Perth to Broome, Part 3.

We headed inland to check out the red earth of the Pilbara region in the second largest national park in WA centered in the Hamersley Ranges: Karijini National Park.  Karijini has been split into two sections by the Marandoo iron ore mine which opened in 1994 (in 2009, this mine produced 13% of the world’s iron ore).  The mining industry dominates in this sparsely populated region (1 person per 12 sq km).

Most visitors spend their time in the northern half of Karijini in and around some of the famous gorges.  Here is evidence of the banded iron formations (BIF) in the exposed rock.  These iron and silica-rich sediment deposits laid down on the sea floor over 2.5 billion years ago.  Although horizontal compression did cause buckling in some areas, it is amazing that in other areas you can trace single layers horizontally for long distances while walking in the gorges after all these years.

The gorges were carved by rivers, often leaving sheer sides.  Hiking in the gorges often requires careful maneuvering along smooth rocks and getting your feet wet, but the fresh water pools and cascading waterfalls are worth the trip.  I didn't want to risk bringing along my camera on certain sections, so sadly I don’t have photos of some of the more impressive pools.  Although it was impossible to completely avoid the water, we often had the choice of taking the easier route by swimming through the frigid water.  Gareth from Northern Ireland often led that way – without any followers.

While the deep, shaded pools are probably quite refreshing in warmer months, we were visiting in the middle of winter.  Most days in Karijini, which is just north the Tropic of Capricorn, were comfortable enough, but the nights were a bit chilly.  We slept outside in swags, and I noticed some frost on my sleeping bag one morning.  Despite this, I did go swimming in some of the pools.  Who knows when I will get a chance to do it again?  

Here are a couple of the cascading waterfalls.  Gareth, of course, led the way up the curved amphitheatre of Joffre Gorge.

As mentioned, the Pilbara is rich in minerals, including blue asbestos (crocidolite).  We saw some in Dales Gorge, but it was Wittenoom Gorge that was heavily mined during the mid-20^th century.  It was closed after growing health concerns, but now that area is completely contaminated.  Known as Australia’s greatest industrial disaster, it is too difficult and costly to clean up.  Instead, the area is closed off and the supporting town of Wittenoom has been phased out.  WA no longer recognizes it as a town and has removed it from official road maps and signs.

With only a few days remaining in the country, some of the iconic flora and fauna really stood out to me, from the ghost gums to the cockatoos.

After a few days in Karijini, we hopped on the Great Northern Highway, stopping in Port Hedland for lunch.  The Pilbara mines send their iron ore by rail to Port Hedland, one of the highest tonnage ports in the world (nearly 250 million tonnes in 2012).  This industrial town provides quite the contrast to the rugged scenery of Karijini.  We continued along, stopping in Pardoo and 80 Mile Beach, before ending the tour in the town of Broome in the Kimberely region of WA.  I would have loved to check out more of the Kimberely (and those awesome Boab trees), but my days were running out.  I spend a couple of days around the pearling/tourist town of Broome, warming up on Cable Beach and searching for dinosaur footprints.  I left Broome just before witnessing the full natural phenomenon known as the Staircase to the Moon.  At extremely low tides, the full moon reflects off the exposed mudflats, giving the optical illusion of stairs heading up to the moon.  However, I did go the previous night to get a taste.

 

I took the rare direct flight from Broome back to Sydney, passing over the center of the country.  We were treated to flying over Kata Tjuṯa and Uluṟu (below) in the late afternoon.  What a symbolic view to finish up my year in Australia!

Perth to Broome, Part 2.

The World Heritage Listed Ningaloo Coast is home to the 260 km long Ningaloo Reef.  One of the world’s largest fringing coral reefs and one of only two on the western side of a continent, the Ningaloo Reef boasts exceptional marine biodiversity (including some rare species) and is quite the colorful contrast to the arid and rugged coastline.  In many locations, the reef is close enough to the shore that snorkelers can easily reach it after a short swim from the beach.  No two hour boat rides to reach the reef, as you need with the Great Barrier Reef.  The Ningaloo Reef sees far less visitors than the GBR, and the environment remains largely intact. 

One of the highlights of Ningaloo Reef is that it draws the largest known aggregration (300-500) whale sharks for a few months each year.  The world’s biggest fish is this filter feeding shark.  Whale sharks visit Ningaloo Reef after the massive coral spawning around March/April and hang around until July, feeding on the abundant plankton (and perhaps some small fish that enter their astonishingly large gaping mouths).  Surprisingly given their size, not everything is known about the whale sharks, especially their breeding habits.  The whale sharks that visit Ningaloo are all youngish males, typically with lengths of 4 to 9 meters.  The largest observed whale shark (unofficially) was 18 meters long!  They are believed to live 70-100 years.  The white spot pattern on their grayish skin is unique to each shark, serving as an identifier.

