Wednesday 28 February 2018

The Tasmanian Experience Continues. . .

Cunts... and other conversations, 2008–11
Greg Taylor and friends
Oh, Dear. I'm forgetting so many things already! In Hobart, we visited The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), a very quirky, architecturally improbable and unique museum. It had the usual collection of perplexing art. . .much of which I find inscrutable, too obvious, technically wanting or just creepy. Wow. My own brand of art snobbery. For example, there was a diorama (for want of a better word) of stuffed kittens serving tea. . . .maybe 2 dozen stuffed kittens. They were made of REAL kittens that a taxidemist had stuffed and set up in this unsettling tableau. Truly creepy, and not fun to look at once you realized what it was.
The building, however, was extraordinary, and set in an extraordinary Tasmania setting. . .on the estuary/river that passes through Hobart. I didn't photograph the kittens, by the way.

Here's an example of the obvious. Rows and rows of the female organ along a dark wall. Maybe 150 of them? A nice idea, of course, since it's what we all want to see, but still. . . .

The other visit I almost forgot was to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. We stopped on our way out of the city enroute to Bicheno. It was my first face-to-face with a Roo, as well as a chance to see the Tasmanian Devil and other species unique to Australia and/or Tasmania. To the right is where John and I are likely to end up. Ha. But seriously, folks. The Tasmanian Devil, that most unlikely of anti-heros, is endangered. One of the missions of Bonorong is to breed them and re-introduce them into the wild. Oddly, they still can live many years after they pass breeding age, so so sign labels a very large enclosure where the older devils were allowed to live out their dotage. Below are signs sort of explaining the devil. Honestly, it's amazing that they evolved and stayed around this long, but they are sort of endearing, in spite of their BugsBunny image.






John took the image below of a Tasmanian Devil at the refuge.



 Note that all of the animals at the refuge are either there for the breeding program, or in most cases being prepared to be released. The only permanent members of the gang there are those who for some reason can't be released back into the wild, usually due to injury. More on that in the next post.


Tuesday 27 February 2018

The Tasmanian Experience: First Days

Forgive this long period between posts. WiFi was surprisingly hard to come by once we got out of Hobart, the Tasmanian capital. . .and when we could find it, it wasn't up to much! That fact did not impede on the wonderfulness of the trip, though, in spite of John having some worries about an impending proposal deadline. My only misgiving is that we only had one week. A month would have allowed us to scratch the surface a little deeper! In fact, it's the first place in Australia where I could envision myself living.

I initially thought the title of this post would be "And here's another breathtaking beach. . .", much as an
couple of our extended camping trips in Idaho/Montana could have been called "And here's another beautiful Alpine Lake." Which one was it? The one pictured above is definitely Sandy Bay Beach, which was our first stop in Hobart. We stayed in the Hill House Airbnb (highly recommended) hosted by M and G, and this beach was down the hill. . . a lot down the hill. . .from it. The hills in Hobart reminded me of San Francisco. Very very steep, but no worries of snow and freezing so they often go straight up and down very steep hills. Our trusty rental car was up to it, fortunately. In fact, he was really quite great in every respect.More on driving later!

The poster on the right was in downtown Hobart, or the CBD as all of the business districts here seem to be called. There is a lovely humor in things Australia that I so appreciate. Even when the news commentators are skewering something or someone, it's done in a way that brings laughter. There was a bit on Trump (they have a 30 minute in-depth news show on America every week. . .can you imagine?) that had us laughing and crying simultaneously.

So. Tuesday we flew into Hobart, explored all day Wednesday, including a hike up Mt. Wellington (we could have spent a week exploring trails there), and then off to Bicheno, a well-known beach on the East coast of Tasmania. On the way, we stopped at the beach to the left, Kingston Beach, and headed on.

