Choices

My postings have been sparse this summer. Mostly because I am often not home. The above photos explain where I have been spending much of my time.

Sorry folks but when choosing between the beach and the computer, the beach has won hands down!

PS I didn't make the sand castle.

Update on Sam the Koala

nzherald.co.nz

Sam the koala healing well thanks to boyfriend Bob
Sam the koala is being treated in a wildlife shelter after being saved from a burned-out forest.

"Sam" the koala, the most famous furry survivor of Australia's worst-ever wildfires, is healing well thanks to the efforts of caretakers at a rescue shelter - and she even has a new boyfriend, "Bob."

Sam, who captured hearts around the world after she was photographed drinking from a firefighter's water bottle, has also won the affection of "Bob," another koala whose paws were scorched in the weekend's inferno, caretaker Lynn Raymond said Thursday.

"Bob is her protector - as soon as she is moved, he's on the move, too. It really looks like he's making sure she's OK," Raymond said from the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson, 100 miles (170 kilometers) east of Melbourne in Victoria state, where the deadly fires continue to burn. "They're good company for each other."

Neither koala is likely to be healthy enough for release for at least four months, and are being comforted by caretakers who salve their scorched paws every few hours.

Global interest in the fate of Sam has been intense since a photograph of firefighter David Tree offering her a bottle of water in a burned-out forest was splashed across the internet, in newspapers and on television broadcasts. The telephone at the shelter has rung incessantly with callers eager for an update on the creature's condition.

"It's insane," Raymond said with a laugh. "(But) everybody has been absolutely wonderful."

Sam was found moving gingerly on scorched paws by a fire patrol Sunday. Tree crouched down and held out a bottle of water for her to drink, which she eagerly accepted, holding Tree's hand as he poured water into her mouth.

"You all right, buddy?" Tree asks in a video of the encounter as he approaches the koala. Later, as Sam gulps from the bottle, he quips: "How much can a koala bear?"

Often mistakenly called koala bears because they resemble a child's teddy bear, the marsupial is actually a somewhat ornery creature with a loud growl and sharp claws.

Sam, who suffered second- and third-degree burns to her paws, has been sharing a cage with Bob, who took an immediate interest in her when she arrived on Sunday, Raymond said.

Both Sam and Bob were given painkillers when they first arrived, but they're off the drugs now, Raymond said. The two are still receiving antibiotics and have their bandages changed regularly to stave off infections.

The koalas are likely to be in the shelter at least four months, depending on how quickly their burns heal, Raymond said. For now, though, the famously thirsty marsupial appears to be on the mend.

"I'm just looking at Sam now - she is fast asleep," Raymond said. "She's doing very, very well."

Australian Bushfires Disaster - Koala Rescue (February, 2009)

John Campbell interviews the Australian firefighter who gave the wounded koala bear a drink.

Sam's Ordeal

Sam became the most famous koala in the world when firefighter David Tree stopped to give her a drink amid the devastation of Australia's deadly bushfires.

A photograph of the encounter, featured on the front page of the Herald yesterday, was published and broadcast by newspapers and TV stations around the world.

Mr Tree noticed the injured koala as his fire patrol passed burned-out forest near Mirboo North, about 150km east of Melbourne.

The animal was moving gingerly on scorched paws, and Mr Tree could see she was in pain. She stopped when she saw him.

"It was amazing; he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with [a look] like, 'Put me out of my misery'," he said yesterday.

"I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally.

"He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby."

Koalas normally drink almost no water because they get fluids from the leaves they eat.

Animal welfare officials later took Sam from her burned-out home - discovering that Mr Tree had it wrong when he referred to her as "he".

But although the animal is a "she", the name Sam has stuck.

Coleen Wood, manager of the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter where Sam was taken for treatment of burns to her paws, said she was expected to make a full recovery.

She would be released back into nature once a suitable habitat was found.

"The hardest part is going to be trying to find enough habitat to support these guys," Ms Wood said.

Koalas are especially vulnerable to bushfires because they move slowly on the ground.

NZ Herald Thursday Feb 12, 2009

Australian Wildfires

Smoke crosses Tasman - 6:00AM Monday Feb 09, 2009

"While the heatwave in most parts of the country has put firefighters on alert, Southlanders were experiencing a phenomenon of a different kind.

Queenstown residents reported a "strange orange glow" in their region, caused by smoke from the Australian bushfires.

"At present the air is blowing directly from South Australia to south New Zealand, and it is taking all that smoke with it in the cloud," MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said."

NZ Herald Monday Feb 9th

Our heart goes out to our Australian 'cousins' who are experiencing the worst bush fires ever and with considerable loss of life.

So fierce are the fires that the smoke has been blown across the Tasman sea to New Zealand.

Here it is on You Tube

You have to laugh!

It was less than a great escape.
Two prisoners who fled a courthouse handcuffed together foiled their own getaway when they ran around opposite sides of a light pole, slammed into each other and fell to the ground.

Jailers nabbed them as they struggled to their feet.

Their escapade on Wednesday was captured by a CCTV camera at Hastings District Court.
The footage shows the two men trying to make a break for it - but apparently forgetting they were joined at the wrist.

"As they were being led from the Hastings police cells ... they made a bolt for freedom," Mr Greig said.
"They fell over and were sprayed with pepper spray. But they got up and ran out of the court on to the street, across the road to a carpark. That's where they met the pole - it was all over, Rover".

Extract from NZ Herald. 30.01.09

Polly the Possum

Isn't she cute. Polly was hand reared and resides at Longridge Park near Rotorua.

However I have been known to say that the only good possum is a dead one. They are responsible for chewing their way through our native plants at an alarming rate.



Possums were introduced from Australia last century for the fur trade and with no natural predators in New Zealand they quickly multiplied and became a pest. They are protected in Australia but here they are hunted and destroyed.

So sorry Polly - you may be cute but your relatives have wreaked havoc on our native wildlife and we wish we could send you all back to Australia.

A Tag

Tismee has tagged me - she is good at that!
Here are the rules

1.Go to your documents
2. Go to your 6th file.
3.Go to your 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.

Hmm I am sometimes a reluctant participant in tags but this one seems easy enough.

Now to offer an explanation. I try to make my blog as informative as possible about New Zealand BUT my 6th photo on the 6th file happens to be a photo of the Sydney (Australia) skyline - and a crooked photo at that! Oh well. Such is life. I should have deleted it months ago.

Those of you familiar with Sydney will see their harbour bridge way in the distance. It is a beautiful harbour I have to admit. But it does look much better when it is level!

We were there last May to attend our oldest sons graduation.
















Now I am required to tag 6 others. Not so sure that I have six people who would appreciate being tagged. So I will leave it up to any of my readers to participate if they wish. Lurkers are especially invited to come out of the woodwork and show their face!

Sea Sun Sand

Yep, I'm back home again, only for a day or two then off to stay with family.

Our holiday at the beach - well the title says most of it! Add to that - walks on the beach, bush walks, reading and generally lazing around.

It has been a very hot summer so far with temperatures in the late 20's and sometimes over 30 (degrees celsius). We were careful to stay inside out of the sun on the hottest days - that hole in the ozone layer hovering above us makes our sun fierce.

It is good to be home again, our three cats were very pleased to see us.

This weekend the first of our sun deprived sons from the UK arrives for his annual visit. The second son arrives later in the month. Their vision of camping and lazing on the beach has seen them through the first part of the London winter!