Stranded in the Bush

We finally made it to one of the inland lakes this morning, a refreshing change from staring at the ocean all day. Lou somehow talked one of the local tourist bus drives to truck us up the hill to Brown Lake, saving us a long 3 hour walk. We were dropped off and told to meet back in the parking lot no later than 11:40, because he had plans to jump onto a heli (helicopter) and fly around the island while the crew photographed powerlines for the local tele company. So we dipped our feet in the water, realized that it wasn’t warm enough to actually go for a swim, and began our walk along the trail that fringed the lake. Our general warnings were to watch out for snakes and those elusive Drop Bears I keep hearing about.

The main goal was to find koalas, but I was constantly distracted by everything else around me. Which worked in my favour; the group ended up far ahead, and I got to walk through the gum tree woods in peace. As most people have figured out by now, I enjoy my alone time. It’s hard for me to be around a big group of the same people for an extended period of time. It was nice to get away from the group and hear the wind through the trees instead of the jokes about farting and whales (not that I don’t like a good fart or whale joke). On my walk a saw a few Australian Grebes setting on the lake, a floating stick that resembled a snake (I stared at it for a long time before I finally figured out it was a stick), and many plants that are completely new to me. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good plant book, so I’ll have to read about them later. There were some very small carnivorous plants that grew along the water’s edge, covered in sticky droplets that they must secrete in order to capture and digest small insects. We didn’t see any koalas, but I have a feeling it will happen soon.

It turns out the trail around the lake was longer than we initially thought, so we ended up running back to the parking lot to make it in time. When we finally arrived, the tour van/bus was nowhere in sight. We understood why he couldn’t stay; he was going to go up in a helicopter, so there were no hard feelings. Since there was no longer any hurry, a couple of us jumped in the lake anyways; we had warmed up a bit from the run. The lake is called Brown, but the water is actually a ruby red colour. The tannin from the bark and leaves of the tea tree (or paper bark tree) gives the lake its colour. It’s also supposed to be good for the skin, and makes your hair stand up. We didn’t stay in long; the water was much colder than the ocean. We started the long walk back to town when luckily the tour guide came barrelling down the road and picked us up. He had been tracking our footprints around the lake in an attempt to corral us back. We’re not sure how we missed him; it may forever remain a mystery.

It was nice having a day off, but we are the ones who count whales...and the whales must be counted. Today we get back to the business of staring at the big blue, waiting for the occasional glimpse of one the oceans most charismatic creatures. That is of course when they’re breaching (quote from the tourists in Monterey... “When are they going to breach?”). How the hell am I supposed to know? Maybe that’s an idea for a thesis?