Birds, Horses, Babies, Cars

Sydney View from Balcony

This is our view from our 10th story balcony. What is missing? The sounds of the trains below and the smell of Kimchee from the neighbors.

White Faced Heron

What?? You've seen enough birds already? Ha!

Eastern Spinebill

This was taken at a friend's engagement party (congrats Zack and Amanda!). Amanda's family live on an awesome spread in Hilltop with birds a plenty. I figure this is one of my favorite shots.

French Baby

Congratulations Marion and Damien! Baby Erwan (here at 6 weeks) was a very camera friendly subject. He never once tried to fly away or hide behind tree leaves.

Rosehill Racetrack

This past weekend was RFI's Xmas party. So in true Aussie style there was plenty of gambling and drinking. Everyone at the racetrack is well dressed and somewhat well behaved. It is a bit strange to go to a 'sporting' event in slacks and a collared shirt.

Sydney Olympic Park

My favorite place to go after work. We are truly lucky to have the site of the 2000 Olympics at our doorstep. The Aussies totally gutted what used to be a toxic dump and turned it into a nature reserve. For 6 bucks we get to swim the same lanes that the great "Thorpedo" set records in. Cheapest thing you can do with (most) of your clothes off.

Cisticola

Olympic Park Resident. Probably been here about 100,000 years longer than any of the nearby apartment building's residents. I give this area about 10 years before it is turned into a shopping center.

My Phat Ride

Look closely and you can see my sweet rims still spinning. The distortions in the shot are from the hydraulics, 1000W stereo and nitrous oxide. The ladies swoon at the sight of my pimp mobile.

Willie Wagtail Wife

At my favorite lunchtime wildlife spot (Lake Parramatta outside work) Willie and his wife were busy with their nest. The nest is made of sticks and spider webs (note the web on her forehead). Sadly I don't things worked out, there weren't any eggs (I think she was practicing) and later the nest fell apart. Willie played the part and danced around to try and lead me away from his nest. Nature is very cool.

Kingfisher's Nest

A pair of Kingfishers (again at my lunchtime spot) are busy feeding their young here. I'm hoping to get a glimpse of them, but I don't see myself climbing a tree to do so.

Aussie Animals (No Zoos!)

Crikey Mate! She's a ripper! These are my aussie animal all stars to date. I'll append this message as new ones arrive. No zoos needed in Australia, just step out into your backyard!

I wrote up a flowchart to simplify animal identification in the bush. I've broken it down into a run/don't run structure that I believe will greatly decrease potentially dangerous encounters. I recommend memorizing this for future reference.

Hot Goanna Love

Location: Lake Parramatta, near workCover your eyes kids. These two were so concerned with their business that they didn't budge when I stepped over them on the path. Normally Goanna will head up the nearest tree. Compare the size of the leaves to them - these aren't little lizards.

Echidna

Location: Royal National Park
This is a rare encounter during the day. Only cloudy days will do as they usually move around at night. They have poor eyesight and only reacted to me when I was moving. He was adorable because every time I moved he would bury his head in the ground to "hide" from me. It was like playing peek-a-boo.

Red Bellied Black Snake

Location: Lake Parramatta, near work
I find all kinds of cool things near work. As I sat down on a rock I noticed him not 5 feet from me! Poisonous? Very.

Eastern Water Dragon

Location: Blue Mountains, Jenolan Caves
Reminds Tara and I of our beloved pet "Colonel Mustard." This guy jumped off into the water and swam across the lake! I thought dragons feared water as it would expel the pilot light in their throats. I guess I was wrong.

Kangaroo mom and Joey

Location: Blue Mountains, Campsite near Jenolan Caves
4am, thump thump thump. All around our tent I heard this and thought "what manner of beast is this?" Around 20 kangaroo (this will increase every time I tell the story) were around our tent. Every time I stuck my head out they'd stop and I couldn't see them (pitch dark). I had to snap these photos in the dark, review the camera, then re-shoot- predicting where they were. A lot of work for a mediocre shot.

