Not only did we get to watch Tasmanian Devils on our veranda at Mountain Valley Wilderness, we also saw Duck-billed Platypus in the river nearby and went out for a night drive on which we saw another five species of mammal. Good stuff. Related Images:
Posts Tagged ‘wildlife’
16 April 2011
Devil worship
15th April 2011 These Tasmanian Devils are great critters. They inspire a whole mixture of adjectives and it’s really special to be so close to them – anyone considering a holiday including Tasmania should definitely book at least one night at Mountain Valley Wilderness*. As for my adjectives, well let’s see. They definitely look primordial, » » »
Tags: wildlife
16 April 2011
Wild Tasmania
14th April 2011 The main reason Tasmania went straight onto our itinerary was for wildlife. Tonight we’re on the trail of the Tasmanian Devil. Oh, and I have some errata for yesterday’s post! The critters on the lawn were not wallabies, they were Tasmanian Pademelons. This is a very important distinction and you’d have to » » »
Tags: wildlife
16 April 2011
Wine and wallaby
13th April 2011 Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. It finally gave up raining once we’d settled into our accommodation at about five in the evening. Hilariously, a guy at one of » » »
16 April 2011
Kiwi adventures
Written by Maureen People come to New Zealand to experience the great outdoors and we were no different. Thanks to Matt’s parents, we were able sample some of the best experiences the country has to offer. We cruised, walked, messed about on kayaks, tottered on a glacier and saw enough cetaceans, pinipeds and avians to » » »
16 April 2011
Heart of Sydney
Sydney is a big, friendly, colourful city with a lot going on, and a lot going for it. We definitely felt it deserved more than six days, which is unusual for us in a city. Related Images:
9 April 2011
Wild New Zealand
Here are our best shots of the wildlife in New Zealand. They were often very accommodating in letting us get quite close. Equally, they were quite hard to find – New Zealand has its own conservation problems and they’re desperately trying to reverse all the damage done in under 200 years of European habitation. Related » » »
8 April 2011
New Zealand nutshell
In reality this is a South Island nutshell, as we’re only going to be stopping three days on the North Island. We spent four enjoyable weeks here. New Zealand is a very civilised country, small enough to be manageable, majoring in natural beauty and outdoor activities but with a strong supporting cast of good food » » »
8 April 2011
Icon
7th April 2011 To my surprise the Sydney Opera House is every bit as beautiful and engaging to the eye as the hyperbole would suggest. To say it gives a focal point to the harbour view is an understatement. To my mind it makes the harbour view. I tried to envisage Sydney’s harbour without the » » »
4 April 2011
Trek, plonk and splash
The Marlborough Sounds area stands a very good chance of being my favourite bit of New Zealand. We had a magical trek along the Queen Charlotte Track, saw wonderful wildlife in Queen Charlotte Sound, and had very contrasting indulgence in the Marlborough wine country of Wairau valley. Related Images:
4 April 2011
Elemental
1st April 2011 Today’s kayaking was much more elemental than yesterday’s. The elements in question being mainly rain and wind. No more blue skies, and the rain quickly soaked us through. When we stopped on a beach to eat out lunchtime sandwiches early, the sea which had felt icy yesterday now seemed warm in comparison » » »
1 April 2011
Seasick but cheerful
31st March 2011 Who knew you could get seasick in a kayak? Today had an unpromising start. We had to get to the kayaking office for 8:30am… only to be told that we wouldn’t actually start our day of kayaking until lunchtime. There would be a briefing first, and some instruction, and then some hanging » » »
30 March 2011
A fine day tramping
28th March 2011 Tramping is the kiwi word for hiking. Oh, and kiwi is the New Zealander word for New Zealanders. You probably knew that. Anyway, our day started with a boat trip out to Ship Cove, the place where Captain Cook first moored on his arrival in New Zealand and one end of the » » »
30 March 2011
Not swimming with dolphins, Part 2
