11 Sunday Jun 2017
Posted in one with nature
22 Monday May 2017
Posted in one with nature
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Dolphins are regular visitors to Hobart and the River Derwent. Yesterday we were in the right place at the right time to watch a pod of eight larking around, so close to the shore and yacht club.
13 Thursday Apr 2017
Posted in 52 challenge, one with nature
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The kangaroo is an amazing and intriguing animal.
Here are a few facts:
• They can’t move backwards.
• They can jump up to three times their own height.
• On land kangaroos can’t move their hind legs independently, only together. But when they are swimming (they are good swimmers) they kick each leg independently.
• They are social animals who live and travel in organised groups (a “mob”) dominated by the largest male. There is generally at least 3 or 4 individuals in a mob and some groups, when conditions are good, can comprise of as many as 100 individuals.
• They have excellent hearing, and like some other animals they can move their ears in different directions without moving the rest of their head.
• A female kangaroo can have three babies at the same time: an older joey living outside the pouch but still drinking milk, a young one in the pouch attached to a teat, and an embryo awaiting birth.
• No matter where you go in Australia, there will be at least one species of kangaroo that lives in and is adapted to that area.
They are cute up close, curious creatures. 
The joey’s still want to get in the mothers pouch, even when they are too big, and their legs hang out.
They have amazing eye lashes.
06 Monday Mar 2017
Posted in creativity, one with nature
There is a new mural in Hobart, highlighting the plight of the endangered Tasmanian Devil.
The mural covers two walls at the entrance to a city car park, incorporating stairs and a bench.
I love the vibrant colours, the detail of the bush, against the empty space of a giant Tassie Devil.
It’s an original and innovative project, which has brightened up my day.
28 Tuesday Feb 2017
Posted in one with nature, weekly photo challenge
Mama and Joey at Bonorong Animal Sanctuary are a good match.
Joey kept trying to get back in Mama’s pouch … until eventually she let him in, gangly legs and tail sticking out.
25 Wednesday Jan 2017
Posted in Uncategorized
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We had a visitor inside our office this morning. At first I only saw the head and tail. When I could see he had legs I was ok and took him outside with the advice not to hold him by the tail, as the tail will fall off and he’d run off. Really?
Colleagues then spent the rest of the day telling me about snake encounters, mice plagues and other joys of living in rural Tasmania.
04 Wednesday Jan 2017
Posted in creativity, one with nature
There is a new sculpture at Hobart Airport, featuring our native marsupial, the Tasmanian Devil.
It was fun “people watching” as I waited for a friend’s flight to arrive.
So many people were intrigued by the Devils, touched them as they walked past, stopped to take a photo.
Sat next to the one on a bench.
They are a lovely welcome to Tasmania.
Here is an earlier post about the Tasmanian Devils
19 Monday Dec 2016
Posted in days out
Yesterday we experienced harness racing for the first time. It was fascinating, with set races interspersed with junior events and pony club challenges. It was a real family afternoon out.
In case you don’t know …
The horses run at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They pull a two wheeled cart, called a “sulky” where the “driver” sits.
A trotting horse moves its legs forward in diagonal pairs (ie right front and left hind striking the ground simultaneously), whereas a pacer moves its legs laterally (right front and right hind together).
Pace is a natural gait for many horses, also camels, elephants and giraffes.
19 Saturday Nov 2016
Posted in days out, one with nature
Bruny is one of my favourite places. An island, off an island, off the mainland of Australia. It has a resident population of 700 which grows to over 5,000 during the summer months. The local police force doubles for the tourists, from 1 to 2.
A narrow neck of land joins North Bruny and South Bruny with wooden steps leading up to fabulous views.
We’ve taken the car ferry across to the island on several occasions, but today we saw Bruny from a different perspective, from a tour boat.
The island has interesting geology and rock formations. Waves crashing into underwater caves created spectacular curtains of water.
We saw a variety of sea birds, gulls, cormorants, short tailed shearwaters (locally called mutton birds) and shy albatross.
We observed two seal colonies, the male only group of Australia fur seals and a breeding colony of New Zealand fur seals. They were slow and cumbersome on the rocks but sleek and agile as they swam near the boat.
16 Wednesday Nov 2016
Posted in 100 word challenge, one with nature, weekly photo challenge
After sunset, we heard an unusual bird noise outside. We took a torch out onto our balcony and saw a couple of penguins out on the grass.
There are numerous Fairy Penguin rookeries around the coast of Tasmania, but we didn’t realise they’d be such close neighbours.
We were too surprised to think of taking photos although we did call neighbours and had an impromptu penguin pyjama party.
We have been down to the beach in daylight and tried to identify footprints.
