Springwood - Christ Church

Red Heart Challenge

To-day marked the end of the Compassion Challenge.   We returned our completed Red Hearts to Church and pinned them on a board in the transept, alongside other people's anonymously completed hearts.  I thought I would find this challenge difficult, but I was surprised at how many things I was able to write down.  Just little things, like giving lifts in the car to less mobile parishioners, phone calls to sick friends, prayer and supplying goods for the 'Toys 'N' Tucker' appeal, were just some of the things I was able to contribute.

Here are our completed Red Hearts.  It was difficult to write on the red paper and we had to use a uni-ball fine water proof pen.  I don't think it was too successful!  Some people used a texta, which was better. We also had to cut out the red hearts from the white card and this was tricky!

This sign was placed on the wall in the Church  during the month of November, to remind us to think of ways we could  show compassion to the lost, the needy and each other.

Here is the Christmas Tree in a corner of the transept in the church where we placed our goods in the 'Toys 'N' Tucker' appeal.  This is an appeal run by Anglicare for Christmas food and gifts for needy people at Christmas.

Here is where we placed our Red Hearts.  Some people forgot to bring them in!  There should be more hearts here this afternoon when the 4.30pm congregation meets.

I enjoyed the Challenge as it made me think of ways of helping people less fortunate than myself.  This is something I'm not inclined to do, very often, so it was a good reminder that there are people in our community in need, especially at Christmas time.

Yellomundee Regional Park - continued

Yellow Rock - Spring flowers

Spring has sprung and the bush is alive with wildflowers.  Even in the most unexpected of places, along the roadside verges, we saw great swathes of golden Coreopsis "fluttering and dancing in the breeze".  I do like these cheerful yellow flowers, spreading their joy alongside roadways and the railway line, all the way up the Mountains.

We stopped and took many photos of all the wonderful flowers growing wild along the roadway.  Here is Coreopsis, looking like fields of daffodils.  They grow on tall stems above the foliage.

Coreopsis grandiflora is really a weed and not an Australian wildflower.  It is a native American prairie and woodland plant otherwise known as "tickseed".  It looks like a daisy.

Astrotricha floccosa "star hairs" or the Flannel leaf woolly star hair flower.  This was growing in super abundance at the lookout.  Dainty little clumps of white star-like flowers, everywhere you looked!

Patersonia occidentalis, the native Iris or long purple-flag.  This is a clumping grass like perennial and was growing in little pockets alongside the road.

Flannel flower Actinotus helianthi also growing along Singles Ridge Road on the way into Yellow Rock.  It is native to the bushland around Sydney and is an iconic Sydney plant.

Yellomundee Regional Park

Yellow Rock

This afternoon we took a short drive into the Yellomundee Regional Park situated on the Eastern escarpment of the Blue Mountains.  We turned off Hawkesbury Road and down Singles Ridge Road which brought us to the lookout area at Yellow Rock.  The area is mostly natural bushland with plenty of alluvial and riverine plant communities.  There were many native flowers in bloom.  There are no safety barriers so the area is quite dangerous with perilous drops to the valley below.  The views over the river and surrounding countryside are quite spectacular.

This is the road leading down to the lookout at Yellow Rock.  The trunks of the trees are still showing signs of a bushfire that raged through here 5 years' ago.

A modern-looking picnic shed near the lookout.  This shed is quite accessible and not near the edge of the escarpment.

The view looking over the Nepean River as it heads towards the confluence at Yarramundi.

A deep chasm between two giant rocks with a perilous drop to the valley below.  A native flower in the foreground.

The whole lookout area is full of rocks and ledges where you can step out (if you are game) to get a better view.  Needless to say, we did not go too far out on the ledges!

Penrith - conclusion

Nepean River

On Tuesday, as we drove down Lapstone Hill on the Great Western Highway heading towards Penrith, we passed a sign on the side of the Highway announcing "Welcome to Sydney."  I love this sign, as it reminds me that we do not live too far away from my home town.  Shortly afterwards we cross  the Nepean River on the M4 bridge.  The Nepean River forms the boundary between the Blue Mountains and Penrith, a Sydney suburb on the outskirts of the Sydney Basin.  The River is 178 kms in length and its headwaters rise near Robertson in the Southern Highlands.  It curls around greater Sydney becoming the Hawkesbury River near Yarramundi.  There are several dams on the River, and its' tributaries, that help supply water for Sydney.

There is a lovely walking track along the banks of the River, part of  the Great River Walk and last Tuesday Ken and I walked along part of this track before ascending a flight of steps up to the entrance to the new pedestrian bridge the Yandhai River Crossing.


The old Victoria Bridge has performed good and

faithful service and will still continue to

carry traffic across it.

Here is part of the Great River Walk along the banks of the Nepean, just before the steps up to the new Yandhai Bridge.  If you click on the picture y ou can see the steps quite clearly and also the landing where the new bridge begins.

Looking down the river to the M4 Bridge.  On the Western side is the commencement of the Blue Mountains National Park.

In this picture you can also see the flight of steps leading up to the start of the walk across the new bridge.  The river looks so calm and peaceful.

There is a lot of weed infestation along the banks of the river, including lantana and this rather striking bush called the Caster Oil Plant.  

Penrith - continued

Jacaranda Time

Yesterday, as we walked across the Yandhai Nepean Crossing, we noticed the proliferation of Jacarandas blooming on the banks of the river.  I do love these trees, with their bright purple flowers.  We have a Jacaranda tree in our backyard which blooms, on average, two weeks behind the ones that bloom down in Penrith and Sydney.  As we drive down the Mountains and over the M4 bridge, we can see the Jacarandas blooming on the other side of the bridge and then we know the ones in the Mountains won't be far behind.  Mauvember time is such a special time of year!  The promise of Summer is in the air and with it, the threat of bushfires!!

This picture is taken from the bridge as we were heading towards Emu Plains on the Western bank of the River.  I love the curve in the bridge as it approaches the shoreline.

Here are some more Jacarandas peeping over the tops of other trees.  They lift the spirits!

They look spectacular in the landscape.

These Jacarandas looked so pretty blooming in a curve as we left the bridge on the Emu Plains side.

This magnificent tree was on the bank as we left the
bridge and we walked right along the canopy.

Penrith

Yandhai Nepean Crossing

To-day we drove down to Penrith and did the walk across the new bridge.  I love the design of this new bridge, it is very appealing.  It was a beautiful day to do the walk, plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze blowing so we didn't get too hot.    After the walk we had lunch in the Rowers Club (where we had parked the car) and cooled off over a long cool lemon squash before having our lunch looking out over the river.

 I love the lines of this new bridge, very sleek.  Also note the sky!

 This photo taken from a vantage point above the steps on the River Walk and looking out under the new bridge you can see the old Victoria Bridge.

This photo was taken on the Mountains side, after we had
walked across the bridge.  The old Victoria Bridge is in
  the background.