Category: Australia 2019

*Photos will be added when I’ve decent WiFi*

Four main stops today:

Kosciuszko National Park

Kosciuszko National Park is part of the “Australian Alps” – the highest mountain ranges on the mainland. The Alps are, in turn, part of the Great Dividing Range which is 3,000 km of mountains, hills and highlands that run from northern Queensland (in the north) to central Victoria (in the south).

Kozciuszko NP is an impressive 695,000 hectares. And according to the information board three indigenous groups “were considered the custodians of the Australian Alps.” I noted the word “were” and concluded that they’re not anymore 🙁 Indeed, despite the original owners having occupied the area for thousands of years and (I assume), giving it a name, Mount Kosciuszko is named after a Pole. Go figure.

Snowy Mountains Scheme

This area is called the “Snowy Mountains” and contains one of the “seven engineering wonders of the modern world.” (Which I didn’t even know was a thing, but there you go). Buit between 1949 and 1974, the “Snowy Mountains Scheme” collects, stores and diverts water in the area to generate 4,500 gigawatt hours of clean renewable energy each year (about 11% of the National Electricity Market) and 2360 litres of water for irrigation.

Carryong

Written by an Australian bush poet, “The Man from Snowy River” captured the heart of the nation and the essense of this area. It telss the story of a horseback pursuit in the mountains of the Great Dividing Range. And it’s why Carryong is on the map.

It was also an example of a typical town, complete with covered, shop-lined pavements and diagonal parking:

 

Scammell’s lookout

Here I learnt about the Aboriginal origins of the area. I was looking over the highest parts of the Snowy Mountains which are of great spiritual importance to the local indigenous people – they are the centre of “Tidbillaga” or “the place where the spirits dance.”

 

These rock formations, valleys and rivers all have their stories as to who formed them and what they represent. Some landscape features are the result of ancestral animals sdigging for food. Others, such as deep valleys, were formed by the travels of ancestral snakes or by Wind spirits.

 

I also learn a bit about the botany of the area. Differences in rainfall, altitude, aspect and soils produce the distinct vegetation zones. Botanists sometimes categorise plants in a particular area by the dominant trees. This “alliance” encompasses a range of other plants which are generally found with them. Here you can find three distinct areas:

• • Savanna woodlands – lowland plant communities with the cracking name of  “white sally-black sally” alliance
  • Sclerophyll forests – woody plants with tough leaves and thick bark. They can cope with the low phosphorous levels in the soil, dry conditions and frequent fire.
  • Sub-alpine woodlands – at about 1500 metres, there is a change from tall forests to lower-growing and more open sub-alpine woodland of the snow gum alliance. Above 1830 metres, the alpine vegetation begins

 

But from the lookout, built in 1961 and upgraded in 1963 for the Queen’s visit, it was grey today, so I wasn’t able to reference what the information board had explained:

 

Other interesting places today included Dead Horse Gap (what is it about dead horses over here?!):

 

Siberia (which was about 20m long!):

 

And another not-so-interesting place. So “not-so-interesting” in fact, that it’s worth a mention. Thredbo had been our destination, but it was a small, crowded town full of posh hotels and cars – like a Swiss alpine resort but on steroids:

 

So we moved on to Jindabyne, and its beautiful lake:

 

On the way this morning, we went past a very strange lake – full of water but full of dead trees. Very eerie:

 

A deliberate (honest!) detour was worth it for the view:

 

On the border, we were in an dout of NSW and Victoria:

 

Signs of the day:

And I started the day with a swim in another outdoor 50m pool (in a complex with a 25m and a play pool) – just can’t get over how common they are over here. Something I could definitely get used to 🙂

*Photos will be added when I’ve decent WiFi*

To turn right in Melbourne, you have to get into the left-hand lane – it’s a “hook turn” and used to keep the centre of the road clear for the trams. Still looks mighty weird:

 

Another graffiti alley:

 

And then it was back on the road. Heading north where there was no more green grass – back to the fields of gold:

 

On the highway… that allows cyclists:

 

And, like the USA, there are lots of billboards lining the motorways. Information overload – glad it’s not allowed in the UK.

