Blackbutt Reserve

Since I was unable to visit Gap Creek Falls the other day, I decided I might pop in to have a look at the new animal enclosures at Blackbutt Reserve near Newcastle. I will say straight off the bat that I do have something of a prejudice against Blackbutt Reserve, as I see the place as nothing like a natural bush setting, it being far too ‘corrupted’ by human activity, weeds and the like. Having said that it is a good place for a family or group outing/event. It certainly has its place, but it is not a true nature reserve (in my opinion).

ABOVE: Visitor Centre

I do think that some well designed animal and bird enclosures at Blackbutt could lift the value of the reserve dramatically and make it a really great place for families, especially young families. There are opportunities for educational visits for kids, possible environmental activities and the like there. So the potential is certainly there for Blackbutt.

The enclosures of my youth are giving way to those that are much better and up to a more modern standard, which is great to see. Certainly the improvements I saw are great and some of them are outstanding. The Quoll enclosure, with nocturnal habitat viewing was brilliant. Some of the other enclosures are getting there also, though I was disappointed with the size of some of the aviaries and poor vegetation choices they appeared to have. They didn’t look to great for the birds, which I think is not a good look. Still, they are a major improvement on what had been there before.

Some of the other enclosures for snakes and amphibians were really good also I have to say and overall the place is going ahead and improving all of the time. So I think it has a place into the future, if it can continue to improve along the way. Just some thoughts…

ABOVE LEFT: Modern Enclosures  ABOVE RIGHT: Koala BELOW: Nocturnal Quoll Enclosure

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EveryTrail

Today’s link is to EveryTrail, which is a very useful social network and web application for bushwalkers. It is a network that makes it very easy to share with like-minded people the activities you experience, whether those activities include bushwalking and camping, or road trips, sight seeing trips, boating, cycling, etc. With EveryTrail you are able to map (geo-tagging) just where you went and then share it with others. You can also share photos of your trip and embed your maps in your website and Blog.

Fore more, visit:
http://www.everytrail.com/

FriendShuffle

Friendshuffle is somewhat like StumbleUpon, except Friendshuffle is for following what your friends on Facebook or Twitter have been looking at via their links and likes. It allows you to share in the web surfing activities of your friends, via what they post on either Facebook and/or Twitter. Whereas StumbleUpon learns what you like by what you click on as being liked, FriendShuffle merely adds what you like to your profile, so that you can share it with further friends.

Friendshuffle can be a fun way of entering into what your friends are discovering on the web and then sharing that with others. It is also an easy tool to use. You simply log in with your Twitter/Facebook accounts and you can then start shuffling through what your friends have been looking at.

For more visit FriendShuffle at:
http://www.friendshuffle.com/

Spruz – Create and Grow Your Own Social Network

After being through the dramas that occurred at Ning and now Grou.ps (see yesterday’s post), I have now moved by social networking activities over to Spruz. I did think that Grou.ps had a lot of potential, but having abandoned that platform I am trying out the Spruz platform. So far I am impressed. I think some of the themes could do with some work and the one I am using is fairly average I guess, but it does the job. Maybe I can tinker with it some more when I have a bit more time.

Without doubt I’d have to say that the platform at Spruz is far more stable and the outfit far more professional than what I was used to over at Grou.ps. So in short, thus far Spruz has my endorsement.

http://www.spruz.com