Brilliant Flowers on a yet-to-be-identified tree
Here's a word about driving in Tasmania, though I expect we'll find it on the continent as well. Roads are narrow, and almost all of them are only 2 lanes. The exception is highways around cities, where they are often 2 lanes each way. But none of them have shoulders except for the main routes, signified by a number only. For example, "The 1". The others are designated "A", "B", or "C" (C being a very narrow winding, sometimes unpaved road), and they are all very narrow by our standards. Add that to the fact that you're driving on the left now, The turn signals are where the windshield wipers should be, and vice versa, and you have a challenging driving situation. Thank goodness I insisted on an automatic transmission! Add that to the fact that many of the drivers are tourists from countries that usually drive on the right side of the road, and you have a prescription to be careful. It's not a fast place to get around in, and it can be a very dangerous place.

It is actually amazing how quickly you can get used to it, though. After a week, John and I both felt comfortable enough to take on city driving pretty easily. The speed limits are typically 100-110 km/hour (equal to about 60-70mph) on the traversing roads, and we got comfortable with that speed only on the roads with shoulders. This makes me smile, envisioning myself as a pretty hip person, but driving like an old lady. Still. Life without injury is quite a behavior modifier.  And the natives feel free to pass, so it all works out. We'll do more driving in the future, especially in New Zealand, but I'm glad we've had that first experience.  For today, I'll close with some more images from the first two days. As usual, the flora and the bird life is extraordinary.
Tree ferns on Mt. Wellington


Tree ferns as part of the understory of Eucalypts

A sandpiper-type bird (but really large!) at Kingston Beach (this is why I use other folks bird photos)

I never get tired of this Eucalypt's Bark. I think it's a Red Gum.

Tuesday 20 February 2018

TASMANIA!!!

We flew out of Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania today. . .early this morning. My first impression of Tasmania lived up to John's colleagues assessment that Tasmania is the "Jewel of Australia". It is verdant. . . with both natural forests and a ton of agriculture. These first few shots were taken from the airplane as we were approaching the Hobart airport.







 We also felt a sort of cultural shift as we got off the airplane into the airport. Mind you, the Hobart airport is tiny relative to the Melbourne International airport.

One thing that the Tasmanian's take VERY SERIOUSLY is the importation of any agricultural product. They have a fruit/veggie smelling BEAGLE. You can't make this stuff up! It was so cute it almost killed me.








First impressions, of course, can always be misleading. But as we walked out to our rental car (there's a whole 'nother blog post that needs to written on driving-on-the-left), I told John "This feels so different. So calm and laid back". What a lovely start to this vacation. My only concern as I look forward to another 6 days in Tasmania is that there is just too much to
see. . .too many hikes that will be left unwalked. . .too many former prison colonies unexplored. But that just means that we can come back again. . .right?





Monday 19 February 2018

Lorikeets and flycatchers and mynas. . .oh my!

I mentioned this creature before. . . the Myna bird. Turns out, they're from India, and are considered an invasive species in Australia. Like the English Sparrow, though, what a success. And I love hearing her variety and enthusiasm of song. I wake up to hearing her, or one of the many dove/pigeon species every morning. Sweet.

John and I have taken to walking in the evenings. The weather has been beautiful, and we have good light until 8:30p, so it's been a great way to explore. . . especially the Royal Park and it's environs. One evening this past week, we finally got a good look at the very colorful parrot-like birds that we have only gotten flashes of in the dimming light.They are Rainbow Lorikeets, and they absolutely love the Red gum tree (a Eucalypt) fruit that is ubiquitous here. We saw a flock of maybe a dozen, but they were so busy eating, that we were able to watch them for quite some time. By the way, sorry I'm not using my own photographs. Bird photography not a strength of mine!
Both of these birds have this Very Familiar feeling about them. The myna is so robin-like in size, in how it hops, how it cocks it's head, how it so easily adapts to the urban setting. And I think their coloration is lovely, in an understated way. I was a little sad to hear that they're considered pests here. Then again, I guess humans could be considered pests as well. Smile.

