Intrepid Australia Photo Correspondent Brett McS Filed This Report
(It occurred to me, just now, that once upon a time I asked permission to post pictures my readers sent me. Now I take it as given. Huh.)
Brett McS went for a walk at the Tomaree headland, and his “eagle eye” spotted some “well camouflaged wildlife”:
This is a Goanna. Lovely word, “goanna”.
Then, a friendly tree python, “initially at eye level, right next to the track” then later “moving into the higher branches”. Inn’t he purdy:
And, Fingal Bay, what passes for an “Idyllic spot” in Australia. I dunno. Are the beaches really white sandy? Is the water really aquamarine? Couldn’t it be a little more sheltered and isolated yet only a half hour drive from a large metropolitan area?
Update: While we’re on the subject of where the cuddly Australian wild things are…
FOXnews - Contraceptive Dart Planned for Frisky Koalas
CANBERRA, Australia — Scientists hope to test a contraceptive dart next year as a new weapon to curb a koala population explosion that has destroyed thousands of trees on an Australian island, a researcher said Sunday. …
The tastiest species of eucalyptus on the island are groaning under the weight of an estimated 28,000 koalas that are chomping themselves out of habitat at a rate of almost one pound of leaves each day during the few hours they spend awake.
I’d gladly take one off their hands. Err, off their branches. It’s for the eucalyptus.
Flashback:
January 15 - Why Going to Work In Oz Is Better Than Going to Work Anywhere Else
It just makes me all gooey inside.
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:04 am
Australian fauna can strike some people as, well, a bit show-offish. Fingal Bay looks very pleasant though - a bit like the Isle of Coll here, but with trees. Also the views of Coll never show the wind….
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:18 am
Permission granted.
Show-offish? Is that like ostentatious?
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:46 am
Well, yes, I guess so. It’s just that in this country all our fauna is brown and furry with one exception which is brown and spikey.
Also it’s wet and chilly here today and I’ve just been to my dentist, a former international prop forward who doesn’t mind the sight of blood, so I’m just feeling jealous. And a bit sore.
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:29 am
Nothing messes with a Tree Python. Wonderful pictures, whata beach!
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:11 am
The one further on is a
nudistclothing optional beach. You can just see the people on Fingal Bay (the little dots near the tide mark), but no, they’re not naked.October 3rd, 2006 at 5:12 am
You didn’t follow the ostentatious link, Red?
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:27 am
Ho ho, just now!!! One for the cognoscenti. I got the animals, place names a bit more difficult. That’s the sort of routine you have to construct very carefully, I rather think. Dunno about that stage name either!
October 3rd, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Actually, yes, it really is like that. Some places not quite so good, but many places even better.
Here I am, sitting in the shadow of Black Mountain at the Australian National University, looking outside at the Gumtrees, Cockatoos and even a few Kookaburras - they’re rare around here.
You should come visit some time. Really.
October 4th, 2006 at 3:52 am
I’m not the only one reading this blog to whom that thought’s occurred. A general call for all ninmates to meet at Tomaree…. now there’s a thought. Anyone drink beer?
October 4th, 2006 at 7:14 am
Northern summer is best for me. Beer is good.
October 4th, 2006 at 9:15 am
Northern summer for me too. Beer is good. Aussie wine with dinner. Cricket and beach rugby tutorials in the day.
October 4th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Beach rugby? Is there such a thing?
October 5th, 2006 at 3:45 am
Well if it doesn’t there’s no reason why we can’t invent it. Playing rugby in sunshine would be a whole new, um, ball game.
October 5th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Make a change from the gravel pitches? eeeh, they be hard men in Yorkshire.
October 5th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
gravel pitches
I’ve a natural talent for score-keeping, light handling, concessions, that sort of thing.
October 6th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
Like nin, I have my bags packed for Oz in case of political meltdown here.
I’ve been waiting all week for someone to say of Brett’s first photo: Goannan pet ‘im.
October 6th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Heehee
I think I’m goanna!