In recent weeks beaches around Sydney have been inundated with bluebottles. You will see them either on the sand or in the water.

So what is a bluebottle.

A good place to start in defining a blue bottle is to say what it is not. Although related the bluebottle is not a jellyfish. It is known as a siphonophore.

The most common bluebottle found in the waters around Sydney is Physalia utriculus.

The discussion becomes more interesting when you realise that the bluebottle is not one animal but a grouping of four different colonies of polyps. The word collective comes to mind.

The colonies rely on each other to survive.

One of the colonies is the gas filled sac that floats on the surface of the water. You may see a grouping of bluebottles on the sand as they are often left stranded on the beach waiting for the tide to rise and take them back into the ocean.

The three other colonies in the arrangement are ones for catching prey by stinging it, one for digesting the prey and of course one for the continuation of the species, reproduction.

The bluebottle does not mate but instead reproduces asexually.

Bluebottles are carnivorous feeding on larval fish, small crustaceans and molluscs (snails and clams).

These creatures come to their earthly end when the bluebottle zaps them with venom located in the long tentacles that trail the sac, resulting in the creature being paralysed. The prey is then drawn to the mouth of the bluebottle by the tentacles and consumed.

In Spring and Summer strong winds are responsible for bringing bluebottles to Australian shores. In the other months of the year they exist offshore.

The bluebottles that appear in Australia are sometimes called Pacific Man o’ War. They are less venomous than the Portuguese Man o’ War which is found in the Atlantic.

The name Portuguese man o’ war originates from the resemblance of this siphonophore to 18th-century Portuguese warships when those warships were at full sail.

There you have it a floating warship that can declare war on you whilst swimming or surfing at the beach.

50 shades of blue

just lying around

stranded but not disbanded

waiting for the tide

a floating armada

Glow worms

Glow worms are the larvae of a small fly (fungal gnat). The larvae is bioluminescent, meaning the larvae can naturally produce light from an organ in their body.

The attractive light of the glow worm draws in insects such as midges, mosquitoes and flies for the purpose of capturing those insects in nearby mucus lined silk webs.

Attract, trap and eat!

The blue green glow of the larvae is created through a chemical reaction between an enzyme and chemicals in the larvae and oxygen.

The light is emitted through the transparent skin in the abdomens of the larvae.

The journey

The Blue Mountains glow worm tunnel takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to drive to from Mt Victoria, possibly longer depending upon your vehicle.

The road is bumpy and a four wheel drive will reduce the drive time. If you do the odd pullover to see things allow for up to 1hr 15 minutes.

On the way in you will drive through a one way tunnel – glad there were no cars heading the other way.

Once in the car park it takes around 15-20 minutes to walk to the tunnel entrance.

In the tunnel

We were initially greeted by pitch darkness and little signs of glow worms.

We stopped and waited and as our eyes adjusted we began to see a few small glowing dots.

As the number of people walking through the tunnel dropped off we began to see a lot more glow worms.

Both times I have been to the tunnel the best result has been achieved by quietly standing next to the wall and forgetting about time.

Turn your phone light or torch off and be quiet.

The melodic sound of water created a sense of peacefulness and we enjoyed our time in this strange world of darkness.

After being in the tunnel for around 15-20 minutes we headed back to the car park, glowing!

Returning

We left in the middle of the afternoon and were delighted to see two Australian wood ducks in the grass off the road and wallabies in the bush on three occasions. They took off fairly quickly so sorry no photos – next time.

The glow worm tunnel is definitely worth a visit and provides a nice contrast to many of the other spectacular features of the blue mountains. You will also see some nice stone pagodas on the way in.

pagodas near the glow worm tunnel

more sandstone formations

a one way road has to be navigated near the tunnel car park

leaving the tunnel

Australian wood ducks

thar she glows

The Bombo Headland Quarry is located north of Blowhole Point at Kiama.

It is an annoying place to get to by car if you are at the blowhole as there is no coastal road to it. A short trip on and off the Princes Highway is required.

The quarry can be accessed by a short walk from either Boneyards Beach or the car park at the north end of Bombo Beach.

