Rye Volunteer Fire Brigade

Many rural areas in Australia have volunteer Fire Brigades. I don't really know much about these people and the work they do, so when my son's kindergarten was invited to visit the Rye Rural Fire Brigade, I went along.





Being a rural Fire Brigade they have to fight both house fires and bushfires (what are called "forest fires" in the United States); they have a different uniform and equipment for each.

 One feature of life living in a rural Australian town, for those who are not familiar, is the ringing out of the station siren. It is called to volunteer firefighters to get to the station. They only have a few minutes to make it, otherwise another rural Fire Station will also be called in.

As with other specialisations in human life, there are a variety of technologies that are a credit to ingenuity. For example, the firefighters have a device attached to the uniform, wherein, if they don't move for four minutes or so, an alarm goes off. So if they fallen down--unconscious or dying--hopefully their colleagues will be alerted. Fighting fires is of course an extremely dangerous undertaking. I guess the names of the helmets can also serve a grim purpose of identifying bodies.

The fire engines themselves had a large variety of tools. Everything seems determined by being practical. For example, the machine that helps suck out smoke does not have "52.6kg" written on it. Rather it has "2 people"; indicating how many are required to lift it.

Different fire hydrants have different sized attachments. So these trucks need to have all the fittings.

 The oxygen tanks are lifted out of the fire engine with a machine that makes a loud beeping sound. In this smoke and confusion of a firefight, it is possible for firefighters to run into something protruding out of the truck. Therefore, the loud beeps alert them to the risk.

Boasting top quality cafes, restaurants, and fashion shops, the Mornington Peninsula is hardly a typical rural setting. Nevertheless, this is the first time I have lived outside of the urban areas on mainland Australia. For the first time, I've experienced rural areas' lack of convenience and infrastructure compared urban locations. The trade-off is, where I live, beautiful beaches and a stunning environment. Another trade-off is a strong sense of community responsibility. These volunteer firefighters put their lives on the line for others.

Thank you to the Rye Fire Fighters for hosting my son's kindy and for the selfless and crucial volunteering you do for the community. 

Mornington Peninsula Wildflowers

Mornington Peninsula has a variety of wildflowers--both native and introduced. In springtime, they show their colours. In this blog, I describe the ones I commonly see on the coastal heath.

At the end of September (being the start of Spring in the southern hemisphere), flowers suddenly popped up on the coastal heaths of Mornington National Park. Everywhere I look now I see flowers, where there was almost nothing when we arrived in August. I've taken photos of what I think are the most common flowers.

In order to ID the flowers, I got some info from a great little booklet, "Plants that Clothe the Bluff", referring to Barwon Bluff, which is on the other side of Port Phillip Bay, about 20 miles from Sorrento. After that, I turned to the expert, Danny Reddan. Aside from being involved in a lot of great training projects with Indigenous/Aboriginal people Danny Reddan, is the most knowledgeable guy I know when it comes to the botanical world of this part of Victoria.  You can see some of his work here.

Coast Tea-Tree

These  plucky, scraggy bushes are everywhere on the coastal heath.

Coast Tea-Tree. 

 Coast Tea-Tree Leptosperum laevagatum

 "Plants that Clothe the Bluff" states: "When flowering, these trees are covered in masses of attractive white flowers. Its twisted, gnarled trunk and flaking bark add interest. It is an important part of the sand dune system, but, due to lack of fire and poor land management, it has spread rapidly".

Polygala

A nasty weed from South Africa. This one can also be found almost everywhere around suburban Sorrento.

Polygala, Polygala myrtillfolia. 

 Polygala Polygala myrtillfolia;...

Clematis

Clematis initially flowers with elegant long petals, like the fingers of elegant gloves. Then these fray into scruffy white fluff.

Small-leaved clematis Clematis microphylla. 

Clematis. The long petals are visible here.

Clematis. Small leaf, long petals.

Plants that Clothe the Bluff  states: "The leaves are narrow with a pointed tip and the flowers have four petals with a mop of long stamens. The creamy white flowers give way to the feathery seed heads, perfect for dispersal by the wind and for use by native birds to make their nests." 

Pigface

From what I can gather it is very difficult to differentiate between  Karkalla, South African Pig Face or a hybrid of the two!  It depends on the detail.  The Native has more rounded leaves for example. 

This succulent appears earlier and lasts longer than most other flowers on the heath. It seems to follow the sun like a sunflower, or maybe I'm just paranoid after Day of the Triffids. 

