Hot Humid Westerlies

FF
It has been blowing a consistent 10-20 knots
from the west for five days now.
The mozzies have been restless,
kayaking can only be done
in places sheltering from the westerlies
and very little rain has fallen to relieve the 80% humidity.

These must be the winds that the Makassan traders
used when they sailed from Indonesia to start the Trepang hunting.

Still, the flowering and fruiting has been nothing short of extraordinary. I have been able to snack and walk every day this week.

I started eating the Green Plums Buchanania obovata
when they were a bit bitter,
but I used to like to eat green unripe apples as a kid.

Now that they are soft and ripe they are very sweet
and almost taste like a ripe banana,
but the green ants Oecophylla sp. guard them
so part of the harvest is removing unwanted guests
from entering your mouth.

The Peanut Tree Sterculia quadrifida
has been my next stop.
When the pods are brown the black seed contains
a soft paste that tastes a bit like a peanut.

One of the most striking flowers is the
Wild Orange Capparis umbonata
while its fruit is nothing like an orange.


The Wild Orange fruit is almost like a walnut inside
and very unpalatable so far.

The Jacob's Bloodwood Eucalyptus jacobsiana
is in full bloom on the cliffs
behind the coastal vine forest.
Birds were the first on the scene,
but now the insects are in on the feast.