Norfolk Island pines and Cook Island pines

Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla) on Whale Beach.


Cook Island pines (Araucaria columnaris) at the southern end of Whale Beach.

As you can see, the Cook Island pines are younger (fitting the thesis that they may have been planted some 30 years ago) and are all in bloom, and all on the slant, while the beautifully erect Norfolk Island pines show why it was once thought they might be useful for masts. (See Geoffrey Blainey, The Tyranny of Distance.)

Norfolk Island pine in bloom

Norfolk Island pine in bloom IMG_7197

A heterogeneous harvest of photos this morning.

Araucaria heterophylla. A common planting on Sydney's Northern beaches, it characterises the space between sand and road.
Here it is in flower.

Fishing off the rocks IMG_7204

A good time for fishing: raining with a low but incoming tide.

Hydrangeas IMG_7208

Hydrangeas on Whale Beach Road, Whale Beach.
Christmas is definitely upon us. But by Christmas time, these beautiful flowers, like most hydrangeas directly exposed, will have been burnt by the sun, after rain.



It was raining when I went for my swim and bucketing down by the time I got home.