Because these slow-moving gentle giants come close to the surface to feed on plankton and pose little threat to humans, it is possible to swim/snorkel with them.  Not wanting to miss out on this unique experience to see this vulnerable species, I booked the optional activity of an eco-friendly whale shark snorkeling cruise out of Coral Bay.  As it was nearing the end of the whale shark season, there was less of a guarantee of seeing one. 

We started off the morning with a ‘practice’ snorkel inside the reef.  The colors and diversity was quite impressive (perhaps even better than the GBR), and I regretted not having an underwater camera with me.  Although if I had one, I might have been too focused on taking photos and have missed the turtle that zoomed by me.  It actually took my breath away!  With all turtle-related volunteer work I did in Australia, it felt rewarding to finally see one swimming underwater.  Only a few minutes later, I noticed that some other snorkelers were trailing a different slow-moving turtle.  I joined the followers and witnessed it flying majestically through the water.  I’m sure I would have had a big grin on my face if I didn't think it would cause water to leak into my mask… it was awesome.

After that pleasing start, it was time to head out to the deeper waters in search of whale sharks.  With its broad head, the whale shark has a distinct body outline that can be seen from the air when it’s near the surface.  The boats (one each from two companies that day) employ a spotter plane that scans the waters and alerts the boats of the locations of any whale sharks.  One three occasions, the pilot gave us the coordinates, only each time we got there the shark had already descended and failed to return to the surface again.  Meanwhile, the humpback whales in the area were giving us an impressive show.  The crew said they rarely saw this much activity from the whales – heaps of breaching and flipper or tail slapping.  So much that it was almost becoming boring to watch… after all we were out there to see a whale shark.  As the day drew on with only failed attempts, we were starting to lose hope.  We had traveled to the most northern part that the boat will cover.

With time nearly out, one more communication came from the pilot.  Another whale shark had been spotted.  We prepared ourselves again.  Here is the first group waiting patiently at the back of the boat.

 

Only this time was successful!  This whale shark stayed at the surface.  I was little nervous that I might miss out as they let the other boat go first and I was already in the second group on my boat.  Once the boat crew spots the shark, they lined up ahead of it and drop off the snorkelers directly in its path.  Once we are in the water, we look in the water to spot the shark coming straight toward us and then split into two groups on either side.  According to regulations, we must be at least 3 meters away from the shark and 4 meters away from its powerful swinging tail.  Our shark was 5.5 meters long, accompanied by several remoras.  It was moving slowly enough that we could swim along with it for a few minutes before being collected by the boat.  On my second turn, we watched him fade into the deep blue abyss as he barely swam and slowly sunk. 

Back on the boat, we compared experiences and hung out a little longer in case he returned to the surface soon.  The humpback whales seemed to join in the celebration by putting on their closest show yet.

 

The shark came up again, and everyone had one final turn in the water.  Again, my group was lucky to watch the whale shark slowly disappear into the depths below.  Definitely worth the wait.  And to top the whole cruise off, we were briefly joined by some dolphins on our way back to shore.

The tour next headed up to Exmouth, the more common base for exploring the Ningaloo Coast.  Exmouth was started as an American submarine base in WWII.  In the 1960’s, the U.S. installed the Very Low Frequency (VFL) communications facility, consisting of 13 towers (shown in the photo below) in two concentric rings each 304 to 387 meters high (the Eiffel tower is 324 meters tall) .  I heard that when the facility transmits a signal, it takes a quarter of the energy used by the entire state of WA (though I haven’t verified the numbers).  The facility was renamed after Harold E. Holt, the Prime Minister who disappeared while swimming in the waters off the Mornington Peninsula (see previous post) three months after it was commissioned.  There has been some controversy in its existence, but now Australia and the U.S. have a bilateral treaty for joint use.

 

While that is an engineering feat, I think I was more impressed by the beauty of Turquoise Bay in Cape Range National Park where we spent the morning.  We snorkeled over the coral just meters from the shore for one more chance to experience the beauty of the Ningaloo Reef and soak up some sun before heading inland for a few days.

Perth to Broome, Part 1.

