Now that you have a sense of the stunning setting of my time in Australia with my friends, I thought I'd share with you some of the fascinating animal life we got to observe. Australia and New Zealand have completely different fauna, and it's interesting to observe the native wildlife. Unfortunately, I don't know much about Australian animals, so you will largely have to be content with pictures.
I just tried Googling "Queensland frogs" thinking that I would be able to find a picture and match it to this one to tell you what kind it is, but it turns out that there are approximately a million kinds of frogs that live in Queensland, and far too high a percentage of them at least vaguely resemble this one. So I'm not even hazarding a guess. But it was a lovely little frog.
I believe that this minuscule specimen is a garden skink.
Sorenne and I had fun with the "sketch" setting on my camera, and thought this skink looked particularly striking that way.
This one was quite a bit bigger, sunning himself with many of her friends on a telephone pole.
When we went to the beach near Noosa, there was a warning posted about bluebottle jellyfish, which apparently can still sting painfully even once they're dead on the sand. Indeed the whole beach was fairly covered with them, necessitating stepping carefully between them. However, I waded a bit in the water, and didn't actually see any. I don't know if that's because they're harder to see in the water or if the bloom (apparently the word for a group of jellyfish) had moved on. But I didn't get stung while wading, so it was a success either way.
I found this coconut (I think) that had been washed up by the tide, and in addition to the multitudes of barnacle-types on the outside, there was a completely adorable crab living on the inside, calmly looking out as I picked up and moved her home.
Amy was determined to spot a koala in the wild, something she has not done in her more than six years in Australia. After our visit to the beach, she took us to a place where she'd read online that you could see wild koalas quite near the carpark (as some of us were not interested in a long hike). She offered to pay $5 to anyone who spotted one, and we were ready, but we didn't even get a chance, as Amy was barely out of the car before she spotted this one herself! Yahoo!
It was way up high in the tree, but we could actually see it quite well, and it was very exciting! It is not as easy as it used to be to see koalas in the wild, so it was pretty special.
Flashback: When we were in Australia together the first time, all those years ago, we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, and we got to meet very friendly koalas.
Sorenne was so fascinated!
Anyway, that was deeply awesome, and seeing one in the wild was a completely different and equally inspiring experience.
Amy also spotted this kookaburra, even though it was quite well camouflaged against the pale branches.
And then this one. They're very cool-looking birds, although they do get that delightful but slightly annoying song stuck in my head every time I think about them.
We also saw lots of Australian magpies, which we do have in NZ, although they're not as common, I don't think. They're quite pretty, with their sharply divided black and white.
By far the most fun we had with animals was with the cows and miniature horses who live at Cooroy Country Cottages. The first day, we went on a quest for the horses, who usually come up to a certain field for carrots, but were absent that day. We didn't find them that day, but we did make friends with some lovely cows, especially Gina, who liked to have her head rubbed so much that she almost knocked me over as she nuzzled against me. We were joined by one of the owners and his dog, Beby, who was friendly and full of energy.
We did some climbing near the horse paddock, with their lovely dog Ted watching. We discovered that he loves country life, as he became very brave and adventurous, even around the cows and horses.
Speaking of horses, we did find them the next day, by waiting at their usual carrot spot. We'd discovered that while we'd hiked all over the landscape looking for them, they'd gone around the other way and ended up right where we'd originally gone to see them. So the second day, we were more patient, and soon we saw them heading up the hill towards us. The dark brown ones in the lead were trotting along, with the lighter brown ones galloping quite fast, assumedly trying to catch up so they didn't miss out on carrots.
The horses were all tiny (compared to normal horses), beautiful, and very determined to get the most out of the carrots we fed them. Even once the carrots were all gone, they kept checking just to make sure we weren't hiding any more.
Sorenne was very brave, enjoying observing them and trying to pat them before they realized that there were no carrots in the proffered hand. The horses completely ignored Beby, who raced around, frolicking and barking to her heart's content while they milled about.
With perseverance and luck, we were able to pet them a little bit. Sorenne was the most determined, and did a wonderful job of making friends with the skittish horses.
This horse seemed the friendliest, was very beautiful. I'd say he should become part of their family - he fits right in!
We spent time with them each evening, and often the cows would come up as well. I'm surprised to discover that I didn't take any pictures of the cows, but I was probably distracted by Gina demanding head rubs. Which is better than taking pictures anyway. J is a bit jealous, as he loves cuddling cows. Perhaps I'll have to bring him there someday.
No comments:
Post a Comment