 

Our first sign of the mountains that we’ll hopefully start exploring tomorrow:

 

Distances between places are days, not hours, of travel – so we end up spending some nights in motels (another similarity to the USA). Instead of those little buttons of poor-quality UHT milk that you need about a dozen of to get a decent slug, they provide a small bottle of fresh milk on arrival. Approved.

*Photos will be added when I’ve decent WiFi*

The Great Ocean Road was originally conceived as a project to create work for returned servicemen, and as a living memorial to the Victorians who served in the First World War.. Funding came from public donations. Work on the first stretch between Lorne and Aireys Inlet was started in 1919. A total of 3,000 ex-servicemen worked with pick and shovel, and stayed in well-organised camps complete with vegetable plots, cooks and pianos.

The single lane, unsealed road was officially opened in 1922. The second stretch was built ten years later and the road metalled by 1934 due to increased traffic. When control was handed to the Country Roads Board in 1936, the toll-gate was ceremoniously unlocked. It’s been free ever since, linking up the coastal towns and opening them up to tourism and development (whether or not this is a good thing I won’t debate here).

At 241 kilometres, it’s the world longest war memorial.

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Great start to the day with a large male koala in the tree outside the cabin:

Then back on to the Great Ocean Road, and the first viewpoint of the day:

We’d planned to stop in Lorne for lunch… but a few other tourists had the same idea. So after a quick stop at the pier:

… we came across the first traffic jam since leaving Sydney:

Split Point Lighthouse near Aireys Inlet:

 

Signs for the GOR’s “Chocolaterie and icecreamery” appeared soon after, and it would have been rude not to drop in. It was, unsurprisingly, a bit of a circus but the free chocolate made it just about bearable 😉

 

Delicious-looking icecream (although not as many flavours as you’d expect from a place dedicated to the stuff):

 

And a triumph of marketing with the “dark chocolate sorbet” declaring itself “99% fat free”. Which it probably was. Except that it would have been loaded with sugar… and guess what your body turns unused sugar into….?!

 

Approaching Melbourne:

 

And a very authentic pho to finish a long day of travelling:

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Random other stuff from today:

 

Sign of the day was seen as we entered the chocolaterie car park:

 

… except it’s actually quite freaking (because that silhouette doesn’t look anything like an oompa loompa).

 

Stoopid tourists – after standing on the wall, she went over the other side to take photos:

Camperdown was suggested by the man at Tourist Info in Port Fairy – and it didn’t disappoint.

The area is littered with landforms resulting from volcanic activity. An island within a massive crater:

On the island we saw emus:

A magpie looking mightily p****d off (but don’t they always?):

I learnt two interesting facts about Eastern Grey Kangaroos:

1. They live in a family group called a mob.
2. Kangaroos and wallabies have excellent hearing. Watch how their ears move around like satellite dishes.

A koala sleeping in a tree, looking like a motorcycle passenger:

A family of black swans:

Not much wildlife out because it was too hot, but saw clear signs of activity, such as someone’s house:

The area is a “tuff-ring maar crater” dated at 20,000 – 30,000 years old (so fairly recent in geological terms). A maar crater forms when rising red-hot magma intersects buried ground water, and massive steam-driven explosions blow the surround rock high into the air. Powered rock (ash) falls back to form a low tuff-ring around a wide, flat crater.

In the evening, we headed to Mount Leura and the wonderfully-named “Mount Sugarloaf”, two of the more prominent “scoria cones”. Scoria cones form when, with the water source depleted, subsequent eruptions build up mounts of frothy lava, which are “nested” inside the wider crater. They were used by indigenous communities as signalling towers, lookouts for game and neighbouring people, and as landmarks to guide them home.

Wonderful views over the surrounding area:

Lake Purrembete and Mt Porndon – the latter is formed from lava flow of the Western Victorian Volcanic Plains and is called a “stony rise”:

As little as 1% of the original vegetation remains today as European settlers cleared it for grazing. Therefore, the “sony rises” are important conservation areas because they have suffered less disturbance to the original ecology.

