Entry for:    Slab Hut / Sporting Globe

Typical bush huts had vertical slab walls. Slabs were pit-sawn, or split with sledge and wedges and then smoothed with an adze.

picture courtesy of National Library of Australian



The slabs were often cut from green timber that shrank, or were milling offcuts. The gaps between slabs were often packed with newspaper such as the Sporting Globe (1922- ) a twice-weekly publication printed in Melbourne on pink paper and covering horse racing and football. It was a working man's paper.

Bondi Beach

 
Australia's iconic surfing beach is Bondi (Boondi) in Sydney, NSW.


The 14 km City to Surf Fun Run (60,000+ entrants) held each August ends here.
Other festivals include Festival of the Winds (kite flying) held each spring.

Groper

The Eastern blue groper (Achoerodus viridis) is a large fish found in the southern, coastal waters of Australia, especially exposed reefs.

	There are two species. Eastern blue gropers have been known to grow to 1.2 metres (4 ft) in length and weights of 22 kilograms. The western species is larger, reaching 1.6 m and 40 kg. The blue groper is a member of the wrasse family and should not be confused with the Queensland gropers (Epinephelus).

Mangroves

‘Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow along sheltered intertidal shores, mainly in tropical amd subtropical coastal waterways. Australia has 39 mangrove species, which is more than half the global number.’ – OzCoast and OzEstuaries – for further reading and images about Australain mangroves.

Billabong


"A billabong ('bill-a-bong') is a body of water, like a large pond."

"A billabong forms when a river changes its course, leaving a section cut off from the new river. When the river floods every wet season, the water in the billabong flows again as it connects up with the main river. Because of this the water stays fresh and supports an abundance of life."   more from Questacon

Hills Hoist -- a rotary clothes hoist

"It was popularised in Australia by Lance Hill and is a common sight in Australian and New Zealand backyards. It is considered one of Australia's most recognisable icons, and is used frequently by artists as a metaphor for suburbia in Australia." [ Wikipedia]
and see GNT History



The "Hills Rotary Hoist" become an emblem of Australian enterprise.

an old swagman


a National Library of Australia image

The Long Paddock -- a stock route or open road where people too poor to own paddocks, or any cattleman in times of drought, could drove their stock to graze them.

Entry for:    Lake Eyre / saltpan

Lake Eyre ia an example of a saltpan or shallow salt lake. In the centre of Australia, it is the largest and saltiest lake in the country and the lowest point on the continent (15m below sea level). The surface of salt crust covers 9323 square kilometers. It's normally a dry saltpan but a 4m flood occurs about every decade, and it neary fills four times a century.

The water brings the breading of thousands, if not millions of pelicans, banded stilts, silver gulls and many other water birds. Pelicans can detect ultrasonic signals from lightning, which explains how they find this inland sea.

Entry for:    Nullabor

"The Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country immediately north of the Great Australian Bight. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about 200,000 km². It stretches about 1,200 km from east to west between South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA)." -- from Wikipedia

"'Crossing the Nullarbor', for many Australians, is a quintessential experience of the 'Australian Outback'. Stickers bought from roadhouses on the highway show 'I have crossed the Nullarbor'"

Entry for:    Camp Oven

The original camp oven was a cast iron pot with three short legs and an iron lid. It was used by early settlers and rural workers to cook damper (bread), roasts, stews and a wide range of other dishes. The oven was hung over an open fire or placed in its embers.

Waratah


A brilliant red flower, blooms in spring, floral emblem of the state of New South Wales.

Further reading and pictures:   ASGAP

the toréador song is from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen.

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Haiku #181:   by Quendryth Young
First Published: Stylus July 2006 (as 'seaside banksia')   [The Whole Body Singing March 2007]

Entry for:    Banksia - shades of dying

Sixty species of Banksia (plant family Proteaceae), native to Australia, are found in all but arid regions. Their showy flower heads range from yellow to red and they start blooming in autumn. During winter the one tree can have flower heads in many stages of dying, down to hairless black cones.

Courtesy of and ©
Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants (ASGAP)

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Haiku #183:   by Bea Holmes
First Published:  

Entry for:    Wattle

Wattle ( Acacia pycnantha, Golden Wattle) is the national floral emblem of Australia.
1 September (the first day of spring) is officially 'National Wattle Day' but in most areas wattle blooms in late winter and is spoken of as 'the barbinger of spring'. Further reading

Acacia ambylgona 'Winter Gold' Photographer: M Fagg Image courtesy of and © Australian National Botanic Gardens

More than 900 species of Acacia make it the largest genus in the Australian flora.

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Haiku #188:   by Lyn Reeves
First Published:   Famous Reporter

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Haiku #189:   by Quendryth Young
First Published: The Dreaming Collection 2006;   [The Whole Body Singing March 2007]

Entry for:    NSW Christmas Bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum)

Ceratopetalum gummiferum is widespread over the east coast of New South Wales, commonly growing in open forests and on sandstone hillsides. [Plants known as "Christmas Bush" in other states are quite different species.]

About the end of October (spring), when clocks are reset for daylight-saving time, the first flush of pink appears. By the end of December the plant puts on a great display of red 'flowers'.

Ceratopetalum gummiferum

Photo by Jeff Howesby
Image courtesy and © ASGAP

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Haiku #192:   by Allison Millcock
First Published:  

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Haiku #195:   by Lorin Ford
First Published:   Frogpond, Winter 2007(Feb)

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Haiku #196:   by Dhugal Lindsay
First Published:  

[Ed: the Japanese is reproduced here because initially, Dhugal makes his haiku in that language.]

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Haiku #198:   by Lesley Dewar
First Published:  

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Haiku #199:   by Dhugal Lindsay
First Published:  

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Haiku #200:   by Myron Lysenko
First Published:  

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