With three weeks remaining on my work and holiday visa, I learned that my Plan A (to extend my stay in Australia on a tourist visa) wasn't going to be an option.  So I quickly scrambled to come up with a Plan B, which meant that I was to stop working (and volunteering), that I had a couple of days to tie off some loose ends (i.e., selling my car), and that I could have one last adventure before I had to leave the country.  For the adventure, I considered the remaining states that I had not yet visited: Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia.  With it being the middle of winter, I decided that WA was my best option.  After all, the 10 day tour from Perth to Broome would return me back to the warm tropics.

WA is the largest state, representing about one third of the continent.  Given my schedule, I unfortunately had only one overnight in its capital, Perth.  While Perth is Australia’s 4^th most populated city (1.8 million), it is quite isolated; the nearest city of more than 100,000 people is Adelaide, SA over 2100 km away.  I spend a few hours of the late afternoon and evening walking around the city.  I ended up in Kings Park, one of the largest inner city parks in the world.  Because it is higher in elevation (Mount Eliza) than most of the city, it has some great views of Perth’s CBD and the Swan River.  It is also well known for its Botanic Garden, which highlights many of the unique floral species of WA.  Southwest WA is internationally recognized as a biodiversity hotspot with over 1500 plant species (most of which are endemic)… just one of the many indicators that WA is quite different from the rest of Australia.

The most direct route between Perth and Broome is 2185 km.  Of course, we covered far more distance to visit many of the highlights along the way – in other words, we (a group of 18 plus one tour guide) spent heaps of time on the road.  First highlight was the Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park.

Here, thousands of limestone pillars stick out of the coarse golden yellow sand.  They range in shape and size, some as tall as 4 meters.  They may run as much as another 4 meters underground.  The exact formation mechanism for the pinnacles is unknown, so a few theories float around.  Generally, it is believed that the raw material (calite) is crushed up sea shells, carried to the shore via waves and inland via wind.  Acidic rainwater dissolved and leached the calcite, which precipitated as cement further below.  Vegetation on the surface accelerated this process.  Cracks and plant roots helped create areas where the rainwater would preferentially dissolve calcite.  After the vegetation died and wind blew away the sand, all that remains are the hardened pinnacles.  With shifting dunes, the pinnacles have been exposed, covered up, and exposed again over time.

It almost felt eerie, surrounding by pinnacles.  It was weirdly quiet – only a few birds could be heard off in the distance.  Certainly, the pinnacles have been likened to gravestones.  I read later about one of the Aboriginal stories:  the pinnacles are the fingers of people who had, despite warnings, attempted to cross the sinking sands of the desert.  Their efforts were unsuccessful, as evidenced by their fingers grasping at the surface.

After lunch, we headed to the Sandy Cape Recreational Area on Jurien Bay to do some sand boarding.  As you do.

We passed through Geraldton on our way to our overnight accommodations.  Perth and the southwest corner of WA claim 92% of the state’s population, leaving only 600,000 people spread out in the rest of the vast area (if WA were a country on its own, it would be the 10^th biggest in the world).  Geraldton (or Gero) with a population of 37,000 is a big deal.  Here, we saw our last traffic light until Day 10 of the tour when we reach Broome (pop: 16,000).          

With an early morning start, we visited Kalbarri National Park and checked out parts of the gorge created by the Murchison River.  An unusual fog burned off as we hiked to Z Bend.  Some of the rocks have magnificent orange coloring.  It looked incredible next to the white tree trunks, green leaves, and blue sky; despite all the pictures I took, I never managed to capture that vividness in a photo.  We did see one of the most photographed features of WA – Nature’s Window.

After lunch, we drove up to the Shark Bay World Heritage Area.  Shark Bay is one of only a few places that satisfy all four natural criteria for the World Heritage List.  It has enormous seagrass beds, supporting 10% of the world’s dugong population, and sheltered peninsulas and islands home to threatened fauna species that now only exist here.  One of its most well-known features is Hamelin Pool with its stromatolites.  Stromatolitic microbialites exists in only a couple locations around the world (Bahamas being the other one), but here they are the most diverse and abundant.  Stromatolites are limestone structures created by single-celled microbes called cyanobacteria or blue-green algae.  A bank prevents normal replacement of Hamelin Pool with ocean water, making the salinity about twice as high.  Natural predators would not survive long in these waters, so the stromatolites can thrive in the shallows.  Because these stromatolites (aged 2,000 – 3,000 years) are living examples of the life forms that existed on Earth 3.5 billion years ago (and dominated for 3 billion years), they are often referred to as ‘living fossils.’  Over that time period, stromatolites were responsible (via photosynthesis) for raising the Earth’s atmosphere from about 1% oxygen to the 20% oxygen we have today.  So they represent an extremely important stage in Earth’s evolutionary history.

