I just came across a creative piece of collabrative art. While it does recycle after a bit, it is still amazing to witness the detail and amount of work put into it. (I’d think it would make an awesome screen saver)
You can check it out here: http://zoomquilt.tobina.de/zoom.htm
I just got back from visiting a Japanese Culture event being held at the local Arts Center. They had quite a bit going on, two stages, kabuki theater, martial arts demonstrations, music and dancing, Japanese tea ceremonies, calligraphy, paper cutting and vegetable carving. I also came across quite a number of vendors, both food and goods.
I wandered around for a while, taking pictures, watching the shows, trying the food, and just enjoying a pleasant sunny day.
This past week, we had two friends from the states drop by for a visit. Murray and Krista were on holiday in Australia and had just finished their first 4 days in Sydney and now were due to spend a few with us before moving on to Cairns and then back to Sydney.
Saturday I headed out to the airport to pick them up and then bring them back to a home cooked (Mustard Chicken) dinner courtesy of Bryan. We spent the rest of the evening catching up on life back home and a few of the adventures they done so far in Sydney.
The next morning everyone was up early because they were all heading out to see the Australia Zoo. I spent most of the day studying for my final test in the Wildlife Rescue Class and afterwards went shopping so I could cook dinner that night. Everyone made it back that evening, with lots of animal stories, Koala photos, etc. We finished up dinner and relaxed for the night.
Monday morning, Murray and I went for a walk around Southport, we picked up coffee and breakfast for Krista and headed back. After dropping everything off, we grabbed our gear and we headed down to the Gold Coast Airport. Murray had rented a single engine plane for us to fly around the area in. We met with the flight instructor and then headed off to the local supply shop to grab some airspace maps. After we returned, he went over the flight-plan with Murray and then we headed out to the plane. After the standard checks, and tower clearance, we were off. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, the sky was sunny and clear, while the ocean was a stunning (and inviting) blue. Luckily there isn’t much traffic in the area, so we were able to fly at about 500ft off the ground while going up the coast. This gave us some of the best views of the Gold Coast I’ve seen yet. Lots of photos were taken as we made our way up to “The Spit” at which point we turned West and headed inland over Southport and into the Hinterlands. We flew through some valleys, over a beautiful lake, passed the local mountains, and then turned back east to the ocean. On the way back, we got clearance to drop back down to 500ft and follow a winding river back to the ocean.
After we landed, we headed back up the Gold Coast Freeway and thought it would be a great day to grab everyone for lunch and then head out to the beach. After squeezing into the car, we headed out to Main Beach where we had burgers and then kicked back on the sand. I ran out into the waves to play around. Murray joined me for a while until he was exhausted by the ocean (those waves are quite a workout, you quickly realize you a quite small and insignificant compared to their unyielding power). I hung out for a bit longer before heading in. We sat and had fun watching the antics of the tourists playing on the beach.
It was getting later in the day so we headed home to clean up for a bit before going back to Surfers Paradise for some Starbucks. We met up with our friend Sergio and sat around drinking coffee, listening to stories and having a great time. Once night hit, we thought it would be a good idea to head over to the D’Arcy Arms for some Irish grub. Sergio, Murray and I decided to walk while Kristen, Bryan, and Krista all drove. Once we got there, Sergio’s friend Michael met up with us and we all had a great meal. Sergio was not feeling too well so we figured it was about time to head home.
Murray and I finished up the night playing around on our laptops and then finally crashing, though Murray was up for quite a bit longer due to all the coffee :).
The final morning, I took Murray and Krista to the airport to check in their main baggage, and then we drove in to Brisbane to kill most of the day. We wandered around Queens street, checked out the live performers, made our way across the bridge to the Southbank area (a sort of community/art center area). Murray saw a bearded dragon basking in the sun and took some shots of it. We made our way long the coastline, passed a Nepalese Pagoda, and then the man-made pool/beach area (with lifeguards). Eventually we found the dock for the Ferry that would take us to the far side of the city’s CBD area. As we rode around, we both snapped photos of the local artwork, the Kangaroo Pt cliffs, and finally the eastern shore of the city.
About this time we had to part ways, I had to make it back to Southport because my test was that night in Currumbin and Murray and Krista had to get back to the airport (via train) to fly off to Cairns.
It was really nice having them visit, and I look forward to catching up with them again when I return to the states.
I just heard some really bad news. Steve Irwin (of Crocodile Hunter fame) just died from a cardiac arrest after being stung in the chest by a sting ray.
He spent most of his life working with wildlife, conservation, and education. He had a wild, entertaining, and engaging personality of which we would lovingly call “completely insane” as we watched him taunt a ginormous saltwater croc.
Steve, you will be sorely missed, rest in peace.
My inner geek forces me to share this comic with the world. Trust me, if you are not familiar with Unix, then you don’t stand much of a chance getting this:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/08/if_you_get_this_youre_a_geek.php
We all have those feelings, at one time or another, that we may not be getting what we pay for. In this news segment, we find out how (5 of 9) Jiffy Lube stations stiffed their customers.
Here is the video:
http://mfile.akamai.com/12924/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2006/0503/9152183.200k.asx
This week we were going over birds, but at the beginning of the class, Tracy took us into one of the back rooms to show us some temporary storage ares. After crowding into a small room we got to see their setups for snakes, lizards, and spiders. I got to see how they stored the pythons and blue tongued lizard from last week, plus we got to view a Huntsman with her babies and a Funnel Web Spider. Afterwards we were led to a cage area where I got to feed Mealworms to a pair of Sugar Gliders, and a Tawny Frogmouth (I cannot tell you how cute they were). In the same area we got to see a barn owl and a bush tailed possum.
