The walk to Budjwa Bay in the early morning is always an incredible delight: the stillness that increases as you move down towards the bay itself, the early morning bird song and the wonderful efflorescence from autumn flowering plants like the Banksia Spinulosa and the Xanthorea Australis (Grass Tree/ Black Boy). Here is the Spinulosa set against a wonderfully pock-marked Angophora (the forest here is thick with these amazing life forms):
A little further down the track I saw the first of a number of Xanthoreas putting out their autumn spikes ready for all the local honey eaters. Pushing your nose up against this extraordinary flower is a powerful sensory experience:
It is shortly after this that the first view down towards Budjwa Bay opens up: a magnificent rock face with a rich variety of sand-stone happy native plants:
Michael Griffith: Home Page- Literature and Life Summer 2023 