Alright, perhaps they aren't as impressive to look at as I had imagined, but they are significant nonetheless.  We also stopped at the appropriately named Shell Beach before retiring to Denham, the westernmost town of Australia, for the night.

In the morning, we headed to Monkey Mia, probably the better known highlight of Shark Bay.  I have mixed feelings as they have been feeding ‘wild’ bottlenose dolphins daily for over 40 years now. 

We left Shark Bay that afternoon to head toward yet another World Heritage listed area (inscribed in 2011)…

Wildlife rescue.

Several people, upon hearing how long I have been traveling around and living in Australia, have asked me what some of the highlights have been.  That’s a difficult question to answer… how do I pick out just a few experiences from this whole period?  I usually tell them about some of my first encounters with Aussie wildlife, because those are moments that do come to mind quickly.  Given how many years the continent has been isolated far away from the rest of the world, it has had plenty of time to develop its own unique wildlife.  Some folks are surprised when I mention my wildlife encounters; it’s not something that they would list first… or possibly they are Aussies who have grown up with the wildlife here and thereby don’t find kangaroos hopping in their backyards to be that special.  Regardless, I still find it exciting.

In seeking out my next volunteer opportunity, I wanted it to be something that perhaps I couldn't do elsewhere.  What could be more unique to my Australian experience than rescuing native wildlife?  While driving around, I have seen signs providing contact numbers should you come across injured wildlife.  Australia has a number of wildlife rescue service organizations.  The largest in New South Wales is WIRES.  Although WIRES (Wildlife Information Rescue Education Service) is most often associated with rescuing sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife, the non-profit organization expands on its public service by providing information so the public can better coexist with the native wildlife.  Started in 1986, the WIRES network now has 27 branches across the state and over 2,000 volunteer members.

To become a member, I first had to attend two days of initial training.  Given my schedule, I decided to take the Rescue and Immediate Care Course in Dubbo, NSW.  Dubbo has its own branch covering a very large region, whereas the area surrounding Sydney is split into seven branches.  It was interesting to attend training in another branch, because they have different needs than Sydney.  Firstly, Dubbo has far less volunteer members to cover big distances.  Dubbo members rotate phone duties, but in Sydney all the calls are directly to a call centre (where they could have more than 250 calls per day).  Plus, the species that need to be rescued are different.  Dubbo cares for far more macropods (like kangaroos and wallabies), because those large mammals just are not hopping around the metropolitan areas of Sydney.  Instead, the Sydney East branch, where I am a member, deals mainly with bird and possum rescues.

This initial training qualifies me to rescue the easier species and provide immediate care for them (a few hours to maybe a couple of days).  I decided to focus on the rescue part, because my living situation was too variable.  Members can attend additional training if they want to pursue longer term care or rescue other species.  For example, members must complete the Reptile Handling Course before they can be asked to rescue dangerous lizards or snakes (Australia has the most venomous snakes after all).  Likewise, rescuing and handling raptors or flying fox/microbats also requires specialized training.  In fact, WIRES members who handle bats must be vaccinated against bat Lyssavirus.  Since joining WIRES, my availability for rescues has decreased.  Of the 10 or so calls I have received so far, I was only able to do one rescue (for a possum).  However, when I contacted the species coordinator, she volunteered to take over the case, because she works only a couple blocks away from the location.  Sadly, that possum did not survive.

From what I have heard, most cases are not successful.  Usually when the animals are rescued by WIRES, they have already been through some traumatic ordeal (such as being hit by a motor vehicle).  However, if the animal does seem to have a chance for survival, WIRES members do what they can to give that animal the best shot.  The ultimate goal for all rescued wildlife is to release them back into the wild (ideally near where they were found, if possible).  While I haven’t been on any rescues yet, I have been involved with the care of possums at a WIRES aviary.  The possums at the aviary are at healthy stages where they are being prepared for release back into the wild.  Possums that had been orphaned and had to be hand-raised by volunteers will graduate to the aviary enclosures, where they need to put on weight (total weight at least 1,500 grams) until they can be released.  We volunteers provide them with fresh native foliage and some extra fruits/veggies/nuts every day.  This pair of brushtail possums was at the aviary when I started and have already been released.

