Matt and Cece's Wild Safari

Okay...time to go over a list of some of the animals we've seen on our little trip so far. I'll try and distinguish between which animals we saw in the wild and which ones we saw in captivity. Pictures are included where available.

NEW ZEALAND
Kiwis - we saw these little flightless birds in a habitat at a Maori cultural center and geothermal park in Rotorua. They are extremely endangered and are nocturnal so they're not really easy to see in the wild. Also, they wouldn't let us take pictures in the habitat so you'll have to take our word that we saw these guys.

Dolphins - we saw a bunch of dolphins swimming alongside our boat as we cruised around the Huraiki Gulf in Auckland's harbor.

Sheep and cows - they're everywhere.

AUSTRALIA
Okay, things really pick up a little here.

Kangaroos - the animal most people associate with Australia. I was fortunate enough to see 40-50 bouncing around a golf course in Canberra with Cece's Uncle Harry (Cece was at a quilting party). They ranged in height from around two feet tall all the way to six feet tall. They were used to humans being around them but are still wild animals so they started hopping away from us when we got within about 30-40 yards away. We also saw a couple at an animal park in Tasmania. These guys were pretty tame. They come around the animal park during the day for some lunch and water and then take off again at night. The fences at the park aren't very tall so they just hop right out.

Koalas - the other animal you probably think about when you hear "Australia". We have seen these guys both in captivity and in the wild. There were three living at the animal park in Tasmania. They were pretty lazy. They just hung out in their little enclosure. They slept most of the time but they woke up a few times to munch on some eucalyptus leaves. The ones in the wild were much more active and fun. There's a little town on the Great Ocean Road down in Victoria called Kennett's River. If you turn off the main road and drive about 500 meters up the road into the woods you're surrounded by gum trees. We saw a family standing around their car gawking at something above their heads. Sure enough, there was a little koala about fifteen feet off the ground, just munching away on some leaves. We parked quickly and joined the gawking family. As we checked out our little friend we noticed another, bigger fella hanging out not too far away. He was a little more shy and started climbing up the tree. Let me tell you, koalas are a heck of a lot faster than I thought. This guy got up to the top of that gum tree in a hurry. As we scanned the trees we spotted another one about 30 meters into the woods. He just sat in the same spot and didn't move too much though.

Wallabies - other than birds, this would be the little animal we've seen the most of. We spotted our first little wallabies (they look like miniature kangaroos) on the trail we walked in Freycinet National Park in Tasmania, less than five minutes from the beach at Wineglass Bay. Cece spotted a little guy standing on our path. As she snapped some pictures he hopped into the bush, where he met up with another little friend. We saw a few more on that hike and several more feeding along the side of the road that night. We then saw several more at a city park in Launceston and Cece got up close and personal with a fella named Hopper in Lake St. Clair National Park. There were also several at the animal park.

Pademelons - these guys are like pygmie wallabies. They had a little orphan at the animal park and Cece got to pet him. We saw a few more at Mt. Field National Park just a few minutes later when we went to see Russell Falls.

Tasmanian Devils - unfortunately these little guys are being devastated in the wild by a facial tumor. Hopefully the vets and wildlife scientists will find a cure soon. So we were only able to see a family of devils at the animal park. The park we went to is part of a state wide breeding program that will help repopulate the wild with healthy devils.

Platypus - the little duckbilled mammals live all over Australia, but we saw ours in Tasmania. The wildlife park we went to backs up to a river and a family of platypus live in the river. We saw one little guy swim across the water and do a little dive down for some food.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid...Part I

The Man Capris are coming, the Man Capris are coming!

I'm playing the role of a 21st Century Paul Revere here. If my observations in the past two years or so are any indication then men's fashion in the States is about to be besieged by the awful half pants, half shorts I like to refer to as "man capris".

I first spotted man capris in Lenox Mall in Atlanta about 20-25 months ago. At first I thought there must be a convention of clam diggers in town. There's always some crazy convention going on in Atlanta, so clam diggers didn't really seem so far fetched at the time. I mean, why else would any self respecting man wear pants that stop halfway between the tops of his feet and the bottom of his knees? It just doesn't make any sense. But as I continued to see more and more of these "pants" I surmised the wearer's weren't clam diggers at all. Instead they were far more sinister. They were Europeans. You can imagine my horror when I realized that not only was Atlanta being overrun by men wearing half pants but that the attackers were also from across the pond.

Luckily, the numbers of the man capri wearers in the ATL never really took off. I thought to myself, "whew...we dodged a bullet there". But then, in the fall of 2005, Cece and I journeyed to London and Paris for a little vacation. The man capris were once again on display. This time the numbers were multiplied. They were everywhere. Men ranging in age from their teens to the early thirties were sporting them. Again, I stood by in shock as I thought about a world overrun by people in these pants. But I made it through that trip, mainly because I knew in my heart that surely those pants would die a slow and painful death in Europe and never really make an impact elsewhere. Boy, was I wrong.

