White Rabbits Meet White Bilbies

 

White rabbits altruistically share their lunar dose of luck with lookalike bilbies. Leader Lapin tells the bilbies: “We come in peace. We like you. Use this luck we offer to stop your species going extinct. WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT.”

 

The rabbits may think they have found a cousin. Both have long ears, hop and dig. But it’s just convergent evolution. Rabbits are placental mammals, bilbies are marsupials.

Moving to Queensland?

What are the downsides? 
Ken: Well, bushfires for starters. Climate change is making them nastier. And then there’s the sudden flooding. One minute dry, next minute your backyard’s a lake.
Paul: See, that’s exactly what worries me. NZ feels… calmer. Not used to spiders and poisonous animals. 
Ken: I always thought NZers were mostly terrified of snakes.
Paul: Well, yes, snakes too. How often do you actually see one?
Ken: Yesterday. I was on the ride‑on mower, and a red-belly was sliding through the grass right beside me.
Paul: That’s… very close. 
Ken: Oh, that’s nothing. Last week one got inside the house.
Paul: Inside?
Ken: Under the couch. The one you’re sitting on, actually.
Paul: Right. Well. I imagine you have anti‑venom in the house? 
Ken: Oh yes. (picks up an axe lying on the hearth) This quite often stops the venom spreading. 
Paul: …I see.

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Voice-over
Ken is brisk, wry and laconic. Very Aussie. Brings on a writhing smile.

Multicultural Aussie Neighborhood

Chance meeting on the street…

Ray: Morning. You’re our neighbor in number 30, right?
Isamu: Yes. Nice to meet you. At last.  We travel a lot. Sorry.
Ray: So do I. Ships that pass. 
Isamu: What’s that antenna on your roof?
Ray: Ham radio. I was. Bit out of fashion now though. I was an aircraft mechanic before retirement. Like to tinker with electric gadgets. Someone in the neighborhood told me you sail.

Isamu: Yes. A yacht. I was sailing round the world in the 1970s. Got a job teaching art at the uni so made my base here in Adelaide.
Ray: We’re both migrants, then. My lot came in 1850. From Germany. Not convicts.You like Aussie, then?

Isamu: Multicultural, sometimes messy, surprising.
Ray: You should come over for tea. I make terrible tea but excellent conversation. 
____________
Voice-over
A technical tinkerer and an artist. No barriers there. In true Aussie style, Ray ups the ante to invite Isamu to a barbecue.

Estuary Sailing at Dusk

 A once a week ritual…

Leonard: Welcome aboard Wagtail, mind your footing.

Daniel: Bigger than I expected. 

Leonard: Not quite the Sydney to Hobart, mate. Just the Thursday-night club — six of us amateur sailors who reckon we’re elite for about an hour.

Daniel: Six boats? All setting off at the same time?

Leonard: Yep. Seahorse, Pelican, Wind Lass... we’ve been racing each other for nearly thirty years. 

Daniel: What happens if you win?

Leonard: Remind the others all week who the real captain is. Then buy the first round at the pub as penance. Oi, Pete — untie, would you? Righto, fellas, push off! Meet the dream team: Pete’s a dentist; Rob’s an accountant who pretends to be navigator; and over there’s Mick — retired engineer, self-declared “beverage control officer.”

Mick: Too right, mate. First rule aboard Wagtail: skipper sails; I handle the beer.

Leonard: That’s why he keeps getting invited back. Righto, raise the sails. Wind’s sou’east, nice and steady. Daniel, you can give the halyard a good pull — that’s it, up she goes!

Daniel: She catches fast! Wow, that push... feels alive.

Leonard: Mind your head! Boom’’s about to swing — tacking starboard!

Daniel: Whoa — close one! I nearly got the full baptism.

Leonard: Ha! Happens once to everyone, mate. After that, you duck automatically. All right, beers up, eyes on Pelican — first of the estuary markers coming up. Let’s show these blokes the lawyers still mean business on the water!

