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Today, our 2nd in Melbourne, we are going to scout out some kangaroos and koalas and get a good background on Aboriginal customs (the K was just for the kute title). We got up early and were on the “bus to the bush” by 9:00 am. This was our 3rd Australian port day and we still hadn’t seen any wildlife so we were excited (along with 90 or so other people) to get on our buses and experience something uniquely Australian.
Click here for Melbourne Day 2 Photo Gallery.
First we drove to You Yangs Regional Park in south central Victoria. We stopped at Big Rock, which is a granite rock outcropping that was (and still is) significant to the Aborigines in the area. Roger, our guide, told us that tribe elders would call meetings and tribes would come from all around the area. They would perform rituals and rites of passage. They also constructed “rock wells” which were holes they created in the granite rock by pouring cold water over hot coals and then chiseling out the granite. This was used to store and protect rainwater.
Next, we were off to the Koala Walk. We ended up walking quite a ways into the bush (I cursed the fact that today of all days I didn’t have on my hiking shoes, but instead open toe sandals!!). We had “spotters” out looking for koalas so our Koala guide, Sue, knew there were some in the area.
We finally spotted one, high up in a eucalyptus tree. She was sort of hard to see, and didn’t move at all the whole time we were there…but nonetheless we got to see one. Sue took us to another spot where there was another female…again, rather high up in a tree. Sort of underwhelming and I was a bit too preoccupied looking down at my feet…lots of creepy crawlies in Australia and I needed to protect myself. We had walked past a nest of bull ants and I was afraid they were coming to get me!
After we were back in the bus, we drove to the Serendip Sanctuary. All three Regent buses met here and they served us a barbeque lunch. While we ate, an Aborigine, Norm Stanley, talked about his culture and showed us some of the tools and weapons they’ve used for thousands of years. He taught the more adventurous of us how to use a boomerang and played music on his didgeridoo. The didgeridoo is one of the worlds’ oldest musical instruments. It is a long tube, without finger holes, through which the player blows. My girlfriend Astrid had asked me to bring back a didgeridoo for her kids…she didn’t tell me they average 5 feet long and weigh 30 pounds!
After lunch, we drove over to a large field that is home to both emus and kangaroos – which meant it was filled with emu and kangaroo excrement! Again, wish I had on better shoes.
The emus, which look a lot like an ostrich, were out in the open, but the kangaroos would prove a bit harder to flush out. Roger had us walk across the field with a slow, deliberate pace until we got to the area of small trees where the kangaroos were hanging out. Roger told us how lucky we were that the temperature was cool as that meant the kangaroos would be easier to flush out in the open field. They tend to stay in the shade when it’s hot.
We, in essence, outflanked the roos and moved them out into the field. There were about 40 in total, some moms with babies in their pouches and some large males. We even got to see some adolescent males having a bit of a boxing match!
Back on the bus we took the 1 hour return trip to the ship where I soaked my sandals in hot water and slowly began to realize that unfortunately “I might be coming down with something…”.
Photography Comments:
More high clouds and it was white-out type of sky until the late afternoon when we had plenty of blue skies and the colors popped. Most of the day I used the D700 and I let Sherrie try out the D7000. It would have been nice to have my old D200 and 18-200 on this trip or at least the 18-200 lens on the D7000. I loved that lens! All I can say is that I got some shots today that documented what we did but only a few that I felt were good. I really liked the colors on the low shot of the field with the Man and Woman mountains in the distance and the shot of Margaret and Emanual decanting the wine. I also liked the color and drama of the ferry shots at the end of the night. Yes, I am really liking the results I’m getting from the Fuji X100. But, before you go out and buy one realize that it is a strange camera, a little flukey and only has a 50mm equivalent lens. No zooming and no lens swapping.
Sherrie - Great photos and of course always enjoy Margaret’s write ups as well. Please keep them coming and can’t wait to order a book at the end of your “Grand Voyage”