Taralga Rodeo

On Sunday, I spent the day at Taralga Rodeo. It was a hot and extremely dusty day and my poor camera took a lot of abuse. It was difficult to take good photos because of the dust and sun, but here are some of the action shots.

Fascinating facts about the Melbourne Cup

This is part of a piece I wrote for my students about The Melbourne Cup to get them in the mood for the race.  We stopped our lesson early and all went to the local pub to watch the race together.  Of course, needless to say, we all had a bit of a punt (I organised the class "sweepstakes") but my horse came second last.  Oh well, gambling and fishing just don't seem to be my thing...

• The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous horse race. The race always happens on the first Tuesday of November and it starts at 3 p.m. This is the 150th year that the Melbourne Cup will be run. So, you are here in Australia at a historic moment!

• The Melbourne Cup takes place in (yes, you guessed it!) Melbourne at the Flemington Racecourse. Horses have to be three years or older to take part.

• The Melbourne Cup is known as "The race that stops a nation." That's because just about every person in Australia stops doing whatever they are doing to drink beer or champagne and listen to or watch the race.

• A recent survey calculated that the Melbourne Cup costs the Australian economy over $ 1 billion in lost work. That's because no-one does much work on the afternoon of the race (not even English students) and it’s a public holiday in Victoria. But who cares! It's lots of fun and an excuse for Australians everywhere to have a party.

• Australians love to gamble on any day and especially on the day of the Melbourne Cup. The "sweep" (sweepstakes) is particularly popular where each person puts in some money and they are given a randomly chosen horse. The person with the winning horse wins all the money. Then they get to buy everyone drinks!

• The Melbourne Cup is not really about horse racing at all! It's about having fun and drinking champagne and eating canapés and looking beautiful in the latest fashions. It's one big fashion parade and it's all about being noticed. And often the most popular way to do that is to wear a huge, exotic looking hat.

• Sometimes the fashions at the Melbourne Cup influence what people wear all over Australia and even in other parts of the world. In 1965, everyone remembers when Jean Shrimpton, a model from England, wore a miniskirt. The skirt went just above her knees (shocking in those days!) and caused a worldwide sensation. Soon everyone was wearing them.

• The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861 and was won by a horse called "Archer." Archer lived in Nowra in New South Wales so he had to walk 800 km's just to get to the start of the race! Seventeen horses took part and the prize was a gold watch and £170 ($ 300).

• In today's race, 24 horses will take part and the prize money is $ 7.7 million and $ 4.5 million of that goes to the winning horse. Even if you come 10th, you get $ 160,000. Over 100,000 people will attend the race.

• The Melbourne Cup is one of the most difficult and challenging races in the world. The race is run over 3,200 metres and it is a handicapped race. This means that the better the horse is, the more weight it has to carry in the race. In the 1890's there was a particularly strong horse called Carbine who won many races. He had to carry a weight of over 66 kg in the Melbourne Cup (that doesn't even include the jockey) and yet he still won the race!

• Only four horses have won the Melbourne Cup twice and only one horse (Makybe Diva in 2003) has won it three times. The distance and the handicap make it very difficult to predict who will win the Melbourne Cup. Any horse can win. Who knows, maybe it will be your horse than wins the race today. Good luck! And if you win, remember to buy your teacher a beer.

Jean Shrimpton in her “shocking” miniskirt that caused a worldwide sensation.  Get a life, people!

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Medieval Festival

I went to the Medieval Festival in North Ryde today - a great day out with knights jousting and fighting and merry wenches cheering. The highlight was the kids who came in their little costumes and watching how excited they got. Conditions were not good for photography (harsh light) but here are some of my captures.

And my favourite for the day

Horses in the Mist

Cotapaxi Reserve, Ecuador, 2006

Horses in the Mist
Galloping wild and free,
through tendrils of morning mist,
with mud spattering at their hooves,
and flaring nostrils snorting steam,
they pass between the swirling clouds
of a volcanic peak
and the wave swept shores
of a green lagoon,
then cantor down to a gentle trot
to nibble on the dew soaked grass
and frolic in the soft, shrouded light
of the rising sun.

Written:  2006

The Pantanol

This vast natural paradise (the size of Texas!) is Brazil's major ecological attraction and offers a density of wildlife that exceeds even the the Amazon.

During the rainy season from October to March (yes, I was in the thick of it!), the Rio Praguai and other lesser rivers flood much of this low lying region creating patches of dry land where animals congregate. The waters rise as much as 3 metres above low water levels. This limits human habitation and provides a perfect feeding ground for wildlife.

I have aways wanted to visit the Pantanol (what do you expect with 650 bird species to offer!) so was very excited to spend 5 nights in the heart of it. I stayed in a simple lodge built on stilts to combat the annual flooding. Ally was a bit swamped out from Argentina and decided to rather relax on Isla del Mel) off the coast of Curitiba while I battled the mosquitos.

