A night time of fireflies at Adels Grove - Outback Queensland

You know that feeling when people think you're bonkers and you're completely sure you're sane?

We recently experienced that up at Adels Grove near Boodjamulla National Park (formerly Lawn Hill). It's about a hundred and something kilometres from the Gulf of Carpentaria nearish where the western side of Cape York dips into the gulf. It's a long, long way from home in the south where we have proper winters and dry heat summers. It's hot, HOT, HOT, at this time of year and HUMID. UGH, UGH, UGH. Nothing dries out. Not us, not clothing, not anything. You take off your damply sweaty clothing at night and put it back on, still damply sweaty in the morning. (Limited space prohibits many changes, which wouldn't have made much difference anyhow as they'd have felt damp too.)

We were camped in the 'grove' - the quiet spot for people mostly in tents and without generators. The trees are thick, rotten (one fell less than a metre from a nearby camp with a massive whumpfh) and with a very, very dense canopy. There's a constant dropping of what we could only guess was poo from billions of small tree dwelling creatures overhead, so we covered our mugs at all times, shook clothing out constantly, and I brushed my hair not at all. It was kind of like itty bitty soft pellets like those tasty chocolate sprinkles you decorate cakes with. yup. really.

We tend to sit in the dark after dinner, watching ... nothing in particular ... just soaking up the ambience, keeping an eye out for bats, listening for night birds. That kind of thing. Most people don't. They use lanterns, torches, made big fires (in 32C heat! - crazy) which means they don't see special things that their night eyes have adapted to see. 

Like fireflies!

The first night we were at Adels Grove, I had no idea what I was seeing, but a wee light seemed to float up from behind the table, over the stove, and waft up into a tree.

A cautious question; "Um, Trav, did you see that?" Thankfully he had. But what was it? Lights don't usually float gracefully upwards and settle in a tree. It wasn't a one off though, it kept happening in different locations around the campsite. Next morning I made a point of asking at reception, but the blank looks and cautious, but calm backing away made it clear what they thought. "Batty old woman, probably had too much to drink, gotta keep an eye out for that kind of person."

We watched night after night. If I believed in fairies, that's what they'd look like at night! I was mesmerised. I'd wake during the night, and with the fly of the tent off (trying to make use of any stray breeze to cool down just a morsel, please!) and fly-mesh covering the roof, I could see them flashing and pulsing, in groups, singly, sometimes clustered, at other times apparently wafting on a not-really-there breeze between branches.

As I said, the people at reception seemed to think I was living in fantasy land, and no other campers we spoke to had seen anything, but a ranger I cornered at Boodjamulla had seen one recently, so took my questions seriously. She didn't know much about them, but knew they existed in Australia. Gotta love park rangers! ... Except she asked hopefully if I'd caught one - no, no, no and no ... for all I knew it could have been a land form of the irukandji jellyfish which would leave me paralysed, in agony for ever, or possibly dead. 

Anyhow, now I'm home with reasonable internet and data, I can say with confidence that they were fireflies, and it seems we were there at just the right time to see them in abundance. 

There's a bit more about them here: 

http://malcolmtattersall.com.au/wp/2013/12/fireflies/

This is not a firefly. My guess is it's a locust. They were thick everywhere and hopped/flew, getting pelted noisily against the car covering it with sticky, smelly, brightly coloured bug gunge. When we camped at Mt Moffatt, the birds (pied butcherbirds?) had a wonderful time picking them out from behind the numberplate, under the car, and up in the mudguards. They feasted.

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The Grampians - western Victoria

Head west to go north. Not the obvious or recommended direction, but whilst Hattah Kulkyne National Park would have been more direct, I wanted to revisit a different part of the state.

What was completely unexpected was to have billions and billions of school groups and international visitors swarming over the Grampians. It was also a bit of a surprise to have one whole camping ground closed due to asbestos contamination and various other known and loved campsites off limits.

Sigh, sharing a camping ground and drop toilets with mobs of hormonal teenagers it'd have to be.

After many years of being a teacher on school camps I know that not all students behave well when they're in an unfamiliar environment, so I'm always a bit wary when I see school groups. I also always try to give positive feedback when groups are respectful of others.

Fortunately the kids must have been well primed by the wranglers (aka teachers) and all was well. There wasn't too much yahooing through the chilly night, and the peace was broken at the almost respectable hour of 7am by one bright spark deciding to wake his mates by shouting at the tent flap - oblivious to the fact that sound carries exceedingly well in the bush. In the scheme of things that's pretty minor so with a wave and cheery "great group you've got there" comment to the staff, we packed up the soggy tent ready to explore before heading to drier/warmer northern areas.

