I left out of the last Life entry that on our way to Canberra we decided to take the scenic route, in other words we went by 4×4 track….through a thunder storm….that was dumping buckets. As a result of those and other factors (like Peter giving it the stick a bit) we lost a camping box off of the rack on the back of the Toureg. Sadly this box contained vital equipment for sleeping, cooking and light. Our time in Canberra was spent in a lovely little hotel room that looked like it had been decorated by my Grandmother Lettkeman, fake flowers, porcelain dolls and all. It was quite homey in a sad kind of way and I probably shed a tear or to while lolling in the bathtub admiring the little lacy toilet roll covers.
Baby Koala
Koala Mum and little
Part 2 of my vacation was spent in Beechworth at Peter’s property. I love Beechworth. I have been there 3 or 4 times both for a relaxing weekend and also for field work in the area. It is a lovely quaint little town with boutiques and cafes galore. It even has a wonderful little craft brewery, Bridge Road Brewers, Ben makes the beer, delicious, and Maria makes the food, awesome.
I had been fussing about the fact that I hadn’t seen a koala yet even though I had spent quite a bit of time in the bush. Then as I was eating breakfast on the porch I saw this strange and rather fightening creature walking across the paddock next door. I was sure that my eyes were playing tricks on me, I absolutely could not figure out what it was. It looked rather like a hyena or a low budget werewolf. “Peter, what the hell is that thing? Oh, it’s a koala!”. Once she had started climbing the tree I could identify her. Who knew that koalas, with babies on their backs, looked so bizarre!. I grabbed my camera and hopped the barbedwire fence snapping away gleefully with my camera. The two of them were remarkably unimpressed by my photographic genius until I turned the flash on, that earned my a couple of dirty looks.
Just as a random cute photo, here is an echidna I came acrossed while in the field. They are quite silly and bury their heads when they feel endagered. (An effective ploy given how spiny they are). However, if you hold still enough they will eventually uncurl and continue rooting for ants and other yummy bugs. This one was only about a meter away and was very adorable. I learned from this little fellow that echidnas can blow snot bubbles. Sadly I was unable to capture one on film.
