Macquarie Island

I was very thrilled to hear this story on Radio National recently that the program to eradicate rats, rabbits and mice from Macquarie Island has been successful. I've been interested in Macquarie Island for sometime. I read One Small Island back in 2012.

When I was last in Hobart in 2012 I spent a lovely morning at the Hobart Botanic Gardens, where I saw ducklings on lilypads. I also visited a very special, but rather nondescript looking building, tucked away in a corner of the gardens.

The Australian Antarctic Foundation
Subantarctic Plant House

An unwanted legacy no longer!

It was early and I had to find a staff member to unlock it for me. I'm so glad I did. Walking through the door is actually like stepping onto a rocky outcrop on Macquarie Island. 

The Subantarctic Plant House is an amazing place to visit- one of the best garden displays I've ever seen. It's cold and misty inside to replicate the environment for the plants, and they've recorded bird, wind, weather and animal noises on Macquarie Island so you get an idea of what it's like to be there.  It's as close to Macquarie Island as I've ever been. As near as you can be to Macquarie Island without actually going there.

Like any good display, they teach us stuff too. 

Macquarie Island is a special and remote place. Sadly I've never been there, but maybe one day when I go to Antarctica I will. I hope so at least.

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MONA

One of the highlights of my visit to Hobart last year was an evening at MONA, the rather extraordinary Museum of Old and New Art established a short drive outside of Hobart. MONA opened in 2011 and is a privately funded art gallery, the $175 million vision of David Walsh.

MONA is an amazing place to visit. They make it as easy as possible for visitors to get there, even though the gallery is out of town. There is an office down on the waterfront, where you can hop on a boat, or a bike.

It's a fancy ferry too

Once you're there you get an amazing device called the O to explain the artworks you see (they don't like explanatory stuff on the walls), and also record your tour (you can enter you email address, and MONA emails you a copy of the works that you see- how cool is that?)

It creates a map of where you went!

You can review works you saw, and those you missed

We got to attend a special evening there as part of the conference I attended- it was a fully catered (and how) extravaganza. 

Too much alcohol that night to photograph
and literal mountains of cheese

We then got to tour the galleries, after having a not inconsequential number of drinks. I can only recommend that this is how all art galleries should be viewed. It increases your interest, and your appreciation of the art on view.

This was especially transfixing
A waterfall in words!
Words change daily depending on the news
Bit.Fall 2006-7 Julius Popp

The largest art work is possibly one of the largest works I've ever seen. Sidney Nolan's Snake.

It's very cool

It changes as you move closer

to see the 1620 individual paintings!

And now it's being taken down! MONA is always changing it seems. 

My bad photo doesn't convey how disturbing I found this
The Mice and Me 2008 Meghan Boody

P XIII 2008 Berlinde de Bruyckere

Skull 2001 Jan Fabre

My favourite- a video installation
30 Italians singing Madonna's Immaculate Collection
It's hysterical
Housed in a special room, complete with bean bags
Look for the nondescript white door
Queen (A Portrait of Madonna) 2005 Candice Breitz

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The Cutest Thing Ever?

It's always nice to find a lily pond, with some ducks. Such a lovely spot for some restful contemplation. 

But when you look for a while longer you notice something else.
Possibly the cutest thing ever.
Ducklings on water lily pads!

Look hard!

I love the Monet-esque feel to this one
(completely accidental)

I wish I'd thought to take a video, but I didn't. 

Ducklings stumbling over lily pads looking to snack on insects is perhaps the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

Hobart Botanic Gardens, Tasmania, November 2012

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Close Encounters of the Spiny Kind

My recent day trip to Bruny Island was even more amazing than I managed to show you last week. We had an extraordinary experience near the Captain Cook Memorial at Adventure Bay.

Soon after we saw the wallaby
we spotted this little fellow

At first he was quite shy

Then he became rather fearless
(a totally uncropped photo)

It was amazing

He still became a bit shy at times

But he ambled happily nearby for quite a while
And then we caught a glimpse of his extraordinary feet

Our friend of course is an echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus setosus in this case).

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Bruny Island

On my recent trip to Tasmania I spent an absolutely delightful day on Bruny Island with my friend and her son. I'd only heard the name Bruny Island recently, when I bought Fifty Places to go Birding Before You Die. Bruny Island is one of the two Australian sights listed. Then as it so often turns out when I went to the author talk by David Hill he spoke of Bruny d'Entrecasteaux. And it was too much synchronicity. How lucky to end up there the very next month!

Bruny Island is quite a large island off the south east coast of Tasmania. A car ferry travels from Kettering to Bruny Island, it's a short trip, 15 or 20 minutes or so.

The queue for the car ferry, too long even on an average Sunday morning
We got the next ferry

A gorgeous trip across.

Bruny Island Oysters
We had a dozen of the freshest oysters
Delicious

Boys the world over love digging

Bruny Island Neck
such a fabulous view
there were lots of black cockatoos screeching about

The walkway up to the lookout

Truganini Memorial at the top of the lookout

"Don't get wet!"

The weather around us looked a bit threatening at times,
but it always passed by

Even though we were in the remote wilds of Tasmania
there was a cafe to serve us a delicious lunch
herb damper, smoked salmon and a glass of red
Yes thanks!

And artworks pop up in odd places

A rather sad 1970s memorial to Captain Cook
Adventure Bay was his last Australian stop in 1777
before he was killed in Hawaii in 1779

A little friend enjoying the day too

Bligh Museum- what was a private collection
relating to all the early explorers

It was low tide in d'Entrecasteaux Channel on the way back to the ferry

We didn't see roos doing anything bizarre to the cars
but there were plenty of warning signs
so it must be quite common

The end to a perfect day

Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books