Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Synchronous siblings

December 15th, 2010

2nd October 2010 Maria Island

There were young geese and wallabies all over the place. The young geese seemed to do everything in unison, with the mother watching over them and the father standing guard. They’d even eat together while sitting down.

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Random shots of geese

December 1st, 2010

Goose family

2nd October 2010 Maria Island

I have some photos of Maria Island left that I like. While we were on Maria, geese and wallabies all had young.

Goose youth

These are Cape Barren Geese. In the 1950′s there was a fear that these geese would become exinct. Some geese were introduced to Maria Island in 1968. Now you can see them wherever there is green grass to be eaten on the island. There is so much competition for grazing on Maria by various forms of wildlife that the grassy areas look like bowling greens.

Goose legs

Forrester kangaroos were also introduced to Maria Island because of their dwindling numbers on mainland Tasmania. These are often culled so that the island can support the remaining wildlife.

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The door to the mill on top of relentless hill

November 30th, 2010

2nd October 2010 Maria Island

According to my word web online dictionary, relentless means something like “never ceasing”. This is the adjective that Kathy used while we were walking up what I would call a slight rise :) . If you think I might be being stoic, it wasn’t steep enough for a ball to roll down. If there were lots of rain it would form puddles rather than run down the…ummm, slight incline.

OK, to be fair, she had just walked up Bishop and Clerk, which is a hill, and she was tired, and there was no café on top of Relentless hill to look forward to :)

Wheat was grown on Maria Island for a short while. There was a windmill used to grind wheat and corn. The door is to the miller’s cottage which was next to where the windmill used to be. This latch looked like it was made by a blacksmith.

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A pademelon in the woodpile

October 19th, 2010

25th September 2010 Tasman Peninsula

There is a big pile of dead branches, and this fellow has his home in there.

I nearly talked him out :) ; he looked curious.

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Please don’t touch the walls

October 16th, 2010

27th September 2010 Port Arthur historic site

I read such a request somewhere, and when I got here, everyone had the urge to sit in the window frames :)

It always amazes me that apparently intelligent and over educated people manage these things, yet they seem to have minds like dinosaurs – they are unable to adapt, unable to come up with something that works. Something simple like a protective clear coating on the sandstone perhaps.

I remember seeing people doing just this over 20 years ago in this same place, with the same feeble request in the written guide and on site.

These kids have been told to sit still, while their mother was composing a shot. I side with the cranky boy :) I suppose for guys, accommodating women starts at a young age :)

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I am ze peanut butter

October 15th, 2010

25th September 2010 Tasman Peninsula

The smaller kangaroo was so persistent in trying to kiss the bigger kangaroo. The big kangaroo wasn’t quite into all the “in your face” affection :) The scene reminded me of the Pepe Le Pew cartoons, hence the name of this post.

The whole quote is from Pepe Le Pew: “I am ze peanut butter. You are ze jelly. Come, let us make a sandwich of love.”

More of his quotes that I like :)

* Come back darling, golden violet! I will unshy you! You are just insecure. All you need is a little occupational therapy, like    making love!

* All right buttercup, you ‘ave done all zat could be expected. You ‘ave resisted your natural impulses and run away from me.

* Do not come with me to ze casbah, we shall make beautiful musics togezzer right ‘ere!

* Come, pink pigeon, we are wasting valuable time!

* I am ze broken heart of love. I am ze disillusioned and wish to enlist in ze foreign legion so I may forget. Take me!

* Turn out zee lights, darling. I know where everything is :)

* I tell you what. You stop resisting me, and I, I will stop resisting you. When ‘ave you ‘ad a better offer zan zat?

* Eenie, meenie, miney mo, catch a lover by ze toe, if she ‘oller, ‘old her closer; eenie, meenie, miney mosa.

* Permit me to introduce myself. I am Pepe Le Pew, your lover.

* Where are you, my little object of art? I am going to collect you!

* Zee cabbage does not run away from zee corn-beef.

* I am ze locksmith of love, no?

Oh, bugger, I just found a beauty, but totally unrelated to this post, from Foghorn Leghorn:

* That girl’s like that road between Fort Worth and Dallas …No curves

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Parting Shot

October 14th, 2010

2nd October 2010 Maria Island

This was the last shot I took on Maria Island. It wasn’t easy. I wanted the shot close to the ground with the Magpie Goose blocking the sun. I would lie down, sight up, then the goose would move :) And the light was disappearing fast.

We stayed here for four days; it wasn’t long enough. There were magpie geese and kangaroos with young families, and lots of competition for grass. Most grassy places on the island looked as though they were bowling greens although none were flat.

Bugger! In hindsight I should have called this post The golden goose.

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