It was great having Derek home with us for longer than a few hours!! Work had been really busy and we had not seen very much of him lately. So we grabbed the first opportunity we had to go out for a trip as a family. So we all got our best hiking gear on!! LOL
We decided to head out towards Wollombi, into the bush, for a family exploration! I love being out in the bush, among all the trees and wildlife.
(Yengo National Park)
On this particular day we didn't see much wildlife, but we did drive to the top of the mountain to Finchley on dirt roads surrounded by trees and the calls of native birds and the buzz of cicadas.
This is a Rainbow bee Eater that we did spot! Damon was very excited by his discovery.
The kids were thrilled by the many caves we saw sitting deeply in the rocks as we passed. We imagined how they could be used for shelter in the past and what fun we could have with them if they were on our property. Also we wondered what we might find in them if we were able to explore one!
And we did get to explore one we passed on the road. It was a shallow cave but still very exciting for the kids.
The kids got a thrill from trying to climb the steep slope up into the cave. It really was a challenge as the slopes were very slippery. Derek managed to climb up further than all of us, but he ended up having to slide back down on his bottom!!
The rest of us made it a little way!
The boys were a little disappointed because there was a giant nest up on a ledge in the cave. The boys speculated that it could have been an eagle, hawk or a falcon!
Up at Finchley camping ground we had a quick picnic..
Chased Damon with sticks!!! Well Josef did! LOL
Used our sticks more constructively, to draw pictures in the dry earth...
Damon checked out the birds with his binoculars...
And we took a look at the Aboriginal cultural walk...
Can you spot the well camouflaged grasshopper??
Then it was Josef's turn to explore with the binoculars!!
A great family day out in the bush, just exploring and enjoying each other.
