Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Bad Banksia Men

Little Miss 4 and I just returned home after a sleep over at my parents house, while Hubby enjoyed a "Boy's Night" at our place.

My parents live near the bush, so it is a completely different adventure wonderland for Little Miss 4 investigating all the different flora and fauna that can be found. My Mum and Little Miss 4 could spend hours talking about the different flowers and animals that they discover on their bush walks. One of the things they most enjoy is finding characters from May Gibbs stories - Bad Banksia Men, Gumnut Babies, Flannel Flowers, and Wattle Babies etc.

This trip did teach her different things though because the Fire Department had just done some back-burning in preparation for the hot summer ahead. She was mesmerised by the blackened trees on one side of the path and the lush green on the other side, the charcoal chips on the ground and the smell of freshly burnt bush.


The highlight of her day was finding a Banksia Man on the ground that had been burnt during the back-burn and had its seed-bearing follicles opened so the seeds could germinate in the ground to grow another Banksia tree. She had a great time trying to remove the seeds that hadn't been released yet, but was very particular to make sure she left it where she found it so it could make new Banksia trees for her to see next time - so adorable!

I really hope that she remembers these times spent in the Australian bush.

Do you have a favourite bush walking memory?



Image from here

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