The lorikeet looks like a parakeet (called a "Budgie" here) on steroids. For any of you who have ever lived with a parakeet, they have a funny way of hopping side-wise on a perch. And a sweet cocking of the head, and an almost murmuring kind of talking, in addition to various screeches and chatters. But these guys are about 2 1/2 times the size of a parakeet. We've also been able to see some Splendid Fairy-wrens over in pond area that has been developed in the park as an artificial wetland. Judging by the insects and concomitant birds, it's a big success as a wetland. We also saw a very acrobatic little guy that was black, white and gray (a little bigger than a wren) that was catching bugs on the wing. "Flycatcher" came to mind, and indeed I think it was either the Satin or the Leaden Flycatcher. Both are in this range, and like wetlands.

This is the Satin flycatcher, and below is the Leaded flycatcher. Very Very sweet.

There are, of course a lot of bigger birds. I already talked about the Australian White Ibis, but there is also a variation on the Magpie, the Australian Magpie, and a slightly smaller black-and-white bird (but still bigger than a robin) called the Butcher bird. So much life in a very densely populated city! It really is amazing. When we walk on the paths in the Royal Park, there are always warnings to either Not disturb the skinks (!), or to beware of snakes. Of course, John posted a sign on his blog that said "Beware of Cars", which is one of those things that just sounds hilarious to the American ear, but that sign is posted wherever cars might be sneaking out of alleys.

I'll close with an image of the Splendid Fairy Wren. They truly are, well, splendid! Even though they are small (think sparrow sized, but with a more impressive tail), their color makes them easy to spot.

If anything, they're even more splendid in person. . .the light reflects off their feathers in the dimming light making them look iridescent. . .


Thursday 15 February 2018

Guns and America. . . a view from here

I had already started working on a post that talked about all of the wonderful birds that we are seeing daily in in Melbourne. Then I saw the news last night. The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) has a reputation for being pretty unbiased, though I have grumbled a couple of times that they were interviewing only pro-Trump Americans. As time has gone on, I've come to realize that that isn't true. They are Not quick to judgment publicly, though, and certainly seem to strive for a neutral tone. So. . . after the reporting on the school shooting in Florida, they did this piece. . .


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-15/the-facts-when-it-comes-to-guns-in-america/9452134

In case you can't take the 1 minute 49 seconds it takes to watch this, here's what Mr. Jones has to say.
  • There are almost as many guns in America as people: 300,000 guns, 323,000 people: 2X as many guns per capita as 50 years ago .
  • Americas represent 4% of the world population, yet own 48% of the privately held guns.
  • Not all Americans own guns: 50% of the guns are in the hands of 3% of the people.
  • The average gun-owning household has 8 guns.
  • After Sandy Hook (2012), 24 states made it easier to get guns, and sales increased in all of those states.
  • There have been 300 U.S. shootings since 2013.
  • Mass shootings, horrible as they are, account for only 1/10 of 1% of gun deaths. The rest are person-on-person.
  • In 2018 (that's only 2 months), 30 people have died in mass shootings in the U.S. 1,817 have died in other gun deaths in the U.S. 
  • Finally, since 1970, more people have died by guns in America than in every war since the American Revolution.
As if I don't already have a hard time sleeping, this had me up last night.  We need to find some answers, folks. This makes me cry just thinking about it. What. What. What is wrong with us?

Perhaps you remember that the Australian's endured a mass shooting at a children's camp in 1996, called The Port Arthur (Tasmania) massacre. 35 deaths, 24 more injured. They did not eliminate guns, as some 2nd Amendment supporters claim. To read the specifics see

https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AwrSbmNjKIZaxbwAjasL5gt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?qid=20090418123055AAuM5Dy

The resulting laws have not completely eliminated gun violence, but they have curbed it dramatically.

I'll close by saying that I'm sorry to present such a disturbing piece, but I think we can all benefit from seeing ourselves from afar. And of course, by remembering that the Australians are our friends.

Friday 9 February 2018

When I'm 64. . . at St. Kilda Beach

You may remember a previous post, where I posted these bronze sculptures that I was so taken with. . . and I had fantasized about having my birthday dinner at this restaurant. Well. It happened. St. Kilda Beach was even more fun than it was the first time. For one thing, it was considerably cooler, in every sense of the word. The coolness wasn't just pleasant. It brought out a Whole Lot of Other folks, all of them having fun. We got a better view of the famous Luna Park (also featured in some of the Miss Fisher Mysteries), which has this lovely wooden roller coaster.





