Sharks

Also at the Sydney Aquarium, one of the spectacular events was walking through glass tunnels and seeing sharks and string rays swim around you. Now, remember from the other post that the glass refracts and makes the fish smaller. By 25%.... so when you watch the video and massively large shark swims by, he is even bigger in real life.

Fish and Shellfish

At the Sydney Aquarium, we watched the cuttle fish swimming and
its tank companions, a large lobster
and an even larger crab.

Seriously, these crustaceans are unbelievably big.
massive even.

Birds of Australia

It was the most amazing thing to see some of the "common" birds in Australia-- parrots, parakeets, spoonbills, Little Penguins, ibises, cockatoos, magpies, black swans, red ground parrots, pukekos, emus (though we didn't see any of those in the wild). The colors of even the finches were astonishing. Here are just some of those mentioned above, taken by moi. Audubon Society, here I come.

finches & parrots

little penguin, black swans, red ground parrot, ibis, cockatoo, and a pukeko

Goodbye, Oz!

Today is our last day in upside-down future land. We have had a marvelous time in Australia, a wonderful honeymoon. It has strange to visit a country *younger* than the US, since most of our travels have been to places much older.

We spent several days in Melbourne; spotted the most amazing wildlife (s0me 0f it by the side of the road!); flew to Sydney to gaze at the bridge and the opera house; and drove down and around the southeastern coast of the continent.

The landscape is breathtaking, the kangaroos and koalas adorable, and ocean beautiful. We want to come back and swim in the sea (we neglected to bring/rent wet suits). We want to see the interior and the red, dry landscape. And we want to drink more of the delicious wine.

Australia has been wonderful and we couldn't have had a more delightful albeit belated honeymoon.

Thanks, upside-down future land. Being here, we know that the future will be grand.

Penguins on Parade!

We made it to the world famous Penguin Parade last night at Phillip Island, where, at sunset, the native Little Penguins emerge in groups from the Tasmin Sea to waddle up the beach to burrows in the sand dunes. The smallest (and cutest) penguin in the world, the Little Penguin is around 12-13 inches tall with adults weighing just over 2 pounds. The Little Penguin is the only blue feathered penguin in the world and will typically live for 7 years. The scientific name of the Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor means 'good little diver'. Right now, many of the penguins coming ashore are super fat as it is the most important time of the year for them: molting season. The penguins are coming ashore and for two weeks,will stay in their burrow, molting their old feathers and getting new ones for the coming year--that is why they are so fat, as they have been eating their weight in fish, krill, etc in order to just sit in their burrows and molt. Without the new feathers, they won't be able to survive the winter.

The way that this parade works is that you go and wait until sunset, and a little bit after, and then the Little Penguins come into shore in groups, called "rafts", because safety is in numbers. They then make a mad dash for the dunes. Photography isn't allowed, as it would disturb this natural process-- though the concrete stadium steps and the massive lights on the beach are fine.

We had a wonderful time, even though it was pouring rain and Will had a flip-flop blow out. We were soaked to the bone but thrilled to see the cutest Penguins ever. We followed a little fellow to the parking lot, as he was looking for his home.And on the way out, we were reminded to look under the cars in case we had stowaways. We thought that this was just sweet, but after we followed out the little guy, we double checked to make sure that no Penguins were under the car, behind the car, or in my handbag to take back home... ;)

Oysters!

In our travels on the road from Sydney to Melbourne (totally sounds like a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby title... and I so am Dorothy Lamour), we have seen numerous things as we make pit stops along the way to next hotel room.


Will's favorite will be the blowhole we saw in Kiama, but mine was in Pambula, where we passed Weckler's Oyster Farm. We just had to stop and they happen to have a take-away counter, with 24 oysters just waiting for me.

When it comes to oysters, I am a piglet. I never get 24 because of the cost, but when you are buying them farm direct, 24 isn't that bad!

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and in 3.4 seconds, the oysters were all down the hatch and into my belly. They were delicious.

Don't worry, I did share: Will got 4. He swore that it all he wanted.... I think he was being nice since I obviously was in heaven.

Roadside wildlife - Koalas

Finally found a colony of these furry little fellas down near Lakes Entrance on the south coast.




Their inactivity is quite astonishing. Of the 30 or so we saw only two actually moved from their comfy tree nook which they had wedged themselves into. One we surprised and he moved up the tree, the other was eating. I presume they also poop and reproduce but didn't witness such feats of strength. They all look somewhat aged - perhaps yoda would be a good reference if we were trying to find the celebrity they most resembled? I would happily take on the role of padawan for that lifestyle!

Roadside wildlife - Kangaroos

Literally!



Cute buggers, just about everywhere - stopped counting. Sadly they are like deer and seem to be the main road kill out here. They taste good tho.

Roadside Wildlife - Kookaburra

These are terrific birds with the most wonderful call - they sound as if they are laughing hysterically (clickie link - worth it!).



Large at around 15 inches tall we've been enjoying them immensely during our days on the road, trying to coax them into giggling for us.

Until today - when we found out they are sadistic killers. We watched in slight horror as one flogged the carcass of a mouse/rat against a tree for about 15 minutes. It was well dead but that wasn't enough apparently. It had to be severely mutilated and tenderised prior to being eaten.

Mmmm - tasty.

Roadside Wildlife - Wombats

Seen plenty of signs - but sadly none in the flesh (outside the zoo).

Haven't given up the hunt tho........

Royal Botanic Bats

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney has a major problem:

Bats.

