Bundjalung National Park takes its name from the Aboriginal nation whose country this area. It’s coastal heath. We recently explored the northern-most part of the park – see this map. There’s a wild headland (Goanna Headland, an Aboriginal special place) with waves smashing at the bottom, and a small lighthouse on the top. The lighthouse carries a stern warning …
Evans Head lighthouse high on headland - no vessels to be attached!
Considering this lighthouse is a few hundred metres above sea level, the only vessel likely to “tie up” is the TARDIS!
There were few birds or other animals on this blustery day, and any animals or birds present were mostly sheltering under the heath, which comes up to one’s shoulder, with a few stand-out trees. The white-cheeked honeyeaters came to check us out.
White-cheeked honeyeater surveys the heath from the top of a banksia
Plants were in spring bloom, though. The one below is the flannel flower, Actinotus helianthi, peculiar to the sandy coastal regions of New South Wales and Queensland. The “petals” (actually bracts, for you botanists) are wonderfully soft.
Flannel flower (Actinotus helianthi)
Boronias often have a gorgeous smell, to match their good looks …
- Boronia (Boronia mollis)
Pea (Gompholobium virgatum var. virgatum)
Epacris longiflora
Banksia (Banksia serrata or B. aemula)
Banksia follicles
Another sort of banksia (Banksia integrifolia), with open follicles
Hakea (possibly H. leucoptera or H. actites)
Ricinocarpus speciosis
Homoranthus virgatus
Gumnuts of a eucalypt
Grass tree (a species of Xanthorrhoea) …
Grass tree with flower spike …
Grass tree with flower spike
Lomandra (Lomandra longifolia)
Helichrysum species
Close-up of Dianella caerulea flower
Dianella caerulea
Allocasuarina littoralis
Geebung (Persoonia virgata)
Many thanks to my botanist friend Brigitte, who spent a few hours sitting in front of the computer with me, a cuppa, 4 volumes of Harden’s Flora of Australia and PlantNET, identifying these plants.
A-roving I will go 
Unexpected Doctor Who reference made my day! (And the flowers are lovely, of course.)
Who-hoo! I’m a big Dr Who fan – glad to see it has taken off in the US. Who’s your favourite Doctor and companion? Mine’s Jon Pertwee and Sarah Jane Smith in the classic series, and David Tennant and Donna Noble in the new (though Chris Eccleston did an interesting “damaged” Doctor – I didn’t like Rose much, though).
It’s definitely become better-known in the U.S. in the past couple years, though when I first got into it most people here didn’t know what it was. I have to admit I’m much more familiar with the new series than the old. I quite liked the Ninth Doctor, and I liked the Tenth Doctor a lot at first but his characterization really started to irk me toward the end (unlike you I really did like Rose). I’m also thoroughly enjoying the current incarnation!
The 11th Doctor is a bit manic for me, but he has had many excellent stories – Neil Gaiman’s “The Doctor’s Wife” is probably my favourite.
I had a weird experience the other day. I have a little card I got from a magazine that, when you open it, makes the sound of the TARDIS materialising. I’d forgotten where I put it. I had opened the curtains in the lounge room as the day was cloudy and I wanted to get some light in. I went into my office and a little while later the sun came out – and I heard the sound of the TARDIS materialising! !!! I tell you, the hairs on my neck rose. I cautiously crept into the lounge room, then realised what had happened. I admit to feeling a bit disappointed 🙂
I am wondering if “Tardis” has now become part of daily language use and is credited as such in dictionaries: eg whenever we come across an unknown plant or animal in Sydney, we talk about referring to “the tardis” reference book we use, which some may remember as Burnum Burnum’s Book “Wildthings” – it provides brief descriptions and pics on almost anything indidenous and intrusive in the Sydney area. Or consider those tiny little dwellings that seem quite spacious when you are inside, and you say “Oh, it’s like the Tadis.”
I was going to say, “bigger on the inside, like my handbag”. TARDIS is not in the Macquarie Dictionary (Australia’s national dictionary), but is in the Oxford:
“the vehicle in which Doctor Who travels through time and space in the British children’s television series. Outside, it looks like an old-fashioned British police telephone box. Inside, it is much larger than outside, and looks like a modern spacecraft.
‘It’s not a very big bag, but it’s like the Tardis, I can fit everything I need in it.'”
I capitalise it as it’s an acronym, but apparently the Oxford doesn’t.
Wonderful pics! Glad there’s someone else who spends hours and hours with reference materials trying to identify plants 🙂
You bet! Plants (hard because I was trained as a zoologist, but I am getting my head around them) and birds and shells and … you name it. It’s fun though, if occasionally frustrating.