"Rascal"

Rascal

Hitting

Grumbling

Roaring

Lying

Smiling

Gnashing

Threatening

Laughing

Demanding

Loving

Oh ! You are my sweet rascal

June 2005

Berrima. Australia Day. Citizenship Ceremony. Parade

The Royal National Park and greater environs

Colors of the Wind - Vanessa Williams

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places I guess it must be so
But still I can not see
Is the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high does the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

"Painting by the Pond" by Philomena Camilleri. Art Centre

"Kite Magic". The Art Centre

Thirlmere Lakes National Park. Virgin forest. Greater Blue Mountains Area. World Heritage Site

Thirlmere Lakes National Part is a part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. This park's five reed-fringed freshwater lakes, abundant with waterbirds and surrounded by quiet patches of forest, are among the last undisturbed lake systems near Sydney and have enormous scientific value. The massive Greater Blue Mountains regiona was declared a World Heritage in December 2000. It covers one million hectares – around twice the size of Brunei. Half of it is wilderness. Eight conservation reserves make up the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area: Blue Mountains National Park, Wollemi National Park, Kanangra-Boyd National Park, Yengo National Park, Gardens of Stone National Park, Nattai National Park, Thirlmere Lakes National Park, Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve. The Blue Mountains have been described as a natural laboratory for the evolution of eucalypts. In the mountains' diverse plant communities, one can trace the changing nature of the Australian environment – from geological shifts and climate variations, through to the impact of Aboriginal settlement and European colonisation. More than 90 different eucalypt species are found in the Greater Blue Mountains – some 13 per cent of all eucalypt species in the world. They grow in a great variety of communities, from tall closed forests, through open forests and woodlands, to the stunted mallee shrublands on the plateaus. Among them are rare species like Baeuerlen's gum. (this text is mainly extracted from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/)