Green Tree Snake

Location: Near Manly beach
OOOh! The famous Angry Green Spitting Snake! He'll jump off his perch to take small children. They are more feared than drop bears.. (actually they are harmless)

Angry Lizards

Location: Blue Mountains, Six Foot TrackThese two warriors were fighting over (you guessed it) a woman. The 'lady' waited to see what would happen then ran off when they were done head bobbing and hissing. The winner got to chase her home. Sounds like what happens at bars in Sydney.

Shark

Location: Mona ValeGo surfing, pack up surf board, walk up the beach.. Shark. Good thing he was already dead. I would have opened a can of whoop ass on him.

Copperhead Snake

Location: Blue Mountains, campsitehehehehe.. This guy was near our first campsite. So I told Tara that I didn't like the site because of the 'neighbors'. We left and later I showed her the photos. Copperheads are friendly enough though.. right?

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

This sign is here to remind you what side of the road to drive on. Just in case you flew to Australia. Got in a rental car. Drove on the wrong side of the road for 3 hours and made it, alive, all the way to this sign.

2/12 Apostles

The Twelve Apostles are a rock group in Australia. They broke up a few years back and now there are only 8 left. No chance for a reunion tour.

6.1/12 Apostles

Same photo spot, just turned around to face the other 6. Look at the pile of rubble on the ground, that fell last year!! There are actually only 8 of the original 9 that once existed. Yes that is 9.. not 12. They named it 12 to be sound more biblical or something. Can you imagine being there to watch one of these monsters crash to the ground! These guys have been here for 1000s of years!

Three Monoliths

I'm going to be in the dog house for calling Tara a monolith.

Ray & Tara

The obligatory Tara and Ray photo.

Danger!

This sign says it all. They should just replace it with "Don't do anything stupid."

Real Live Koala

Driving to the southern most tip in Victoria there are Koala bears! This came as a shock because I was certain that Koalas were just an aussie gimmick and that they didn't really exist in the wild (only in zoos). I was looking around to see if I'd find zoo keepers nearby to put them back in their cages after the tourists left.

Headline: "Laurel found in Australia"

We all thought Laurel (from Laurel and Hardy) passed away years ago. But he is alive and well in Warrnambool. Now we just need to find Hardy for a reunion show.

Red Door

Warrnambool is full of these kinds of images. My theory is that they stopped advancing in the 1980s. Guess they figured it was enough. On the way into town we listened to 50s doo-wop and there were classic cars everwhere. Manicured lawns as far as the eye could see.

Truck Train

Finally saw the rediculous trucks that ply the roads well away from cities. Double length trucks are pretty common, but this is our first triple length truck. There are 36 wheels on that thing!

Striated Pardalote

You didn't think you'd get away without seeing more birds?! This little gal had a nest nearby and was busy feeding her hungry chicks.

Superb Fairy Wren

Welcome Swallow

Grey Fantail

Aussie Antenna Range

I really did have work to do on this trip. This is our outdoor antenna range that we use to test antenna patterns. The day after this photo was taken a horse riding competition was on. Look closely at the back of the field for the obstacles.

Royal National Park

Great weekend trip! Royal National Park just south of Sydney is the second oldest national park in the world (next to the great Yellowstone NP). It has amazing vistas of the coast and a really rugged coastline.. but I just want to see the birds! Over 280 species have been spotted there. I'll have to believe them. But I did see two very exciting species, the famous lyrebird and the satin bowerbird (and his bower).

The lyrebird is famous for mimicking pretty much any sound. Other birds are their favorite subject, but people have observed them copying trains, chainsaws and even camera shutters. The one we saw/heard was apparently a star wars fan. Lyrebirds don't fly (tail feathers are like peakcocks), instead they are quite quick on their feet and managed to elude my camera at every turn.

