Glow worms

Last week, while canyoning in the Blue Mountains, Peter Blunt of Theodore "ventured into a rock pile on the side of Thunder Canyon and found a great display of glow worms in the dark, moist coolness."

The Theodore thrill-seeker reports "further along this side canyon we crawled into a low cave behind a waterfall and found another large area festooned with more glow worms," adding "as we didn't take a torch I shot off a few photos to light up the area and captured images of glow worm threads that surrounded us hanging from the low ceiling of rock."

What a dazzling sight.

Did you Know? Glow worms aren't worms at all, they are the larvae offspring of the fungus gnat and at night their silvery colour (light) is produced by a chemical reaction between certain body fluids and oxygen.

See it for yourself: Canyoning involves hiking and abseiling in extreme and sometimes slippery environments. According to Blunt, "it is nearly always cold and often involves swimming - great for hot weather". There are several tour operators based in the Blue Mountains which run guided canyoning expeditions.

If the prospect of clambering down cliff faces in a harness isn't your cup of tea, but you still want to be mesmerised by glittering glow worms, the closest location to Canberra is Bundanoon's Glow Worm Glen located in Morton National Park (about 1.5 hours' drive away). Access is from the end of William Street, Bundanoon via a steep 20-30 minute walk each way. Don't forget a torch.

Magical moths

Still in the insect world, last month Matthew Higgins and Stephanie Haygarth were delighted to discover a hawk moth larva on the grapevine leaves in their Ainslie garden.

The duo promptly placed the caterpillar, which they dubbed 'Horrie' in a jar with food leaves, and soon afterwards 'he' entered the chrysalis stage.

When last week, Horrie finally appeared in adult form Higgins and Haygarth released him back into their garden, hoping "the resident shingleback won't get him, nor the noisy miners, before he flies away."

Moths aren't the only beautiful creatures you can spot flying around Canberra this summer.

In order to help Canberrans identify the 87 species of butterflies recorded in our gardens and parks, the National Parks Association of the ACT has just published a 'Field Guide to the Butterflies of the Australian Capital Territory' (RRP: $30).

"The more I learnt about their secret lives, the more fascinated I became," says lead author Suzi Bond, who along with Steve Holliday and John Stein collated the knock-out 232 page guide includes up-to-date, local information for each species (including flight times - the months when the adult butterfly is on the wing), colour photos and maps for each species. It even boasts tips on how to create a butterfly-friendly garden.

The butterfly book, which also includes a section on moths, is available at a number of bookshops including at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (also a hotspot for butterflies), Namadgi Visitor Centre and the National Arboretum Canberra.

Wonderful Wollemis

As a result of our wet spring and hot summer, many Wollemi pines growing in Canberra gardens are thriving to such an extent that some proud green thumbs have felt compelled to send in photos of their jurassic-era specimens.

The pick of these was submitted by Helen Alexander of Royalla who confesses that her eight-year-old Wollemi, currently resplendent in clusters of light green growth, "normally lives under a very high portico" but for the photo she "took the pot outside for better light so the beautiful new growth could be seen more clearly."

"I had initially kept the pot out in full sun and light until a friend described the sheltered conditions it would have originally come from," explains Alexander, who "selected the covered portico as being more suitable and it has certainly thrived there, with direct sun for a short time only in the afternoon."

Can you believe it's now 23 years since a number of the distinctive trees, previously only known through the fossil record, were discovered growing in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges in the Blue Mountains?

Thong Trees

Now to trees of a less natural origin. In response to this column's recent exposé on thong trees (Mailbag, 7 January), Cathy Breen of Isaacs submitted photographic evidence of a 'Pole for Lost Soles' at Shelley Beach near Moruya. I wonder how long it will take until a match of make and size is hung on the pole? Sometime, I imagine.

Meanwhile, Rita Corbett of Spence reports "your thong tree item evoked memories of many trees we saw during our travels to South Australia." According to Corbett, "there is a great shoe tree not far from Jamestown", but by far her favourite is the so-called 'Wine Bladder Tree' at Glendambo which Corbett has cleverly dubbed "the rare Casuarina Silvas Baggus."

