Bush Walk to Cobah Point 11/09/2016

The Bush track to Cobah Bay starts around 10 kms north west from Arcadia:

If you have not seen the spring flowers around Sydney yet this spring, then please follow me on this amazing journey: 18 kms in around 6 leisurely photo-filled hours!

The spring flowers on this particular walk are spectacular. They are the best I have seen anywhere around Sydney. Especially stunning are the pink wax flowers (Eriostomon Australis) which crowd the tops of all the rocky escarpments.

Here we are overlooking the last stretch of Berowra Creek with Cobah Point directly behind me. We met the “owner” of Cobah Point who is trying hard to sell this remaining piece of freehold land to the National Parks. He told stories of the joys and pains of living out here in the bush away from civilization.

A video glimpse of the lanscape and flowers around Cobah Point

And the Grevillea Punicea- these brilliant red icons of the Australian bush

And, wait for it, these utterly sensual bush creatures, the Gompholobium Latifoliuam. Fancy being blessed with such an obscenely sensual name, and such astonishingly alluring features! These have all burst out in the last week from tiny little black pin heads. 

Spiky Wattles, flowering and seeding at the same time:

A stand of pink wax flowers floating against the pink trunk of a Sydney red gum (Angophora)

Utterly alluring “wedding bush” – some kind of mertacae (I think)

The second of the Sydney Boronias to have emerged in the last month. In July and August we had Boronia Ledifolia, now this one (perhaps Heterophylla)

Wax flowers etched against rock and Berowra Creek below

And this amazing Sydney Red-gum (Angophora) which often takes these wierd and wonderful shapes as it wrestles itself against rock ledges. 

Just take a look down the trunk, how it pushes up between rock faces

It is almost human in its musculature!

And this is one rock ledge which was just covered in pink Eriostomon(s)

 

Pea flowers abounding

And this rare Grevillea, yellow in its tiny flower, that I have never seen before 

Spectacular, huge bushes of Grevilliea speciosa, the brilliant red ones… 

Wattles cascading over the path

And this was once a fire trail but was closed off by Bob Carr last century. Here is the remanant of an FJ Holden that must have ventured down here in the late 50s

Grevillea Alba perhaps?

Views north across the mouth of Berowra Creek into the Hawkesbury and Pelican Island

Panorama shot of same

Under the lip of one of the rocks this wonderful fully flowering button orchid growing virtually straight out of the rock face. 

Another Angophora holding itself steady by suckering onto the rock race

Wax flowers pinkly embracing an embarrassed red gum (Angophora)

Wow: Beronia Ledifolia (just finishing) embracing a tall pink wax flower with yellow pea flowers peeping out below. What a picture!

All-time favourite: Grevillea Punicea – focussed close-up

Boronias and Gompholobium hugging the track side

Isopogons in full flower (two types on this track: anethifolius (this one)  and anemonifolius

Stunning showing of pea flowers against a dead grey gum trunk

Wax flowers in their final blaze of glory

Fine leaved Geebung in their obscenely luscious fruiting phase

The Sydney Rose, Boronia Heterophyllya (am I right?)

And here the larger bush. This is the only one we saw on the whole trip. Quite a rarity

Three pea flowers together: Gompholobium, Bossiae and ??

More Isopogons- they are really stunning just now

And the grand finale: Punicea and Gompholobium…. And we did not see a single walker on this track! Amazingly solitary, amazingly beautiful