Dinosaur in the Garden!

A couple of days ago, whilst quietly weeding, I heard an unusual crunch crunch upon some nearby leaves, looked over and saw this well camouflaged beast, a goanna, striding past.

As soon as we saw each other, the goanna darted up the nearest tree and settled in a sunny spot. I slowly retreated to get my camera, hoping that he/she would be there on my return - and the photo speaks for itself. Unlike the photos in my previous bird-life post, this is my photo! This is the best look I've ever had at a goanna and what really impressed me was the length of its tail, longer than its body!

A recent delight, our King Orchid flowered for the first time since we moved here - eleven stunning blooms. Please appreciate Milly's patience whilst posing in the shot for scale! Sadly the display was over all too soon, probably because of the entirely unseasonal heatwave (37 degrees) we had last week, followed by nearly freezing night time temperatures this week. Its the extremes of temperatures that are so surprising here!

You can see the individual orchid flowers in the next photo - they are so beautiful.

Latest News: Tam has returned safely and happily from three weeks in the UK, enjoying catching up with lots of family and friends, being thoroughly spoilt (her words) and delighted to have been present at her niece Emma's wonderful wedding. Back home and back to work at Gondwana Native Plant Nursery.

Jake & Charlie are still at Uncle Ian's in Brisbane and hopefully saving $$$. They changed their return date from early September '09 to early March 2010 - hurrah! We are now planning various spring and summertime adventures, including where best to spend Jake's birthday?! A beach location is first choice, but likewise for millions of other Australians seeking the iconic Aussie beach christmas... The lovely photo below was taken by Jake (on Charlie's digital SLR) at Brisbane Botanical Gardens - does anyone know what the flower is?

Milly had a small paralysis tick removed this morning - she's fine - its only if they're not found and stay on for a number of days that they become lethal.

Jenny has not continued with the Community Welfare Mental Health course. Having started mid-semester she felt that too many significant bits had been missed, for example a whole unit on Interpersonal Communication (quite important!). She would rather start the complete course at the beginning next academic year, perhaps. In the meantime she's rethinking, job hunting, continuing to work at Nimbin Organics and occasionally at the Rainbow Power Company.