This is already the fourth week of the second semester! And the smell of holiday is finally no longer lurking around... it's time to do some serious reading, and I don't mean fiction. Eversince I picked up Chocolat by Joanne Harris from a Salvation Army thrift store in Sydney a month ago, I had read three other novels- I got kind of hooked somehow! Luckily there are not many good titles in the fiction corner of our library, but I manage to pick a thin one today about a story of the "stolen generation" in Australia. Should be interesting.

I know I have ben lazy in posting entries, I can't probably blame it on the winter cold, can I? Temperature can drop to 1 to 2 degrees in the wee hours, but inside the house it is still manageable without a heater, but I will have to wear socks and bedroom slippers and some nights a beanie and gloves! 

I wish I can simply Bluetooth the words and image in my mind to the internet..... (no, I have not been reading science fictons). Ok, so what interesting stuffs have happened after the last post....

The fauna survey is defintely one. It's the first time I get up close with native wild animals here like the bandicoot. It was AWESOME (must say it like the Aussies) to peek into the pouch of a female bandicoot at the little babies (they call them pinkies). I saw my first monotreme (mammal that lay eggs)- a echidna, which fell into our pit-fall trap! When released, it started to dig beneath itself and sank steadly into the ground! Quite an amusing sight! I guess this is a way to protect itself from predators by pressing it's vulnerable unprotected belly tight against the ground while exposing its long and sharp spikes. 

Now, this photo does look like a decomposing wedge of durian shell right?

 

The trip up north is pretty good too. It's the first time I backpacked alone, taking the Greyhound and sleeping in dorm beds and I am surprised that I actually enjoyed it very much! Of course there were times that I wished my friends were with me, or that I have another like-minded person whom I can share the joy of seeing really beautiful nature masterpieces, but there are also the freedom to do whatever you like and the peaceful moments you can engage in serendipity with nature. You are also more likely to step out of your comfort zone to do something different and also to talk to people you meet along the way.   

I saw the other monotreme in my trip- platypus! Some people I met later told me they are elusive animals, but because I stayed 2 nights at a place near the national park (Eungella National Park), I actually had the opportunity to be at the viewing platform over Broken River on three consecutive evenings, and I saw at least two of them each time. You have to be fairly patient though, my first sighting came about thirty to fourty minutes into the wait. You also have to be observant enough to differentiate the ripples made by them from the many terrapins in the river. The platypus is smaller than what I had imagined, about 30-40 cm in length. They are such a delight to watch. 

 Four days to exams!!!!!

Haven't quite read all that I am suuposed to read yet.... times passes so fast. But still, was able to go out for a breather at Brisbane city last Tuesaday- right after finishing the tedious management plan, and also went to Fernvale market early this morning. Brought a lavender plant and a small pot of rosemary.

More pixs later guys- lazy to put them up now ;-P
 
Am studying the chapter on cat behaviour and come across this paragraph on catnip response. Googled and found this video that depicts this interesting phenomenon very well. Cat ganja, ha ha... and the best thing is, it didn't seem to have any side effects for the cats. 

Check it out: 

Self-propel scooters- a popular play equipment in the park. I tried it once, and no, I didn't break it.   

I felt so good to be in the tropical forest again, eventhough it was cooler than usual. The forests of Lamington National Park do remind me of our forests in Singapore and the neighbouring countries.

Look at these pictures; don't you agree they can easily be passed off as BTNR or CCNR? Other than the familiar layered struture of a rainforest, there are also the familiar lianas and epiphytes like Bird's nest fern and Stag horn ferns. Where there are gaps, there are also plants like gingers.  

             

 
But before long, I knew I was not at the equator after all, especially when I saw the Hoop Pine among other more tropical-like trees. "What's a X'mas tree doing in a tropical rainforest?" Well, it's a sub-tropical forest afterall.




Anyway, I was only "homesick" for a short while because Lamington National Park, which may have comparatively less species per ha than the rainforests of our region, has quite an interesting variety of forest ecosystems. These include the "typical" warm subtropical rainforest, the dry rainforest (which is regarded as an example of the rise of the "dry adapted" flora now widespread in Australia, according to the QPWS brochure), the cool temperate forest with a pocket of Antartic Beech that are one of our remaining links with the ancient forests of Gondwana and sclerophyll forests. That's a lot to offer for an area of about 200 square kilometres. 

I almost forget it was part of a World Heritage site. The city people here is very lucky, for this site is relatively accessible and is surprisingly very near to Gold Coast. At cetain sites, you can see the looming skyscrapers near the coast at the horizon.  

We started our hike after a lunch of breads and cakes. At first, we wanted to do the 2km Bellbird Lookout, but perhaps we had thought it was too short, or maybe because the entrance we were at is also the one for the 12km Lower Bellbird Circuit; somehow, we decided to do the latter instead. If we can do the 10-km TreeTop Walk back home, this one shouldn't be a problem, so we thought. 

