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seanan_mcguireMy last full day in Australia dawned bright and clear, and best of all, WorldCon-free*, which meant Jeanne and I could get in some high-quality TOURISM before I had to go to the airport and catch my flight back to the United States. FOR GREAT JUSTICE. Our plans for the day involved hitting the Melbourne Zoo (renowned among zoos for being TOTALLY BITCHIN'), and then driving a gazillion miles** to Phillip Island to witness the Penguin Parade.
We got up stupid-early in the morning to meet Mal and his very sweet friend whose name I have since forgotten, because I Am Crap With Names. They had rented a car for the day, because they are wonderful, thoughtful people. And it was off for the zoo! Well. Off for breakfast. But after that, the zoo! Hooray the zoo!
Sadly for us, several school groups had also decided that this was a yay the zoo kind of day, and the place was swarming with children. I do not question the right of children to go to the zoo, nor, in fact, the need for children to go to the zoo. But when it's one adult to thirty small boys, I start to feel a little bit like a cat surrounded by Aeslin mice, and that isn't a fun sensation. We chose the path that seemed least likely to intersect with the school groups, and started wandering.
The Melbourne Zoo is just as awesome as its press implied it would be. Within the first twenty minutes, we'd seen snow leopards, cougars, bears, and tigers, and I had decided that this was the zoo where the fourth InCryptid book would be set. SURPRISE. We went on to see an enclosure containing only male lions, who were, um, rather dedicated to finding some females; a large pack of African wild dogs; some cool birds; giraffes; a bunch of wild turkeys; and the biggest damn tortoises I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, people could live in those shells. If they weren't, y'know, already occupied.
And then, wonder of wonders, miracle and miracles...the Reptile House. Which was full of glories untold and miracles unnumbered, including several species of snake that I had never actually seen before. Because I love my snake-fearing friends, I will not go into explicit detail, save to say that I had a powerful bonding experience with a taipan, and small boys who taunt rattlesnakes should be put out of the Reptile House at once.
We wandered the zoo a bit more, with a stop for lunch before we entered the Australian wildlife exhibit. Kangaroos roamed free, wombats burbled, and Jeanne and I finally got to see an echidna. Yay! We stopped the admire the echidna. At great length. A zookeeper noticed us clustered there, and came over to announce that she'd be doing a koala show in five minutes at the (connected) koala enclosure. We allowed as how this was very nice for her, and kept watching the echidna, I don't know, echid. Whatever you call what an echidna does. Ten minutes later, the zookeeper came back and asked, if she told us all about the echidna, would we come and see the koala show. Would we ever!
I got to touch an echidna. My life is now complete.
The koala show turned out to be pretty cool, too, and their young female koala—named "Alice," nicknamed "Devil Spawn," which proves that there's an Alice everywhere—was spritely and fun to watch, unlike her wild cousins. Totally worth the stop.
We also saw: manta rays with awesome leopard spots on, platypuses swimming (and being way smaller*** than I expected them to be), elephants taken VERY SERIOUSLY, lemurs, orangutans, fish, seahorses, and penguins. And then it was time to leave the zoo, so that we could spend hours upon hours in the car, driving to Philip Island. Mal's friend left us then, as he did not want to spend hours upon hours in the car. Mal's friend is a smart guy.
I kept myself amused during the drive by counting Australian magpies, as they were everywhere. One's for sorrow, two's for joy—does anybody know what seventy-eight is for? Because there were a lot of magpies. It was like being escorted across Australia by Vixy in spirit guide form. Hi, Vixy!
We reached Philip Island fifteen minutes before the Penguin Parade began. Now, this is not a tightly scheduled thing; the term "penguin parade" actually refers to the completely natural life cycle of the Fairy Penguin. They go out to sea in the morning, and return on the evening tide, whereupon they parade up the beach to get back to their nests. Humans sell tickets to watch this happen. The penguins don't get it. But hey, if we want to freeze our asses off sitting on the bleachers and watching them walk, more power to us.
It was like something out of The Last Unicorn. Waves would roll in, and leave behind little foot-high penguins when they rolled out again. Then the little penguins marched up the beach, making fantastically loud noises. It was magical. It was bizarre. It was freezing. We ran for the hot cocoa stand when it was over, and that stuff did NOT last long.
Signs in the parking lot requested that we check under our car for penguins. That's Australia, all over. Hello, welcome, please do not flatten a penguin when you leave.
I am so glad I got to go.