27th March 2011 Oh dear. So it seems that we are doomed not to swim with dolphins. Maureen fears it may be her foot odour scaring them off*, but as far as I’m aware smell doesn’t work underwater. We went out onto Queen Charlotte’s Sound, a beautiful waterway with hundreds of bays and inlets surrounded » » »
27 March 2011
Not swimming with dolphins
25th March 2011 Thousands of people have been swimming with dolphins, but very few people have not been swimming with dolphins. This was the first sunny day in New Zealand since the Routeburn Trek, it was almost warm enough for T-shirts (if you were in the sun and out of the wind). And we had » » »
24 March 2011
Where to watch whales
24th March 2011 The thing with whale-watching is that your enjoyment entirely depends on what whales you see and what they are doing that day. We’ve been on five different whale-watching trips all over the world and results have varied. Off the Californian coast at Monterey we went out in a typical converted trawler and » » »
24 March 2011
Following the rain again
23rd March 2011 I see now that we were really very lucky with the Routeburn Trek, having two days of almost totally blue sky for the best days of the walk. Because typically the whole of New Zealand remains covered in a thick woolly blanket of clouds, which occasionally dispense either a glimpse of blue » » »
21 March 2011
The Catlins coast
19th-20th March 2011 The Catlins coast is definitely an area for touring and enjoying the scenery; there are no towns to speak of and no big attractions. But the rolling scenic route through farmland, forest and windswept coast is conveniently dotted with a bunch of good things. So let me take you through our leisurely » » »
18 March 2011
Daft sealions
So it turns out that sealions are just as good at funny poses as long-tail macaques. Or at least I think so, which is excuse enough for a gallery… Related Images:
18 March 2011
Sealions and lots of weather
18th March 2011 Here we are touring the Catlins coast. It’s a good place for wildlife, and we’ve already seen Hooker’s sealions on the beach at Waipapa Point. You could walk right up to them, but the advice is to give them 30 metres clearance and we felt wise to obey. The big bull looked » » »
13 March 2011
Welcoming Queenstown
12th March 2011 New Zealand has just the same problems as Australia with wildlife conservation. They have oodles of natural wilderness, plenty of pristine habitat, and a population that is dead keen on conservation. But at various times in the brief recent history of the country people have introduced rabbits, red deer, douglas fir, brush-tail » » »
11 March 2011
Choose your fjord
11th March 2011 No doubt anticipating my critical review, it seems that Toni’s Restorante included some bad mussels in Maureen’s dinner yesterday as an act of vengeance. Both she and my dad, who tried one, got sick in the night. Do not give bad reviews to precognitive fake Italians! Anyway, they were both feeling better » » »
10 March 2011
Typical Fiordland weather
10th March 2011 The guide on our boat tour of Doubtful Sound said that so many times it began to sound like an apology despite his enthusiasm. “You’re seeing the Sound in absolutely typical Fiordland* weather, sunshine is really very unusual here.” He was certainly right, it was thick cloud all day and often raining, » » »
8 March 2011
Western wildlife
Australia is home to some weird and wonderful wildlife that bears no resemblance to the rest of the world. Western Australia is our first taste, and we’ve found some great stuff. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
8 March 2011
Dratted numbats
7th March 2011 We still haven’t seen a numbat. They’re the only diurnal mammal around here (excepting the noble kangaroo of course) so you’d think it would be easier, but with the small size of these Aussie mammals it’s easier to spot eye-shine in the beam of a torch than spotting a little brown furry » » »
Tags: wildlife
8 March 2011
Frozen in the forest
6th March 2011 Okay, actually written on the morning of the 7th. We’re now staying at Dryandra Forest, another nature reserve on the way back to Perth that also has a good reputation for rare marsupials. The cabin we’ve got is great, with an open fire and an old cooking range, wooden floors and probably » » »
8 March 2011
Get that chuditch!