Upon landing in Auckland last month I could feel something in the air. At first I just thought it was the odd feeling of the Southern Hemisphere oxygen. It was so clean and pure. But as we ventured out into the city I realized I was again about to be besieged by images of men wearing capris. They were everywhere. My terror increased when I heard the voices of those who would try and conquer us. They weren't just speaking French, Italian, and German (nationalities known for bad taste in men's fashion). I heard Aussie and Kiwi accents coming from the man capri nation. I was devastated. I had so much hope for the Australians and New Zealanders. I thought they could escape the influence of the Evil Empire (Europe). Unfortunately, the claws of deceit and bad fashion have imbedded themselves down here and the man capris are everywhere. Walking by stores you can see racks and racks of them, in all colors and sizes. I see kids wearing them. I see teenagers wearing them. I see old men wearing them. I am afraid. I am afraid for the generations of boys and men who will grow up wearing these awful things, thinking they look good. I am afraid for the poor girls and women who must date and eventually marry these "chick pant" wearing guys. But most of all, I am afraid for America.

So I put it to all of the men out there reading this: if you see a pair of man capris in a store, walk away. If you see a friend wearing them, kindly tell him to put on a pair of real pants or start looking for new friends. If you wife or girlfriend buys you a pair, tell her to please leave the chick pants to the chicks. And please, don't scoff at this post. The man capris are out there. They've overtaken most of the world and they'll be heading to the States soon. Be vigilant and be strong.

Greetings from Oz!

The Happy Travellers at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania, Australia.


And in Sydney at the Harbor Bridge!

A Very Australian Day

Yesterday we had an authentic Aussie experience. First, Aunt Cece and Uncle Harry took us just out of town to the Showgrounds to watch some of the Australian National Sheep Dog Trials. There are sheep all over this giant island (at least the parts we've been to) and behind any good sheep farmer is a whole pack of smart, hard working sheep dogs. Their job is to keep the sheep in line and not let any of them get too far away from the herd.

At the National Trials the dogs have to execute a series of tasks within a time limit to score points. We watched about three or four dogs give it a go. First, three sheep are let out of a pen at the far end of the grounds (a large circle about 100 meters or so in diameter). The dog has to circle around behind them and get them to move all the way to a semi-circle of space at the near end of the grounds. Then he has to push them all the way back down to the other end and get them to walk, move, shuffle around two poles. After that he has to herd them through a little chute about 3 meters wide and 5 meters long. Next, he has to get them to go through another chute. This time there is a "bridge" in the chute and it is about 8-10 meters long. This part caused a lot of trouble for the dogs because the sheep just didn't want to walk over that bridge. Finally, the dog had to get the sheep to walk across the grounds and get them into a pen where his handler would shut the gate.

Like I said, we watched only a handful of dogs as these tasks could be very time consuming. If you didn't know before watching these activities that sheep aren't the brightest animals on earth, you would certainly know afterwards. They just kind of stumble around following each other. It was a mix between the Keystone Cops and the Three Stooges. You could sense the frustration as the dogs were doing everything they could possibly do and the darn sheep just wouldn't go where they were supposed to go. But we enjoyed ourselves and go to see two dogs complete all the tasks. Our favorite was a little fella named Buddy. We also "met" a dog that was featured in the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony. Apparently she jumped out of box and did a polka dance or something. Actually I made that up because I can't remember what she really did.

After the sheep dog trials, we went and partook in one of Uncle Harry's favorite pastimes - lawn bowling. It is a game played on a flat area of grass, cut close like a green on a golf course. Each player has four weighted bowling balls that are rolled down the lawn in an attempt to get closest to a marker, the jack. You can play teams or singles. Each player takes turns bowling and you are allowed to knock any of the balls that have already been bowled from their resting spot. The winner of each "end" is the person who has a ball closest to the jack. It was a pretty good way to spend an hour or so in the sun. Both Cece and I got the hang of it pretty quickly and we had a fun little match.

So that was our little Oz experience on our last day in Canberra. This morning we are packing up the car and heading to Sydney for a couple of days before we drive up the coast to Queensland. Hopefully we'll get a chance to pick up a board and learn how to surf in the next few days. Wish us luck!

Geography Quiz for the Kids

Okay, whoever provides the correct answers first gets a special, as yet to be determined, prize from Down Under.

Today, we are traveling from Canberra, Australia's capital, up the East Coast. So far we have visited three of Australia's states: New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. By the end of this week we will have visited a fourth, Queensland. So the trivia questions is: What are the capitals of the four Australian states we are visiting: New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and Queensland? Bonus points if you can name all six state capitals and the two territorial capitals.

Good luck!

Changing on the Fly

Our original Australian itinerary included a quick trip out to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) to see what has been described as the best sunrise and sunset view in the world. However, the plane tickets out that way are a little out of our budget range. Therefore, we're changing course a bit and heading down to Tasmania instead. We chose Tasmania for a couple of reasons: 1) a lot of people told us it looks very much like the South Island of New Zealand and it supposedly has some beautiful mountains and lakes and is filled with good day hikes...and 2) March is Free Devil Month, so we get a free Tasmanian devil with our airline ticket! Okay, the last part is just wishful thinking on my part. The little devil has been added to the list of animals/pets/new friends I want to bring back with me. It joins the kangaroo, the koala, the wombat, the penguin, the kiwi, and a host of others I'm sure to discover along the way.