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All animals on this page were photographed
in the wild unless stated. All images can be clicked to view a larger
version. |
Crocodile
Whilst we were in Queensland, where they predominantly live, it
was winter so they were quite inactive. This meant that we were
not likely to be eaten when we went looking for them. We managed
to see 5 cruising down the Daintree river, and a couple of smaller
boys when we went on our lone fishing trip up the river in Port
Douglas.

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Koala
These were pretty elusive creatures. Our best chance of seeing
then in the wild, we were told, was in Lemon Tree Passage, NSW where
there was a colony there near a campsite called Koala Shores .
So after a couple of walks with our necks bent skywards we managed
to spot a couple. They did absolutely nothing except sleep, but
they were cute. The picture below is the best I could get, the other
pictures are taken in a zoo.

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Platypus
Jo and Clive, the people who we bought our Combi from, had told
us to visit Eungella NP, and we had also heard that Platypus were
up there. Each morning at dawn and at dusk, we would stalk these
odd animals. You could tell where they were by the bubbles emerging
from below and suddenly they would flop to the surface. I managed
to get some pretty rare footage of a couple fighting, which I submitted
to ABC Television for a documentary. They had been there for 8 months
and failed to film it.

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Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Our first encounter with wild roos was at Jervis Bay in NSW - one
actually attacked me as I had some food on me. He chased me around
a tree like a cartoon sketch, but I got away with my lunch. Broken
River, Eungella NP also had its resident population of kangaroos,
who would fight almost daily. They balanced themselves with their
tails (almost standing on it), and kick each other before going
in to strangle and eye-scratch. One smaller one kicked a larger
one off its feet who went crashing down on his face. Nasty, but
funny as hell.
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Rock Wallaby
We saw this couple at Cape Bowling Green NP. We also befriended
on one in the evening by our van. He managed to give us ticks -
we woke up with small black animals that looked like a ladybird
burrowing into our flesh. This campsite was an oasis of wildlife
and we returned on our way down to Airlie Beach for lunch.
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Possum
In New Zealand, because they were an introduced species (there
are 80 million eating an estimated 21,000 tonnes of vegitation
a night) they were treated as pest and battered to death with
anything to hand. We saw this attempted with a kayak oar.
Consequently, when I encountered my first one hassling us
for food one night by a river, I had a bad attitude, but I
quickly grew to like them. We would frequently be awoken to
the sound of one of them rifling through our rubbish outside
the van. They were very common and saw them fighting and eating
all the time. |
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Dingo
Fraser Island is the only place left where Dingos are pure.
On the mainland they have been interbred with the common dog.
We saw many of them - they usually were after food from the
camping area. We had been told to be weary of them as they
had been known to attack after becoming so used to humans.
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Red Bellied & Frilled
Lizard
Lizards were everywhere in NSW and this great specimen
was photographed in the Blue Mountains. This was not
the largest, but was dwarfed by the Goannas in Queesland.
We only saw one frilled lizard - however frightening
I look, he did not get puff himself into attack mode,
just sunned himself in Cape Trib.
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Goanna (Monitor Lizard)
Ever since I had read "Life On Earth" by David
Attenborough I had been intrigued by Komodo Dragons. Going
to Australia was going to give me the chance to see the next
best thing. Monitor Lizards. There were some impressive lizards
in NSW, but seeing these boys walking around like dinosaurs
was incredible. |
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Shark
We saw some sharks in the water, thankfully from quite a
distance (one blurry image is shown). At Bryon Bay, we saw
one wandering into a pod of dolphins who were giving us a
spectacular display. The only time I was really scared of
sharks was fishing off Fraser Island. All the fishing boys
had long beachcaster rods to fish off the beach - I didn't.
So, having invested in my bait, I was determined to use it,
but had to wade in a fair way to cast over the waves. By myself,
I just imagined a surging wave, a fin and a set of teeth.
Fortunately, the bait never stayed on and my session turned
out to be short.
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Dolphin
We saw quite a few dolphins in the water. Those I will never
forget are those off Bryon Bay. They were surfing the waves,
not like surfers, but inside the waves. They would then jump
clean through the back of the wave. Simply incredible! We
fed a dolphin in her own backyard in Tin Can Bay which was
a great experience.
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Frogs
The infamous tree frog - I first saw one of these in our
power socket plug at Cairns campsite. It was there sheltering.
The other frog (I can't remember its name) was one discovered
(apparantly) by Dr Roscoe and is only native to a part of
Queensland near Kurranda. |
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Peppermint Stick Insect
The Peppermint Stick Insect has a very small and patchy distribution
along some beach areas in Cape Tribulation, Innisfail and
Mission Beach. It feeds only on a few species of Pandanus
plants and these spikey-leaved palms also provide some shelter
from predators. The Peppermint Stick Insect spends all its
time on the Pandanus, feeding, sheltering, mating and laying
its eggs on the leaves where they roll down to the tight-fitting
leaf axil to 'incubate'. it is called the Peppermint Stick
Insectv because as a defense mechanism, it sprays an irritating
fluid at any predators (which include us tourists) and this
fluid smells like peppermint.
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Echidna |
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We never managed to see one in the wild (this pic was captured
in a park). They are from the Monotreme family of mammal (the
other being the Platypus) and lay only one single egg, carries
her young in her pouch and can live to 50 years old. |
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Long Nosed Bandicoot
After nighttime nature walk with the clinically mad Dr Roscoe
at the Kuranda campsite, we heard some kind of snorting going
on outside the van. When we investigated, we found the source
to be a weird creature going nuts sniffing around. I was able
to get some video, but no stills as it was too dark. |
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Pademelon |
Laughing Kookaburra |
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Halfway up Queensland, I was getting obsessed
with these damn Pademelons. I had heard of them but had not
seen any at all. I heard they were in Eungella and on one of
the many walks thought I had glimpsed one hopping low in the
forest, but I could not be sure. Damn. Then, in a field as we
left Cape Bowling Green, I spotted a few in a field. From then
on, I managed to spot quite a few more. |
This boy was a complete star. I first heard one
in the Blue Mountains - I could not believe that one bird could
make such a weird racket. I found out they were from the Kingfisher
family - I thought it was a make of cricket bat. |
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Flying Foxes
Flying Foxes were basically a damn nuisance. The ones pictured
on the right were in the Sydney Gardens and they had been
trying to get rid of them for years. There were literally
thousands of them and the whole area around them stank.
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Superb Lyrebird (Not photographed)
On a walk in north NSW, one of these scampered across our path.
We were both stunned as we knew how rare these birds were. It was
just a pity it didn't stop for us to take a picture and to get its
legendary plummage out.
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