5th March 2011 We did better this evening, seeing two chuditch (a small spotty predator), several tammar wallabies, more than twenty brush-tailed possums and a brush-tailed phascogale for a few seconds. The phascogale is an even smaller predator, and seeing one is a complete fluke. Glenn, the caretaker/ranger at Perup, has only seen three in » » »
Tags: wildlife
8 March 2011
Perup Nature Reserve
4th March 2011 Perup is quite a special nature reserve, as it is home to a number of rare species that are no longer found over most of the rest of Australia. Although habitat destruction is a major cause of decline like everywhere else in the world, here it is the unchecked spread of invasive » » »
Tags: wildlife
4 March 2011
Back in the groove
1st March 2011 This evening I cooked up spaghetti with a tomato sauce; onion, garlic, mushrooms, white wine and plenty of pepper. It could have used capers and fresh herbs, but that’s the kind of stuff not worth buying if you’re on the road. We spent the day hiking a section of the Bibbulman Track, » » »
28 February 2011
The smell of adventure
28th February 2011 It’s a shame we don’t have the technology to record smells and include them into internet sites for others to enjoy. The scent of the trees in the mighty jarrah and karri forests of this part of Western Australia is one of the most superb smells of our travels. There’s a strong, » » »
28 February 2011
Stingray
27th February 2011 I’m starting to really enjoy the wildlife in Australia. It’s not like South Africa, where there are parks loaded with big game conveniently available for viewing from a car all day long. Instead you find the most surprising and unusual creatures in unexpected places, and often get particularly intimate and memorable encounters » » »
Tags: wildlife
26 February 2011
Rottnest sizzles in the sun
25th February 2011 Today we visited Rottnest Island. It is described as “Perth’s Island Playground” and if you’ve been following our blog that might leave you wondering why we’d go there. One word: quokka. In fact the island doesn’t really match the image. There’s only one settlement with a couple of small hotels and a » » »
26 February 2011
Fremantle squawk
24th February 2011 I’ve always thought Fremantle has a cool name. It’s a cool town too. There’s a good mixture of shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes in a compact centre with plenty of attractive old buildings. If you ignore the 37 degree daytime temperature it could almost be an English market town. We had a » » »
26 February 2011
Of dolphins and cyclones
22nd February 2011 Monkey Mia is that place in Australia where dolphins come right into the shallows to meet humans. It was obviously a very moving experience for travellers twenty years ago, sitting in the crystal-clear shallows feeding fish to their favourite dolphin and petting them for hours. However, the dolphins got too dependent on » » »
26 February 2011
Dragon islands
Flores was a strong contrast to Bali. It is still a very backwater island, the few hotels are unusual oddities in a local landscape whereas on Bali tourism is the currency. We came to see Komodo dragons and we weren’t disappointed. Related Images:
22 February 2011
A lot more fish in the sea
16th February 2011 Today we went to Pulau Menjangan, an island just off this north-west coast of Bali renowned for its diving and snorkelling. Because it’s part of the Bali Barat National Park we needed to take a guide on our boat and he came snorkelling too. Mainly he swam with Tim and Vanessa, who » » »
16 February 2011
Hunting dragons
12th February 2011 We set out on our dragon hunt at 7am, after fortifying ourselves with a breakfast of fried noodles and egg. The first task was a two-and-a-half hour boat trip to Rinca island, on a wooden fishing boat whose engine chugged deeply, rather like a techno rave, and shook the whole vessel. On » » »
16 February 2011
The restaurant that fell to earth
11th February 2011 This evening we ate at the restaurant next door. This doesn’t sound very peculiar, but I’m at a loss to understand what it’s even doing there. Lemme explain… Our hotel has six rooms and lies 3 kms out of town, on a dusty road with nought but shacks and banana plantations on » » »
2 February 2011
Picture Amed
Our three day trip to the Amed coast was a great glimpse of the beauty on Bali. I honestly have no idea why any tourists would want to stay around the grubby bustle of Kuta, Sanur, Legian and the rest. But I’m very glad that most of them do! Related Images:
2 February 2011
Poor hat
31st January 2011 I would have been quite happy to hang around the house all day doing not much, but oh no we had to go and visit the clifftop temple of Ulu Watu with grandma. Also known as the monkey temple. Actually, almost all temples in South-East Asia seem to be known as the » » »
1 February 2011
Terrors of the deep
29th January 2011 The snorkelling along this coast is wonderful. Seriously, it knocks Ko Surin into a cocked hat, a veritable cocked hat. The coral is just a few yards from the shore everywhere and is a delight of different forms and colours and textures. The term ‘coral garden’ fits superbly. We snorkelled two coves » » »
21 January 2011
Look! Otters!
