We did rather well, found our way there with out getting lost which is always a bonus :D
Went to historical place called Wulkuraka which is just west of Ipswich in South East Queensland. My brother in law (who I will refer to as BIL) lives there on a HUGE property (approx 140 acres I think). We only explored a small section of it yesterday as SOMEONE (namely me) did not wear suitable foot attire. Der !
Wulkuraka was quite a major crossroad in the golden olden days of Australia. I tried to find some interesting facts on the net about it - found this but most of what I found only refers to the region once the train came into play. Prior to that, it was a coach stop - yes, coach as in horse & buggy type thing ! The original coach stop hut is still standing and is located on the property I visited.
Aint it quaint?
It is amazing to me that the historical society of the region has not taken possession of it - or moved it to somewhere with other museum type thingies (thingies - thats a technical term btw).
In saying that, I would imagine that much of the original wood work would not take too kindly to being moved.
The original floor boards are still there too.. that surprised me. The weather can be quite harsh there. They have been in drought until recently. Typical Australia, drought then flood.. drought then flood.. and.. repeat after step one...
As you can see by the photo, it has been used for storage on the property for many many years - understandable, but such a shame the old place wasn't maintained.
BIL cooked us a Hungi (or Hangi as some seem to call it) This is a traditional Māori cooking technique now only used for special occasions. Banana tree leaves are used to stop the hot rocks from burning the food. Banana leaves get very burnt..lol
A shoulder of pork and lots of fresh vegetables.. yum ! We had the best home grown butternut pumpkin. Brought lots of fresh picked ones home too ! Pumpkin soup this week guys! I wont do a Mel - I wont make pumpkin icecream ! hahahah (yes, she really did that once - that poor grandchild will be scarred for life I tell ya!)
There are a few Kangaroos that frequent the front paddock. BIL sees them most every day, both morning & evening. They are getting used to him now and come in fairly close to him. They did not come out to play when I was there but here is a photo that BIL took a while ago.
Seems like a nice family - but don't be fooled into thinking that you could walk up and pat them.. they are wild animals and can be quite agressive. That great big male (over 6ft tall btw) wouldn't think twice about defending his family... and in the process... possibly disembowling you!
All we saw of them yesterday was roo foot prints by the dam
The owner of the neighbouring property obviously has quite the soft spot for the local roos because he has built them a shelter ! Check this out ! See the humpty style lump of greenery? Its hollow on the inside ....
Nice cosy home for roos in the rough weather eh?
As we walked down to the big dam we came across much of the local ant population.
I have the bites to damn well prove it !
This is a big ant nest - with big ants. Not nice little ones..big buggers. Im not totally sure what kind of ants they are.. but let me tell you .. the bastids jump ! Which in turn makes you jump, and when you jump near an ants nest..what happens? Yeeeees.. more ants come to see what the commotion is all about.. more ants - more jumping - more bites....I got out of there VERY fast let me tell you.
Now, for the Pièce de résistance ! Check this baby out !
This is a female Golden Orb Spider. The info on that link says that the body (just the body) can grow to 23mm - I'm telling you this was bigger than that. Much bigger. With legs spread, it would have to be close to my hand span. Anyone hate spiders? lol I can feel you squirming in your chair now!
In this next shot, you can also see the male. Look at the end of her back legs.. see the little fellow? Don't forget, you can click on the photos to enlarge them.
He is much smaller that the female as you can see - I guess she wears the pants in that family eh? The web of a Golden Orb has a yellow tinge - hence Golden Orb name. The web is so damn thick.. it is extrodinary... incredibly thick. I think the web worries me more than the spider to be honest - they are awful when you walk into them.. *note* I said walk INTO them, not through them - as they are very strong. I recall almost 'bouncing' out of one when I was a child. I was running through the scrub and ran in between two trees. I don't think it was a golden orb spider as it was in South Australia, but I will NEVER forget that incident. *shivers*
Those spiders can and, if really annoyed,will bite. Will not kill you, but dear oh dear, what a mess they can make of your skin ! Check this out.
Necrotising arachnidism: Progressive ulceration and loss of skin around the site of a biting by a number of araneomorph spider species. Its cause is uncertain and for this reason no fully effective treatments are available at the present time.
NO treatments at the present time... whoa ! Didnt know THAT when I was upclose taking photos !
I can't actually work out if that is someones hairy leg.. or ... or what appendage that is!
Ok, lets end this on a nicer note. This section is especially for Mel.
The ducks. Oh they are so cute but typical for real wild ducks, we could not get close to them. This photo was taken from across the dam (gotta love the zoom on my camera!- as that was as close as we could get to them.
They waddled off and sat in the shade in the next paddock while we examined the area.
They really made me laugh because as they waddled off, they voiced their disaproval of our arrival by making a mumbling grumbling quacky sound.
Mother duck said.....
"Quack Quack Quack Quack
Sod off of my territory and dont come back !"
Ha ! I swear she said worse than that!
Yibbider Yibbider, thats all folks!
5 comments:
Ex-cel-lent pix J ! I really mean it.
The spidey looks so cool and harmless. Put a leash on her "neck" and walk her around the block. ;)
Glad you finally got yer ass in gear and revived your blog. It always makes my first moments in the office (you know, before coffee kix in) bearable.
Keep it up and I'll stay tuned.
Why thank you :)
They are all my photos except for the anonymous hairy limb !
Did you click on the pics to enlarge?
Was hard work getting that close up ... the web was blowing slightly in the wind and my camera does not have a manual focus !
Glad you enjoyed that :D
I did enlarge the pix, at least those that I was able to click on. For some strange reason some of them didn't display. I'll try again later, from another pc (GEEK!)
Well done again.
PS. Admit it - you didn't expect to hear anything THAT nice from, me did ya?
Anyone who annoys a female spider.. deserves what they get. I think she is beautiful.
I think BIL's place looks like loads of fun.
I am sure I was meant to dispute something but I bloody forget what. Oh - I dont think orb web weavers bite all that often. I enjoy moving them because they seem so aggressive but they just... like to make you think they are. Of course I havent been bitten yet.I like spiders alot because they eat the things I dont like. I also like them because it always the beautiful clever ones that are female. I like ants too. Except when they bite.
When my grandson is thirty he will thank me for curing him of his ice cream... thing. No he probably wont. It really was just wayyyyy too much. He will eat ice cream but only if you tell him it is an ice block because he is afraid. Nanny loves him. Nanny grew too much basil. Wonder if I can make basil ice cream?
Ah Porky. How i miss The Looney Tunes.
Those spiders are nothing short of spectacular. And with a name like The Golden Orb spider. Well.. It's sure to get someone's attention.
P.S. I don't see no ants.I see stones, sand, shoots and shadows but no ants.
Post a Comment