June 5th, Australia Day 104

These are some photos I took when I was in Newcastle over the May 1st weekend.

My mother's friend and I hiked up to the top of a hill overlooking Newcastle. On the way up I noticed a plaque which commemorated the first recorded snowfall on that mount, which occurred in 1963. 

These are the Blue Mountains as seen from my perch atop a hill near Newcastle. 

From the hill I saw this is a valley near Newcastle, with the Blue Mountains in the background. 

These are some peacocks at the entrance to the wildlife reserve in Newcastle. 

This is a wombat, one of the toughest built creatures in existence. It has a thick skeleton and has been known to survive encounters with vehicles and emerge unscathed. 

This is a sleeping wombat in a viewable version of their subterranean tunnel homes. 

In the bird sanctuary portion of the wildlife reserve, there were many exotic species. This is one such bird, although I don't know what species it is. 

I think this is a white heron. 

This is a piper of some kind native to Australia. 

This is the cockatoo which is common in Sydney. They can live to be 100 in captivity so the plaque says. 

This is a fairly common bird found around Sydney but I can't recall its name. 

This is a sleeping koala in a tree. This is another symbol of Australia as this arborial animal is found only down under. Although sometimes called a "bear", the koala is actually a marsupial and the term "koala bear" is generally not used anymore. 

These are Frogmouth Owls. 

This is a wallaby, which is an animal which is a miniature version of the kangaroo. 

This is one species of the famous kangaroos which are a symbol of of Australia. 

This is a kangaroo perched on a rock in the wildlife reserve. 

These are the same peacocks as before but this is how they sleep. You can see that they have their heads in their wings. 

This is what Newcastle looks like from a jetty from one of its beaches. 

This is a Coast Guard Station near Newcastle. When I saw its perch, I though that if it was ever torn down, I could put up a castle upon that rock.