19th January 2011 This is ridiculous. Here at Sungei Buloh wetland reserve on Singapore they have smooth-coated otters. They have a small pond right outside the information centre, barely ten metres across, with a sandy bank on the far side of it. And a pair of otters have been resting on the bank and swimming » » »
20 January 2011
Wildlife on Langkawi
Langkawi is actually a great place for wildlife, although admittedly not many mammals (except for the best of all, otters). Hard to believe we were only here for 36 hours. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
20 January 2011
Monkey postcards
This gallery is for Helen, who liked the monkey that lost his keys on Ko Surin… or This gallery is for Helen, because she is a monkey… (delete as appropriate) Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
17 January 2011
I like Langkawi
16th January 2011 We read about Langkawi online, and in the Lonely Planet for Malaysia. Sun, sea, sand, resorts, and a handful of desultory attractions to milk some money from those who tire of the beach; “come for the beaches, there’s nothing else here” was the verdict from pretty much everyone. That’s why our initial » » »
17 January 2011
Thailand nutshell
It’s clear why Thailand has such a gravitational pull for travellers of all kinds. The country is full of interest, it’s more modern and accommodating than other Asian nations, and the crucial travelling commodities of food, lodging and transport are all cheap and good quality; you can dwell comfortably in Thailand for £20 per day. » » »
16 January 2011
A day on Penang
13th January 2011 Today we started late and had some memorable meals and a pleasant encounter. Lazily leaving the guest house at twelve-ish we strolled to the Eastern & Oriental hotel for a posh luncheon. This colonial bastion and precursor to the Raffles of Singapore is certainly the place to be seen in Penang. There » » »
10 January 2011
Postcards from Ko Yao Noi
8th January 2011 I never really set the scene for our island retreat. Ko Yao Noi is a 12km long island in Phang Nga bay, a huge sheltered bay full of tiny limestone islands. Think ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ and you’re right there. Ko Yao Noi is very laid back and nowhere near » » »
7 January 2011
Protein-rich breakfast
5th January 2011 This morning I drank a mouthful of ants. It wasn’t my intention. We had a glass of water by the bed as always, and in the morning I sleepily took a drink from it. I’d taken a second mouthful before realising that the first swallow was very… bitty. I spat the new » » »
Tags: accommodation, wildlife
5 January 2011
Ko Surin
Underwater photography proved wretchedly tricky – our compact camera is on the blink, and often the lens simply won’t extend properly. The LCD is also scratched, and through the underwater camera case it is now completely impossible to see; rather a problem when the LCD is the only viewfinder. I saw so many lovely fish, » » »
5 January 2011
Khao Sok
Khao Sok lake is a very special place to watch for wildlife. Instead of tramping through a mosquito-infested jungle in the constant shadow of towering trees and visibility of twenty metres, you get to glide across an enormous lake surrounded by limestone cliffs and thick jungle in either a longtail boat or kayak. Related Images:
31 December 2010
The funky gibbon
30th December 2010 Today was our best day for wildlife, though I still can’t give Bau any credit for it. We set out for an early 6:30AM paddle again and this time as we explored we were serenaded by the haunting song of the gibbon. Very reminiscent of the Indri in Madagascar, the troops of » » »
Tags: wildlife
31 December 2010
There are guides and guides
29th December 2010 I’m referring to the guides that we’ve gone with in various places to help us find wildlife – Madagascar, Bardia, Hala Bala, here. You obviously pay a premium for this, and each of these four trips has come out of our “special fun budget”, but a good local guide is crucial for » » »
31 December 2010
Khao Sok
