...meanwhile in Australia

Extreme Weather - Sydney's waterfalls flow upwards

The last couple of days weather has been bad here. Causing a luxury problem: I had to drain the pool preventing it from overflowing, today. I know, terrible!

Winds battering southern Australia over the last 24 hours have been so strong that spray from waterfalls south of Sydney has billowed up into the air.

Nearly a month's worth of rain has fallen on the city in 24 hours, and wind speeds have reached 120km/h.

Via

A dog in the midsts of the rubble in Japan stays by the side of his injured friend

Dogs are strange animals. They can be extremely loyal to their owner or in this case his fellow companion. I would love to have a dog, if only we had the time, to take care of it properly.

Here is an English translation of the voiceover exchange between the two reporters in the clip (translation courtesy of Toshiyuki Kitamura) found here :

We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.

He has a collar. He must be someone's pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.

Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.

Where?

Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.

The dog is protecting him.

Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.

I can't watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.

Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.

Yes! Yes! He is alive.

He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.

Oh good. He's getting up.

It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It's just amazing that they survived through this all.

For the full story, please visit click here

Vegetarian Spider

The only known vegetarian spider in the world, is called Bagheera kiplingi, and prefers to eat the leaf-tips of an acacia plant in Central America, instantly making it the black sheep among the 40,000 known spider species, most of which are strictly predators, feeding on insects and other animals. B. kiplingi is about the size of a person's pinky nail.

Source
Video

White Tailed Spider

White Tailed Spider
(Image Source)

Tonight we met the White Tailed Spider. A small spider not much bigger then 2 Cm so I didn't think much of it when it crawled over the sofa... but apparently it's bite can have some serious effects. So when Caroline urged me to get it and get rid of it straight away, I didn't grab the camera (for once). Looking on the web straight after... I'm glad I didn't check the web before hand. On the other hand now I'm a bit apprehensive of going outside where I released it..... Anyway everyone is still welcome at ours, just take a good look around when waiting for us to answer the door.
(Me to Caroline: And you thought it was quiet before...)

Tree of Life

This is the six-minute Tree of Life video that appeared on the BBC One programme 'Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life' narrated by David Attenborough.

Watch the video, play with the interactive version of the 'Tree of Life' and sign up to Tree of Life updates at http://www.wellcometreeoflife.org

Tree of Life (watch in HD)

Dugongs in Sydney

The Sydney Aquarium has recently received two new inhabitants. The Mermaids of the seas Dugongs.
And they have housed them in their own enclosure which they share with little fish and 2000Kg of lettuce a day! When visiting the enclosure you are able to walk around above the waterline, and the best bit, where you go down under the waterline and walk through huge tunnels underwater enabling you to come face to face with these magnificent animals.

Dugongs, as are manatees, are also known as sea cows and grace the seagrass found in coastal regions making them particularly vulnerable to boating and unfortunately also poaching.
You can find manatees from Florida in the South of the US down to Brazil to the west coast of the Africa.

The habitat range of the Dugong is also very wide from the east coast of Africa to Fiji unfortunately they both are classified as a vulnerable species. Dugongs have some of the fiercest natural enemies to deal with including sharks, saltwater crocodiles and killer whales. Their distribution in Australia is from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in Queensland.

A Massive Underground Ant Colony

A massive ant colony (apparently abandoned but for a few ants)

Kangaroo Valley

We wanted to celebrate our Christmas differently this year. Instead of going to the beach like we have done in previous years we decided to go to Kangaroo Valley. Caroline: Not to see kangaroos, but to see WOMBATS. This year's Christmas it was all about celebrating Christmas in different surroundings. Caroline:....and to see wombats!!!
Kangaroo Valley is only a 3 hour drive at most from Sydney and you can drive a wonderful scenic route down the coast to get there.

Unfortunately for us the weather was terrible on Christmas Eve. And we took the quickest route straight to our cabin, thinking that is where we would spend the rest of the holidays. Friends of ours heard of our plans and joined us at the Glenmack campground in their campervan. Don't know how many trips we made back and forth to theirs.
Christmas Day started good, Santa had bought everything on Caroline's Christmas wishlist (don't know when she'll ever be able to see her Sex and the City movie and Mamma Mia! with me around, but that is besides the point) she was a happy bunny. And for someone who didn't make a wishlist I can't complain, either. Thank you for all the cards and presents we received from everyone, by the way.

On Christmas Day it became evident we were in for a few very hot days with temperatures in the mid to high 30's. Ideal for a Christmas on the beach. But not this year.
We spent many hours sitting outside by Phil and Pip's campervan enjoying a talk, a cold drink and the bbq's. Our party did get gatecrashed by a big Huntsman at one time. After relocating it we found another one in the back of our car a few days later. NO free ride for him and it was a good thing he jumped out by himself. (I don't like catching them, give me a snake any day)

Kangaroo Valley is one of only 7 valleys in the world that is completely enclosed and Morton National Park is ideal for bushwalking. And that is exactly what we did. We came across some great views and some beautiful waterfalls, we met only a handful of people on each track, if any.