We set off expecting to have a bit of a stroll through the bush, but as so often happens the pre morning-tea stroll extended into something more resembling a 12 km walk across gurgling creeks ...

behind waterfalls - complete with water! ...

 over big rocks, little rocks, stable rocks and not so friendly rocks ...

and finally, panting and puffing up to a lookout where the wind was too strong and cold to relax and take photos.

Eventually a patch of blue sky peeped through the clouds at just the right moment to capture a lone tree appearing to teeter over the top of a (much higher than it looks) chasm. Timing is everything! 

And finally a belated picnic lunch! Thank goodness for a hot thermos. This tiny flower had dropped from a small bush by the picnic bench. I love the little shadows it cast that look like the legs of an insect.

And onward to World's End!

Y is for Yosemite - images of America

High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, (also known as the High Sierra, The Sierras and assorted other names just to confuse the tourists!) way above the gauzy blanket of hazy, smoggy air in the valley below, is Yosemite National Park.

The beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountain range extends around 400 miles north to south (about 650km - the distance between Melbourne and Canberra) and rises from between 5000 to 14,000+ feet (1500 - 4300 metres).

Australia's Great Dividing Range in comparison, is a string of mountains and hills which extends around 3000 kilometres (1,900 miles) from the northern part of Victoria up through New South Wales and into northern Queensland and includes the bulk of the snowy peaks in Australia, aptly named The Australian Alps.

The highest mountain in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko, is in part of the Alps called The Snowy Mountains, and boasts a height of 2228 metres, which is more or less where the Sierras begin, so there's quite a difference! Feeling woozy and lightheaded with altitude is something we rarely need to think about!

The famous photographer Ansel Adams spent much of his artistic life in Yosemite, shooting fabulous black and white images. He remained deeply involved in the area throughout his life and found it a place of beauty and inspiration. He's described in the history of the park as a bit of an agitator and became an advocate for extending the National Parks in the US.

National parks are often under threat and cutbacks are all too common both in the US and Australia. Mining and logging interests see them as an untapped resource and sadly in NSW, Australia, hunters have been granted access at a cost to the taxpayer of $19 million. You really have to wonder at that decision.

However, back to the beautiful Yosemite National Park and Ansel Adams. In 1980 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

"Drawn to the beauty of nature's monuments  he is regarded by environmentalists as a monument himself, and by photographers as a national institution  It is through his foresight and fortitude that so much of America has been saved for future Americans."

Not only talented, but visionary as well!

I was fascinated by the colour of the water in the Merced River which runs through the valley. Crystal clear and a vivid candy-apple green. Small clumps of ice had broken off the banks upstream and floated lazily along, eventually melting and being incorporated into the surrounding water.

The same colour in an Australian river would mean that the water is toxic and there'd be signs around warning you not to eat any surviving fish or use the water in any way. Here it looks fresh and very inviting, though no doubt a bit chilly! I couldn't help but think of the drink marketed as Mountain Dew and wondered if the toxic looking liquid in the bottle was in some way a tribute to this pristine water.

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National Parks Service - Yosemite
More on Ansel Adams
Shooting in National Parks NSW
Hunting "incident"


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V is for Visionary - images of America

Influential groups of people in the United States saw the benefit of preserving nature for the good of the people, and with the support of President Woodrow Wilson, the National Park Service was created in 1916.

The first designated national park in the world was Yellowstone.
Visionary?
Indeed it was!

Thanks to this vision and the acknowledged benefits of National Parks, nearly 100 countries around the world have followed suite.

That's something to be justifiably proud of.

According an article below, "Last year, almost two hundred seventy-five million people visited the national park system in the United States" (my bold) That's an extraordinary number of both locals and people from all parts of the world.

Why do they come? Scenery has to be high on the list, photography, painting, bushwalking, exploring, recharging their "batteries" or simply to relax and be.

The idea of the National Parks is to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." (my bold)

Unfortunately this is proving more difficult than anticipated back in 1916. (see N is for Noxious, and O is for Oil). Not only as a result of the naturally occurring changing climate, but man made influences are having a detrimental affect as well.

How plants, animals and humans adapt to these changes remains to be seen.



There's some history about the National Parks in the US
here, here and here.
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