More Canberra touring

Today I had to take our car in for a BIG service after 125,000km in about 4.5 years.  This meant it would be in the hands of Capital Subaru for several hours so I packed the trusty treadlie in the back and took myself off for some travels. 

After a tour de poo-pits in Fyshwick (nothing of great import there) and a stop for a service of my dental work in Civic I headed West towards the Cork Oak plantation.  Last year I blogged about the massive number of Fly Agaric I found there.  That was early June (ie 6 weeks earlier in the year) but I would have expected some trace of the fungi to be evident.  Not one as found.

However the cork has been harvested, giving the oaks an interesting appearance.
My estimate is that the height of the debarked area is about 1.5m and the depth of the cork about 2cm.  This produced a very strange effect.  The litter on the ground under the trees is a mixture of fallen leaves and acorns:
Surprisingly the place wasn't full of parrots or cockatoos gorging on this bounty.

After riding on a bit I decided to swing by the National Library to check my email.  As I emerged I noticed a line of sculpture opposite.
By accident I snapped the passing car but I thought it added a bit of context to the work so have retained it in the image.  All the works are related to indigenous society in one way or another.

Moving on past the High Court and the NGA one comes to Bowen Park where the swans were still causing chaos.  There were also a lot of magpies around and - Hallelujah - the first plum blossom.
 
Hopefully this means we continue to get close to Spring, although the City gets there 2 weeks before we do.

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