Car Accident – 22 February 2008

I didn’t actually take this photo – it was taken by my brother while I was in hospital. The car accident occurred on the 22nd February 2008. I have no memory of the accident, but have been told that I hit a tree and went over the side of a mountain. I was told that if I hadn’t been spotted by a passing vehicle I would have been dead by morning. The accident occurred towards dusk. The impact of the accident occurred on the drivers side of the car (I’m in Australia) and the photo shows clearly why my right side suffered the most injuries as a result of the accident. What happened? I have no memory of the cause of the accident or anything about it.

So this photo doubles up for both my posts today (which means there is only one).

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Native Wildlife of the Area

It’s another wet and windy day in paradise, so not much to do but sit it out. It also means I haven’t got a lot to type about (as opposed to write about, given I’m using the keyboard). So I’m going back a little and posting about some photos I’ve taken in recent months here. In fact, what I’m posting about today is one of the great things about living here in Tea Gardens, which differs a great deal from other places I have lived down Newcastle and Lake Macquarie way and that is the abundance of wildlife around here. Sadly we have managed to kill of most of the wildlife down around Newcastle, or at the very least drove it all away. Here it abounds and I love it being so.

I’m not talking about just the smaller animal and bird species you might expect to find in a suburban area, but even the bigger examples of wildlife also. Kangaroos and Wallabies can be found all over the place in this area and it isn’t unusual to see them bounding down the main street in numbers. In fact, sadly, you often find them as road kill on the main road out to the highway. Where I work we have smaller wallabies and kangaroos actually living in and amongst the homes, with joeys in their pouches as well. The odd Dingo can also be seen from time to time. Koalas are known to live in healthy numbers around the area – not that I have spotted one here yet.

Reptiles abound here also, with large numbers of Red Belly Black Snakes, Diamond Pythons (pictured at above left) and Tree Snakes readily found in the warmer months, along with Blue-Tongued Lizards and Goannas. I have seen some Goannas that have been at least 1 metre long. Some of the Diamond Pythons have been closer to 2 metres in length.

It is the bird life that really thrives around here, especially the wetland varieties. The area is rich in bird life. At work you can see on a daily basis Wattle Birds, Blue Wrens, Finches, various Parrots and Rosellas, Black Cockatoos, Galahs, Water Fowl, Wood Ducks, Ibis, Egrets, Spoonbills, Herons, Black Swans and many, many more species of birds. There are the rarer sightings of birds also. A Tawny Frogmouth (pictured at below right) has made its home near where I live, trying its best to look like part of the tree in which it chooses to roost.

The area also abounds in sea life, of various types and sizes. It is not unusual to have Humpback Whales sighted of the coast here and Dolphins can be spotted almost every morning if you know where to look. The Sting Rays are also easy spot at the right time of the day.

You do get your not so welcome species of wildlife also, such as mosquitos and sand flies, but I guess these play their part in the general run of things, being food perhaps for the more welcome members of wildlife society.

One of the things I’m doing down here, tieing in my interest in web applications and social networks, is being involved with the Project Noah social network. This is a place to log wildlife spots with GPS markings using the iPhone application, along with the web application. I haven’t long been involved in it, but it is something I will be doing more and more. It will be good to build up a more complete picture of what species live in the area. Others can get involved in recording and mapping the wildlife of the area here by joining the ‘mission’ I have started at Project Noah.

The mission I have started for Tea Gardens can be found at:
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/12346009

Car Crash: 22 February 2008

Over the next little while I have decided to post photos from the past, to travel back over my photos and select photos to post from the archives. Today’s photo is from almost 4 years ago,
of what remained of my car following an accident that almost killed me.

I have no memory of the accident and what happened over the hours leading up to the accident and the hours following the accident. I apparently hit a tree and went over the edge of a mountain, suffering severe injuries as a result, including brain damage (from which I have now healed). I am very thankful to God for having not only survived the accident, but also to have recovered almost completely.

Landscape near Dunedoo

This photo is a landscape shot near Dunedoo in New South Wales, Australia. It is a very unusual landform, in that a tree is growing between the split rocks.

The Grandis

The tallest tree in New South Wales – Australia. Yesterday’s photo covered the bottom of the tree on the approach to it – today’s photo shows the top of it.

A correction concerning the location of the tree is also in order. Yesterday I said it was located in Wang Wauk State Forest – and it once was. It hasn’t sprouted legs and moved elsewhere, but it has now been included in the Myall Lakes National Park.

Tallest Tree in New South Wales

The photo at right is of the pathway that leads to the tallest tree in New South Wales, Australia. It is a Eucalyptus grandis (Flooded Gum), located in the Wang Wauk State Forest, to the north of Bulahdelah.

The tree is thought to be over 400 years old and some 84.3 metres high. It is 2.7 metres across at its base.

New Life: Bundjalung National Park

This photo is of young, developing, elkhorns growing on the side of a tree in the coastal Bundjalung National Park in New South Wales, Australia.