Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
…and – certain prejudices and misinformation notwithstanding – neither is a noxious pest in southwestern Western Australia.
The South African is a flowering plant.
The FIFO is a fly.
Flies deserve rather more credit for their beneficial activities than most human Australians realise.
Not every South African plant “runs riot” and/or becomes a “noxious weed” when/if it “succeeds” on Australian soil.
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Walking along the path atop Rocky Bay’s cliffs, full-on residential suburbia is generally only a few steps away.
If you look over and down to the other (south/ southeastern) side of the Swan, residential suburbia, yachting facilities, and assorted urban infrastructure oft encroach to within a few steps of water’s edge.
Miraculously, however, on the top/ edge of the steep, cliffy (North Fremantle/ Mosman Park) side – and immediately below, on/near that shoreline – Rocky Bay is altogether wilder and lovelier than is usually true of a riverine environment within a “premium residential real estate” area of a capital city
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16 October 2022 was – even by Perth standards – a particularly benign Spring day.
All photos in this post involved a long lens peeking over North Fremantle residents’ front fences, into gardens of highly diverse persuasions; the “unkempt” and the “manicured” proved equally alluring.
The two first images were taken from Stirling Highway’s western footpath; I suggest you zoom in/enlarge – the Hibiscus’s stamen is especially worth a closer view.
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During last Saturday afternoon’s “golden hour” at Lake Monger, both were very apparent.
Above: a Great Crested Grebe, newly in “breeding” mode/plumage.
Below: a very territorial Dusky Moorhen, in hot pursuit of a rival/“intruder”.
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Australians’ 2022 views on taxation – and on taxation “reform” – are “informed” by a confusing array of truths, lies, twaddle, insight, credulity, chicanery, chutzpah, self-interested opportunism (sometimes naked, sometimes disguised) , rank hypocrisy, timidity, virtue-signalling, obfuscation, indifference, compassion, cruelty, ignorance, knowledge, and honest uncertainty.
The featured image is (Jon) Kudlelka’s cartoon for the 08 October 2022 edition of The Saturday Paper
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Over the relevant eight minutes I remained seated, as the sole pelican’s feet stayed still, several metres away, ”planted” in shallow water near Lake Monger’s western shore.
S/he reminded me of several Irish button accordion masters I have viewed from a similar distance – their feet moving not at all, but their body’s upper half highly mobile, its many movements oft-unpredictable.
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In this writer’s view, such a headline fairly describes how Australian governments, plural, have now “dropped the ball” on COVID-19.
Don’t take my word for it, but please do pay attention to the words and views of actual experts on epidemic management:
The number of deaths from COVID in Australia in the first nine months of 2022 is more than ten times the annual national road toll of just over 1,000 – but we are not rushing to remove seat belts or drink-driving laws so people can have more freedom…
While it was hoped hybrid immunity from vaccines and prior infection would reduce subsequent infections, this has not been the reality. Reinfection is becoming more common….
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On the first day of October in 1872 the British Parliament declared a Reserve on Perth’s Mount Eliza,
The new Perth Park overlooked the then decidedly modest capital of the Colony of Western Australia.
In 1901 Perth Park was renamed Kings Park, following the coronation of King Edward VII.
Until more than a decade into the 1900s, Perth was smaller than not a few of eastern Australia’s country towns.
Paradoxically, one reason why Perth managed to have a bigger, wilder – and, arguably, more wonderful, and equally central – city park than New York’s Central Park is that when it was p/reserved, Kings Park’s site would have been viewed as utterly superfluous to Perth’s future urban expansion.
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Perth’s Lake Monger sits within the Federal electorate of Curtin.
It was named after a Labor Prime Minister, but until 2022 Curtin was generally regarded as a perpetually-“safe” Liberal seat.
Curtin’s mostly-affluent electors include the adult residents of Australia’s wealthiest postcode.
In 2022, however, Curtin “fell” to “Teal independent” candidate Kate Chaney.
Apolitically speaking, Teals have thrived here for at least many thousands of years.
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As Pelican Yoga regulars already know, I generally prefer wild places, wild animals and plants, untamed, “in the wild”/ au naturel.
That said, I would never wish to forgo the pleasures afforded by exotic plants, as cultivated in both “Botanic” and domestic gardens.
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