Trees planted in lines – I think it’s to mark boundaries while also providing shade for livestock (which are numerous in this “dairy country”):

Butterfly with camouflaged underwings:

And towards the end of the evening, we were joined by this beautiful falcon (?):

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Random other stuff from today:

Washing the car is great fun – 5 AUD gives you a set number of minutes to get it done, turning it into a game:

We’re in pine-tree country – acres upon acres growing in neat lines:

Lunch at local cafe with a telephone theme, the star attraction of which was this old wall-mounted number looking a little freaky with it’s bell eyes:

“For sale” signs are much better here, listing key features of the property:

Another example of houses growing outwards, not upwards:

Chimneys in the fields – not sure what they’re for:

Liquorice ice cream – and the resulting blue tongue!:

At the tourist information in Port Fairy, we were told about a nearby town that consistently beat its own records for the most rainfall. It was discovered that the man had been topping it up, so he could continue to get on the news!

And so many contenders for “sign of the day”, that I’ve decided to just show them all in a little montage:

*Photos will be added when I’ve decent WiFi*

A day on the road, experiencing the vastness of this country:

Four ways you can easily tell it isn’t England:

1. The roads are long, straight… and virtually devoid of traffic. We can drive for 20 minutes without seeing another vehicle.
2. Whilst there are trees, the grass is dry and brown – really haven’t seen much green grass in Australia. Anywhere.
3. Fields are very, very large – whereas in England they’d be divided up into smaller chunks with lanes and hedgerows.
4. There are emus in the fields.

 

Got to Wellington and the road sent us down to the river… and the free 5 minute ferry:

Stopped at Meningie’s “Pink Lake” where the salt is coloured from the carotene in the plants:

Lunch stop should have been a delightful roadside picnic, but we were serious harassed by the flies, so finished by eating in the car:

Through wine country – they call shops “cellar doors”:

Pizza sizes – apparently “F” stands for “family”. I didn’t tell her what I guessed it stood for:

House prices – these were the cheapest and dearest in the agent’s window:

Parking spot dedicated to Tesla drivers:

Sign of the day – watch out for wombats:

*Photos will be added when I’ve decent WiFi*

An easy day in Victor Harbour to rest and recuperate after our late night yesterday (which was worth it for the penguins). Travelling is wonderful, but is actually quite tiring – researching, planning, booking, preparing.

Main event was a short car trip to Rosetta Head Jetty:

Where we could look back at the town:

And viewpoint:

Where I learnt a little about the area:

Australia has about one million different native species. More than 80% of the country’s flowering plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique to Australia, along with most of its freshwater fish and almost half of its birds.

Native names of prominent places in the Encounter Bay area:

I’m not sure why the European versions took over when most of the places already had names. It’s a subtle insight into the treatment of Aboriginals. Even the South Australian Museum in Adelaide was noticeably light on the subject. In fact, an information board here had been vandalised, and the sentence “Steadily, the Ramindjeri/Ngarrindjeri people were displaced…” had the last word crossed out and “murdered” written above it.

Victor Harbour proposered when seaside holidays became fashionable by the 1870s with guesthouses and hotels springing up in response to the increased demand.

And apparently, there are “leafy seadragons” in these waters. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any. Interesting fact: the males give birth to the young.

Found a series of three diagrams neatly explaining the geological formation of the area:

Flies shelter on your back if it’s windy – but at least it means they’re not in your face:

Houses are bungalows, although a few near the sea were low blocks of flats – all with balconies:

View across Victor Harbour – you can just make out the causeway to Granite Island:

And today’s sign of the day:

“Little Penguins” (also called “fairy” or “little blue”) are the smallest penguins in the world:

Granite Island is a perfect home for them. Millions of years ago, a lava bubble formed and cooled beneath the earth’s surface. As the weight of the top layers reduced, cracks formed in the rock. Cracks exactly the right size for a little penguin – so they’ll only nest where there are rocks.