(*I loved WorldCon, and had a fantastic time, once I started actually sleeping again. But it was awfully nice to be done with all my "official" duties that didn't involve enjoying the native wildlife and putting horrific things in my mouth.)
(**As a native Californian, I tend to view most places as being somewhat small and quaint. Yes, I realize this is insane, and potentially insulting, but I can't help it. My state is gargantuan, and it's messed up all my ideas about scale. Well, Australia is a continental FUCK YOU to this tendency, being as it is, I don't know, A CONTINENT, and is thus FUCKING ENORMOUS. Australia could eat California as a nice snack with some tea and scones and maybe a side order of Greenland. Australia is AWESOME.)
(***Sorry, Perry the Platypus.)
We got up stupid-early in the morning to meet Mal and his very sweet friend whose name I have since forgotten, because I Am Crap With Names. They had rented a car for the day, because they are wonderful, thoughtful people. And it was off for the zoo! Well. Off for breakfast. But after that, the zoo! Hooray the zoo!
Sadly for us, several school groups had also decided that this was a yay the zoo kind of day, and the place was swarming with children. I do not question the right of children to go to the zoo, nor, in fact, the need for children to go to the zoo. But when it's one adult to thirty small boys, I start to feel a little bit like a cat surrounded by Aeslin mice, and that isn't a fun sensation. We chose the path that seemed least likely to intersect with the school groups, and started wandering.
The Melbourne Zoo is just as awesome as its press implied it would be. Within the first twenty minutes, we'd seen snow leopards, cougars, bears, and tigers, and I had decided that this was the zoo where the fourth InCryptid book would be set. SURPRISE. We went on to see an enclosure containing only male lions, who were, um, rather dedicated to finding some females; a large pack of African wild dogs; some cool birds; giraffes; a bunch of wild turkeys; and the biggest damn tortoises I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, people could live in those shells. If they weren't, y'know, already occupied.
And then, wonder of wonders, miracle and miracles...the Reptile House. Which was full of glories untold and miracles unnumbered, including several species of snake that I had never actually seen before. Because I love my snake-fearing friends, I will not go into explicit detail, save to say that I had a powerful bonding experience with a taipan, and small boys who taunt rattlesnakes should be put out of the Reptile House at once.
We wandered the zoo a bit more, with a stop for lunch before we entered the Australian wildlife exhibit. Kangaroos roamed free, wombats burbled, and Jeanne and I finally got to see an echidna. Yay! We stopped the admire the echidna. At great length. A zookeeper noticed us clustered there, and came over to announce that she'd be doing a koala show in five minutes at the (connected) koala enclosure. We allowed as how this was very nice for her, and kept watching the echidna, I don't know, echid. Whatever you call what an echidna does. Ten minutes later, the zookeeper came back and asked, if she told us all about the echidna, would we come and see the koala show. Would we ever!
I got to touch an echidna. My life is now complete.
The koala show turned out to be pretty cool, too, and their young female koala—named "Alice," nicknamed "Devil Spawn," which proves that there's an Alice everywhere—was spritely and fun to watch, unlike her wild cousins. Totally worth the stop.
We also saw: manta rays with awesome leopard spots on, platypuses swimming (and being way smaller*** than I expected them to be), elephants taken VERY SERIOUSLY, lemurs, orangutans, fish, seahorses, and penguins. And then it was time to leave the zoo, so that we could spend hours upon hours in the car, driving to Philip Island. Mal's friend left us then, as he did not want to spend hours upon hours in the car. Mal's friend is a smart guy.
I kept myself amused during the drive by counting Australian magpies, as they were everywhere. One's for sorrow, two's for joy—does anybody know what seventy-eight is for? Because there were a lot of magpies. It was like being escorted across Australia by Vixy in spirit guide form. Hi, Vixy!
We reached Philip Island fifteen minutes before the Penguin Parade began. Now, this is not a tightly scheduled thing; the term "penguin parade" actually refers to the completely natural life cycle of the Fairy Penguin. They go out to sea in the morning, and return on the evening tide, whereupon they parade up the beach to get back to their nests. Humans sell tickets to watch this happen. The penguins don't get it. But hey, if we want to freeze our asses off sitting on the bleachers and watching them walk, more power to us.
It was like something out of The Last Unicorn. Waves would roll in, and leave behind little foot-high penguins when they rolled out again. Then the little penguins marched up the beach, making fantastically loud noises. It was magical. It was bizarre. It was freezing. We ran for the hot cocoa stand when it was over, and that stuff did NOT last long.
