Calm before the storm

We have been promised a 'weather bomb' in the coming hours, so I decided I should get out and walkabout this morning while I still could- so here are a few 'bits and pieces' from along Turitea Walkway.

We have a series of quite interesting drain covers here in Palmy, that show some of our native stream fauna and flora:- this 'brown mudfish' cover was over a storm water drain near the bridge where I parked.

Near the Turitea Stream they had been renewing a bit of the track where some of the path had slipped away into the stream- and I found the cut surface of this felled tree trunk quite beautiful.

I always love catching sight of the light on drops of water, and mostly I see it on spiderwebs or plants. But on the ground this morning I caught sight of a gleam from the ground at my feet, and there were droplets on some fallen cicada wings.

It was eerily calm this morning- definitely the calm before a storm. And in a more northerly direction looking towards the ranges, the sky definitely had that weird pre-storm appearance.

 But looking in a more southeast direction, the sky still looked more blue and less threatening...

 I am becoming very conscious these days that my 'training' time is drawing to a close, and in less than six weeks I will be heading off to France for some much more intensive walking. And somehow that makes me more conscious of 'local' signs here at home. When I walked in France and Spain last time, I became quite intrigued by taking photos of signs, so much so that I 'stopped myself' from taking such a 'ridiculous' number of them. But I actually really like looking at photos of signs later on- they tell such a very regional story. I will be sure to take plenty of them this time, without censoring myself!

As I neared Old West Rd and came to this pond, the whole scene looked so peaceful and calm in this direction, almost like a summer's day.

On the path heading down to the pond, I was intrigued by the shadows of the fenceposts, so took this photo. But once I downloaded it back at home, I realised this photo showed the steepness of the path very well. I have been struggling with how to show 'steepness' in photos, and perhaps this is the simple answer- to show the scene from the top rather than the bottom! Then I will be able to 'prove' to friends and family how 'arduous' parts of my walking was when I get home from France!

Summer has come to an end, and it seems like there are many spider-nests like this one on some bushes. I especially liked seeing this one today. The gorse bush with its sharp spines is an invader into our landscape that is not well loved. But it has been found to provide a 'nursery' for native plants re-establishing themselves- and here it allows a spider to make a 'nursery'. I find the contrast between the sharp spines and the nursery to be an appealing idea...

Well, those are a few tidbits from this morning's walk. Now I guess we will wait and see how bad the promised 'weather bomb' gets overnight and in the morning.