Tilly's Beach

If the number of emails received about the unofficially-named 'Tilly's Beach' near Yarramundi Reach (Where in Canberra, 17 December) is any indication, your akubra-clad columnist may be one of only a handful of Canberrans not to know it's named after a curious canine.

"Tilly's Beach is so-named, not after the notorious Tilly Devine, but after the RSPCA rescue dog called Tilly," reveals Brian Hewett of Bruce.

The appearance of the hand-made sign in this column's photo quiz even flushed out Tilly's shy owner who wishes to remain anonymous, but who "was very surprised to open up the paper and see the photo".

"The sign was put up by my friend to commemorate the spot where my five year old dog Tilly learnt to swim," confirms the owner, adding "Tilly was mistreated quite seriously before she was taken into the RSPCA and was terrified of many things and in particular water, therefore, for her to start swimming was a very momentous occasion."

Eye-opener

Meanwhile, this column's recent feature on Main Rd 92, the all-sealed route from Canberra via Nerriga to Nowra (The Road Less Travelled, 3 December) prompted a number of holiday-makers, including Ed and Joanne Towner to drive it for the first time this summer.

"Your article could not have been timelier," wrote the Towners, who drove the road as an alternative to the Illawarra Highway on a recent holiday to Huskisson. "We stopped at Tianjara Falls and could not believe they are so close to the road," they said, adding, "we then turned off to Jerrawangala Lookout where, while it was not the clearest of days, was still worth seeing the view."

"I hope other Canberrans have a look at these places," they said.

Brown Mountain

While the naming of the busy Kings Highway remains shrouded in intrigue (Kings Highway Mystery, 6 December), Dennis Mettam wonders about the origins of our major route to the far south coast. "Why is Brown Mountain so called?" he asks. Someone must know.

A Pair of Roos

While Jack Palmer of Watson recently stumbled upon a tree stump resembling a kangaroo along Woolcara Lane off Captains Flat Road, Stewart Needham of Broulee was even more surprised "to come face-to-face with this skippy at Glasshouse Rocks, near Narooma".

According to Needham, the rock which bears an uncanny resemblance to the profile of an eastern grey kangaroo, "is longingly gazing out to Montague Island."

"No doubt, 10,000 years ago (before sea level rises) when the island was a hill about 10km inland, the rocky roo's flesh and blood ancestors lazed under shady trees surrounded by sweet grasslands sprinkled with a wild palette of tiny wildflowers," ponders Needham.

WHERE ON THE SOUTH COAST?

Clue: Replace the 'r' for a 'w' and you have a common Australian bird.

Degree of difficulty: Medium

Last week: Congratulations to Phil Byrne of Florey who was first to correctly identify last week's photo (inset) sent in by Sab Bonelli as John Perry's Sawmill which was once situated on the banks of the Clyde River on Beach Road, Batemans Bay.

According to Stuart Magee of Griffith, author of several south coast history books, "in 1901, John Perry took over Francis Guy's sawmill and set up the factory to make wheel spokes". Magee, who penned "The Clyde River and Batemans Bay" (2001), further reveals "the factory was very successful, producing 80 different turned wooden products and receiving orders from all over the world and at one stage it employed 65 people. Perry's ceased operations in 1986 and to the ire of many locals, a modern apartment block was subsequently built on the site.

Byrne just beat a number of readers to the prize including Henry Kark of Rivett, Julie Nimmo of Kambah and Peter Harris of Latham. The historic photo brought back memories for several readers, including Arthur Gale of Page whose "brother-in-law used to work there making handles for tools and ladder rungs", and Peter Cullen of Watson who fondly recalls "driving past it while on holidays at the Bay as a youngster." Meanwhile, I'm not too sure how health and safety officers would respond to news that Bruce Ware of Tuross Head "played in the old mill as a kid." How times have changed.

Special mention to John Macdonald of Duffy whose wife immediately recognised the photo, and, it seems for good reason. "I dragged her on a tour of the mill on our honeymoon in 1980," admits Macdonald who collects antique woodworking tools.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday January 28, 2017 with the correct answer wins a double pass to Dendy cinemas.

CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns online.