Another friend did a survival course and said you could break open the leaves and suck on them to get water...this website on bush survival seems to confirm it: survival.org.au/water.php#pigface

Plants that Clothe the Bluff has a similar take: "A spreading fleshy plant with thick, three angled leaves often tinged with red, yellow or orange. A showy purple flower precedes a fleshy, edible red fruit. It can hybridise with C. aequilaterus, which is an introduced weed. This can make identification difficult."

Dolichos Pea

 Dolichos Pea Dipogon lignosus. Another weed; very pretty though.

Coast salt bush

Coast salt bush Atriplex cinera. On the other side of the peninsula (Rye Jetty)

According to "Plants that Clothe the Bluff": "This dense spreading shrub has brittle branches and silver-grey leaves. The male and female flowers usually appear on different bushes. Male flowers are reddish-purple in dense globular clusters, while female flowers are cream, occurring in axillary clusters."

Succulent Daisy

Looks like a succulent daisy.

Coast Swainson Pea

These precious petals will be soon baked to a crisp by the summer sun.

Coast Swainson Pea Swainsona lessertifolia. 

The great little booklet explains: "This stunning wildflower prefers the rear of the dunes. This delicate plant has sprawling stems of paired leaves and produce stalklets with up to 20 royal purple flowers, making this very hardy plant appear quite delicate."

Dune groundsel

 Dune Groundsel Senecio spathulatus

Native Flax Lilly 

Native Flax Lilly Dianella implexa

Plants that Clothe the Bluff states: "This soft green tussock hides dozens of tiny electric blue flowers with bright yellow stamens and black anthers. Fleshly royal blue fruits follow in January, which are eaten by a number of our native birds. Flowering stems are among the foliage rather than above it."

Coast Heath- leucopogon parviflorus

Coast Heath

Swamp paperbark - melaleuca ericifolia

Swamp paperbark - Melaleuca ericifolia

A little tendril is blown round-and-round  by the wind, eventually describing a circle

St Pauls Road General Store

Excited patrons cut a beeline for the place of lollies.

I grew up in the suburbs of Perth in the 1970s & 80s. It was an era in which the supermarket reigned. Corner delis or milk-bars were boarded over. The few that survived held some mystique for me.

Front door has plastic to keep flies out

The wooden floors, the varieties of delicious ice-cream behind misty glass, lollies and newspapers all held special smells or textures.

Kid in candy shop

St Paul's Road general store, holds the same fascination for me. The variety of delicacies and the mix of patrons make this a great place to relax.

Premiers reigning over the milkshake and batteries

I often spot local tradies (tradesmen), tourists from out of town, families on the way home, surfers and fishos (fishermen) hurrying in for a pie.

You can get firewood and sandwiches in the same shop!

Everybody seems in a rush at first, but many seem to take in the ambiance.

f 

Out the front in the soft winter afternoon sun

Last Saturday, I  read the gossip magazines, while listening to Parliament on their stereo--I didn't really feel in a hurry for my coffee.

Mural outside

Anyway I feel I've written too much about this unassuming place, so let me just say, "it's nice, I like it".

Sunny Winter's Day

The narrow end of Mornington Peninsula, between Portsea and Flinders, has two coasts.

The upperleft end of Mornington Peninsula is  long an and narrow
Map from Mornington Peninsula Shire

The north side faces Port Phillip bay--a relatively calm and sheltered body of water. The south is exposed to the Bass Strait, the body of water between mainland Australia and Tasmania. This ocean side stretch is pounded by swells emanating from storms rising out of Antarctica.

View towards Cape Schanck

All these ocean beaches are located within Mornington Peninsula National Park. Portrayed on the below map this is a thin green line that runs along the ocean coast between Portsea and Cape Schanck.

Mornington Peninsula (image from VicParks)

So to access much of the coast line, you need to walk down tracks through this park.

Wind and swell has eroded the shoreline. On a lower tide pools in the reef are created.

I arrived on Mornington Peninsula in August (wintertime), and each time I have wandered to the coast I've felt overwhelmed by the scale of the cliffs and the coast.

A wild coastline looking calm and placid.

But, on August 23, the beaches showed another face. The sun was out with no clouds in the sky.

Surfer enjoys riding a swell line, finally breaking after travelling through thousands of miles of open ocean.

Soft winds fanned Indian Ocean swells making it a delight for surfers.

Across a channel of deep water, a steep wave  face creates an exciting wave for this patient surf rider.

 The water temperature was 12 degrees, but this didn't deter surfers. Some covered themselves from head to toe in wetsuit material to take advantage of the favorable winds and moderate swell.

Coastal Pigface

Surfers weren't the only life forms enjoying the sun. Coastal pigface, reaching out onto the pathway, seemed to be thriving in the warmth.