Altogether the Pantanol supports 650 bird species and 80 mammals including jaguars, ocelots, pumas, maned wolves, deers, ant eaters, armodillos, monkeys, tapirs and capybaras. I saw many bird species but mammal sightings were a little more limited due to the lushness of the vegetation at this time of the year.

The Jabiru stalk is one of the largest stalks in the world and is the official symbol of the Pantanol. It is a very impressive bird with a wing span of 3.5 metres.

I really like this photo I took of Monk Parrots in the early morning. They seemed to be having a lot of fun on the branch, all talking at the same time over breakfast. Reminds of me of some other families I have met!

The main mode of transport in the Pantanol as you would expect is by boat. We did a wonderful day trip along a course of rivers - including the beautiful and abundant "Red River" that gets its gorgeous colours from its rich iron content and provides beautiful reflections against the clouds.

Boats and water always seem to bring out the fun in people. Here we are having lots of it. Thanks to Yasuhiko for his fast trigger finger! The other guy in the photo is Greg, a fellow Cape Townian who I met on the trip. Needless to say, we got on famously! SAFA's always know how to have fun.

Another great way of exploring the shallower areas in on horse back. We did some great excursions along water logged paths and saw many birds this way. I also got to experience the thrill of galloping through water - totally exhilerating. Once of the guys in our group is a Canadian farmer who lives on a horse, so the pace was very fast, much to my great delight.

We also went walking through the jungle and had to cross several alligator infested rivers as we moved from island to island. Thanksfully the alligators here do not seem to eat humans, probably as they have so much else to eat.

Marcello was an awesome guide. He is an Indian who was born and grew up in the jungle. He speaks 6 languages and has the eyes of a hawk which came in very useful for spotting wildlife. We were very lucky to get him (he is famous in these parts as the best guide) and to spend time with him and hear his stories and share his vast knowledge. He was tremedous fun too. Amazingly, he seemed to speak fluent monkey language too and watching him howl with the Howler Monkeys is a memory I will never forget.

A great highlight of the Pantanol was the people I got to meet. Our all guy group (Frank from Germany, Greg from Cape Town and James from Canada) were a lot of fun and we all shared the same passion for the wildlife and the outdoors. Frank enjoys photography as much as me so it was great to share tips.

We experienced a couple of impressive downpours, including one while we were on horseback (refreshingly cool). I loved the dramatic clouds.

We went fishing the one day and James the Canadian, caught some Pirhanas. Scary looking, but they don't eat you unless you are dripping blood from a nasty wound. In which case, they would strip you in less than 3 minutes. Needless to say, when we swam we were careful not to cut our feet!

I keep learning cool new camera techniques. Here I discovered the amazing power of my super macro function. You can get your camera so close that you have to be very careful not to knock the poor little critters with your lens. I love modern technology.

The mosquitos were merciless. I was bitten on every inch of my body just about and it got a little much at times - there was just no reprieve! But I certainly did not suffer as much as Marloes and Harold (a great couple from Holland). They went rubber tubing on the first day without mosquito repellant and paid a heavy price. Like the troopers they are, they kept there sense of humour and their backs were much sought after for photos!

The sunsets over the swamp were as beautiful as any we have seen on this trip - and we have been blessed to see a lot of them. Funny how you can never get "sunsetted out", no matter how many you see. Could be the fact that they all look completely different.

Birds

New birds seen

• Bare-faced Ibis
• Jabiru
• Turkey vulture
• Black-collared Hawk
• Solitary Eagle
• Chaco chachalaca
• Common Piping-Guan
• Bare-faced curassow
• Hyacinth Macaw
• Black-hooded Parakeet
• Reddish-bellied Parakeet
• Swallow-tailed Hummingbird
• Ringed Kingfisher
• Green Kingfisher
• Rufous-tailed Jacamar
• Black and white Monjita
• Bananaquit
• Puna Yellowfinch

Letter to Marcello (Pantanol Guide - 04 March 2006)

Hi Marcello

What can I say?  It was awesome and you are awesome!  The best guide ever.  Period.

Here are some reasons why I think so.

• Your fantastic knowledge of the wildlife of the Pantanol.  You showed us so much and told us so many interesting things.
• Your unbelievable ability to spot even the smallest birds and animals from far away.  You can see better than any hawk.  You helped me see 20 new species of birds.
• Blue Macaw and Toco Toucan!!  I wanted to see them - you found them.
• Your passion for the jungle.  It is in your eyes - it is everywhere in you.  It inspires me.
• Your amazing energy.  You always liven people up - no matter how tired they are.
• The incredible way you talk to Howler monkeys.  Awesome!  Its like Dr Dolittle but better!
• Your great sense of humour and fun - you made us laugh so many times.
• The way you let us know about your culture and the peoples of the Pantanol.
• Your knife!  That's one big mother!
• Your ability to make the horses go.  So much fun!
• Opening up and telling us about your life.
• Your great singing voice.  U2 rocks!
• Great volleyball!!

You are amazing and we will never forget our time here.  

Bye for now my friend

Graeme