28th December 2010 Khao Sok is certainly a beautiful place. Thirty years ago it was an area of steep mountains and deep valleys, but then a dam was built and now there is an enormous lake. Not the typical oval of a natural lake, instead it has hundreds of long winding fingers of water; the » » »
17 December 2010
Otter craze
Written by Maureen, 13th December 2010 Here’s a summary of our trip to find otters in Thailand. Where? At a secret location in the Narathiwat province, extreme south of the country. We got special permission to visit thanks to Jan and Tu who have excellent contacts Accommodation? At the Hala Bala wildlife sanctuary research station, » » »
17 December 2010
Hairy-nose, Part 2
12th December 2010 Again with the early start. Again watching the light grow over the mangrove. Again the otter appears out of nowhere. This time Jan and I follow the old adage “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” and we snap photos. Naturally, the camera-click alerts this incredibly alert and » » »
17 December 2010
Hairy-nose day
11th December 2010 Happy Hairy-nosed Otter day! The horribly early start paid off. Quite eerie, wading through the knee-deep water in pitch darkness with just our head-torches picking out the path through the reeds. Getting settled into the hide, during which Tu dropped his mobile phone. Alas, the floor of the hide is very gappy. » » »
16 December 2010
Not all otters
10th December 2010 Hala Bala has lots of wildlife, but we’re spending so much time searching for otters that we haven’t seen as much as we could. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the hairy-nosed otter, though, so we’ve got to focus. But in between days in the otter hide we’ve seen gibbons, » » »
Tags: wildlife
16 December 2010
Jan and Tu
9th December 2010 Jan and Tu are our guides in the search for otters in southern Thailand. They’re fantastic company, are totally passionate about wildlife, and know Thailand’s national parks inside-out. They’ve been looking after us very well. They actually live in the north-east, in a splendid-looking house in Nan. After weeks of travelling and » » »
Tags: wildlife
16 December 2010
Searching for hairy noses
8th December 2010 This is how you look for the world’s rarest otter. First: you wake up at 3:45 in the morning, in order to get going at 4:30 on the hour-and-a-half drive to the secret site (sssssh!). Then you get bitten half to death by mosquitoes while you unload the car. This is so » » »
16 December 2010
Training day
7th December 2010 Looong transit day today. The train leaves Bangkok’s Hualamphong station (which I can’t stop thinking of as hump-along station) at 13:00 and doesn’t reach Sungai-Kolok in the far south until 10:45 the next day. Our sleeper berth is of nifty and compact design, seats by day and bunk beds at night. The » » »
5 November 2010
Visiting Bardia
Bardia National Park is a seldom-visited wilderness in the West of Nepal, said to be the best place to see tigers. We were on the lookout for otters however… Related Images:
3 November 2010
The Fact of Leeches
It’s the morning after Ann and John have left to return to England, and we’re riding on the back of motorbikes over dirt tracks through bucolic Tharu villages in the early morning light. The ride is fun and the people and rural scenes around us are great. We’re going to another spot on the Karnali » » »
30 September 2010
Little monsters
Although the lemurs have the monopoly on cute and fuzzy, Madagascar is home to bundles of other fascinating little monsters. Related Images:
28 September 2010
Guiding light
Written by Maureen After two weeks in Madagascar looking for wildlife, I am filled with respect for the local guides. In Ankarafantsika, there was Jacqui, a mellow guy who spoke softly and walked quietly. He showed us many birds, including the impressive Madagascar fishing eagle and the cutely named buttonquail. In Matadia, we were guided » » »
27 September 2010
Shoft and furry
Your second installment of cute. It amazes me that the Theory of Evolution can get away with this kind of silly hijinks. Related Images:
19 September 2010
Fuzzy-wuzzy!
