy car to a funeral and time will be tight on Thursday) before returning to my accommodation and checking for Koala in the trees.
So, for my last full day of holiday I have had maybe 10 species of orchid in flower with more species showing leaves only or buds. Not bad!
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