Mitta Mitta

Michel decided that it’d be a good idea to go to a pub in Mitta Mitta for lunch. IMHO, it was a bit too far for lunch since we bettered 300kms on the round trip. With the occasional pothole – though rather less than in our collapsing roads – and the stiff suspension of an M-series Beemer, I’d have to call it less than relaxing.

It was certainly a long way to go for bangers and mash, although the bangers were admittedly  local “artisan” beef bangers. My usual stance is that bangers should be pork; flavour them if you wish but you really can’t beat pork sausages. The most curious sausages I’ve ever tasted were undoubtedly mussel sausages in New Zealand which I apparently liked. Another curiosity were emu sausages sampled when we visited the red centre of OZ many years ago, though I an remember little about those.

Synlestes weyersii female, Mitta MittaSynlestes weyersii male, Mitta MittaFlowing beside the rear grounds of the pub was Snowy Creek. It didn’t look very promising at first glance but given a little patience and once getting the eye in, I spotted a damselfly. It was large for a damselfly and my initial impression was that it was a kind of Flatwing but then I realised that it was hanging rather than perching; Flatwings tend to perch. This was no damselfly that I’d seen before so Mitta Mitta quickly became more interesting. I needed help, not having my poor ol’ Australian Field Guide (and I do mean poor). With more help from iNaturalist I discoverd that I’d found some Bronze Needles (Synlestes weyersii). Both sexes were present so I’d got the set. I have one other “Needle” and it, too, has a long, sharp, forward-facing point on the side of its thorax so perhaps this is where the name comes from.

We bumped our way back via the Dartford Dam which was little more than an impressively large wall retaining inconceivable quantities of water.

Posted in 2024-01 Australia