Australian nature meets science and art. By Paula Peeters
Me: Hello little logrunner, how are things with you? Logrunner: (scratch, scratch)…oh…you talking to me? Me: Yes, I’d like to know what it’s like to be a logrunner. Logrunner: (cocks her head, looks at me with a big dark eye) … Continued
The first showbag at the very first Ekka was a bag of coal. That was in 1876, and some things still haven’t changed. But let me explain to non-Queenslanders: the ‘Ekka’ is what locals call the Royal Queensland Show, the … Continued
This week I did a little forest bathing – ‘Shinrin-yoku’ to the Japanese. It’s the practice of immersing oneself in the forest atmosphere, and is said to reduce stress, and maybe even prevent cancer. I took my forest bath by … Continued
Australian swans are black, while most swans are white. Why should this be? When I was a child, growing up in Australia, the only swans I saw were black. At Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, or in the Botanic Gardens of … Continued
Some years ago I had the great good fortune to visit Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef. I was tutoring a group of ecology students, and what with daily snorkeling trips, helping out in the kitchen, and assisting the … Continued