A big thank you to all those in Munster stretching from Middleton to Ennis who allowed me to work on their trees last week. Some great craic and I was well looked after at every stop on the way.
Here’s a few photos snapped along the way some general some before and some after.
A massive thank you to the Munster Bonsai Club for having me down for what was the first Bonsai School collaboration between myself and a very motivated club of enthusiasts. See you all soon.
Looking forward to a day with one of the most enthusiastic clubs I have even had the pleasure of working with.
I’ve been looking for a Japanese White Pine for a while, but something a little different than the usual shaped pines we see everywhere. Back at the start of the Winter I was offered one that fitted the criteria.
Peter Warren of Saruyama Bonsai had imported some JWP that had been part of the Daizo Iwasaki collection. I had the pleasure of wiring one of them back in January 2017 whilst studying at Saruyama Towers. I think this was the catalyst to my desire for one. Peter had sold one in the Autumn of 2016 but it just come back into his hands as part of a swap deal and I jumped at the chance of buying it.
This is it back in Japan where Peter first spotted it.
The tree arrived with me just before Christmas, along with Mr Warren 🙂 This is a few angles before we started work.
Getting down to work with the professional.
and afterwards……
I love this tree, a spreading multi apex image and out of the normal cookie cutter Pine image. A few branches are a little behind development wise, especially around the back were we brought up a back branch to make the highest part of the tree. A few branches will be removed within a year or two. The last video clip is probably the best way to view it. It helps give a view of it’d funky quirky style and shows the real age and character in the trunk and branches. I look forward to developing this tree further, it should be a fun journey.
Thanks as always to Peter Warren, the most genuine bonsai professional out there, and, as the music playing in the last video says, ‘Go your Own Way’. 🙂 Let’s not run with the herd.
Our last night of camping was at Wellington Dam, the shore of which was littered with the skeletal remains of trees long dead. The deadwood here was truly ancient and worthy of a few photos. The next morning we went to the Preston River, the outflow from the Dam, to a place called the Honeymoon Pool. My brother-in-law Keith and I were the only two game enough to go in for a swim. The water was super cold having come out from the very base of the deep dam. After a few minutes it was quite pleasant though and a refreshing experience after a long walk around the Dam itself.
Itook some video with my phone as well as the usual barrage of photos.
One of the most unusual places we visited on our camping trip was the Goblin Swamp at Snottygobble Loop. Yeah, that’s what it’s called 🙂
Tucked away in a pretty hard to find spot, long kept secret by the locals, this swamp was small but packed with a low lying area full of old tangled, tortured looking melaleuca trees, better known as paperbarks. I was spellbound. The age of these trees is unknown but of all the Melaleuca I saw in Australia these topped the chart. Trunk movement to keep your head spinning for days. The swamp water was a red colour with the tannin leeching out of the trees. You can see why the swamp got it’s name. It could easily be used as a location in a Lord of the Ring movie. Aussie Orcs! I’d loved to have been there as the light faded for more photos but sadly we had to move on.
Here’s the gallery which also included a few snaps from along the 500m path from the campsite to the swamp.
Western Australia has a 6000 hectare area which has the only Tingle trees in the world. Also know as Eucalyptus Jacksonii, this species is one of the tallest species in the world and in many ways reminded me of the Coastal Redwoods in California. These shallow rooted, buttressing trees have also managed to survive the bush fires and in many cases have hollow trunks so common in Redwoods.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Valley of the Giants near Walpole and taking the tree top walk there. I also visited the ancient Tingle tree and other surrounding Red Tingles with amazing character. 2017 really was a year of tree inspiration for me.
Here’s a few video clips that help capture the size of these trees and a gallery of photos for the Red Tingles.
I was lucky enough to get a trip up to the Pinnacles with family during my visit. It was on my must see list.
These limestone formations can be found in Namburg National Park and are a pretty awesome sight. Not only that, they have lots of small trees as companions, many of which would be perfect yamadori if only they were collectable. Of course, as a national park they are protected and rightly so. I have no clue as to most of the species and I’d love someone to identify them if they know. The one with yellow flowers was special.
Here is a gallery of my rock and tree pics. The only drawback was the bloody flies!!! Nets were a must or they’d drive you mental. I’m told it’s just the time of the year. Bad timing on my part. I also added a few photos from Hangover Bay, The Stromatolites near Cervantes, and from the National Park in Yanchep, These were either nearby or my way back to Perth. Worth a visit for the wildlife.
Last stop on my one day tour was with Dianne. As the chairman of my local club I can only guess at the work involved in being President of the Bonsai Society of WA and President of the Association of Australian Bonsai clubs Two job titles held by Dianne.
CJ joined us for a look around Dianne’s growing bonsai collection. Again, there were many natives at various stages on view and to my delight, some accents 🙂 If only I had taken a few notes, or posted sooner, I might have remembered the names of the natives I was so impressed with. It was great to spend time in her garden just chatting all things bonsai with her and CJ. I could have sat there all day. Great to bounce ideas around and discuss clubs.
It was only a day, but I could get used to bonsai in Perth very quickly. Great weather, good company and heaps of natives to experiment with. The relaxed way of the Aussie appeals to me. Something to think on..
Dianne, that you, I hope to see you and the rest of the members again soon and perhaps be able to spend a little more time getting my hands dirty instead of pointing a camera.
After visiting John on my first stop, John and Nigel took me over to CJ’s home to see a superb collection of bonsai crammed into his garden. CJ has been creating bonsai for a long time and this showed in the hundreds of trees he was working on. I was most impressed by his use of native Australian species. I suspect that many of his trees will feature in 2021, and rightly so. Great detail in the images he’s created and nice to see plenty of shohin.
In such a full garden it’s hard to get a good clean shot of the trees. The strong sunshine also blows out any details. A pity I couldn’t do justice to CJ’s trees. He also grows the best blueberries I ever tasted. Is there no end to his talents? 🙂
CJ thank you for your great welcome and a nice lunch to boot.
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