Last week we had some Australian relatives to stay and this week, after trouncing the Wallabies last weekend, the All Blacks have a chance to clinch the tri-Nations trophy when they play Australia again in Christchurch. So I thought we’d switch to an Australian topic for this post.
Several years ago we visited the Otway Peninsula in Victoria. We went hunting for platypus in a wonderful early morning excursion. The place was Lake Elizabeth, formed when a landslide dammed a stream more than 50 years ago. It’s a remarkable place:
My wife went on the tour while I tried to capture the atmosphere from the shore. They were on the water a little before dawn, silently drifting along in an eerie environment. She really enjoyed it, and did see some platypus too. It was a great thrill to see such elusive creatures in their own environment.
This is an unusually wet part of Australia (it even has some tiny waterfalls) and some parts of the forest reminded me of home. For example:
The dead gum trees rising from the mirror-smooth lake made for some interesting images, quite different from anything we would see at home.
So all in all, a great morning for both of us, and well worth it!