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Showing posts from November, 2015

Translation

Tasmania's Blue Fairy Wren

More Correctly - Superb Fairy Wren Malurus Cynaneus - photo with kind permission from Graeme Chapman Passionate ornithologist, Graeme Chapman, formerly of the CSIRO's Division of Wildlife, has kindly allowed me to reproduce one of his photos here, since I had such difficulty getting a photo of these cheeky little birds  while at Narawntapu. They have a very interesting life story too, one I wasn't aware of until I read about it on Graeme's website . Nor was I aware that there were so many varieties. See Graeme's main website www.graemechapman.com.au for exceptional  photos and a wealth of information on Australia's amazing birds.You can even hear the birdcalls they make. In 2004, Graeme was awarded the John Hobbs medal for his work with amateur ornithologists, especially Birds Australia which has now become www.birdlife.org.au/ ‎

Up at the Mayfair and all that Jazz

Not New Orleans, but sounds like it  It isn’t often that we have free entertainment in the street/ courtyard. Today it was the Hobart Jazz Club, playing up the hill at the Mayfair. Great fun – cheap wine, cheap food and good   company, all within walking - even crawling distance of home. Is that a bit of product placement I detect in the corner? Never mind they gave out prizes too, so I'll forgive them. Nothing like a couple of glasses of wine on a sunny afternoon to make one feel forgiving. The Jazz Executives belt out a tune This is the other group,   whose name I didn't catch. Excellent voice on the lead singer. At least two of the ladies from my dance class were there and when they played some of those Broadway numbers, we were up and dancing.  We had fun even though I have as yet, very little idea of the steps. Hey! They were playing our songs. Nor were we the only ones happily making fools of ourselves. This next picture isn't at all

Some Updates and how you can help our scientists

Not the Sea Urchin I saw at the Seaside Festival but one of the same Longspine type ( Centrostephanus Rodgersii) kindly sent to me by Jemina Stuart -Smith at Redmap* Update "Hunting the Wild Waterfalls- Adamson's Falls"   posted 19/11/2015 Talking to a member of Birdlife Australia at the Taroona Seaside Festival yesterday, I was able to confirm that the bird  I saw was a lyrebird  and yes, they do nest in trees at night! Birdlife Australia works for bird conservation and also runs a variety of volunteer programs. I'm looking forward to learning more about our feathered friends, maybe even getting some decent pictures, and am really pleased to have found people who are able to answer my many questions and identify some of the plants and animals I have encountered on my travels.  Update " Narawntapu Day 2 - posted 2/11/2015 Re: The high intertidal range in the North of Tasmania (Baker's Beach) and in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Also at the Seasid

Hunting the Wild Waterfalls 3 - Billy Brown's Falls

This is an awesome waterfall Billy Brown's Waterfall proved to be somewhat elusive. There were supposed to be hand written signs somewhere, but I didn’t see those and drove clear through Judbury and Lonnavale before coming upon someone who knew where it was. Not that the trip up the valley alongside the Huon River was wasted - the grass was high and green, hay making was in progress complete with the luscious the smell of of freshly mown grass. There were sleek horses in paddocks along with alpacas with that enigmatic smile they have when they are just about to bite someone. Baby goats (kids) leapt into the air with all four hooves as only young goats can to express the sheer joy of life. This is a magnificent waterfall, but now I know why I have never seen it on any tourist map. It is not for the faint - hearted. This road, when I finally found it, was even worse than the one I was on yesterday, the more so because it was longer,   steeper, and  rockier.  And yes, th

Hunting the Wild Waterfalls- Day 2 - Arve Falls

The first Waratahs The Hartz Mountains look superb from a distance. They have a sharp chiselled outline rather like two pyramids, but the first thing everyone tells wannabe bushwalkers, particularly in this area, is the Tragic Tale of Osborne Geeves, after whose family Geeveston is named.   View across the Valleys An expert bushman, Osborne was on prospecting trip in the Hartz Mountains with his three sons and a nephew on a fine day on the 27th.   of November in 1877, when they were unexpectedly overtaken by a blizzard. His son Arthur died in his arms and the nephew, Robert, died of exposure after being dragged into one of the huts. That kind of thing has always given this area a bit a sinister reputation and one approaches the   Hartz Mountains (all mountains in Tas. really) with a certain amount of respect. We turn left at the Arve Picnic shelter instead of heading up to the Tahune Airwalk. This road though unsealed is wide and not too bad. Waratah Lookou

Hunting the Wild Waterfalls - Day 1. - Adamson's Falls, almost

Spring growth in the rainforest This is a cautionary tale.  Not every bushwalking trip is an outstanding success. I am telling you about some of my ‘fails’ because it will give you some idea about what to expect once you go off the main road, 'behind the scenery' as it were, and some of the things you should and shouldn’t do. The day started out well enough. I’d come across an excellent website detailing some of the lesser known   waterfalls and, with the promise of good weather for the next few days, I headed South, my original plan being to take it easy on the first day and do one of the longer  walks on the second day.  By the time I arrived in Geeveston however, jumping off point for the Hartz National Park, the weather forecast had changed. Now a thunderstorm was predicted for the following day which meant I should probably do the longer walk today while the weather was good.  I also heard from a friend who’d never done any bushwalking before that she would