D’ya like fuzzy-wuzzy? Want some, huh? Well I got yer fuzzy-wuzzy right here, yessiree… Related Images:
19 September 2010
Madagascar
We saw the most awesome thing today. Snake-eating ants. Seriously. We saw a big deep hole with ants going in and out. A snake goes into the hole looking for food, but the ants blind it then kill it and devour it! We saw snakeskin scattered around the hole like discarded candy wrappers. Also rat » » »
12 September 2010
Antelopes
Everyone rushes past them in search of lions and cheetahs, but there are many kinds of antelope and there is something interesting to know about all most of them. We saw 21 species, so here are the best pics. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
12 September 2010
Great Escarpment
The Great Escarpment is pretty bloody amazing. You’re driving across the vast flat expanse of the low veldt and there is just this almighty wall of mountainous golden cliffs stretching from horizon to horizon, broken only by the Blyde River canyon which emerges from it. Anyone who visits the Kruger and doesn’t take a day » » »
11 September 2010
Mugging in the Kruger
The owl and the hamerkop went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat The owl mugged the hamerkop to steal his frogs And stuffed them down his throat We didn’t see lions lunching on zebras, but we did see the largest owl in Africa (a superb predator who even eats other owls) reduced to mugging » » »
Tags: wildlife
11 September 2010
Kruger – the Big Five
We’re interested in all wildlife (especially otters!) but “The Big Five” is a cliche everyone visiting the Kruger talks about, so this gallery focusses on them and their supporting cast. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
11 September 2010
Big game hunting
In the Kruger, no-one can hear you blog. Not strictly true, as a couple of the camps now have internet cafes, but we didn’t stay there. So that’s why we’ve been quiet. Expect a flurry of blog posts; this one is about the Kruger. We’ve been in three different camps over five days, and seen » » »
1 September 2010
Whale of a time
Written by Maureen Firstly, apologies to everyone who tried to watch the previous video. Please try again – it should work now. Now back to the post… Hermanus is considered to be one of the best shore-based whale-watching spots in the world, and we were there at the Southern Right time (sorry!). Around August and » » »
29 August 2010
Tillietudlem gallery
We stayed at beautiful, tranquil Tillietudlem in the Natal Midlands, went for lots of long walks and saw OTTERS. Related Images:
29 August 2010
Tillietudlem
Today there was a frost in the morning (as usual we were out for a walk by 6:30), yet by lunchtime the temperature was 30C. Anyway, Tillietudlem looked beautiful and more like a little slice of Scotland than ever. We’ve stayed an extra two days, going for a two hour dawn walk and a two » » »
29 August 2010
One month in
Written by Maureen on 26 August 2010 It has been exactly one month now since we left our cosy home in England to embark on this once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world. And it still feels like a holiday! I’m going to be honest (and risk the ire of serious travellers everywhere) and admit that I » » »
28 August 2010
Moving west to east
This gallery covers our travels from Cape Town along the Garden Route and then up through the Great Karoo, before heading east across the Transkei to the Natal Midlands. Related Images:
Tags: wildlife
19 August 2010
Rain, cold and whales
Last night it absolutely tipped down with rain, and this morning it is cold. Our B&B room is large and well furnished, but shares with all other South African accommodation a complete disdain for anything as wussy as heating. “It’s only cold for five or six weeks of the year” as our host pointed out. » » »
5 August 2010
Baboons behaving badly
(written by Maureen) Thanks to everyone who has commented on our blog! Since we may not have internet access very much, we have changed the settings so that now comments won’t need to be approved by us and so should appear immediately. We have decided to name every day of our trip. Day one was » » »
5 August 2010
Cheetahs and honey badgers
The Kgalagadi Park is centred on two dry riverbeds (they flow once every hundred years or so) that have enough vegetation and watering holes to keep wildlife concentrated there. The rolling red sand dune landscape is best seen from Killiekrankie camp – an unfenced wilderness camp looked after by the scarily aloof but efficient Willem. » » »
Tags: wildlife
30 July 2010
We begin!
I’m sitting in the shade of a tree at Marrick Safari in the middle of the Karoo, which means we must have started our travels. It feels strangely like any other holiday right now – I’m sure that will change as two days stretches towards a month. Air whinge. We selected two great seats (window » » »