In an attempt to get out into beautiful nature, I visited the Mt Burr forest last week. This patch of forest is only about 8km from my home.
I was looking for the elusive ghost mushrooms which glow in the dark at night. I did find a few, but they were a little worse for wear, but in hindsight I still should have taken photos of them! Darn hindsight! I did capture lots of other interesting specimens of fungi on the forest floor.
Ghost mushrooms are quite the drawcard in our area, with self and tour guided night walks through the forest near Mount Gambier. It has featured on The Living Room on TEN, and as recent as this week, being visited by Cosi for South Aussie with Cosi on Channel 9. We did the self guided tour last year as a family, and it is worth rugging up for. Don't forget your torch!
The forest is so peaceful during the day, the echoing chirp of birds and the crackling of the forest underfoot. Looking forward to bringing the kids back during the night, to see if we can see any of the glow in the dark ghost mushies.
I took the photo above with my phone yesterday. Another one of those times when my camera was sitting at home and I was wishing I had brought it with me.
You can't see it very well, but on top of that hill, in between the hay stacks, is a tv tower.
As a trucky, Brett's carts chip from forests all over the region. Last week the chipper was operating at the top of the tv tower hill. Being so close to home, the girls and I hitched a ride for one run into the forest. It was pretty cool, and something completely different for the girls in the school holidays.
I wasn't leaving my camera home for that.
I sat up front, and the girls sat in the sleeper cab. They got pull down on the horn a few times.
I never forget growing up in a small forestry town, with trucks rattling past the house all day. Us kids would stand out the front, with our fists in the air, furiously pumping our arms at the drivers, for a horn blast. What fun that was.
There was a spectacular view from the top of the hill, one that isn't visible when the pines are there. I am going back on a clear day to try to capture it better.
A friend who grew up rambling through these forests on his motor bike, commented on the weekend, that I'd better do it now, as when they replant and the trees grow, that view will be harder to see.
I could see all of the wind towers, a great view of town, and Mount Muirhead looked like an ant hill compared to the mountain it looks from town.
Besides the views, the other thing that was uber cool was seeing how they move the chipper. It was a big remote control unit.
It was amazing to see the operater standing beside it with his remote control and this monstrous beast, which I expected to be bigger actually, moving on it's own. Amazing!
