Amanda and Sean Izzard are the owners of Boulder Cloud, a property situated in Wombarra, New South Wales. Boulder Cloud overlooks the ocean and also lies adjacent to the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area which then connects to Dharawal National Park. Owners Amanda and Sean have been conserving this special property and would like to make it a wildlife sanctuary. They have been undertaking bushland regeneration in the last nine months since purchasing the property. Being from a horticulture background, Amanda would like to collect seeds and propagate indigenous varieties to replant along watercourses and sections of the property to create wildlife corridors through some of the cleared land. Other future actions may include fencing areas to aid regeneration after feral deer damage. As artists, Amanda and Sean would like to explore the possibility of art courses specifically looking at the beauty of the natural environment and raise awareness of the amazing diversity on the Illawarra escarpment.
Boulder Cloud is 27 hectares in size, with a 1km wide section of the Illawarra Escarpment with diverse ecosystems ranging from dry sclerophyll forest to warm temperate rainforest and old man banksia forest on top of the escarpment. 10 acres of the property are partially cleared. Creeks run down through the land with natural springs also forming part of the rock strata providing a wonderful ecosystem for flora and fauna.
The property is diverse with an abundance of trees, shrubs and native grasses and ground cover varieties. Flora species on the property include turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera), red cedar (Toona ciliata), cabbage tree palms (Livistona australis), bangalow (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana), Ficus and Eucalypt sp., tree ferns, ground ferns and rock orchids. Boulders from the escarpment are strewn across the land, perfect for birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus), elk horns and mosses.
There are an extensive number of wildlife found at Boulder Cloud, including rock wallabies, bandicoots, echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), red-bellied black snakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus), water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), numerous frog species including tree frogs, crayfish, skinks, possums, tree hoppers and incredible bird life with white-bellied sea eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster), wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax), kestrel and hawk varieties, pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus), white and black cockatoos, powerful owls (Ninox strenua), boobook owls (Ninox boobook), superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae), brush turkeys (Alectura lathami), eastern spinebills (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris), superb fairy wrens (Malurus cyaneus), rosellas, king parrots (Alisterus scapularis), top knot pigeons (Lopholaimus antarcticus) and laughing kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae).
