Southern Migration

Local aboriginal artist Jason Passfield has painted this remarkable picture for us - of humpback whales and other marine creatures migrating South.

According to Jason, the whale is regarded by coastal communities as the chief lawgiver and, as such, occupies an important place in their culture.

Ruby's Buffalo

To celebrate her 7th birthday, Ruby set up a fundraiser with Oxfam Australia to buy a buffalo for a Cambodian farmer.  She asked her friends to contribute to this fund rather than buy her a present.

A “buffalo bank” works by giving a poor family a buffalo to help them plough their fields and use for breeding. Once the buffalo has bred, the new baby buffalo is returned to the bank so that another family can benefit from these gentle giants.

“Having a buffalo is important for me and my family. We use it for ploughing and to transport things. Before, when I had no buffalo, I had to rent a buffalo from another farmer in the village. First, I would have to help him plant his rice crop, then I would rent his buffalo. Sometimes I would pay in rice, sometimes I would pay in cash. Now that I have a buffalo, I no longer need to pay rice to another farmer to rent his buffalo.” Mr Phao Bontim, Sma Koh village, Cambodia. 

Thanks to a wonderful response from friends and family, Ruby was able to contribute $625 to the Oxfam buffalo project.

Return of the Humpback

When the whaling industry collapsed in the 1960's, there were fewer than 200 humpback whales migrating from Antarctica to the east coast of Australia.  This season has seen around 16,500 individuals making the journey.  That's an incredible conservation success!

Despite this huge increase in numbers, however, the species is still considered to be vulnerable. Threats include:

• continued hunting by Japan, Iceland and Norway, in contravention of the  global moratorium on commercial whaling;
• vessel strikes;
• entanglement in fishing nets;
• marine pollution; 
• noise pollution;
• depletion of prey species.

The Australian Government is offering to create the world's largest network of marine parks and sanctuaries, which should help to protect all ocean species, including the humpback whale.  

Uluru and Kata Tjuta

Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) are iconic rock formations in the centre of the driest continent on Earth. They're immense and the twilight colour changes can take your breath away... but a visit to Australia's heart will be far more rewarding if you take time to learn about this ancient land and show respect for the culture and traditions of the local aboriginal people. 

Geologists believe that Uluru and Kata Tjuta were formed around 550 million years ago when the Peterman Ranges in Western Australia were much taller than they are now. Rainwater flowing down the mountains eroded sand and rock and deposited it on the surrounding plain. One deposit, which became Kata Tjuta, had mainly water-smoothed rocks and the other, which became Uluru, was mainly sand. Both were several kilometres thick. Around 500 million years ago, the whole area became covered by an inland sea. Sand and mud fell to the bottom of the sea and covered the seabed. The weight of the new seabed turned both deposits into rock. Kata Tjuta became conglomerate rock and Uluru turned into sandstone.  

About 400 million years ago, the inland sea had disappeared and the whole of Central Australia was subjected to massive forces. Some rocks folded and tilted. Kata Tjuta tilted slightly, about 15 degrees. Uluru tilted 90 degrees so the layers of sandstone almost stood on end; this explains why the sedimentary layers are vertical rather than horizontal.

The Anangu people are the traditional owners of the Western Desert region of Australia.  They have inhabited the area for over 20,000 years and have a very different explanation of how the landscape was formed.  They believe that it was shaped by creator beings, in the forms of people, plants and animals,which travelled widely across the land. These include Kuniya (Woma python), Liru (poisonous snake), Mala (Rufous hare-wallaby) and Lungkata (Centralian blue-tongue lizard). The Anangu people's beliefs come from the Tjukurpa, the stories and laws that explain and govern their lives. 

Sadly, it is no longer possible for aboriginal people to live a traditional life in Central Australia. However, the Anangu people own the land around Uluru and Kata Tjuta and are jointly responsible for management of the National Park.  They ask that people do not climb Uluru as it's a sacred site and because they feel a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors.  There are also strong environmental reasons not to climb; for example, the permanent waterholes at the base of Uluru are polluted and have high levels of E. coli, so are no longer safe to drink.

Kiva Chicken Farm

We have ten chickens, which lay around sixty eggs per week; enough for ourselves and a few friends.  Noah's been helping to look after the chickens over the past couple of years, so we asked him to run it as a small farm - a bit like a real life simulation game - with the profits going to help low income individuals in developing countries lift themselves and their families out of poverty.    

Noah collects the eggs and helps with feeding the chickens and cleaning the enclosures.  We give him a notional payment of 50c per egg.  This income is used to pay for the necessary food, bedding materials and a small weekly 'rent' for the animals and their enclosures. The income and expenses are recorded in a ledger.

