Warning – photograph heavy.

Today Benji and I went wandering  to the Wetlands, the Foreshore and the Ada Ryan Gardens.  I have not been to the gardens in the evening to see the pathways with the new lighting, but it’s on my list. I  have visited the gardens a few times in the last week and  it has been quiet, despite it being school holidays. I did take a few photographs especially of the birds, but trying to get a good photograph through small one inch square holes is not the best. Still I did try. I also look at one of the plants – not really sure what it is but I did like the butterfly. The other yellow bush

is an Australian Wattle Bush at the Wetlands.  The birds were difficult but not impossible, so I was able to put the camera hard against the cage and photograph through the bars. Not all were successful.

I am pleased to say that the  Kiosk at the Wetlands is going well and most days it is very busy. It  still has only limited seating due to the social distancing,  but there ample seats and benches close at hand and there are seats at the barbecue area which is fairly close.. The council have made an extra entrance into the area so it’s much easy to access now. I have not been round the back of the Wetlands for a little while  which means that I have not been feeding the geese and ducks. The  reason for this is Benji. The back area  is all gravel paths and Benji does not do too well in gravel. Some of the area is a “softer”gravel but where where we have to go is down through the hard stuff, I generally have to carry him. On bitumen, concrete, dirt and grass he’s fine, but not gravel. I did notice that the Black Swans are gone and I have not seen the Pelican for a while so perhaps he/she  has also gone home – wherever that is.  After our walk around the Wetlands we drove down to the Foreshore, but it’s still school holidays and I felt

there were too many dogs there so I  took him into the Ada Ryan Gardens instead. Same flowers but no butterfly this time. It’s interesting that we are in the middle of winter but the temperature is starting to warm up just a little. For example, yesterday  was a nice 22c – still a bit on the cool side but not bad. Cold once the sun goes down.

In South Australia we have only had 1 case of COVID 19 in the last month. However our borders are closed as the State of Victoria has recorded some 300 new cases, a figure that has been increasing over the last week. New South Wales is not quite as bad but our border there still remains closed. It is now fairly certain that the second wave of cases in Victoria are linked to the two protests and the rally that followed.. I mean Victorians  could not go fishing or play golf as individuals, but the government allowed two major BLM  protests and a rally to take place. In New South Wales, the  police want the BLM protest banned and are going to the Supreme Court to get the authority to stop the protest but they expect that the  Greens and other left radicals will turn up anyway. There will be fines of $2000 for those who do and the police chief has said they could set back the New South Wales economy by 10 years. Our borders remain closed with  a two year prison term for anyone breaking the border restrictions. The reason for the prison is that the fines ($2000)  just don’t seem to deter them.

I did go up to the Gardens later when the lights had come on. I was pleased with the time, but I don’t think I had the settings on the camera quite right and was not very happy with the final outcome. Out of the photographs I took I  was only really happy with one – possibly two.  Still, I suppose it’s better than not being happy with any. The last few mornings have been cold and foggy, so not walking weather.