The infamous ditch that caused all my problems. It
doesn’t look that bad in the picture, but it IS bigger in real life!
We saw a tern (but couldn’t
identify it to species, as we only glimpsed it), and it was either a Fairy Tern
(Sterna nereis nereis;
an endangered species) or a Little Tern (Sterna albifrons sinensis). Yay for our good sighting! Cath
promised $1 million to whoever saw the first wader, and luckily that was me with
a Red-capped Plover (Charadrius
ruficapillus). I doubt I will ever collect on Cath’s promise, but at least
I got bragging rights. Along the way we also found patches of Muntries (Kunzea pomifera), a ground-hugging
native plant of south east South Australia. The bushes have lovely
berries on them that are sweet and slightly salty, kind of like salty
strawberries. We collected a bag of them so I could take them home and make
jam, although they are still sitting on my table and have probably gone bad by
now...Cath also showed us a few more edible plants (real bushtucker!) including
Pigface (Carpobrotus rossii), another native plant with very salty fleshy leaves.
A breathtaking view.
We stopped for
lunch on a lovely sandy beach at our halfway point after 2 ½ hours of walking.
Unfortunately we were also joined by a band of pesky biting flies, which took
every opportunity to attempt to feed from our legs and arms. I shared my
Fluffernutter sandwich with Cath, as she loves sweet and salty combinations and
was absolutely amazed when I first introduced her to this sandwich a few weeks
ago. For those of you who are not familiar with this wonderful culinary
creation, a Fluffernutter is peanut butter (for this, regular peanut butter is
best, not organic or natural) and marshmallow fluff/cream on bread (preferably
white bread). One of the best food combinations ever! After lunch we strolled
along the beach to look for more birds, and found a dead prion, a type of
seabird. I had never heard of this type of bird, which is similar to a petrel.
We’re not sure what it died from, as there were no obvious injuries.
The dead prion.
As we
continued back, I couldn’t help but admire how blue the ocean was. At one point
I was standing on a cliff overlooking a beachy alcove, when I saw what looked
like a black garbage bag floating along the shoreline. Then I realized it was
moving through the water along the beach. It was a stingray! There were two of
them, and it was so neat to see them in the wild. Although not so neat to
realize they really do swim right along the shoreline...
My stingray sighting!
Wombat hole. Still no actual wombat sighting...
And wombat
poop. They have cubic poop. How cool!
All the
crushed shells are there from when the coastal Aborigines used the area as a
shelling area.
We finally
made it back to the station around 4:45pm, and had a refreshing ice cream on
the beach and a quick step into the water (the water is WAY too cold to swim in
without a wetsuit, at least in my opinion!). My legs were sore, I had a
horrible sunburn on the backs of my legs and also a horrible sock tan, and I
felt like I could curl up right there on the beach and sleep for days, but it
was an amazing day in an amazing part of South
Australia.
Cath and I cooling our feet off in the frigid water
after our long hike.
Despite my
exhaustion, the weekend had only just begun. On Sunday, the BBC arrived to film
their documentary about the influence of size on how animals survive and about
the physics of life. They’ve filmed great white sharks, kangaroos, and another
animal I can’t remember in Australia,
and now they were here to film the bats in the park. Their main focus was on
the fact that bats are small and therefore have a high metabolism, and that
they also lose a lot of body heat due to their large surface area to volume
ratio. The crew also wanted to talk about echolocation and torpor. They were
filming two versions of the same documentary, one with the narrator (physicist Professor
Brian Cox, who has worked at the Large
Hadron Collider in Switzerland) talking to the camera, and one
with interviews of a bat expert (in this case, Steve Bourne). On Sunday night
the crew, which consisted of the actor/narrator, the script guy, two sound
guys, two cameramen, and the safety officer (I think), set up red lights over
the cave entrance to film the emergence. They also interviewed Steve about how
Anabats (acoustic detectors that pick up bats’ echolocation calls) work and
filmed my thermal imaging cameras at work (no, I was not in the shots). It was
a very, very cold night (unusually so for February, which is supposed to be the
hottest month of the year here) so the bats came out early and fast, probably
because there are fewer insects out when it’s cold and the bats need as much
time as possible to get enough food throughout the night. It was amazing to see
the bats lit up red against the cave entrance, and to witness all the thought
and detail that goes into making a documentary (or any film). At times the
“actor,” Brian, acted like a typical actor (like when the script guy was
fiddling with something and made a loud “click” while Brian was talking on
camera, and Brian snapped, “Could we PLEASE not fiddle with things while I’m
talking? It’s been a long day sitting in the car, I’m tired, and I want to get
this done.”). Haha, I had to keep myself from laughing out loud at the
silliness of it all.
Monday was
another day of filming, and again I set up the thermal imaging camera for them
to film. I also showed them some recorded video of inside the cave (taken by
the infrared cameras), which they also filmed. It was another long night, but
I’m glad I got to witness everything that goes into a film production. What a
crazy job!
Two lights with red filters set up at the cave
entrance.
Taking pictures of Brian Cox.
The cameraman shooting the beginning of the emergence.
I love Brian in the background at the beginning
saying, “Could we just have it quiet please. Please, could we have silence,
complete silence for five minutes.” And I also love the big microphone that
comes into the video.
Now Chris and
I are preparing for another crazy weekend. Tonight (Friday) we’re going to the
outdoor showing of the movie “Puss in Boots” at the Naracoorte Showgrounds.
Then tomorrow we’re heading to the town square for the annual Taste of the Limestone Coast festival. The festival will
feature local wineries, local food vendors, art groups, and musicians. In the
evening we’re going to the Opera in the Caves, which is put on by an opera singing
group and is hosted in the park inside Blanche Cave.
Apparently the acoustics are great and the decorations are beautiful. Chris and
I are going to volunteer to help the elderly patrons down the stairs into the
cave, which will earn us two free seats at the opera. Then on Sunday we’re
going to the Mini Jumbuk Naracoorte Cup horse race. There I will make my
fashion debut for the Fashions on the Field fashion competition. I’ve decided
that I want to participate as much as possible in local events, so I’m going to
enter the fashion competition. I hate to admit but I am getting a little
nervous, mostly because I don’t know what to expect. Of course I’m not
expecting to win, but it will be a blast and I’ll be able to look back and say,
“I did that!” I have a $20 blue dress from Target (on sale!), a red butterfly
belt, some local jewelry with silver flowers, and a bat fascinator that I
bought online on Etsy.com. I’m going with a nature theme to represent the park
and the bats. Stay tuned for a recap of the weekend’s adventures!
That will be me up on stage this weekend. Bring it on!
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