Nests are built by the males who dig out the soft stuff and weave native grasses to line the burrow. They then growl to attract females – the louder the growl, the better his genetics. Females spend their time feeding at sea – they need to weight at least 1.2 kg to be able to produce an egg. Attracted by the growling, they come ashore and check out the burrows and males available. Fights between males often result, and eventually the female will choose her mate.

Surprising fact: male penguins decorate their nests with unusual items in an effort to stand out. Items found in burrows include: a five-dollar note, golf balls and a baby’s dummy!

Parenting duties are shared equally with the male also sitting on the egg, and both parents going fishing to feed their young. Two chicks are usually born – never twins for diversity reasons – with one being strong, plus a second “reserve” chick. Eggs hatch after a month with a young chick about the size of a ping-pong ball. They’ll stay in the burrow for another two months, getting one feed a day, before venturing out by themselves.

Fishing is good at the mouth of the Murray River, so the Little Penguins make the 50km round trip to feast on pilchards – but they’ll often swim 70 – 100km a day. They’ll eat a fish the size of itself whole, strong stomach acid breaking it down as it goes. A small pouch on their chest is used to store their baby’s food (smaller fish, as they contain more oil overall).

When they arrive back on land, they wait a while before heading to their burrow – a wet nest will go mouldy, and the missus won’t be happy. Shaking their heads very fast, sprays out the salt from their nostrils and eyes. And then they bend diagonally backwards to push on the oil gland in their tail, and spread the oil over their bodies, creating a seal which will dry overnight so they’re ready to fish again the next morning. They’ll leave at 4am so they’re at the river mouth by sunrise.

When they return to the burrow, their chicks will hit the pouch to bring up the fish. Once empty, the parents have to hide, else the chicks will continue to hit them!

Every year, they moult during which time they can’t fish. Not all of them survive the three weeks on land without food.

I was also surprised at how much noise they make! As well as growling to attract a mate, they growl to warn off other males, and the in-breath sounds like a cat yowling. And they bark to announce their arrival, with others answering them.

Little Penguins swim on the surface of the water and their colouring is a perfect camouflage. The blue/grey of their back, wings and even the soles of their feet makes them almost invisible to birds of prey hovering above. And from below, their white bellies make them blend with the sunlight above. Seals don’t deliberately eat them, but sometimes mistake them for squid. Goanna’s are also known to eat big chicks, but as one will keep them going for months, they’re not a particular threat.

But, of course, the biggest risk to their existence is us. Murray River was the main method of transporting goods, and Victor Harbour was established as a port – in fact, it was planned to be the capital of southern Australia. The breakwater was built where, for centuries, Little Penguins had come ashore.

The causeway and visitor centre is built on the dry side of the island (closest to land) where the penguins prefer to nest. It’s important they keep warm, because they’re so small. They eat cold water fish, but can’t dive as it’s too cold – the barrier reef is more north, so they’re stuck at 35 degrees. That’s why you only find Little Penguins on the southern side of Australia and NZ.

Add to this the fact that they can’t breed for their first two years, and because they hardly sleep, they only live to seven years of age. Not only can they only have two chicks per year, only 5 – 10% of the population will survive to breed. So even in good times, their population increases slowly.

Plans have been approved to replace the current narrow wooden jetty with a six-foot wide, two-lane causeway. These beautiful creatures don’t stand a chance – our guide predicted that the colony would be eradicated within three to five years of the new infrastructure.

Apparently it’s what us humans call “progress.”

“Goanna” is another name for a monitor lizard. There are 26 known species in Australia, but Rosenberg’s is the only one on Kangaroo Island:

Once common in southern Asutralia, they’re now listed as “vulnerable to threatened” and KI is their last stronghold. Other interesting Rosenberg Goanna facts:

• Found in heath, open forest, sand dunes, coastal areas and woodland
• Individually they require large areas of habitat
• Not sexually mature until 6 – 9 years
• Utilise termite mounds for nesting purposes, laying up to 14 eggs
• Are generally very curious

They’re the island’s largest native predator, feeding on birds, eggs, small mammals, other reptiles… and roadkill. Which makes them targets for roadkill themselves. Road deaths increase in line with the amount of traffic, so increase during the holiday tourism season.

