Penrith

Mulberry Lane, Tench Reserve, Penrith

On Thursday afternoon, we did our Covid Lockdown exercise walk in our Local Government Area along the Memory Walk in Tench Reserve beside the Nepean River (in Darug country).  We parked the car in the car park along Tench Avenue and walked along the footpath until we came to the beginning of Memory Walk.  This is a wide concrete path leading to Nepean Avenue.  There were many people taking advantage of the pleasant weather and doing an exercise walk up to Nepean Avenue and back.  We too were exercising, in a more leisurely fashion and taking photographs along the way.  

Here is the beginning of Memory Walk and halfway down the path on the left-hand side are some Californian Redwood trees.  There is a plaque stating that the trees were "planted in honour of the men and women who served Australia in time of conflict during World War 11.  Lest we forget."

Here is a picture showing the Californian Redwood trees on the right of the path.  The Californian Redwoods are amongst the oldest living things on earth with a lifespan of 1,200 - 1,800 years.  They are also the tallest species of tree growing on the planet growing up to 115 metres in the forests of Northern California.

Here are the Mulberry trees in Mulberry Lane.  The trees are laden with fruit, just beginning to ripen.  The public is welcome to pick the fruit and many people come and pick this luscious crop, generously provided by the local Council. They request that people do not be greedy and leave fruit for others and not to damage the trees by climbing them. 

This picture shows the nobbly and gnarled trunks of the Mulberry trees.  The Mulberry is a deciduous self-fertile tree from 5-20 metres.  They have glossy heart-shaped green leaves and pendulous branches and make a good shade tree.  After a while the trees develop a lovely gnarled trunk.  

The mulberries are red at the moment but starting to turn black. By November they should be ready for harvest.  We shall be coming back in November as I believe the Red-whiskered Bulbul likes to visit and eat the mulberries.  I am keen to photograph him and add him to my collection of birds seen in the Penrith area.

 In the orchard, past Mulberry Lane, the blossom trees are  starting to flower and looking very pretty.  Some trees have white blossoms and others have pink.

Now and then through the trees we could catch a glimpse of the river as it shimmered and sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.

We did not venture out into Nepean Avenue but decided to head back to the car.

We will come back another day and continue the walk along Nepean Avenue as it eventually leads to the Yandhai Nepean Crossing across the river and is part of the Great River Walk. It would be nice to walk across this pedestrian bridge again as we have not done this since it opened in 2018.  It was a perfect afternoon for our walk, which we enjoyed very much.  It is simple things, like walks, that makes lockdown more bearable!  As from yesterday, exercise time has been extended from one hour per day to unlimited time from 5 am to curfew at 9 pm.

Acknowledgments

1.  Our Place - Penrith City Council's quarterly Newsletter Autumn 2021.

2.  Garden Clinic by Linda Ross 9.2.2015

3.  Birdlife Australia (Red-whiskered Bulbul)