Stay On Bolivia Hill

it's been a long time coming, but last week we saw the start of the Bolivia Hill Upgrade Project with site offices being assembled near Pye's Creek Road. expected to take at least 2 years to complete, the upgrade includes the construction of over 300 metres of bridge on the western side of the existing highway. sadly, this means that until further notice The Gatehouse will be unavailable for short-term bookings. we will miss our guests and their canine companions; but we hope to make best use of this forced down-time by undertaking some upgrades of our own

have been noticing for a couple of weeks that there has been a yellow-faced honeyeater flying in and out of the rosemary bush. this morning we spotted the reason why. definitely a lady who holds her nerve to protect her chicks. this nest is only inches away from our pathway through the veggie patch, we must have passed her by dozens of times since she built the nest.

this could be the rain we've been hoping for; 12mm over night and another 10 so far this morning; nice and steady= soaking in. it's 11oC outside; a great day to stay indoors, kick back in front of the fire and enjoy !

Today's exercise in camouflage: a Nobbi matches his pink tail so well with our pink granite boulders, and Burton's Snake Lizard disappears into the leaf litter. The extremely dry winter has claimed many of our mature trees, but recent rains have brought up the Donkey orchids (Diuris spp) for a much needed splash of sunny yellow. On Wednesday, we took the opportunity to show off the view from the top of The Cave to some Gatehouse guests, so good to see Bolivia Station looking a more pleasant shade of green again.

26mm rain last weekend (which is more then we've had for the previous 3 months combined) and at last some spring flowers have opened. shared this cool morning with a kooka, a willy and a male superb blue wren (but i think he was trying to tell me something)

you never know what you'll see on the way to the chookhouse some mornings; was totally distracted by this boy and girl satin bower bird; we are on the edge of their range and don't see them all that often; the male kept his distance but the female happily ignored me and kept on foraging; hope they stay around to nest this spring

the artist with the big yellow paintbrush has layered Bolivia Hill with sunny wattle colours; and the scent in the evening and early morning is just delightful

Close Encounters of The Echidna Kind on Bolivia Hill today. What a treat :-)

Three things to look for in July on Bolivia Hill that herald the start of the spring /summer wildflower spectacular - 1 the first of the wattles (A. neriifolia); 2 a ground hugging hovea (H. heterophylla) and 3 flower spikes on the grasstrees (X. johnsonii); and as expected, the warm days lately have brought The Gatehouse garden alive with blooms, birds and bees; but the 2 microbats sleeping under the spot rags at the bottom of my paint box were a real surprise.

Thanks to all those who flew out of Brisbane just before sunrise this morning; the vapour trails from those flights added some extra features to an already interesting sky

just another glorious sunrise on Bolivia Hill when the rest of the world is hidden in thick fog below; one wedge-tailed eagle found a sunny perch behind The Gatehouse from which to survey the surroundings. we'll soon be 'sitting in a cloud' as the fog lifts and drifts up towards us

a stunning autumn morning today and the Gatehouse garden was alive with birds and bees; close inspection should reveal an Eastern Spinebill and a Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding in the banksias and callistemons. mornings like this must rate as some of the best anti-depressants on the planet

some early morning walks are special; this morning was calm and clear. Eastern and Crimson Rosellas took advantage to show off their acrobatic skills; the Fan-Tailed Cuckoo just sat quietly and enjoyed the warm sunshine

last week's rain made the front creek crossing a bit tricky on Thursday arvo, and the back dam has been transformed into frog heaven. but right on cue, the graceful Autumn Greenhood (Pterostylis revolutum) has emerged from the sodden earth.

with so many rainy, cloudy days in recent weeks, it was delightful to see a clear horizon on the Great Dividing Range yesterday: sunrise and sunset

109mm of rain in total yesterday; we are a land of waterfalls as the hills empty towards Bolivia Station and Deepwater River

sitting in misty cloud again; 60+mm of rain since 7am; had planned to sit on the ride- mower for a few hours today and bring the house yard back under control, but catching up on inside jobs instead; fire is on and tonight's vegetable casserole is bubbling away........

cool days with mist and gentle rain: the fungi, lichens, mosses and rock ferns are loving it.