Category: Aussie Life

Update on the mystery grubs

Reply from Colleen Foelz at the Queensland Museum about these things

Hi Christine

As you suggest these are sawflies, but to identify the actual species is not straightforward. Most of the descriptive work for identifying species has been done on the adults.

Raising the caterpillar through to its adult form would be the best way to obtain a species identification but we’re not sure of the conditions that would be required to make that successful.

Thank you for the video, it’s certainly an interesting behaviour that this groups shows.

Regards

Colleen

So if we see them again, I guess we better take a sample and try and raise one to maturity 🙂

What on earth are these things?

Seen at Ferny Grove (Brisbane) this morning in a school playground. The best guess is some kind of sawtail larvae, but none of the photos quite match. I have put an enquiry in with the Queensland Museum. They’re about 2 inches/6-7 cm long, and the tail flicking, which you can see in the video, tends to start at the front and goes to the back in a wave. Very very weird!

caterpillars

We interrupt our usual programming….

To rave about this 2011-12 BBC series which we bought off iTunes recently. The Hour has everything – strong plot, amazing acting, beautiful men and stunning women, really fascinating female characters and brilliant writing. Set in 1957-8, the first series happens during the Suez crisis, the second during Britain’s nuclear tests and the rise of the fascist Oewald Mosley and his followers. It was very successful in America, not enough in Britain so a third series was canned 🙁 But you can still watch the two that exists.

(PS – sorry to everyone who got a notice about a locked post – that’s just for us and our neighbours to plan our trip to Tassie at the end of this year.) Continue reading “We interrupt our usual programming….”

Stradbroke Island, August 2015

We’ve been to North Stradbroke island (affectionately known as ‘Straddie’) twice this month to watch whales from the land. (The annual humpback migration north goes right past the east/northest side of the island). Foolishly I didn’t bring my camera the first time because I didn’t realise how beautiful it would be. But the second time, a week later, I did. Both winter days were beautifully warm and sunny, and the ride over on the catamaran a real joy, letting us see dolphins and seabirds each time.

Even from the ferry port, the view was lovely. Continue reading “Stradbroke Island, August 2015”

Taking my new camera lens for a day out

My new Nikon DSLR is great but lugging lenses and swapping them around is a pain in the butt. I ended up not even using the telephoto on our recent trip (although the weather was generally bad enough for that not to matter.) So when I saw the 16-300mm lens I’d been hoping to get before we head to Antarctica for Xmas, on sale, I snapped it up. And then I had to test it, didn’t I 🙂

These are all from Bribie Island. Continue reading “Taking my new camera lens for a day out”

Cute animals from Tasmania!

We ran away for Xmas, and then ran home again. We had a wonderful time. Tasmania is incredible, even if its wonder has not always been responsibly cared for. We also ate some fantastic food and bought some expensive but delicious Tasmanian whisky.

Anyway, I thought you might like to see some of the cute critters we saw on our travels. [Command+click for best experience.] Enjoy 🙂 Continue reading “Cute animals from Tasmania!”

Mad Hotels

To be truthful, there were only two mad hotels on our trip. Most of them – barring the one in Whistler which was kind of old, and the one in Kamloops which was just basic because Kamloops doesn’t have anything better – were pretty nice, and all other than the one in Kamloops were five star because we booked a premium tour (and paid through the nose for it.) A few of them were in the Fairmont Hotel chain, which caters for the high end customers. So it was a peek at a lifestyle we’re not familiar with, while not particularly wanting to living like that all the time (I mean, turn down service? Chocolates on the pillow every night? Does any of that really matter?) Continue reading “Mad Hotels”

California

The flight to San Francisco was via Virgin ‘first class’ – which is to say, what other people call premium economy. Grimy white leather seats and cheap fizz do not make a flight ‘first class’. Nor was I impressed by the pole dance style safety briefing a very pretty and talented female flight attendant had to make for our section. People made such a fuss over this fun and funny Air New Zealand video which I saw several times on planes, but no one complains about this sexist shit Branson puts his staff through? Really? Continue reading “California”