A Home Invasion

'Andrew, we have invited friends to play board games on Friday at 11.30. Is that ok?'

They had already invited them, so I had to say yes. I would have regardless. Right, I had planned one last visit before my annual Melbourne Zoo pass expires, and I will do that while games are played.

'Phyllis, are these people who will invade my home trustworthy? I don't want my silverware to be nicked or anyone rifling through my drawers." 

To get to the zoo, I would have once caught the direct 58 tram from home, or a tram to Melbourne Flinders Street, then a train. 

Now with the Metro train, is was much quicker to catch the train from the nearby Anzac Station to Parkville Station, then the 58 tram for the last leg. I've come to realise that while the Metro Train is very quick, as it is in a tunnel, it is terribly boring. If I can pull my eyes away from my phone, I usually like to look out the window at passing scenery. 

Honestly, Melbourne Zoo is boring as bat shit. Most of the animals hide away in the cold weather and those that are out, don't do very much. They don't do much when it is hot either.

I bought coffee and ate the sandwich I brought from home. If there were decent cakes, I would have bought one.

Once home after being out for four hours, there were remains of a huge amount of food being cooked, enough left over for my dinner and some more. The dishwasher was on, but in the sink and on the bench, there was another load to be washed. I am so pleased I pressed Phyllis to use the dishwasher. I can't imagine the water use if the dishes were washed under heated running water, as was his inclination.

An extremely complicated board game was underway on the coffee table, with four visitors. I retired to my west wing to relax and play with my tablet. 

I didn't want to interrupt their game after my rest, and so set up my tablet at my desk to watch the 6pm car crash commercial tv news. Soon after, two people left and the remaining pair retired to Phyllis' and Kosov's bedroom, handing my space at home back to me. My dinner of whatever with rice was served at 7pm, and then everyone left for a 'long walk'. 

The bad, my home was not my own for a period. The good, Phyllis and Kosov were building friendships and relationships. English was the lingua franca.

A zoo gorilla was quite entertaining. She had stolen her siter's hessian sack and kept pulling it over head. I timed my visit for a keeper talk, which was interesting enough.

It was both cool and sad to see the pygmy hippopotamus, as it swam around and around the pool following the same path. I really hope it can be transferred to the excellent Werribee Plains Open Zoo soon.

The thing is Melbourne Zoo needs exotic animals to attract visitors and when there were still elephants at the zoo, they had a rather good amount of land with a natural environment. Their current accommodation at Werribee Zoo is fantastic.

The zoo has at least one lion and a snow leopard in reasonable conditions, but I have seen lions pacing along the walls.

The Komodo dragon was not visible and a keeper did not show up on for the talk. 

Here a few photos from the day.

There wasn't a sentinel meerkat standing erect and watching for enemies, just this one busy burrowing.   

I think it is imaginatively called a giant tortoise. A very cool dude. 

 

Peeky boo lemur. Huddle up and stay warm.

Lemurs together would be called a troop, I guess. I think a good collective noun would be a liaison of lemur. 

You can not see me. I'm a gorilla in the mist....hessian sack.

I cover my ears to destress myself. 

A good blog but beware of tour guides.

Frogdancer travels rather a lot, and her blog is a good read as she writes with wit, humour and some self deprecation. As I write she is about to visit Machu Picchu by train.

During a recent tour she posted about something a guide told her group. A quick Google and AI check definitely says this is untrue, in spite of how cruel the Spanish were.

The Inca men had long ponytails down to their hips. The Spanish would tie the men’s hands behind their backs, then tie their ponytails to their testicles. Then they’d castrate them.

I can't remember the 'fact' we were told on the open topped New York hop on, hop off bus, but I was suspicious and I checked and it was totally wrong.

This photo taken from the top of the bus, and I don't know what the statue is about, probably in lower Manhattan. Of course I could Google it, but maybe one of you already know. 

Rottnest Island, Western Australia, to paraphrase the tour guide, "We don't have an electricity connection to the island from the mainland, so we generate all of our electricity here on the island, and any excess goes back to Perth (mainland)". I guess that is by osmosis. 

Quokka barrier at the Rottnest Island supermarket. 

Thursday Theatrics

I don't have time to muck around with this, so all there is a link to a production of Romeo and Juliet performed in Poland Türkiye whereby an incident happened during the tragic scene of the just dead Romeo. I'm sure many of you will have seen the clip already.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZmgCVKJrid/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

What a drone

Drone bees are male used for sex and then discarded. Not that unlike some humans really. 

Is there a parallel with drones of the skies?

In the noughties Ray and I were on a grassed area at St Kilda Beach, Melbourne, when I heard a noise and looked up and saw a drone aircraft, and it descended to land right next to us. This is a public safety issue, said the State Government and banned them in some areas.

Skip to the teen years of the 21st century and I thought from my balcony I could see a hovering bird over the streets of South Yarra. We don't have large hovering birds. I realised it was a drone. I watched for a very short time and went inside to get my camera to take a photo, but it had gone by the time I returned. The drone operator was certainly in breach of laws.

Now, they have become skilled surveillance cameras, weapons that can hunt down and kill people with precision, can be armed to attack sites and suicide bombing devices.

Their abilities are quite scary, but they can be used in very useful areas too, for surveying and mapping, to check inaccessible areas and to fight against crime. 

They are topical here because they are used at Sydney beaches as shark spotters. Sadly at Coogee Beach a female swimmer was recently attacked by a shark. The beach is one of the popular few that doesn't have drone coverage because of Sydney Airport flight restrictions. Duh, how high do drones fly compared to planes? The authority has now temporarily allowed shark spotting drones to fly over the sea at Coogee Beach.

Over the summer periods, Sydney beaches are often netted to stop sharks coming close to shores, but this has a huge impact on sea wildlife, with many creatures getting caught in nets, including dolphins, whales, stingrays and turtles. Drones are a far more effective way to prevent shark attacks and don't have the impact on creatures of the seas. 

After all, aren't the seas the province of sea creatures. Humans enter at risk.

There is a natural predator for drones, as this Australian wedge tailed eagle shows. (PS. If this post seems very unedited in someway, that's because crazy things are happening around me) 

Satisfying Saturday

The cows seem very satisfied with their new scratching facility.  They do like a good rub and scratch.

As I uploaded the video, a message arrived that it would not be viewable in some countries because of the accompanying music, Hall and Oats I believe. I investigated further, and I could silence the music or change it to some YouTube approved music, so that's what I did. It kinda works.

The zoo critters

After my August visit to Melbourne Zoo in August with family, as a senior, I was offered a very good deal to take up an annual membership, and so I did. I've made two subsequent visits, thinking I will see one or two animals and then leave. That is kind of what I did, but still walked far more than I really needed too. 

These are from my most recent visit.  The lion was being uncooperative, as were most animals. 

I think this is a Taiwanese python. 

This style looks familiar.

Sure enough, it is by the wonderful Gillie et Marc.

The great apes were good to see and I listened to commentary by a zoo keeper for a while.

From my previous visit, another sleepy animal, a tiger.

And a rather amusing orangutan. Unfortunately she did not play to the camera. She arrived with a bedsheet draped over her body. You can see it on her arm.

Eating fruit from a bucket. They have to find a bucket with some fruit inside.

My next visit will be more planned to see animals when they are out to be fed and a zookeeper talk. 

Deer, oh dear

Some very unfortunate political play has happened over deer hunting. Let's begin with the fact that before white people arrived in Australia, there were no hard hooved animals in Australia. Cattle, horses, sheep, buffalo, pigs and deer were introduced by white people. While cattle and sheep are managed as farm animals, wild populations of horses, buffalo and deer exist. Horses and buffalo are partly controlled by government contracted exterminators, the others are not generally except by private hunters.

Hard hooved animals do terrible damage to our fragile environment and should be eliminated. 

Deer have no protection in Australia beyond cruelty to animals laws, except for in my state, Victoria. They are able to be shot by hunters, but otherwise they are a protected species. They are often hit by cars, causing terrible damage to cars, and I should think danger to those who run into them,  and aside from dingoes and wild dogs, they don't have a natural predator. Why has this protection nonsense just be reinforced by our state government? 

In my view it is solely down to the hunting lobbyists. They don't want to see the pest species eliminated because they won't be able to hunt them. The Labor(sic) state government has caved into pressure from the hunting lobby, over the environment and motorist safety, and it is a disgrace. 

With our preferential voting system, I've always voted Labor, or directed my preference to Labor after voting for The Greens. It will be a pointless exercise, but I will inform the Labor Party of my disgust and disappointment. If enough people do as I do, maybe it could make a change. 

My apologies if I've upset your Bambi feelings, but it is an important environmental and road safety matter, and we don't want to end up like Debby mentioned in her post referring to deer. 

Friday Frippery

I have posted this clip before but a long time ago, and the clip was made even a much longer time ago. As brilliant as the concept is, I think I can safely say, it didn't catch on. 

On a serious note, it was sad to hear of the death of Dr (Dame) Jane Goodall. If you don't know who she was, do yourself a favour and look her up. You will be uplifted. 

Fun in Melbourne

Melburnians and tourists have fun in Melbourne at a major horse racing event, the Melbourne Cup.

The majority of attendees arrive by train, for many the only train trip they take for the year. Trains only run on this branch line for special events and it is such an easy way to get there and home.

Ready for fun with a river cruise.

Massed and ready to board, with diners across the river stuffing their faces at Afloat, formerly Arbory Afloat.

Arbory above Afloat is where Platform 11 at Melbourne Flinders Street once saw trains from St Kilda and Port Melbourne. The lines were converted for light rail trams. With hindsight, it wasn't a great idea as these lines now require quite intensive trams services, whereas less frequent trains could better deal with the number of passengers.

Banana Alley vaults under the railway viaduct have various businesses, and this one is where men go to meet up with men. In these times of internet hook ups, as I sat on a seat outside, I was surprised how many men were coming and going. I suppose if you connect with someone using a hook up site, it is a cheap place to meet up if a home isn't available. 

Phyllis' driving lesson went ok, with only one alarming moment when I reached for the steering wheel. While he rode a motor bike in India, he really is starting from absolute scratch for car driving. But he is smart and quick to pick things up. Next weekend he is not working for four days and I will take him for a lesson each day. 

Next Monday is a public holiday to celebrate the King's Birthday, which actually isn't next Monday. It's the 14th of November. I have promised myself that every time I say Queen's Birthday, I will donate $10 to a charity. I am $10 down already. 

A day in Africa

Anzac Day in Australia was the anniversary of Ray's sudden death. What can be a better antidote to a sad day than surrounding yourself with children and at Ex Sis in Law's suggestion, the family got together at Werribee Zoo.

My Arthur Itis mate was not keen on a 10.00am meet, 40 minutes drive away. I suffered, but it was just wonderful to have family around me. Not quite all the family were there, but all the greats were. 

Nephew's three, two being twin boys and one daughter, Oldest Niece's three, and Hippie Niece's twin cafe latte coloured daughters, and their two stepsisters, one who has returned home after some time with her drug user mother. 

The new Elephant Walk recently opened, and it was a long walk in hot sun to visit. I had lost my enthusiasm and I saw an open vehicle to transport people back to the main area approach, so I took a ride back to the zoo entrance. I would have had to walk further to actually see the elephants but I just couldn't do it. 

The sky had clouded over and there was some light rain. We found a shelter area near the hippopotamus enclosure to sit where we all ate our brought from home food; Phyliss having made me a large sandwich with an Indian taste. We bought coffee at the cafe. 

About 2pm, most of us departed. The night before was a melancholic memory evening for me, but the actual day, filled with children, family, and still with some memories of the last time Ray and I visited, was ok. 

There'd be animals, some fierce animals. You can stand on the back of a jeep and see a lioness lounging on the bonnet of a jeep.

I didn't know lions climb trees. Nowhere is safe.

A lonely zebra.

I know I should know what this bird is, but I don't. Pretty, yes? 

A dromedary camel or a humpty dory camel. I can't remember. 

No photo but seeing a gorillas move around was amazing.

I can't remember the name of these deer like critters.

Indian antelope. 

Giraffes, how exciting. 

And zebra.

Giraffe are quite tall, very tall really.

Ostrich. 

One of the animals in this photo is called something like the horseshoe bum deer. 

Some rhino have horns pointing upwards, and some downwards. It depends on their diet preference. 

Sister snapped the hippopotamus out of the water. I did not. 

As I was leaving, I passed by the cheetah enclosure. Wow, it is so pretty. Don't you just want to give it a cuddle. 

I am away again for another family event. Back soon.