Brushtail possums have only a single young at a time, but WIRES has seen benefits from buddying up joeys (up until a certain age).  Because there wasn't much information on how to care for native wildlife before, WIRES members had to figure out what the best methods were.  The observations and information collected by experienced members serve as the basic knowledge for the training courses, but there is still much to figure out. 

Here’s a video of Yuda, another brushtail possum, at the aviary.  She’s a big fan of peanuts and always seeks them out first.

On the recommendation from a fellow WIRES member, Emma and I stopped in Port Macquarie, New South Wales to visit the Koala Hospital.  The Port Macquarie area has a large population of koalas.  Koalas in Victoria are larger and darker with thicker fur to handle the colder temperatures in the south.  Koalas in subtropical and tropical Queensland are smaller and lighter.  The Port Macquarie koalas are somewhere in the middle.  The excellent facility, largely run by big team of volunteers, is dedicated solely to koalas – the rescue and rehabilitation of sick and injured koalas and research into their behavioral patterns and diseases.  Like WIRES, the Koala Hospital wants to release the koalas back into the wild.  This chart provides some details on the hospital patients during my visit:

The three top reasons why a koala might be admitted to the hospital are: collision with a motor vehicle, dog (or cat) attack, and Chlamydiosis.  All are related to the removal of natural koala habitat for human development.  Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted bacterial disease and is becoming increasingly common as koalas are overcrowded together in smaller areas due to habitat loss.  It can affect the eyes (can cause blindness) and/or the urogenital tract (can cause infertility) and can lead to death.  Those patients listed as having a ‘wet bottom’ are suffering from the disease.  Koalas suffer from other injuries too, including scoliosis.  This fella has an abscess on his face from unknown reasons.

Clearly, a visit to the hospital is unlike most other places where you might be able to view koalas.  The injuries are in plain sight as the koalas recuperate in the outdoor yards.  Here a volunteer feeds a patient a special supplementary milk formula low in lactose. 

Of course, the cute juveniles, who had to be hand-raised after being abandoned or orphaned, are the most active and quite fun to watch.  Here's one learning how to become a better climber.

A couple of days later when Emma and I visited the Australia Zoo, we signed up for a tour of the wildlife hospital.  It actually ended up being a private tour, as no one else had signed up.  I think a lot of visitors miss out on visiting the hospital, because it is outside the zoo area across the parking lot.  It’s too bad for them, because I found it to be very interesting.  Of course, if more people had been on the tour, it probably would not have been gone past its extended time as it did for us.  The wildlife hospital started back in 2004, inspired by Steve Irwin’s mum Lyn who was a well-known wildlife rehabilitator.  This sculpture is based on a photo of Lyn's hands as she holds a possum joey.

Emma and I toured the new facility (previously the hospital operated in an old packing shed) opened in late 2008.  It is Australia's largest wildlife hospital.  They address emergency wildlife calls every day and have a team of full-time veterinarians, vet nurses, and volunteers to provide the best care possible for sick and injured wildlife.  Like WIRES and the Koala Hospital, their goal is also to release the rehabilitated animals back into the wild.  They may admit up to 30 different species to the hospital every day, keeping the staff on their toes.  Many of the patients here are southeastern Queensland koalas.  Apparently, koalas in this population are suffering from a koala version of AIDS called Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome (KIDS).  In 2008, one researcher has estimated that the virus could lead to the extinction of koalas in Queensland within 15 years.  That would be a very sad day for this icon of Australia, and we need to prevent that day from happening.

I was highly impressed by the wildlife hospital.  The tour certainly made me question my career choice.  Although we toured all parts of the building, for some reason I didn't take many photos inside.  However, I did snap some inside the koala orphan enclosure.  These koalas are around 12 months old.

Although there are a number of wonderful folks (mainly volunteers) across these organizations who are dedicated to the preservation of native wildlife, more action will be needed.  I enjoy encountering the unique Aussie wildlife out in the wild, and I certainly hope that anyone who wants it to be part of their Australian highlights will have the same opportunity in the future.

Emma's visit.

Emma came to visit me during her birthday week!  A week is not much time to experience Australia after traveling such a long distance, but we tried to fit in what we could.  That said, we weren't too rigid in our schedule that we couldn't fit in a spontaneous game of giant chess outside the Museum of Sydney.  I was able to check off a few more items on my own list, but it was extra nice to be able to share those experiences with my sister.

