Jerusalem Bay- Taffy’s Lookout: Spring Day

This walk begins at Cowan Station and is part of The Great North Walk for the first half. The wildflowers this season have been the best I have ever seen. The walk down to Jerusalem Bay is nothing short of miraculous. Here at the start are a stand of 2 metre high Isopogons (Anethafolius). These wonderful bright yellow tufts sit high on the tops of each upward stretching branchlet

And then when the track descends closer to the creek bed, and where the vegetation becomes rainforest there is this sudden efflorescence of magical, gigantic, what I think is an unusual variety of pink boronia. Here is one of the stupendously large bushes thereof with the boronia eLF crouching beneath it!

For a about a km the track is fringed with this amazing abundance of pink. It is like walking through Elysium!

Here is a video of same section:

And here we arrive at the still waters of Jerusalem Bay itself:

Then on top of the first ridge past Jerusalem Bay this extraordinary Angophora (Sydney Red Gum) doing, spectacularly, what Angophoras so often do: growing back into itself like the india-rubber man, here creating a see-through whorl letting onto the distant horizon. 

And further along- after having turned off onto the Taffy’s Rock track, more amazing contortionist Angophoras, holding themselves firm in the most unlikely positions:

Along the track the brilliant white Philothecas create a new kind of splash

Here set against a backdrop of pink boronias
And now in early October my favourite, most sensual of all pea plants, the Gompholobium Latifolium has burst onto the scene from its inconspicuous dark capsule into this luscious inviting yellow abundance

And here a close up of same show-off!

Here the most impressive of all Angophoras, fringed with Boronias. I suspect this tree has been here centuries before the arrival of Captain Cook. 

On top of the last ridge, this extraordinary stand of Boronia Serrulata commonly known as the Sydney Rose: such a wonderfully deep colour set on a very dark green textured stem:

Taffy’s Rock finally reached! If you want to learn more about Taffy’s Rock click here: http://hikeblog.com.au/cowan-to-brooklyn-via-taffys-rock/