___________

Voice-over

As Leonard puts it: Thirty years and it never gets old. You watch the sun drop behind the mangroves, the tide runs out — same rhythm, same laughs. Keeps you sane after a week of contracts and clients.

Oatlands

Coffee in a stone café…
Ronald: We nearly drove right past.
Andrew: Historical gem isn’t it. Impressive stone buildings. And many of them built by convict labor.
Ronald: True, but they got built and are here today as a historical reminder and how far we've come. It's important to remember the past, even the difficult parts.
Andrew: Look at this. Oatlands has the largest collection of Georgian sandstone buildings in the Southern Hemisphere. Over 150, with 87 of them along the main street. And the Callington Mill, for example, not only produced flour but also had an illegal distillery on the side.
Ronald: Nice to have pleasant historical spots to drop into on a journey. A chance to learn something new along the way. Reminds me, I must send a donation to Wikipedia.
_________
Voice-over
A lot of history is packed into this Tasmanian village. The name can be traced back to a village in England founded in the time of Henry VIII.

Callington Mill, Oatlands TAS, Wiki.

Busselton Jetty

Shouting over the wind…
Rachel: A bit wild today, isn’t it?
Mai: But the view is amazing. This jetty is so long! Can we see fish?
Rachel: On calmer days, you can spot dolphins and even the odd seal.
Mai: What’s that at the end of the jetty?
Rachel: It’s an underwater observatory. You go down 8 meters and see the marine life up close. Like being in a giant aquarium.
Mai: Can we go? Is it open today?
Rachel: Not in this weather. But on a calmer day, it’s a must-see.
__________
Voice-over
At 1.8 kilometers, it’s the longest wooden-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. Originally built in 1865. Park and walk it, you’ll clock up 4 kilometers. Oh, and there are over 300 different marine species if you have time.

Kangaroo Viewing

Travelling in kangaroo country...

Brian: Do you know where I could go to spot kangaroos? In the wild I mean.
Richard: Kangaroos? If you’re around early in the morning or just before sunset, they’re usually most active during those times.
Brian: Any specific spot you’d recommend nearby?

Richard: Yalgorup National Park is a good spot. It’s about 20 minutes from here, and you’ll have a good chance of spotting them near the open grasslands or even around the lakes. The park is pretty quiet, so it’s a good spot for wildlife.
Brian: Any precautions you’d suggest?
Richard: Kangas can be unpredictable, especially the big ones, so keep a safe distance. Don’t approach them, especially if they have joeys. 
__________
Voice-over
Another thing is that they can hop across roads so take care driving especially at dawn and dusk.

White Rabbitroos

Hopped across the Tassie looking for a Marigold Hotel, and today,, on the first of the month, ran into three white rabbitroos which is a lucky omen.

WHITE RABBITROO, WHITE RABBITROO, WHITE RABBITROO 

for August, for All. 

 Throw another kiwi on the barbie, Trev.

The Panda in the Kanga Pouch and other metaphors

An animal analogy...

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Trev: Here’s a good metaphor. A panda in a kangaroo pouch. Even rhymes.

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from The Economist, Jan 19th 2019

Basil: Where’s that from?

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Trev: The Economist on January 19th. Clever. The kanga is Australia. The panda is China.

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Basil: What’s the panda doing in the pouch?

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Trev: China is popping up building roads and ports in Pacific islands. Near Australia.

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Basil: Chinese geopolitical strategy in a lot of regions.

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Trev: But what got our goat was that the Chinese wanted to build a military base in Vanuatu.

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Basil: Ouch. Close to home.

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Trev: Right in what we Aussies regard as our “patch”. Even if it is water.

___________

Voice-over

Clear where the artist got the “pouch” idea from. A fair swag of other metaphors in the article too, like “dropping the ball” playing “whack-a-mole.”

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