The highlight would be of course the WOMBATS!!! Not far from Kangaroo Valley is a campground where you literally fall over the amount of wombats present. Only near dusk. We learnt about this place over a year ago and only now found the time to go there. It was well worth it. The campground is huge. 3Km long up to the back paddock with wombat burrows left and right. According to the security guard over 150 wombats reside there.

We were not disappointed. We spotted 13 in the 3 hours we were there and we stayed near 2 for at least an hour while they were eating grass no more then 30 meters away. It's one of those moments where you just sit back and take in the moment, we might never see it again. To complete the picture there were also 2 Kookaburra's flying around them, landing beside them occasionally....

We can't wait to go back.

If you care about the wombats' plight you might enjoy the documentary found here: War of the Wombats.

......and if you'd like to help with Wombat conservation please click the banner below.

Vampire Moths

Bloodsucking moths have been found in Siberia—evidence of evolution at work, scientists say.

The Heavens Smiled down on us

Last night the heavens smiled down on us.

Across Australia, Venus and Jupiter were in formation with the moon to appear as a smiley face in the night sky.The unusual astronomical event was close enough to see with the naked eye from about 9pm. Venus and Jupiter have appeared near each other in the evening sky for the past week but last night was the best time to see the smiley face.

Edmonton - Alberta Meteor (Canada)

Onlookers across the province of Alberta, Canada watched in awe , describing a kaleidoscope of colours as the meteor fell to earth last Thursday the 20th of November

This spectacular and dramatic event was captured on video camera by a local patrol car in the area. As the vehicle drives slowly through a built-up area, the meteor is clearly visible as a bright light appearing in the sky as it makes its lightning descent.

The Huntsman in the Bedroom

It is great living in Australia and you don't always have to leave the comfort of your own home to see its wildlife. Saturday we had a lovely beetle crawling around the living room floor.

I think it might have been a Christmas Beetle, not sure.

Sunday, upon hanging up my bathrobe on the back of the master bedroom door, I spotted a Huntsman sitting between the doorframe and the wall. Absolutely no idea how long it had been there. Judging by the size of it quite some time...

Huntsman Spider

And upon releasing the Huntsman in the garden Caroline spotted a nice little skink basking on the patio.

Common Garden Skink

Microcosmos Meets Radiohead

Footage from the 1996 French film Microcosmos accompanied by All I Need from Radiohead.

The Great Escape

Fight or Flight ......or...?

Watch these weird and wonderful images of animal hypnosis. When in danger, animals will often fall into a trance-like state to avoid capture.

Drunk Animals in Africa

When it's time for the Marula tree to drop its fruit, it becomes a feast for animals of all kinds. Eating enough of this (over-ripened) fruit creates a very potent brew that can even make an elephant wobble. I remember seeing this as a kid (8-10 yrs old)and every time I think back at it, it still makes me smile.

Alone Across Australia

Jon Muir sets out to walk unsupported across Australia, from Port Augusta on the Spencer Gulf to Burketown on the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is a journey of 2500 kilometres that crosses one sealed road and three deserts, and Muir sets out with just a compass, 55 maps, water containers, camping and first-aid equipment, a camera and a gun. He will drag this gear on a two-wheeled cart harnessed to his body. Apart from limited supplies of rice, flour and muesli, he will live off the land. His only companion, an adorable jack russell terrier, Seraphine, scampering along beside him.

Oh man!!! Gardening.

Since we had a busy weekend, today we stayed home and did things we normally don't make time for.
Somehow it was decided that I needed to do the garden (mow and weed it)?!
But Caroline didn't sit still either, she did the gruesome task of cleaning the bbq.
Anyhoo, without moaning and whimpering too much about my dirty fingernails when in the garden you sometimes come across some nice things.

A wonderful caterpillar and this little termite mound.

(aren't we glad we don't have a wooden fence or wooden house for that matter)

Whale Watching

David Attenborough looks at krill and humpbacks in the ocean.

Caroline and I went (Humpback) whale watching with Pro Dive yesterday..... We set off from Darling Harbour and there were only 6 of us on board than we headed for Manly to pick up a few others.

A recent resident to Manly a fur seal

All in all there was only 12 of us on a boat that could fit 22. (Don't ask me how)

We had chosen a perfect day for it. It was a calm sunny day. There was quite a swell when we left the Heads and turned towards Bondi, but fortunately that didn't affect us at all. We had a pill each against seasickness, don't chew on them, they make your mouth go numb, Caroline discovered. When we sailed just south of Coogee we joined 3 other boats who were tracking a mother and calf.

When we joined them all of the boats held their distance, although some boats got much closer than ours. As you might notice in some of the pictures the whales didn't swim that far from land.

And by looking at this photo we were happy not to have gone for one of the big boats.