Burned Out Tree

"It reminds us that though the fire has consumed everything, life still manages to prevail." Couldn't resist quoting Paul (friend at work) on this one. 1994 a fire swept through RNP and pretty much leveled everything. Took a while, but all is well.

Yellow Monarch

These little guys were singing away at us on our hike. The burned tree trunks provide a great backdrop for any subject.

Ray and Tara

Had to throw in the obligatory Ray and Tara shot. This is outside our packed campsite. This was not a good place to camp. If you picture Aussies with 10 man tents, bottles of wine and screaming kids, then you might be able to get a feel for it. Ear plugs are required.

Satin Bower

This was a great find. The Satin Bowerbird creates this bower and decorates it with little blue bits and pieces. In the wild there are no blue pieces other than flowers and feathers. Here we found blue bottle caps, forks, clothes pins, labels and a single blue feather. This bower of course is to attract the female Bowerbird (which isn't satin colored, but spotted white and brown). And sure enough, we spotted both the male and female nearby having their way with each other (took about 1.2 seconds).

Goanna

Finally saw a real live Goanna. I believe this is technically a Gould's Monitor, but I believe "Goanna" is a catch all for around 20 species of monitor here. This guy was huge! At least 3-3.5 feet long. As soon as I grabbed this shot he headed up the tree to hide.

Red River

The forest floor was lush and teeming with life. Same can't be said for 90% of the dry continent. But when found, it is beautiful.

Red Browed Finch

These tiny guys are cool characters with their red masks. I've seen them in two other environments, but here they were quite a bit more relaxed and let me grab these shots before taking off.

Aussie Photos

Australia - we've been here since November 2005. I'd say time flies but it really seems like a lifetime since we arrived. These photos represent most of what we've been doing - hiking and exploring. I'd show you photos of Sydney, but 27 photos of the Opera house doesn't do Australia justice.

Canberra

Canberra gets a lot of flack about it being sterile and over planned. This photo says it all. All the rumors are true. Designed by an architect from Chicago (blame the Americans), it has all the charm of a modern art museum. There are two restaurant areas and if you aren't near them, tough luck. The gas stations are hard to find which is strange because without a car you'd be SOL. The town is way too spread out and it takes leaps and bounds to get from one area to the next.

Floriade

Floriade, how exactly does one pronounce that? This is the annual Canberra flower festival and showcases the worlds best flower arrangements. Flowers battle for #1 in an all out extravaganza. Sunday Sunday SUNDAY! Stamins vs. Pistol, who will take the glory? You buy the whole seat but you only need the edge!

Waterfalls in the Blue Mountains

The Wentworth Falls area in the Blue Mountains are amazing. All the tourists flock to Katoomba to see the 3 Rocks, but Wentworth is far more interesting. The key word here is water - it never rains in Australia, so if it does run out to Wentworth to see the water fall..

Six Foot Track

Tara and I did an overnight backpacking trip on the Six Foot Track. This is a great track with a lot of features to explore. The bridge Tara is on is really dodgy and narrow. About halfway across you wish you had just hiked across the dried out river it crosses. Australia has all these bridges that go over dirt, I guess it'll rain here someday.

Rock and Tree

At our campsite we had a lot to explore. Tons of birds, cows and rocks. Wow, I lead an exciting life.

Cow Picks Nose with Tongue

At our campsite the cows were everywhere. Which meant the flies were everywhere too. I tried to scare off a mom and baby (veal?) and she stood her ground. I figure she'd win that fight. When I got back to civilization I had a hamburger to prove a point. I win.

Tree Reflection in Water

This is a tree reflected in water. Again - six foot track.

Crazy Barbed Wire Dress

Sydney is home to a great number of museums and I love them all. There are also a ton of them in Canberra, but they are all in Canberra (figure that one out). I'd post all my maritime museum photos but then you'd all fall asleep. If you come out to Sydney I'll drag you to the maritime museum whether you'd like to or not.