We spent the first few days in the Sydney area, visiting some of the highlights (which included purchasing flip-flops/thongs from a Havaianas vending machine, of course).  We started off walking the Bondi-Coogee Coastal Walk in reverse.  I usually run parts of it and seldom have my camera with me, so it was nice to grab a few shots this time.  Most of the beaches had bigger swell than normal, so we saw heaps of surfers.  Now I finally have a photo of Coogee Beach, where I have been living these past months.

Within 24 hours, we visited the three major icons of Sydney: Bondi Beach, Sydney Opera House, and Sydney Harbour Bridge.  We toured the Opera House, learning about its history (especially the relationship with architect Jorn Utzon) and construction.  The low maintenance tiles on the roofs/sails/shells are two different colors (neither are exactly white) that combined appear white from a distance without glare.  We checked out almost all of the performance areas, which are more varied than I expected.  Outside the Concert Hall, the foyer is decked out with purple carpeting.  How regal!

You can spot the Harbour Bridge in the second photo.  The bridge is so large that I would not have guessed that it took four times the amount of steel in the bridge to make the famous roofs of the Opera House.  Emma and I had the opportunity to learn more details and stories about the bridge during our Bridge Climb.  Emma had won a free double pass through a Facebook contest!  The climb is generally listed as a top activity for visitors to Sydney, but it’s certainly not a cheap activity.  Therefore, the free pass was well appreciated.  The best time of day for the climb is supposedly at twilight, but as the pass wasn't valid for that time slot, we went on the last climb in the afternoon.  That slot allowed us to catch the sunset during our descent.  It is quite impressive to hear about the construction of the bridge during the 1920’s and 1930’s without the engineering and safety tools of today.  The bridge has six million rivets.  The rivets were heated up before placement and had to be caught in buckets; only another 10,000 or so are on the bottom of the harbour, because they were dropped by the ‘catchers.’  Personal cameras are not permitted on the climb, but because we had the free pass, we decided we could purchase one of the photos they took of us.

While on the bridge, we saw some of the lights installed (zip ties!) on the west side of the bridge in preparation for Vivid Sydney a few days later.  The multi-week festival includes musical performances and idea exchanges, but it is most known for its light installations and projections.  This year is the first time the bridge has been included; it is actually interactive, because the public can choose what colors to display with a control panel at Luna Park.  Many other buildings in the CBD, especially around Circular Quay, have light projections including the roofs of the Opera House.  As it was still a few days before the festival, Emma and I had to settle for the white sails as we celebrated our climb with drinks at the Opera Bar.

After our game of chess the next day, we hopped on the ferry to Manly.  Emma wanted to experience the harbour more from Marlin’s (Nemo's dad) perspective.  I have a feeling that Marlin wasn't rewarded with a double rainbow like this one we saw at Manly Beach.

For the second half of Emma’s visit, we headed north.  We stayed in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, for a few days after brief stops on the North Coast of New South Wales in Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour (where we saw the Big Banana, the first ‘Big Thing’ in Australia).  From Brisbane, we visited Australia Zoo, made famous by the late great Steve Irwin.  There, Emma was finally able to cuddle a koala.  However, her favorite part was the opportunity to feed some roos.

To finish off her day at the zoo, Emma spotted Terry Irwin!  I’ll get into my favorite part of our zoo visit in my next post.  In the meantime, here’s a photo of a pair of tawny frogmouths.  These birds, native to Australia and New Guinea, are often mistaken for owls.  They are nocturnal; during the day, they camouflage themselves by remaining very still on low tree branches or logs with their eyes barely open.

During Emma’s visit, I passed my 10^th month anniversary of my Australian arrival.  It seems like both a short and a long time ago…

AUC 2013.

Training and competing with the women’s club team Phoenix brought me to one final ultimate tournament in another new location – the 2013 Australian Ultimate Championships in Bendigo, Victoria.  Nationals!  I traveled with the majority of the team for this tourney, so I didn’t have extra time to explore much of Bendigo.  Bendigo is a regional town (population of the area is around 80,000), about an hour and a half drive northwest of Melbourne.  It is one of the towns in Central Victoria founded on gold back in the mid 19^th century.

AUC takes place over 4 days, but the games are spread out a bit (I think we only played 10 games over all 4 days).  There were 16 open teams and 14 women’s teams (could be up to 16 but there aren’t enough teams interested).  It was good to see other teams that we haven’t been playing in the past few months, such as teams from SA, WA, Tassie, and even New Zealand.

In the end, Phoenix placed 10^th, just meeting our goal of coming in the top ten.  Thanks to all the Phoenix ladies for letting me play with and get to know them over these past months!