To add to that, juvenile survival rates are low with only one out of 12 surviving the first year.

Today was a day of “bays”, starting with Western River Cove:

Then Snelling Beach – where there was a birthday party in full swing:

Stokes Bay:

Emu Bay:

Pennington Bay:

 

And finally Penneshaw – and someone’s wedding snaps:

… to catch the ferry back to the mainland, along with a significant proportion of the island’s sheep population!

Other pictures from our road journey:

 

A day “making it up as we went along” – the way we love to travel 🙂

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Other random stuff from today:

I’ve seen these “Bushfire last resort refuge” signs in most towns:

 

A hobby train castle:

 

Florentine cookie – might try this one for Mum when I get home:

 

And today’s BOTD was an easy winner:

And here’s the runner up (green fly):

An early start meant we saw loads of wildlife on our morning walk, starting with koalas (love they way they settle with a branch supporting their bum):

And one that hadn’t got up yet – it stretched, scratched itself… and promptly went back to sleep:

Birdlife:

 

A tree that had fallen over – and an upright branch had become the trunk:

 

Wattle bush (I assume this is where the wattleseeds come from):

 

Kangaroos – they have much darker coats here, maybe because it’s coldr:

 

Remarkable Rocks

The “Remarkable Rocks” lived up to their name – they were indeed remarkable:

And orange. Orange lichen secretes an acid to release the minerals and nutrients from the rock, creating soil and gradually breaking down the rock.

 

The rocks were formed when a huge geological upheaval caused the melting of rock far below the earth’s surface.  The molten rock (magma) was buoyant and began to rise. Ten kilometres below the earth’s surface, the molten mass slowly began to cool and developed into variably-spaced granite rocks. As the overlying rock began to erode, the granite below fractured into sheets or layers, weathered and eventually resulted in isolated blocks. For the last 200 million years, erosion has continued due to:

• alternating heat and colours, wetting and drying
• sea spray entering cracks, crystallising, expanding and breaking up the rock
• Wave action during periods of higher sea levels

It was pretty busy when we arrived, but when lunchtime came, we had the place to ourselves – really good.

Fur seals

Got seriously distracted by the fur seals on our way to Admirals Arch (punctuation unknown). There are at least 22 seals in this picture – can you spot them?

They’re distinguishable from the Australian Sea Lions by their short pointy noses, and they’re larger and paler. Like their cousins, they “walk” using one fore-flipper after the other.

Amazingly, they can shut down half of their brains, enabling them to sleep whilst at sea.

Apparently, the water in the rock pools sometimes turns pink when concentrated seal poo mixes with the salt water. However, they also become very smelly 🙁

Natural predator is the great white shark, which can reach these shores. But the biggest threat to their existence is marine pollution and climate change 🙁

On a more positive note, the hundreds of species of marine plants provide a market garden for local fish, that in turn are food for the seals. An astonishing 85% of South Australia’s species of marine flora and fauna are found nowhere else in the world.

 

Admirals Arch

“Roaring Forties” winds rush from the west across the Southern Ocean, giving extra strength to the powerful waves that carve dramatic features, like Admirals Arch:

Mother Nature has been eroding the three rock types of the cliff at different rates: the hard white cap limestone is slowly dissolving; the softer dune limestone has already eroded away; and the much older hard, dark rock at the base is resisting change as it’s very slow to dissolve.

Weirs Cove viewpoint didn’t disappoint (note the Remarkable Rocks in the distance):

 

There was a storehouse housing supplies that were delivered every three months, hauled up from the water:

 

Three interesting learnings from a whizz round the visitor centre:

1. European explorers arrived on KI in 1802, well after the aboriginals had left. When seal populations declined, the sealers turned to agriculture, but the and’s remoteness, isolation, thick vegetation, lack of deep harbour and reliable water supply meant settlement occurred slowly in comparison to mainland SA.
2. Two pictures showing the deforestation between 1945 and 2000 – in 1892 a committee began a 27-year struggle to have the western end of KI reserved… and it shows:
3. How the shoreline has changed:

 

Back at the campsite, the echidna spotted earlier that day was still doing its rounds:

 

The Kangaroo Island Echidna is one of five echidna subspecies. It’s identifiable by it’s more numerous, longer, thinner and paler spines. Except they’re not spines, they’re actually large, stiff hairs.