Signs in the parking lot requested that we check under our car for penguins. That's Australia, all over. Hello, welcome, please do not flatten a penguin when you leave.
I am so glad I got to go.
(*I loved WorldCon, and had a fantastic time, once I started actually sleeping again. But it was awfully nice to be done with all my "official" duties that didn't involve enjoying the native wildlife and putting horrific things in my mouth.)
(**As a native Californian, I tend to view most places as being somewhat small and quaint. Yes, I realize this is insane, and potentially insulting, but I can't help it. My state is gargantuan, and it's messed up all my ideas about scale. Well, Australia is a continental FUCK YOU to this tendency, being as it is, I don't know, A CONTINENT, and is thus FUCKING ENORMOUS. Australia could eat California as a nice snack with some tea and scones and maybe a side order of Greenland. Australia is AWESOME.)
(***Sorry, Perry the Platypus.)
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:27 am (UTC)Oh, we have Fairy Penguins too -- we call them Little Blue Penguins but they're the same guys. They're in Oamaru, mostly.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 07:18 pm (UTC)I love their Latin name too: tachyglossidae ("rapid tongue").
I got to pet one too, but it was, um, stuffed.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 07:24 pm (UTC)And I so want to see the penguin parade. Your description of the waves leaving penguins on the beach was lovely!
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Date: 2010-10-26 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 07:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 07:53 pm (UTC)Did they tell you that baby echnidnas and platypuses are called "puggles"? This is one of my favorite bits of trivia.
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Date: 2010-10-26 02:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 08:26 pm (UTC)They should sell those "check for penguins under the car" signs.
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Date: 2010-10-25 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:47 am (UTC)Yes, they should.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 08:36 pm (UTC)We were just at Sea World San Diego where they just had their first Emperor Penguin chick born in 8 years (and only announced it a week before and cleared the incubator window). We did a backstage penguin encounter and thus got to be one of the first groups to see him/her (they don't know gender yet or didn't tell us at least).
http://loonbeam.smugmug.com/Travel/2010/Southern-California-2010-Day-2/14206542_U5D4d#1049255694_U5rey
I should point out that as part of the Penguin Encounter they also let you pet a Macaroni penguin and go into the Penguin habitat to see if any of them want to wander up and say hi... We were NOT allowed to touch the baby. You are welcome to look at other penguin pics of course.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:24 am (UTC)I am dead of the cute.
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Date: 2010-10-26 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 09:43 pm (UTC)"They're so small!" is the cry generally heard among people who see platypodes for the first time. I think the average adult length is about 50cm - just big enough to cuddle, if you can avoid the venomous spurs which supposedly cause some of the worse pain known to man.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 09:52 pm (UTC)InCryptid's the cryptozoologists, right? I really hope someone picks up that series, 'cause I can't wait to see what you've written.
One's for sorrow, two's for joy—does anybody know what seventy-eight is for?
Seventy-eight is for winning two awards in one year?
It was like something out of The Last Unicorn. Waves would roll in, and leave behind little foot-high penguins when they rolled out again.
I love that image. BTW, have you seen the new Last Unicorn line at BPAL?
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:25 am (UTC)I like your counting riddle.
I have seen the new BPAL!
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Date: 2010-10-25 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 10:08 pm (UTC)Ok, absolutly sobbing right now, I can't even think of that movie without crying. That's so beautiful though.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:26 am (UTC)I love it too.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 11:15 pm (UTC)There used to be a colony of little penguins (apparently calling them Fairy Penguins now is not PC) in St Kilda. I always wondered how the tough inner city penguins would react to their country cousins out on Phillip Island.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:15 pm (UTC)...like that was going to be hard...
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Date: 2010-10-26 12:12 am (UTC)I come from the biggest state in Australia, which is unimaginatively named "Western Australia". At school they taught us that it could fit Texas inside it five times over. I suspect it could swallow Texas, California, and Alaska.
My sense of distance is seriously screwed up.
Everywhere in the world seems pretty tiny to me, except for maybe Mongolia.
In other news, fairy penguins are seriously adorable.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 03:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 05:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:16 pm (UTC)OMG THE TAIPAN WAS SO CUTE AND UNIMPRESSED.
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Date: 2010-10-26 09:47 am (UTC)That's my girl!!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-26 02:17 pm (UTC)