And when I say bats, I mean over 10,000 flying fox bats. They are so loud when you walk through the gardens; their smell is overpowering even the rose gardens. They are also killing the trees:

This tree is typical of 19 trees that have died because the bats are nesting in it; and this tree is one of 40+ where every branch is covered with sleeping, cleaning, preening, chattering bats. At night, you can see them taking off to hunt. During the day, they roost in the Botanic Gardens. The city is going to have chase them out before their breeding season begins, which is quite soon. Poison isn't an option as the bats are needed to pollinate trees and flowers as well as control the insect population. But, when you have 10,000 bats, you certainly have one too many bats.


The gardens also have wild cockatoos that let you get quite close as they dig for worms and bugs in the ground. I much prefer these guys-- they are prettier to look at and don't smell as bad.

Rain in Sydney

We arrived to Sydney and hurried to the Harbour-- we noticed that the clouds were rolling in. For two days we have wandered around in the rain, but Sydney is still pretty even when wet. We are staying in the hip & cool area of town-- King's Cross-- but we can't show you any photos of the area, as it is loaded with strip clubs, nudity bars, and drag nightclubs. We are a 'g' rated blog after all. We took a harbour cruise and saw the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge.


The skyline of Sydney is dominated by the bridge and the tall buildings of downtown.
Kirribilli Point, directly across the harbour from the Opera House, is the home of the Australian Prime Minister. We also went to the Sydney Aquarium where you can walk under the Harbour and see fish, mermaids, and sharks. As soon I figure out how to upload a movie on Will's computer, you see amazing sharks at super close range. Apparently, the curvature of the glass makes the fish and sharks 25% smaller. After looking at these teeth, I can't imagine the shark any bigger.

The rain did get so bad that I had to buy a rain slicker and with my pink shirt, Will said I looked like rhubarb and custard candy. I think he was trying to be kind and make it okay to be seen with me.

(Aussie rules )FOOTY!!!!!

Friday night is footy night! - Footy in this case being something called aussie rules football, a primitive game played by former convict types on an oval pitch (traditionally a cricket pitch I think - sacrilege!!!).

We witnessed round 2 of the preseason cup clash between the Hawks (Tasmania) and the Western Bulldogs (Melbourne). It's a preseason knockout competition.

After some stretching we were underway - the game turned out to vary between periods of slick ball movement, catching, passing and quick kicking which were very entertaining to watch combined with small melees of players trying to gather posession of the ball (think a bunch of 10 year old soccer players in a group kicking at the ball, each other and jumping into piles). Scoring consisted of kicking the ball between four upright poles at each end of the oval.

We were rooting for the Tasmanians but they ended up losing comprehensively 1.15.12 (111) to 0.7.12 (54).

This being pre-season there were a number of players who had the night off. As we were about to get underway our neighbours entered from the field and sat beside us. Of course we had no idea of their celebrity but it turned out they were current players who Miriam mentioned might have been of interest to our single friends (this was offered to me quite diplomatically so I was unable to feel any jealousy - but I might have seen her pupils dilate a bit at one point). Further research told us they were better looking in person and that most of the team is better viewed at a distance.
Chance Bateman
Clinton Young
Thomas Murphy

OH - and this might get a chuckle from a few folks - here was one transcript from the evening.

Miriam - "Hey Will"

Will - "Yes?"

Miriam - "How many quarters are there in the game?"

Will - "How many do you think there are?"

Miriam - "Three?"

Will - "Uh-hu! Three!" pause "Why do you think they call them quarters?"

Miriam - Pause, pause..... "oh"

She did then question why the first quarter ended at 26:02, the second 28:34 and third at 27:22 which I didn't have an answer to. We left before the end of the final period and never really worked that one out but weren't concerned with our ignorance.

Zoo - part2 - the walkers

This being a trip down under I'm pretty much only going to display the native species we saw, with one exception. Yes the zoo was full of the usual suspects but we were here for the Marsupials!!!!

The adorable koala, the 50lb wombat (we decided it's arse represents 50% of its mass) and the kangaroo all were on display for us. Also we were lucky enough to see a platypus swimming in its pond unfortunately it was in a room that was extremely dark making photography impossible. The platypus has to be one of the most unlikely animals that exists and a real quirk of evolution - furry, venomous, otter footed, beaver tailed, electroreception, duck billed, lays eggs, young feed on milk, has a pouch.




Here's one animal that wasn't native to the continent but figured ought to get a mention. The superb sumatran tiger. Utterly majestic but sadly so threatened. This picture seemed more appropriate somehow than the beast itself.

Zoo - part1 - that which flys

We had a particularly enjoyable time in the bird and butterfly houses. Lots of pictures were taken but these two stood out.

Botanics

Next stop after the memorial were the botanical gardens. Opened in 1846 it's apparently one of the best around. We had a lovely two hour stroll enjoying the sights and smells of the plants along with some fun animals that call the place home.




We also found our namesake along with some gnomes and their magic pudding which has come to life.

Shrine of Remembrance

In the Kings Domain is the Shrine of Remembrance. Built to commemorate the fallen during World War I, the Shrine is now a memorial to all wars that the ANZAC forces have fought in. ANZAC is the Australian New Zealand Army Corp and they have fought together since the first Mauri war in the 1860s.

The Shrine is based on a prymiad shape because during World War I, the ANZAC forces were stationed in Cairo. At top is open and once a day, a light moves across a stone on the floor that reminds everyone to pause and remember those who have died in war.

Through out the Shrine, there are numerous regiment colors and flags. Here is the Australia flag, and then the Australian Air Force flag, which was our favorite.

From the top of the Shrine you can see St. Kilda Road into downtown Melbourne, and on ANZAC Day (April 25th), war veterans march down the street to the Shrine.

Displayed inside are all the medals won by soliders throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries. Each medal represents 100 people who served in war. The wall ran the length of the Shrine.

Next to the Shrine was our next stop: the Royal Botanic Garden, with a view to the poppies (in the cross-shape) from the fields of Flanders that have grown here ever since the seeds were brought back from World War I.