There were folks selling craft items (think a Boise Saturday market, scaled way down), folks learning to juggle, and what looked like it must have been a statewide set of beach volley ball games. . . there were at least a dozen nets, conveniently portable, with a lot of laughing folks playing ardent games of volleyball. Four on four.

We watched the sailboats for quite some time from the Penguin Pier, which has a very old building that currently houses an overpriced restaurant, as well as a colony of penguins which one only gets to actually SEE at sunset, when they come in from the water to sleep in their nests among the rocks on the end of the breakwater. We had to leave to go to dinner, but I do BELIEVE they live there. . . .







All in all, in spite of my sleep deprived state, it was a wonderful evening. Oh. And did I mention we had wonderful food? A great bottle of Yarra Valley Pinot Noir and of course, I started with a martini in memory of my Dad.

Then we came out into the evening, with the setting sun, and many many people who were clearly just happy to be there. I was one of them.



Tuesday 6 February 2018

Have I told you how much I love you. . . . ?

A couple of other loves in Melbourne. I can't believe I forgot to mention the produce. Oh my goodness. It is so good. I have made, bought and eaten the best salads of my life here. The carrots are so sweet; and the Cos lettuce (a lettuce with a sturdiness somewhere between leaf and Romaine) is luscious. The pears are divine.

Then, there's Her Majesty. I know I've mentioned her before (she's my bicycle), but there is nothing more wonderful than bicycling around the city. . . lots of safe paths. . and a lot of road riding with bike lanes painted in. We haven't seen anyone texting and driving here, so though the traffic can be heavy, drivers are generally aware of the bicyclists.

And, for M, I have vowed to get more serious about starting a "Drink and Draw" group when I get home. I know you're serious about it, and I've finally found the wherewithal in myself to start drawing again, as evidenced here.  I have always known that I just need to draw at least one image a day, and finally, I'm doing it. On our little patio, with a cheap book and a #2 mechanical pencil. So easy. One just needs to begin. Isn't it that way with everything?

 Another thing to love about Melbourne is the architecture. It is so reminiscent of New Orleans, with all of the ironwork here. John has hypothesized that there must be a lot of iron deposits close by. And the brickwork, and clay (we think) relief on the buildings is astonishing. It's not just for rich folks, either. The images below are what were probably working class homes, though now they're quite expensive because of the close location to the city. Still. They're middle class homes.

I also started at the pottery studio in town today. I can't tell you how I had to force myself to just show up, buy the clay, pay for studio time, and then sit there and look at the clay, completely without inspiration. What? Yes. It's true. However. I was chatting with a young artist there, fessed up as to how clueless I felt, and she said "Just do something. Anything". Before I knew it, I had carved a tile, and thrown a pot that I'll alter later in the week. Sometimes. . . have I said this already? Sometimes, you just need to make yourself begin.

Finally, yesterday, I discovered what I think might be the dark side of socialized medicine. I had a formal prescription description from my doc in the U.S. regarding the scripts that I need. Not only did I have to go visit a doctor ($75) to get the script rewritten, but I was informed that they could not legally prescribe one of my medications. Instead, I was given a pricey prescription for something "natural". What could go wrong? Oh wait. Arsenic is natural. . .so is cyanide. Remember the good old days when we used lead arsenate as a pesticide? Repeat. What could go wrong?

Grr. It turns out, that in spite of what I read online about bringing prescription medications into the country (no more than 30 days supply), the good doctor said he always advises folks from out of country to bring a six-month supply. Who knew? Ah well. We'll see if I survive another 5 months of sleeplessness. Small sigh.

Still. I know that I'm lucky to be here. And this is all part of traveling isn't it? The different, both positive and negative.






Almost 2 years later. . .

26 June 2020 We found ourselves in the frenzied housing market of summer 2018 when we returned, so of course, we bought a house. After a...