The route really seemed to stretch on and on but there isn't a lot of drastic ups and downs except a slightly uphill climb towards the end. Thus we felt the tireness in our calf muscles more than in the thighs during and after the walk. Towards the end, my lower back felt slightly strained too and that's when I become aware, yet again, that strong back muscles are essential for hiking too, especially when I was carrying a not too light backpack.     

3.5 to 4 hours into the hike, I had to agree with this sign- this is one of the GREAT WALKS indeed!

                                                                     


But the tiredness is still manageable, and we were rewarded with views of different kinds of plants and birds as we tracked along. It was really cool to be able to recognise that we had entered another area with a different type of plant communities. The hike reminds me of the one we had at Mt. Kinabalu, where you can see a change in plant communities as you reached a certain altitude, except that in Lamington, it's probably the soil factor that causes the change rather than the difference in altitude.   

Here's a "Palm Valley": An area dominated by elegant stands of Bangalow/ Piccabeen Palm (Archontophoneix cunninghamiana): 

                           


A group of refreshing Cordyline petiolaris:  

                                      
                                       


A wilful arrangement of grass and matching trunks:

                                      


Delightful little plants grace this part of the way: 

                                    


A natural scuplture clothed in bryophytes:

                                    


A recently fallen giant (note the way it hasbeen left to balance on the trail): 

                                   


HUGE TREE! Do you see a face jutting from the trunk??!!!




At the Yagahla Lookout, an ideal spot for a picnic.




Wonderful rock-dwelling orchids!

                                       


The Lower Bellbird Circuit (this link gives a good descrption of the route but the distance should be 12km, and if you are like me who stop to look at plants and birds, you probably need at least 5 hours) ends at the road, which was not very ideal, but we got little surprises along the way. 


A top-down view from the road of the area we had just walked, which used to be a dairy farm area. Lots of weedy plant species but the open area attracts a variety of birds as well.
 
                                       


Other than the sighting my first macropod (a pandemelon) since I came to Australia, we saw this fat lizard with a snake-like head lying on the tarmac. I have to overcome my initial fear to get closer to it as it really look like a short snake with legs!

                                      

 
This was how close we could get near to it, which prompted us to think that it was injured. But as Robin nudged at it with a stick to get out of the road for its own good, it started to move towards the bush and also showed us its tongue- which was not blue as we thought but pink. So, it's not one of the blue-tongued lizards afterall.  

(Anyone can tell me what species is this lizard?)


 

Conclusion: I don't mind doing this route again, but will have a fuller lunch and bring along better stuff for the picnic point.  

Was just telling Weiling the other day that it's autumn, but it's hot, and then it poured heavily several times these few days. Haven't seen a good rain for a while, and certainly haven't heard the sound of rain beating on metal (the roof) for a long while. 

The rain has probably brought out the frogs, and they amused us by sticking themselves on our window pane. They are there because insects were drawn to lights from inside our house, and these bright green (reminds me of Incredible Hulk) froggies happily picked them up with their sticky tongues. 





I didn't know which species is this common frog here, but it wasn't difficult to search for it on the internet. This species (Litoria caerulea) is traded as an exotic pets, and I remembered then the comical images of obese smiling green frogs that are often seen on cards.

I reckoned that the specific epithet 'caerulea' means blue; but where is the blue? 

Apparently the skin of this species is actually a mixture of blue and green pigments wth a wash of yellow over them (remember those colour experiments in kindergarten?). When the yellow layer eventually fades, the frogs (older ones??) appear blue (University of Michigan website). 

(By the way, during my search I chanced upon this pretty neat search site that listed a few good educational resources on frogs- check it out if you are working to help spread the awareness that frogs are in peril!)  

When I took these photos, I was a bit apprehensive that they would jumped on me as I was not sure whether the skin is poisonous. It turns out, on the contrary, that the skin secretes certain chemicals that are of medical benefits to us. 

Poor green frogs, couldn't have a decent frog life without human exploitations. And these guys here couldn't even have a decent dinner without being flashed by a "bolt of lightning"! Blame it on themselves for being too cute?  ;-P 

My room is finally bright! Have been trying to get the right light bulb for the past few weeks! It's crazy- so difficult to find a light bulb here that gives out COOL WHITE lights, most of the bulbs available in the shops here are WARM WHITE, which do give out WHITE lights at all loh. I couldn't wok at all under the orange light without feeling dizzy and sleepy after a while. 

Now, in this COOL WHITE light, I would like to share with you something cool that happens everyday near our house- The Bat Fly-pass! 

Each evening, these beautiful bats will fly from the west in spectacular numbers across or near our house. We have passed by the roost of this colony before, it's about 10-minute run from our house. The roost is surprisingly in quite a disturbed area adjacent to a road and some houses. 





There are 4 species of Flying Fox in Australia and this one is probably the Grey-headed Flying Fox. Here's a 'batty' video to share. You will also be able to catch a glimpse of our 'landed property'.