22nd May 2010, Coles Bay

I lived for a while on the beaches between Cape Tribulation and Cooktown. This area is famous for the water coming right up to the trees at high tide – there are no beaches. But, at low tide there are huge expanses of muddy sand flats. The whole of the north of Australia seems like this; because the water is so shallow when the tide goes out, it goes out a long way.

At low tide on these beaches you would see a patchwork of blue and pink; two different types of soldier crab. There were so many, it was hard to walk without stepping on them. They moved together in large groups of hundreds, big patches of pink and blue moving across the sand.

This crab was at Swanwick beach in Coles Bay. Not as colourful or in the numbers of the Cape York Peninsula crabs, but otherwise similar. I started taking photos of them at about quarter to four; by four they had all buried themselves.

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25th April 2010 Coles Bay

Father of The Muppet, partner in crime to Chai. Zed tries to relax, but gets harassed by Chai. Zed and Chai share a house with Vanessa.

His sexuality is often questioned, or worse some people just assume he is more of a girl. He greets you at the door with a big fluffy dice or some other sort of stuffed toy in his mouth – a pink panther is one of his favorites.

If I look outside I see a plush bedraggled teddy sprawled on a garden bench, and another one at the head of the track we take when we head off on an exploratory walk.

Sometimes the floor is covered with all his toys in contorted positions, little ones and big ones, some with torn limbs and their innards spilling out. It is like the aftermath of a deadly battle between cuddly and squeaky toys.

For other comic relief, Zed is the master of sleeping positions. One of the funniest is when he is on his back with his paws hanging in the air.

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25th April 2010 Coles Bay

Chai is mother of The Muppet. She is a ball dog. Anything can be used for a ball, things like sheoak cones and stuffed toys.

She is really good at finding balls, especially tennis balls, anywhere. Although she appears quiet and reserved, it is Chai who starts up the play fights. She picks fights with The Muppet, me,  and Zed the big male labrador. You can see Zed standing in the background above.

While I’m sitting in a chair, writing this post, Chai deposits toys on the arm of the chair, then lies on the floor in wait. I’m supposed to throw the toy for her to chase. She is so delicate though, that I usually don’t notice until I get off the chair and see all the toys accumulated there.

Another of Chai’s peculiarities is that she stares at you; it is as though she is trying to communicate something.

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The Muppet starting a new day

24th April 2010, Coles Bay

Also known as The Grub or The Slug; it’s real name is China.

The Muppet walks like a bear; a bear walking kind of looks like it has poohed its pants. Although walking isn’t really The Muppet’s strong point. It has legs like little tree stumps to support the disproportionate weight. The Muppet might lose its legs as it evolves into something that just lies and eats.

The Muppet contemplates attack

The mum is golden, the father brown. The Muppet is black. Both parents are labradors; The Muppet is still metamorphosing into something, probably a walrus.

It is an only child, which could account for its size.

The Muppet exercises

The Muppet’s father, Zed, is an athletic monster, approaching the size of a great dane. Zed doesn’t really approve of The Muppet, and often barks a deep bass bark centimetres from The Muppet’s schnozzle (it’s not quite a nose yet). The blast from the bark sends the curtains flying. The Muppet closes it’s eyes and weathers the storm, its ears blowing back from the blast. It then leaps a few millimetres in the air and playfully yips back at Zed, totally at ease.

The Muppet has Zed’s number.

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23rd October 2009, Glenorchy

Another  hapless fowl sentenced to the Hobart Show for the duration

I have a bump on my noggin and a sore hip from ice skating. If I go again I’m wearing a helmet and one of those suits that attack dog trainers wear.

No, that isn’t me. If it was I’d have a helmet on too.

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23rd October 2009, Glenorchy

A dodgy looking character incarcerated at the Hobart Show.

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23rd October, Glenorchy

Another picture from the Hobart show. This Duck was making a racket, and poking her head out when there was no one around. I felt a kindred spirit.

I took this at full zoom (200mm) and at iso 800 which is why it is so grainy, but I like the shot.

Note: Woody is short for Wood Duck.

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23rd October 2009, Glenorchy

This morning I had a test ride on a Can Am Spyder – see below. It is a three wheeler 990cc rotax engined flappy paddle type auto gearbox. Two wheels at the front.

I booked in for the test ride, just to have a ride on something exotic. It was a beautiful day to have a ride and I enjoyed it, but the bike was a huge dissappointment. I really thougtht the front wheels would lean over into the corner, but they don’t, they stay upright. This makes for a very boring, stilted, two dimensional ride. I can’t imagine many motorcyclists would enjoy these – you just can’t get into corners like you can on a motorbike.

Also, my single cylinder  650 would have left these for dead; they just didn’t move. I was expecting a lot more.

The rest of the day I spent at the Hobart Show. I mostly enjoyed looking at the animals and photographing them. I felt for them though, caged up for three days with all sorts of people in their faces. Well, I was in their faces too but able to put them at ease. They really all looked as though they just wanted to get out into the open.

There were also some great photographs in the photographic exhibition. You could tell that none of them were taken with a compact digital – the quality was superb.

The Can Am Spyder – I pilfered this photo from http://www.tuvie.com/can-am-spyder-roadster-three-wheels-vehicle/

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“Chook (now her name) was wild when I first came here. Now, if I’m a bit slow feeding her, she walks up the veranda steps and looks through the glass front door.”

(c) Andrew Calder

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“I’ve more or less decided to be friends with Floss, we have stuff in common. She’s a funny girl. I was trying to take photos of the poor chook today, and I think floss was jealous, she kept chasing the chook away. She was quite happy for me to take pictures of her though.”

(c) Andrew Calder

Excerpt from email sent late February.

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