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Hot Air Balloons Over Kilsyth

Feb 15th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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The other morning I had a surprise – a pair of hot air balloons almost directly over our house! 

 Kilsyth Hot Air Balloon 2Kilsyth Hot Air Balloon 3

It definitely had the Chloe the Corgi wondering what was going on.  She came around to get her breakfast bone-shaped biscuit, saw the balloon and headed back up to the garage door, without the biscuit.  I hadn’t realised up until than that there was a balloon, let alone two almost above me, then the burner went.

Of course I just stood there admiring the view for a few minutes.  By the time that I had come to my senses and got the camera the balloons had moved over the back fence and they were well on their way to Mooroolbark.  In the meantime Chloe had darted in through the fly-wire door that I had left ajar, and was not happy at getting put back outside.

Summer Wanders #4: Laughing Kookaburra

Jan 22nd, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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While we weren’t entirely wandering,  this photo is taken on the shade-sail at Mum and Dad’s house, it was quite a way from home.

Kookaburra

Apparently this kookaburra has taken to visiting on the off-chance that a goldfish in the pond below may be on the menu.  A small compensation is that it is happy to hang around and have it’s photo taken.  For those of you interested in goldfish safety – there is a net covering most of the water, and the fish have worked out that the surface isn’t a safe place to be.

Kookaburras are the largest members of the kingfisher family, they eat other birds, insects, small mammals, small snakes and lizards.  The snake eating part definitely makes them useful to have around.  Apparently their name is onomatopoeic, that is it imitates the sound that it is describing (like meow), so the name represents the sound of their call.  Once a kookaburra has caught large prey they either hold it in their beak and bash it senseless on an appropriate hard object, or drop it from a height.

The Australian Museum Online [^] and Wikipedia [^] have some more information about Kookaburras if you are looking for some.

Summer Wanders #3: Flinders

Jan 20th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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A follow-on from the Snorkeller the other day.  Here we have the Flinders Jetty looking across Western Port Bay to Phillip Island (Google Maps [^]).  

Flinders

The main claim to fame for Flinders is it being the point where the first telegraph line to Tasmania left the mainland.

Summer Wanders #2: Hastings

Jan 17th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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Hastings was somewhere that I hadn’t been before; quite an admission when you spend 15 years living within 20km of the place!  I had always thought that there wouldn’t be too much to see there.  The only things that associated with the place were the Esso-BHP Oil Refinery, and the BlueScope Steel plant.  They are not what I would consider great sight-seeing opportunities!  What we found was quite different; a small fishing town, a busy boat ramp, and wildlife.

However it turns out that Hastings [^] is home to the most southerly mangroves in the world, and pelicans.  The only thing that seems a bit out of place is the oil tanks in the mangroves.  Along with the wonderful natural resources, the jetty is colourful and well populated.

Hastings Pelican Hastings

Summer Wanders #1: Flinders Snorkeller

Jan 16th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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It’s taken a little while for me to decide how to present the coming short series of  photos – but here we go.  We had a wander down onto the Mornington Peninsula between Christmas and New Year.  This is one of a pair of snorkellers next to the pier at Flinders – how much more summery could you get?

Flinders Scuba

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