Robot Claw – Page 817 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Blackbutt

January 12, 2008

First, let’s get some food out of the way…

The beer was Dad’s. I took the picture since I figured it has to be the only beer in the world with a thylacine on the label.

Today I set out at about 8am to walk to Blackbutt Reserve, which is a (free) public nature park with many lovely walks and some very impressive displays of native wildlife. Even at that hour the heat was relentless. I had packed a frozen solid bottle of water with me, but it had completely thawed within twenty minutes of setting out! I was covered in sunblock, wore loose clothing and kept to the shade as best I could but I still felt like I was walking in an oven. The sun was absolutely merciless; every photon hit me like a tiny bullet. I felt like I was training for the army. I felt like I was being punished for something I hadn’t done.

I felt like I was alive.

< Long Time Man

It took me a little over an hour to get to Blackbutt (if you’re super-bored, check the route on Google Earth), and I immediately set out to see the animals. I had heard the bird exhibits were damaged in the flood/storm of last June and so they were…

< Poor birdy But damage notwithstanding, this would prove to be my best ever visit to Blackbutt. Rather than explain why, I will show you:

I have never been so close to a Koala. It’s a little hard to tell in the third image, but had I wanted to I could have reached out and touched his paw. The first photo (which I love) was providential – while I was in the Koala house he just deigned to look up at me as I stood there and just watched him. It was almost as if he was mugging for the camera, albeit in that slow-motiony way a Koala moves.

Or do they??

The icing on the cake was that a second Koala was running around on the ground of the enclosure. He was crazy! I got a lot of good video of him (which I can’t upload since Dad has almost reached his monthly quota) and watched him for at least fifteen minutes. I can’t remember ever seeing a Koala so active, much less active like he was (running around sniffing around for food like a cat). It was a very memorable experience.

The other natives didn’t seem to want to disappoint me today either…

I dislike using the flash on my camera, but it was necessary for the wombat photo. One day I’ll walk into a wombat enclosure and they will actually be awake 🙂

Oh, and if you’re an arachnophobe…avoid Blackbutt 🙁

< Terokkarantula

Twelve Stormwater Drains of the Greater Newcastle Suburban Area

January 12, 2008

A series of 12 images entitled “Stormwater”

Belly Ache

January 11, 2008

As I type this I have a belly ache. Was it the fish’n’chips for lunch, or the sustained rich eating of junk food, or perhaps the inevitable result of a ceaseless river of Lift soda flowing down my throat?

< Drink Of The Gods Yesterday, with Sue and her kids, I went to Caves beach. It was ruthlessly hot (for this ex-pat) but it was also big fun. It was my first (and not to be last) time in the surf, and it seems we were feeling the tail end of the rough seas from last week. Every fifth or sixth wave was much bigger than the others, and, unprepared for the strength of the current, I was knocked down and very nearly lost my glasses! All was well though, and I had a great time. It is the unique ability of the Australian sun to ruthlessly find the smallest part of yourself to which you had missed applying sunblock and burn the hell out of it. In this case, the backs of my giant calves! Some shots of Caves Beach, including the rockpools and from inside the biggest of the caves...