 

Great day seeing some of KI’s “must-do” sights.

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Other random stuff from today:

 

Didn’t visit the lighthouse, because it looked better from a distance:

 

Bird at visitor centre had a lucklustre call… until I tried to record it when it perked up a bit:

 

Bird nesting at Admirals Arch:

 

Signs of the day:

*More photos will be uploaded once I have better WiFi*

Seal Bay is the third largest colony of Australian Sea Lions.

Females, or “cows”, spend two to three days at sea without rest, travelling up to 30kph and venturing up to 70km from the coast to fish. Then they come ashore for three days to recover, exhausted, where they’re reunited with their pup. Each sea lion works to her own schedule, but there will be about a third of the 900 population (about 8% of the world total) ashore at any one time. As she emerges, the pup will recognise her call and respond, mother and baby gradually getting closer to each other until their noses touch.

Pups will learn to swim at about 4 weeks, and after about 4 or 5 months, their mother will start to teach them to fish. By six months, the pups are venturing out for themselves. But they’re dependent on their mother’s milk until 17 months. Following one month’s weaning, they’ll head off by themselves… and the cow will give birth to another pup.

You see, it’s exhausting being a female Australian Sea Lion. About 7 – 10 days after giving birth, she’ll be fertile again. But only for 24 hours. Gestation is 18 months, so she’ll have the second pup as the first is leaving. And the cycle starts all over again. It means that she’ll give birth in summer one year, and in winter the next. The long gestation is unique amongst seals and sea lions and is thought to assist them with coping with limited resources.

Females are permanent residents of the colony and will always return. Males are more transient and will move between colonies which ensures genetic diversity in the greater population.

Pups first moult at 5 or 6 months, and then every 18 months. But all have a female coat at their first moult. Males don’t show until their second moult, when they’ll start to develop a light mane (hence “lions of the sea”).

Males spend time getting strong for mating season, travelling up to 100km offshore. The deepest recorded dive was 275m (astonishing!), and they can stay underwater for up to 12 minutes by storing oxygen in their muscles and blood; their heart rate slows down and arteries squeeze shut to provide the sense organs and nervous system with a normal blood flow. Skeletal adaptations enable their shoulder and collarbone joints to flex so their body becomes torpedo-like under pressure.

They can consume up to a third of their body weight and, once big and strong, they’ll return to shore to fight other males for the right to mate with a female. They don’t fight to the death, but to scarring – I saw many with war wounds:

Great white sharks are their natural predator, but here the reef stops large fish, so they’re pretty safe. And the vegetation is perfect too – in the winter, they’ll haul further up the beach into the natural caves created by the bushes to keep warm:

 

In fact, it was a great wildlife day. As well as the Australian Sea Lions, we increased our tally by two tiger snakes (deadly):

Remains of a juvenile humpback whale that washed up nearby after a winter storm in 1984 – it is likely it became separated from its mother during migration:

 

Tammar wallabies (found in the island’s dense vegetation with grassy feeding areas nearby):

 

Honeyeater:

Fire-tailed finch:

 

Red-browed finch:

 

Koala at the campsite:

 

And, unfortunately, two dead koalas – an Aussie tourist surmised that the male we saw last night had attacked the baby (in a bid to mate with the female) and in defending her offspring, she’d lost her life, too. Very sad.

Wallaby (at campsite):

 

A possum (no photo, because it was too dark).

 

I never get bored of seeing the beautiful superb wren:

 

And finished a brilliant day with a swim in Hanson Bay:

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Other random stuff from today:

 

BOTD in the sink:

Interesting terminology on the recycle bin – feel like they’re over-complicating it somewhat and need to employ a Content Designer: