On the Bottom Half

Charismatic Megafauna and A Big Decision

The two quintessential Australian megafaunal species were my companions today (Sunday). I went to the Ballarat Wildlife Park today with Sarah and her family, Helen and Bruce's daughter. As you can see, they have (Eastern Grey) Kangaroos and koalas, among many other fantastic creatures. I went all out and spent too much money to do the tourist-kitschy "Koala Experience", but as you can see, you do get up close to those cuddly cuties. Frankly, I don't think it's fair a single animal can ge gifted with so much 'cuteness'. I suppose this is made up for by the fact that there is a clamydia epidemic among koalas and they essentially spend their lives drunk on the excesses of eucalyptus. Can't say I'd mind the lifestyle though: sleep 14.5 hours a day, eat for 5.5 hours and day, rest for the balance of the day.

The kangaroos roam freely in the paddock and they are all over the place. You just need a little bit of food and the things perk right up and snuffle for their treats. If you make them work at it a bit, they go really cute and grab onto your hand, as he's doing in the left picture, to make sure you don't get away. They have very cool hands: they are sort of aged looking, in a good way, but still with powerful claws... Just like some of you I know ;-) Oh, Australian trivia for the post: a group of kangaroos is called a 'mob.'

Other creatures present: emus; wallabies; freshies and salties (crocodiles); a selection of the most poisonous land snakes on Earth - all native to this fine land; wombats; red kangaroos; other marsupials; and lizards of all descriptions.

On Saturday, Helen, Bruce and I were in the city to see the finish of a Melbourne cycling race, which we missed. That didn't matter though because there was a cultural festival on as well. We watched Serbians, Macedonians, Italians, Russians, Cubans, Africans, and Latinos perform their acts, with the slavic crews doing awesome slavic-type dances; the Cubans, Africans, and Latinos doing what they do best - music and dance; and the Italians throwing flags in an entertaining way. Since the whole event was in the Italian quarter of the city, we also were tempted by Italian cuisine, which on a shrinking budget I forceably avoided. However, I have found my dream chocolate bar: it's from Belgium and it's $12.00...

As for the Big Decision: I've decided to apply for the Ph. D. thing, but I have to stress something. It is only an application for the scholarship to fund me, not an acceptance of the project or a statement of intent or anything. They don't decide the winners until December, so I won't have anything to say until then, but I still have yet to get the application in on time. Furthermore, I can easily refuse, even if awarded, depending on what happens between now and then. The field component in Antarctica can't happen this year, but it may next. I guess that's a risk that I'll have to weigh.

The rest of the week was nice and slow: I found a coat on Wednesday and watched a lot of movies; I went out golfing with Bruce on Thursday, then Friday was a call from Andy and a trip out for lunch where I met B and H's daughter and grandson.

On Tuesday, I'm off to Phillip Island for a Penguin adventure and a little touring, then back here to finalise application stuff, then the Grampions and the Great Ocean Road. That's as far as I'm willing to plan...

Other than that, I hope you enjoy the pictures. I'm not sure if they've upload at their full size. If they have, then I'll process them to shrink their size and repost. Sorry to those with dialup.

Update complete!

Aussie vocab for the post: "Sultana Bran" means: "Raisin Bran"

posted by Kyle @ 08:17