Kangaroo Island revisited – February 2012

Posted June 28, 2012 By admin and has no comments yet.

Stokes Bay at sunset
Well, we made it back to Kangaroo Island.  Our first visit to Kangaroo Island, in 2011, was all too brief and had left us longing for more, and after several memorable months on some of the AWC’s inland sanctuaries, we thought some quality time on the coast was in order…and surely there’s no more beautiful coastline than KI’s.

On this occasion we spent five weeks on the island, long enough to revisit places we loved during our first visit, explore many of the areas we missed out on the first time around, and even buy some real estate (more about that later).

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Categories: Australian Flora, Australian Wildlife, Birds, Marsupials, Our Favourite Places, Reptiles, South Australia, Travel Blogs, Wildflowers

Buckaringa Sanctuary – rock wallabies, the Flinders Ranges & a cozy cottage – January 2012

Posted February 13, 2012 By admin and has 2 comments.

Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby in Buckaringa Gorge. Beautiful, extremely well-camouflaged creatures that seem to disappear into the rock-faces.
We recently enjoyed a three week stay as volunteer rangers at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s (AWC) Buckaringa Sanctuary, set amongst the Flinders Ranges.  The sanctuary and its surroundings are breathtaking, encompassing rolling hills, rugged escarpments and gorges, sweeping valleys, creek beds lined with River Red Gums, and an ever-changing vista of colour and light …and, of course, plenty of wildlife, including the rare and beautiful Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby.

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Categories: Australian Wildlife, Birds, Marsupials, Our Favourite Places, Reptiles, South Australia, Travel Blogs

Pitfalling at Scotia Sanctuary – November 2011

Posted January 17, 2012 By admin and has 1 comment.

Close-up of a Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levii). We saw plenty of these gorgeous geckos.

Anyone who has read our blogs over the past year would know that we love the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Scotia Sanctuary.  Needless to say, we were excited to have the opportunity to assist during the annual pitfalling survey there in November 2011. 

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Categories: Australian Wildlife, Marsupials, New South Wales, Reptiles, Travel Blogs

Yookamurra Sanctuary – Old Growth Mallee & Marsupials Large and Small

Posted December 9, 2011 By admin and has 2 comments.

Greater Bilby at Yookamurra. Enchanted, fragile and beautiful.

We recently completed four months caretaking at Yookamurra Sanctuary, another of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s (AWC’s) sanctuaries.  It was a wonderful experience for us.
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Categories: Australian Flora, Australian Wildlife, Birds, Marsupials, Reptiles, South Australia, Travel Blogs

Dakalanta Wildlife Sanctuary on the Eyre Peninsula – wildlife survey

Posted March 29, 2011 By admin and has 4 comments.

 

Australia's wildlife is in safe hands with the AWC. A juvenile Western Pygmy Possum, beautiful, irresistable and fragile.Nirbeeja and I were recently privileged to be involved, as volunteers, in the first ever survey of wildlife undertaken on the Dakalanta Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the properties owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).  As many of you would know, we are passionate about our wildlife, but have no relevant academic training and limited experience in ecological field-work.  As a result, our involvement in the survey not only gave the AWC an extra couple of helpers, it also gave us some invaluable experience. 

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Categories: Australian Wildlife, Birds, Marsupials, Reptiles, South Australia

More Adventures in the Flinders Ranges – Wallabies and Native Lilies – February 2011

Posted March 18, 2011 By admin and has no comments yet.

A field of Garland Lilies

Our first stop after Scotia was Broken Hill – a rather gentle way to re-enter civilization.  After a couple of months in the remote Scotia sanctuary we certainly appreciated the cafes, galleries and interesting streets and old buildings of the silver city.  We intended a short stay but Mother Nature had other ideas, turning on the rainfall in a big way.  120mm or so in one afternoon and our short stay suddenly stretched to many days longer with highways cut in all directions.  We had planned to head up the Darling River to re-explore that area and re-visit Louth, but could cross that off the agenda for now.  We also planned to spend a week at Buckaringa Wildlife Sanctuary in the Flinders Ranges, but Katja, whom we met at Scotia and now planned to meet at Buckaringa, was stranded at Scotia after flooding there.  Okay – postpone that as well.

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Categories: Australian Wildlife, Birds, Marsupials, Reptiles, South Australia, Travel Blogs, Wildflowers

Uluru

Posted November 28, 2010 By admin and has 2 comments.

 

Uluru rolls out the Parakeelya carpet

We visited Uluru in September 2009, and like everyone else we were awed by its presence.  Nothing has changed on that front in a little over a year – seeing Uluru again up close still took our breath away.  But the countryside around Uluru has been transformed, and it is now surrounded by wildflowers and wildlife.  Its waterholes have been flushed clean and topped up; there are even frogs and tadpoles in Kantyu Gorge, a wonderful sign that its previously polluted waters are healthier now.

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Categories: Aboriginal Rock Art, Australian Wildlife, Northern Territory, Our Favourite Places, Reptiles, Scenery, Travel Blogs, Wildflowers

Recent photos, Alice Springs, October 2010

Posted November 1, 2010 By admin and has no comments yet.

Nirbeeja "feels the serenity" of Jay Creek

I know, you’ve seen and heard it all before – birds, wildflowers, rugged inland scenery, and me rabbiting (bilbying?) on about how much rain we’ve had in Alice Springs and how green everything is.  Well……tough.  Here’s a bit more. And in any case, we are leaving Alice next week to explore the broader region so I couldn’t resist one more opportunity to showcase the rare beauty of Australia’s centre in full bloom.

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Categories: Australian Wildlife, Northern Territory, Reptiles, Scenery, Travel Blogs, Wildflowers

Friends visit Alice Springs – we show them the Red (or was that Green) Centre

Posted October 3, 2010 By admin and has no comments yet.

Field of wildflowers beside Binns Track, south east of Alice Springs

Our friends Christopher and Janice from Canberra made a flying visit to Alice Springs last weekend.  It was Janice’s third time here this year, and Christopher’s second.  They almost consider themselves to be locals now.

Their visit had been planned for a couple of months, and we were hoping the area would still be as pretty as we assured them it was.  All year we kept reporting flowing rivers, regular rainfall, wildflowers and abundant wildlife.  In the end I think they visited just to shut me up!

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Categories: Aboriginal Rock Art, Birds, Northern Territory, Reptiles, Scenery, Travel Blogs, Wildflowers

Spring arrives early in The Alice

Posted August 15, 2010 By admin and has no comments yet.

Zebra Finch (male) gathering nesting material, Alice Springs

Spring has definitely arrived early this year in Alice Springs.  Everywhere you look, native shrubs are in flower, the birds are building nests and the hills still have a greenish tinge after consistent rainfall all this year.  It is gorgeous.  We are even getting a few days now above 20 degrees, although the nights remain cool.  Who would be anywhere else?!

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Categories: Birds, Marsupials, Northern Territory, Reptiles, Scenery, Wildflowers