During the class, Tracy brought out a Barking Owl which was throwing a tantrum because he thought he was going to get fed but she didn’t have any mice for him. Later on she brought out a Barn Owl who was better behaved (and a LOT quieter).
After going over the reading material, we all then headed out across the park to the food preparation area. I really liked walking through the park at night, you could hear all the nocturnal animal rummaging about, and there were no distractions from tourists. While walking along Tracy heard a wild Tawny Frogmouth making calls while perched in a tree above us. After a few moments of letting us highlight him with our flashlights, he took flight to a more private branch (being a night hunter, he is amazingly silent when flying).
We reached the food prep area and got to see the seed mixes for the different species, we found out about insectivore powers and mixes, live cricket breeding, storage for mealworms, etc. One surprising fact I discovered was that they were not allowed to kill food to feed the animals, so most of their raptor and reptile food (mice & rats) are purchased dead already (it is very surreal to see a plastic take-home container with frozen mice lined up like sardines). There was one exception to this rule (I forget what “food” animal) but when they had to kill it, they used CO2 gas (as the most humane option). Tracy noted that the live-feed industry was quite lucrative, a small (to-go) box of mealworms can easily run $7. But she also noted that it takes a lot of time and work to breed the live-feed. When she was growing her own crickets at home for some animals she was nursing back to health, she noted that she had to spend more time working with the “feed” than with the actual animals.
We wrapped up the evening and back to the front gates. While walking there, I struck up a conversation with Neel (Neal?) who was taking the class but was also a volunteer at the park. I found out that they get a lot of interaction with the animals and there are a number of different areas you can work. They are also quite flexible with schedules. I’m really thinking of signing up for my final months here. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Here are some photos:
Next week are the mammals…
Lately, with it being cold(er) (it’s winter here ya know), no visitors, and working on my laptop lately, I’ve noticed I’ve been getting out of shape. I did try going back into the ocean last week, and it wasn’t that bad after the initial shock of the water temp, but it seems to have been (low) enough to remove that “inviting” feel of the ocean (at least for now). So I’ve been interested in finding a way to get some more exercise into my routine. I’ve done some walking around the area, but there really isn’t much to see here (I get bored easily), and regular gym memberships are those (heavy) investment ones that want you to sign up for a year (yada, yada). Luckily, Kristen just told me about an indoor climbing gym (that her physical therapist told her about) just down the road. We’re going to check it out when she’s feeling better. I found their online site: Paramount Adventure and the pricing looks really promising.
I had my second class at Currumbin last night. This time we met Joshua who is a reptile specialist. The main focus of the evening was going to be on:
This time I got to handle and play with a Blue Tongue Lizard, two types of Carpet Pythons, and a young Saltwater Crocodile. The lizards just chilled out on the handlers hands as they were taken around and introduced to each of us. If you saw one in the bush, you could easily mistake it for a short fat snake due to their very tiny legs. The first python wrapped in to ball (around my wrists) as it tried to suck as much warmth out of my hands as it could (its amazing how much muscle control they have). The croc surprised me, I was expecting a hard scaly coating, but he was quite soft and flexible (I can see why they are farmed for their skins). He was about 4 years old and about 5 feet long, and they had his mouth taped up for our safety. Unfortunately, we had a limited time to view him because he was due to meet the night tour a little later on.
After the Q&A we all headed out to the “Naturally Wild Rainforest Exhibit” (which you can see pictures from my first visit to Currumbin here). It’s a large enclosed exhibit with reptiles, fish, fauna, nocturnal mammals, etc. While wandering around one of the classmates (who also was a volunteer at Currumbin) noticed a Squirrel Glider was loose from his (her?) exhibit, so we there was a bit of excitement as they caught the glider and returned it back to the habitat.
Next week is all for the birds.
This past week I started my “Wildlife Rescue Course” hosted by Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. It is an eight week course (one night a week, 2.5h/night).
During the class, we learn identification, handling, and housing of:
We Learn hand-rearing, record keeping, policy, legislation, conservation, rehabilitation and release, ethics, and euthanasia.
Now this all sounds pretty in-depth, but it isn’t that meticulous, the class very beginner orientated (the students range from early high school to 50 year old volunteers). It is meant to help encourage wildlife awareness, and offer wildlife (type) careers. Due to the large development and growth of the civilization in the area, human and wildlife interaction is pretty common, so having people in the populace that know how to help/care for injured animals until professional help is contacted is in high demand.
The first night mostly consisted of orientation, talks about legislation, an orientation film on the sanctuary, etc. During the talk, we were visited by a huntsman spider. While not poisonous, their bite can hurt, the are a bit large, oh and they jump. This had our instructor constantly keeping an eye on it as he climbed the drapes next her chair :).
At one point, she disappeared behind a door and then came out with Frogmouth Bird. She went around allowing people to handle the bird as she gave some history and information about the species. I got to hold him for a few minutes and was amazed at how light he was (considering his size).
Before the night wrapped up, we all headed out and into a private habitat cage (only accessible by the night tours). Once inside, we were quickly greeted by two territorial Brush Tailed Possums, a pair of curious and friendly Sugar Gliders one of which jumped onto one of the girls looking for food (it turns out that the night tour feeds all the animals in this area), two more Frogmouth birds, and a pair of Bettongs.
It was a great night, and I look forward to seeing more as the class continues. Next week is reptiles night.