At the end of each month, any profits are used to make loans to low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries through Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/.  This inspirational non-profit organisation makes it easy for people around the globe to make micro finance loans to individuals struggling to improve their lives.  It works on the principle that the poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given the opportunity.

Kiva are currently running an awareness campaign that allows existing lenders to invite friends to make a free loan, so why not give it a go:   http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/noahrubyandsam6578

Carpet Python

This beautiful animal is found in most habitats in Eastern Australia, ranging from rainforest to arid and coastal regions. It's also commonly found in the roofs of suburban houses!


The Carpet Python is non venomous and is not generally aggressive towards humans unless threatened; although it's hard not to feel intimidated by a snake that can reach 3.5 metres long.


Its mottled black, brown and gold skin provides almost perfect camouflage as it rests in trees during the day and moves along the ground at night in search of prey.


It's a voracious predator of small mammals and birds, including poultry, as we discovered when our gorgeous little bantam chickens began to disappear...


Although the carpet python population in Queensland is considered to be secure, their biggest threat comes from cane toads; if a snake is exposed to the cane toad toxin, it will die very quickly.

Turtle Nesting

Turtles have been around for over 250 million years, since before the time of the dinosaurs. No-one knows how they managed to survive the extinction events that claimed so many other prehistoric creatures.


During a recent visit to Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, we were privileged to see green sea turtles haul themselves out of the water before dawn to lay their eggs.


Once the female turtle has found a suitable nesting site, she spends several hours digging a pit in the sand with her powerful flippers. It's important not to disturb her at this time, as sudden movements and flashing lights may cause her to abandon the nest and return to the water. When she begins to lay the eggs, however, the turtle enters a trance like state and it's safe to approach her more closely.


Turtles usually lay between 80 and 120 soft, round eggs, which are roughly the same size as a ping pong ball. After the eggs have been laid, the mother turtle begins the laborious process of covering the pit with sand. She will also usually make another mound nearby, to confuse predators about the location of the nest, before making her way back to the ocean.


Green sea turtle eggs take about two months to incubate. Interestingly, the temperature of the eggs during incubation influences the sex of hatchlings; lower temperatures tend to produce males, while higher temperatures tend to produce females.


The most dangerous time of a green turtle’s life is when it makes its first journey to the sea, particularly if it emerges from the nest after dawn or before dusk. As the hatchlings scamper across the sand, they become prey to multiple predators, including crabs and flocks of gulls. Although it's tempting to carry the hatchlings from the nest to the water, researchers think that it's important for the turtle's future navigation ability to make this perilous journey on their own.


And the dangers aren't over once they enter the ocean, with sharks, rays and other large predatory fish waiting to snap up the baby turtles before they're able to reach the relative safety of deeper waters.


Once they reach sexual maturity at about 25 years, female turtles tend to return to nest on the beach where they were born. This can be a problem if the nesting grounds have since been destroyed by erosion or coastline development.


Green turtles are listed as a vulnerable species but the good news is that recent research from Heron Island shows that their numbers may be increasing in the waters around Eastern Australia. Although turtles are a protected species, threats include boat propeller injuries, entanglement in fishing nets, depletion of their food supply (mainly seagrass and algae) and other problems caused by marine pollution. Turtles can also die when their stomachs become blocked with indigestible plastic waste. Sadly, despite their protected status, turtles are still killed for their meat and eggs in some parts of the World.


There are a few simple things we can all do to help ensure the survival of these amazing ancient creatures: limit the use of plastic bags and single use products, don't release balloons, dispose of waste (particularly fishing line) responsibly, participate in a beach or creek clean-up and avoid the use of fertilisers and pesticides that may pollute our waterways. When travelling abroad never eat turtle soup or buy souvenirs made from turtle products.

Chickens

Chickens are amazing... one of the most useful animals on the planet.


Some of the important jobs they do include: providing wonderful nutritious eggs and healthy meat, fertilising the soil with their poo, eating kitchen scraps, preparing the ground for planting and getting rid of unwanted garden pests like grasshoppers, beetles and snails.


For all of these reasons, chickens are an important source of food and income for families in developing countries. So, next time you're having a birthday, consider making a 'Wish List' with Oxfam Unwrapped and asking your friends to make a gift of a chicken (or a duck, goat, piglet or even a buffalo!) to someone who really needs it instead of a present for yourself.

Laughing Kookaburras

We love to hear kookaburras laughing to each other in our garden. They sound like they're having such a lot of fun!



Kookaburras feed on worms, insects, small mammals and even snakes. Both parents raise their young, with the help of other family members.

Although kookaburras are common throughout Eastern Australia, there are things we can do to ensure this doesn't change. Kookaburras nest in tree hollows and termite mounds, so it's important not to cut down mature trees unless absolutely necessary. Also, kookaburras can become poisoned when they eat prey animals that have been contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals, so it's best to avoid using these.