Stroud, NSW, Australia - 12th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
I have had a busy week! Barclay and I were keen to see more of Stroud, so we sneaked into Nik's bag one morning. We went to Quambi, a beautiful old building here that used to be a school. It is undergoing some restoration at the moment, so it's closed indefinitely.
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Posted Aug 12, 2007, 12:19 pm Last edited Aug 12, 2007, 12:21 pm by Prowl_Worshipper
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 12th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
St John's church has some of the most interesting history in Stroud. I found the grave of the murdered McAskells, from 1875, and climbed this big sundial that is over 120 years old.
I was most excited though about a stone in the front of the church - it is between 600 and 700 years old!
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Posted Aug 12, 2007, 12:28 pm Last edited Aug 12, 2007, 12:34 pm by Prowl_Worshipper
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 14th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
I've finally gotten to view some unique insects! This is a little creature called a sandfly. Nik says it is just as annoying as a mosquito! Apparently sandflies bite too. I was lucky to get the chance to study this one before Nik squashed it!
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Posted Aug 14, 2007, 11:41 am Last edited Aug 14, 2007, 11:43 am by Prowl_Worshipper
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 14th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
These are interesting. These flowers only appear after a lot of rain. It's hard to imagine it's rained here at all for all the cracks in the ground, but it must have. I picked a few, but by the time I got back to Nik's house they had all wilted!
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Posted Aug 14, 2007, 11:49 am
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 23rd August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
Barclay has left Stroud, and I miss him. He tried teaching me to play Rugby League the other day before he left. It's a rough game!
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 12:24 pm
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 23rd August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
...but this game is not for me...
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 12:29 pm Last edited Aug 23, 2007, 12:39 pm by Prowl_Worshipper
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 23rd August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
Phew. This was much better than trying to master footy, as they call it here in Australia!
I climbed a Magnolia bush that is just coming into flower to observe some Australian honey bees. There is one in the flower that I have my nose in, but luckily I wasn't stung!
There are a lot of beautiful birds around here, but I haven't been able to get close enough to get myself in a photo with any. I was lucky this time however! This is a friendly Butcher Bird that Nik's family feeds (him and his dozens of friends and relatives)
I learned they are called Butcher Birds because of the way they eat - catch insects like grasshoppers, moths, beetles and things like that - and spear them onto thin tree branches so the birds can tear them apart to eat. Not the nicest of birds! But they do sing beautifully.
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 12:37 pm Last edited Aug 23, 2007, 4:14 pm by Prowl_Worshipper
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Washpool, outskirts of Stroud, Australia - 23rd August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
OH! Oh my goodness! I have made a discovery that will put me in the history books!
I have found Thunderbolt's hidden treasure!
The Bushranger Thunderbolt (John Ward) hid his treasure somewhere along Washpool (a small river on the outskirts of town) in a cave shortly before he was killed by troopers at Uralla. That was supposedly a tall tale, a local legend, but I have proven it true!
This was not archaeology but it is very, very exciting!
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 12:45 pm
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 23rd August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
This is something I forgot to mention! Barclay is gone, but he'd convinced me to taste Vegemite last week. This is a very popular Australian "delicacy" but as I discovered, it really is an acquired taste...
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 12:49 pm
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Nik's nan's place, Stroud, Australia - 24th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
Nik and I visited her nan today (she lives right next door) and I found this St Andrew's Cross spider! They are not dangerous, and they sit in the middle of their webs with their legs pressed out into an X.
Nik's nan has some beautiful camelia bushes - look at the size of this one that tumbled down on me!
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 4:04 pm
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Nik's nan's place, Stroud, Australia - 24th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
I met Nik's nan's doggy Sasha - such a pretty girl! And Nik's pet rat Sugar. She is very friendly!
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 4:06 pm
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Nik's nan's place, Stroud, Australia - 24th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
I am lucky! More insects to observe - this tiny black spider snuck in with a load of firewood. When I examined it, it curled up and played dead!
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 4:09 pm
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 24th August 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
And this "true Aussie" an annoying little mosquito, as Nik said crankily. I must agree with her this time - the mozzie bit me on the nose and now I have an itchy bump of a mosquito bite. I squashed it flat with my paws!
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Posted Aug 23, 2007, 4:13 pm
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