Hopefully the wind direction is favourable as you may encounter an experience you wish to avoid - sweet odours emanating from the very nearby Bombo Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Anyway lets move on!

As you walk through Bombo quarry clumps of rock are scattered in a number of areas with the larger clumps closer to the ocean.

The rocks are hexagonal basalt columns created approximately 270 million years ago when lava cooled, contracted and fractured. It is thought that the hexagon shape is formed in response to stress as the solidified lava cracks.

The unusual name of ‘Bombo’ originated from an aboriginal word of the Wodi Wodi people for thunder. However it was not adopted completely as the indigenous word for thunder was in fact ‘Bumbo’.

A local religious minister was of the opinion that the name was too risque and it was subsequently modified to Bombo.

The Bombo Quarry was mined for its blue metal from 1880 to mid 1920s, and then off and on again (stopped during the depression) until 1944.

It is difficult to ascertain how much quarrying went on at Bombo but the answer is likely to be ‘a lot’. It was the major source of blue metal for the colony and subsequent state of New South Wales.

A significant number of hexagonal basalt columns do however remain.

Walking around the former quarry, which is now a heritage listed, provides access to the tall columns of basalt.

The basalt columns are of varying heights, some as high as five or six metres.

There are a few places where incisions in the rock platform create wonderful opportunities for the waves to form and break with great force.

If the swell is up, the bay in front of the quarry is a cauldron of moving sea water. In large swell conditions it is a sight to be seen.

The basalt columns of the quarry and nearby surging ocean make for an interesting visit, and form part of Sydney Nimble’s South Coast tour.

Who knows you might even spot a bird of prey whilst there.

Eastern Osprey surveying the scene

finely balanced

look behind you!

surging seas

never know what will turn up at Bombo

basalt column holding its ground

Glen Davis

Glen Davis is not a well known town in regional New South Wales. It is located in the Capertee Valley and is about a three and half hour drive from Sydney.

In its former life Glen Davis was home to a workforce of two and a half thousand men working in the shale oil industry.

The industry was established in the late 1930s to reduce Australia’s dependence on overseas oil as a world war loomed.

The shale oil plant at Glen Davis was never profitable and these activities ceased in the 1950s.

The town’s name originates from industrialist George Davis, who was a driving force in setting up shale oil operations at Glen Davis.

The word ‘glen’ is a Scottish word for valley and has been applied in a number of countries to name places. It is also used in naming a nearby town, Glen Alice.

Remnants of the shale oil works still remain in Glen Davis and can be seen from a lookout at their rear of the site. Take a left onto Goora St, just before the town and follow the road eastwards.

The Glen Davis lookout is located at the back of the decaying shale oil buildings and plant.

The easy walk up to the lookout provides a great view of not only the plant but the valley and surrounding sandstone cliffs and hills.

A few small ruined brick buildings also exist at the lookout itself along with some discarded industrial items.

As you drive around the small town of Glen Davis you may notice an Ampol logo from the 1950s, a red winged horse.

It is painted on a white wall and is in surprisingly good condition. In front of it is an abandoned petrol bowser.

If you brought your lunch and you need to as there are no shops, enjoy it on the shaded seats in front of the community centre.

This quaint and forgotten town has grand surrounds and is well worth a visit. It is also a reminder of a chapter in Australia’s history.

shale oil plant ruins

discarded heavy duty cabling - not your usual tourist attraction!

Capertee River

striking sandstone surrounds Glen Davis

Go the flying red horse

Capertee Valley wonder

Pantoney’s Crown can be seen from Glen Davis Rd as you head toward Glen Davis - well worth a stop to appreciate its majesty

Sydney Nimble Tours took two travellers on a personalised tour of the Blue Mountains a few days back.

It was our first tour since the recent fires and we did so with some trepidation.

The bush has been badly burnt in some parts whilst in others it has been left untouched.

The beauty of the Blue Mountains still remains and it was pleasing to see new growth on many eucalyptus trees.

Due to recent rains there was plenty of cascading water at the Bridal Veil waterfall.

A few photos from our recent trip.

Bridal Veil Waterfall

green Jamison valley can be seen from Lincoln rock

a hard job but somebody has to hold this rock up