Signs You're in Australia [updated]

I mean that literally. (Click to enlarge signs and the lovely and vivacious Tin.)

The sign to the right says "Caution - Blue Bottles." That would be the blue bottle jellyfish:

If a tentacle attaches itself to a human, it releases a poison (through the use of nematocysts), and if you continue to rub the skin after the tentacle has been removed more poison or venom will be released. If you are stung, it is best to wash the area without touching. A cold pack should be used to relieve the pain. If stung, please consult a doctor immediately. No fatalities have ever been reported within Australia or New Zealand from the sting of a blue bottle.

 They came in the two nights ago. There are thousands and thousands washed up on shore. Here's just one, with one of it's very long tentacles:

Update: In response to Sara on Facebook, who wrote:

Apparently the quickest and most effective relief from the pain is to pee on the affected area, unless you have a bottle of vinegar handy.

Well you know, Sara, we've discussed just that. Christine has extensive history with blue bottles, and has long talked about how they used to put vinegar on the wounds left by them. Or peed on them if you didn't happen to bring your vinegar along to the beach. But that is done no more, according to our inquiries. Today they recommend washing thoroughly, then applying ice - which will lead to the pain lasting only some hours.

Basically, they don't know jack all what to do, and they just keep coming up with different things every decade or so.

Here's another good closeup, showing the blue bottle's "crimped" edge, giving it what Christine said was a "samosa" look:

After they've been beach-bound for some time, they shrink to a still beautiful "bottle cap" (my definition) stage:

The Garden Orb Weaver

A quite large Australian spider I saw bushwalking with Hans in Kur-ring-gai Chase yesterday:

What you're seeing is the back of the upside-down spider's abdomen - with the white stripe - as it feeds on a cicada. A rather large cicada. The abdomen is not as big around as a golf ball, but it's not a whole lot smaller either. It's a garden orb weaver.

Boxing Kangaroos (Really)

I first visited Australia in 2006, and saw my very first wild kangaroos in Canberra. They gave me a show, and I really should share it here. It's too funny how this progresses. I see them in this school yard, very early in the morning. I shakily video them, they go behind a bush, I round the bush, and there they are - looking at me. They seem to go, "Sigh. Let's give the damn tourist the routine," then rear get into their toes and tails position, and...well you'll have to watch. It was too much. (When they were done they looked at me like, "Good enough?" and hoped off.)



That actually inspired a blog that I did very little with over the years - Boxing Kangaroos.

My Aussie Drivers License, and a Tip for Americans

I got my official New South Wales drivers license, and am also enrolled in the Australian national socialized communist Nazi healthcare system, Medicare.

I am now free to be bitten by some venomous creature.

If you're an American (this may apply to other countries as well) migrating to Oz, as I am, then let me give you a tip. Once you get your Australian visa, the Australian embassy will helpfully tell you that there is no need to get a stamp in your passport, as all the information you will ever need is now electronically delivered via an electronic chip in your passport. They will send you a letter telling you how this chip will help you with everything you need to do to settle into your new home country.

It is unfortunately not true.

The RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority) will not allow you to get an Australian drivers license without a stamp. When informed that the Australian Department of Immigration & Citizenship says they're supposed to accept the chip, they'll say, basically, "Really? Well they're not the boss of me."

More: You may be told by some nice gentleman at the RTA that you need to go to the Australian Department of Immigration & Citizenship office in downtown Sydney and get an Evidence of Residency Certificate, which will cost you $100. Do not get the certificate. Go to the ADIC office—and ask for a stamp in your passport. It's free, and it gets you your drivers license. (And it actually only took me about a half hour once I was there.)

So, if you're moving  to Australia, get the stamp in your passport while you're in the U.S. It'll make things much easier.

I've Got Leeches on My Ankles

I went bushwalking in Garigal National Park yesterday. I was on a seldom used trail, clearly, going through some thick stuff. This photo, of a termite nest - the big openings indicating it's been used as a kookaburra nest - gives you an idea:

Here's a cicada butt. (Click to enlarge cicada butt):

At one point I unfortunately knocked over a small burnt-out stump, and released some angry ants, one of which bit me on my sandaled foot. Ow. I went to check my foot, and found leeches stuck into me, in between my toes and on my foot and leg. Leeches! I didn't even step in any water!

Here's a short video of the aftermath of their bloody attack, and the pulled-off leeches (which then stuck to my thumbs, needing removing once again) coming after me for more:



And here's a good closeup of a leech I found on my neck about a half-hour later:



They appear to be Australian Land Leeches. (Yay!)

One of the most hated creatures of the Australian bush is the blood-sucking Australian Land Leech (Gnatbobdellida libbata). Although most species of leech are found in aquatic environments, this one has adapted to life in the moist rainforests [editor's note: nobody told me that!] and wet eucalypt forests of eastern Australia. When conditions are suitable (moist ground conditions), these horrible relatives of the worm come out onto bushwalking and animal tracks and wait for their victims. They do this by ‘standing’ in an upright position, clasping the ground with their posterior sucker, as per the shot on the left.

Once again, and all-around perfect day in Australia.

P.S. Christine says she's alive, well, and, "Hi!"

Kur-ring-gai Chase

I spent several hours yesterday walking in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park just north of Sydney. (The name is actually redundant: a chase is "a tract of unenclosed land used as a game preserve." The founders of the chase didn't want to call it a park, as that, in their 1890s view of things, suggested a fenced in area.)
It was hot, in the 90s, dry, I didn't have enough water, and my hip started hurting before I got out of bed. I went off-trail at one point in chase of a brown furry animal the size of a small dog, through thick bush in an area home to death adders and brown snakes, both of which can kill you quickly. It was all around glorious, and I found some spectacular spots in a park I will be walking regularly.

As soon as I got off the bus I saw a strange little bird, a youngun, intent on digging a little pit, and completely unafraid of me. I don't know what it is, perhaps a young bush turkey:



I saw a fat goanna, at least three feet long—look how long that tail is—which made the heat and the hurt totally worthwhile:

Here's a good head shot:

And one of my famously shaky videos, at the end of which you can see a bit of the goanna shuffle:



After stumbling down the hill to try and get a shot of the mysterious creature, a reddish, chocolate brown thing with thick fur, I came upon McCarrs Creek, where I caught a tiny crab:



Back on McCarrs Creek road I waited for a bus, and saw a dead animal. I think it was a swamp wallaby. You can see the long feet, and tail, and the little arms:

Poor critter. That's probably what I saw in the bush. Hopefully next time I'll have a good photo of a live one.

Random Photos

LT and Tin by the ute ("utility" truck) we rented on moving day:

Our street at night:

Rocking Eric's house, Oregon:

A sea snail, Collaroy Beach rock pools: