Billabong

Hello, it's been a while again!

I haven't been able to do much lately, as I currently have stitches in my hand. They're in the palm, in that crease where my index finger joins my palm to be more precise. So this little tiny wound is proving to be very limiting to me! It's also on my left hand, and I am a leftie, so even worse!

This means that even though I had a very quiet week this week work-wise, I haven't been able to do much else of interest. Not much exercise as I can't let my hand get too sweaty (too much information perhaps!), no swimming or anything as I need to keep it dry. No countryside walks as I need to keep it clean and not go anywhere too dusty. No crochet as the stitches are right in the way - and it hurts to move my finger... You get the idea :)

But as I hadn't posted for a while, I did want to write something, so I thought I would just share a few pictures from a day out I had with a friend and her little one last weekend - before the stitches went in.

The place we went to was a local wildlife park, called Billabong Sanctuary. I have been really looking forward to visiting this place as they have wombats there. You can even have a picture holding the wombat for an extra charge, although I didn't do that on this occasion as the little miss who was with us was kind of tired, and not in the mood for waiting around for me. We did get to stroke the wombat though, and that was pretty awesome anyway :)

Billabong is a relatively small wildlife park, so its draw is not the scale of the place, or the exotic animals. It's more about the up close and personal encounters you can have with the animals there, which are mainly native wildlife. Of course, coming from the UK, the native Australian wildlife is pretty exciting for me anyway!

So, here are a few of my favourite pictures from the day:

These ducks and geese are wild, but they eat from your hand at Billabong!

These kangaroos eat from your hand too. And they come over and tap you to let you know they want feeding!

Mamma and Babba

This little furball lives in an enclosure, so no handfeeding. But look how soft and fluffy it is!! It's called a rufous bettong, although they used to be known as rat kangaroos.

This is a cassowary. Pretty rare,and pretty dangerous too. The dads bring up the chicks, and they are capable of disembowling if they feel the need to defend themselves!

These river turtles were pretty fascinated by my camera! They were so funny to watch as they stalked the lens!!

"Me! Me! Get a picture of me!"

This is Tonka the wombat - the main guy I had wanted to meet! He loves cuddles and human contact, having been hand raised after his mother was sadly killed on the road. Apparently the mother's pouch is so protective that even when they are killed by cars, a joey in her pouch can often survive the accident. Tonka loves people so much that when the park had to close for a while once for cyclone repairs, he went right off his food and got quite poorly. Once the park opened again and he had visitors, he perked right back up again!

Cuddles with Tonka!

I really loved these plumed whistler ducks. So friendly and pretty!!

Well that's about the limit for my typing at the moment, as my stitches are starting to get sore as the movement of my fingers pulls on them. Hopefully they'll come out soon and I can get back to normal!

I hope you enjoyed the animals, and I'll be back soon I hope :)

Alligator Creek

Last weekend was the last weekend I had with my husband before he went off on a long course with work (he left this morning). He’ll be 2 or 3 days’ drive away for this course, so there’s no way for me to visit him while he’s away.

Adam had a bunch of stuff to get organised ready for his time away, so while we wanted to make the most of the weekend we also had to do something that didn’t take up the whole time. This meant staying local, and we are very fortunate here in North Queensland that there is plenty to see and do!

What we chose to do was make a visit to Alligator Creek, a little place within Bowling Green Bay National Park, and a mere 20 minute drive from where we live. According to the website, “Rugged mountains rise abruptly from the wetlands, saltpans and mangrove forests of the coastal plain. Alligator Creek descends in a series of cascades, deep pools and waterfalls.”

The Park is pretty big though, 57,900 hectares, and is divided into three sections, so of course we didn’t see all of these features. We didn’t even see the waterfalls, which are a fair walk away from the car park and are best tackled in slightly cooler weather. What we did see though, is the swimming hole near the car park and camping area at Alligator Creek.

The last time we came here, this area was chock full of people, and we just walked on by to go for a bit of a hike until we got too hot. On this occasion however, we had the place almost to ourselves!

We followed the path from the car park towards the water side.

This way soon turned into a boardwalk for safe and easy access, if you had a pushchair or mobility issue, or simply lots of stuff to carry!

We enjoyed the shade of the trees and plants, making it nice and (relatively) cool. I love these huge jungle-ferny plants – I must find out what they are actually called!

This is the swimming spot we were after – the sun was really bright, and I has bleached out the colour a bit in these photos. Those rocks were actually really orangey-yellow, very Australian!

These fish made me laugh, with their mouths sticking up out of the water :)

We set up on some nice, smooth rocks. We didn’t have much with us, just our towels and some water, so it was nice and simple :)

We admired the quiet and beauty of the spot for a while, the warmth of the sun being all the more enjoyable for knowing we could cool off in the water.

Then in we jumped!! The water was cool but not cold, and felt gently warm once you got used to it. It was pretty clear for fresh water, although it doesn’t stay that way as the water levels drop during the dry season, and therefore pools and becomes stagnant. I’m hoping we’ll get another chance to visit before the water goes bad though, as I’d love to explore some of the other pools heading upstream – it would be great to take your stuff in a drybag and see how far upstream you could get :)

We enjoyed our little area though, swimming with the fishes.

It’s funny, in the UK this would have been called ‘wild swimming’ – in fact I mentioned wild swimming in a previous post. You can buy books to recommend good wild swimming spots, and even join wild swimming clubs or communities. Apparently Australians find that all quite strange – heading to a ‘swimming hole’ for a cool off during hot weather is pretty common for lots of people, so they just call it ‘swimming’…

100 Years of ANZAC

Saturday just gone, 25^th April, was ANZAC Day here in the antipodes. In fact, it was the 100^th Anniversary.

I am used to commemorating the end of the War with our Remembrance parades in the UK, honouring the 11^th hour of the 11^th Day of the 11^th Month, when First World War hostilities formally ended in accordance with the armistice signed by Germany.   In Australia it is done slightly differently, as the main commemoration occurs for the beginning of the Gallipoli campaign. The land offensive landed at dawn on 25^th April 1915, and as such ANZAC Day is commemorated with Dawn Services on 25^th April each year, followed by the laying of wreathes and then civic and military parades which are very similar to the UK Remembrance Day parades - the only real difference being that things were much less formal here in Australia.

I have written a brief piece about the Gallipoli Campaign, and put it at the end of this post in dark red, so you don’t have to read through it if you don’t want to; but I did want to share the gracious words of Ataturk, first President of the new Republic of Turkey and an Ottoman commander at Gallipoli, on the memorial at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey:

"Those heroes that shed their blood

and lost their lives…

You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.

Therefore rest in peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies

and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side

here in this country of ours…
You, the mothers,

who sent their sons from faraway countries

wipe away your tears;

 your sons are now lying in our bosom

and are in peace,

after having lost their lives on this land they have

become our sons as well."

Ataturk, 1934          

Here in Townsville, I was collected by a friend at 4am so that we could get to the park and ride that was laid on to take spectators to the Dawn Service. Before the service began, documentary footage about the Gallipoli campaign was screened. Then the service began, with readings and speeches continuing as the sun made its way above the horizon.

The quiet and still of dawn darkness and the anticipation of the sun rising lent an extra layer of solemnity to proceedings. While obviously there is no comparison and we cannot possibly imagine what it would have been like, being tired and uncomfortable, and slightly chilly (we are still in the tropics here, so although the nights are starting to cool it will never be very cold) helped people to empathise more with what those young men must have been going through 100 years ago.

Following the conclusion of the Dawn Service, most people dispersed to get breakfast and coffee and let their kids go and play, before returning to line the streets ready for the parade.

We walked past this Field of Poppies installation by a local craft group

Watching the sun come up as we eat breakfast

Townsville has a very large proportion of military families due its Army and Air Force bases, so the largest contingent of marchers was the Australian Defence Force. Also parading though were various Veterans Groups, hobbyists with restored military vehicles, elderly residents, Volunteer humanitarian groups, local bands and even school children in their uniforms. There was even a flyover by a couple of planes, including a local tourist seaplane called the Red Baron.

"The Spirit of Mateship"

My husband is in there somewhere!

Septimus the Pony, he's a Regimental Mascot.

The Pioneer Sergeant, with beard and axes. Hipsters be jealous!

Air Force working dogs - and spare a moment for that poor lady who had to march 2.5km in those heels. When will the military learn that it is no longer the 1940s, and women don't have to dress like that?

Nursing uniforms

The Gallipoli Campaign in brief:

During the First World War, the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) was an ally of Germany, and the Russian Empire was an ally of the Allies. The Dardanelles is a narrow strait in north-western Turkey, providing a sea route through to the Black Sea and Russia, and as such was a tactically important area during the First World War.

In order for the Allies to gain control of the Dardanelles and establish a sea route for their navies to the Black Sea and Allied Russia, an Allied force was sent. The aim was the capture of the Ottoman capital, Contantinople (now Istanbul), initially via Naval force and then via landings on the northern banks of the Dardanelles, formed by the Gallipoli peninsula.

The initial naval attempt used damaged British and French ships attempting to force the Dardanelles. They made headway, however the attempt failed after too many losses from artillery bombardments from the defending Turks, newly laid sea mines and strong currents that destroyed submarine attempts. Therefore, a land campaign was devised to eliminate the Ottoman artillery and clear the way for the naval operation.

This campaign was designed to be a quick hit, but there was a delay of several weeks until the plan could be put into action, and this time was not wasted by the Ottoman and German defenders. Good preparations were made to repel an invasion, and this combined with the Allies’ inadequate mapping and intelligence, plus a failure to keep momentum and capitalise on ground gained early on, with the result that a stalemate ensued.  

The landings at Gallipoli began at dawn on 25^th April 1915, and the campaign ended with an Ottoman victory and defeat for the Allies on 9^th January 1916. Here in Australia, it seems to now be part of folklore that the joint Australian and New Zealand force – the ANZACs – fought a spirited battle and suffered an unfair defeat due to callous disregard by the British masters for their Colonial servants. In reality, the ANZACs fought their battles alongside troops from Britain, Ireland, France, Nepal (Gurkhas), India, Canada, Palestinian Jewish volunteers who had been displaced by the Ottoman Empire, civilian volunteer logistic support, and probably others as well. While I’m sure there were poor decisions made by Allied commanders, there was also poor information to go on as intelligence was not adequate.

What is definitely true though is that at this time, for white settlers Australia and New Zealand were very much overseas parts of Britain. In the Gallipoli campaign these ‘new’ countries came of age, and a new sense of nationhood was forged. These junior nations had been called upon to make a vital contribution in a very violent grown-up world, and had established themselves as useful countries in their own rights. The sacrifices made at Gallipoli helped to cement a new national consciousness and an idea of 'the Anzac Spirit'.

For the Ottomans too this campaign was important in the forging of a new nation. The victory was not cheap, in one infantry regiment every single man was either killed or injured in defending their land. Commanding these troops was Mustafa Kemel, later to be known as Ataturk. This final defence of the motherland formed a basis for the later Turkish War of Independence, and the formation of the Republic of Turkey under Ataturk as its first national leader.

After the failure of the Allied campaign, the evacuation of the Allied troops went more smoothly. Despite the bitter winter conditions, good planning and ingenious tactics and deception meant that the Australians suffered no further casualties as they evacuated. The final troops to leave were elements of the British Troops who had been amongst the first to land.

At the end of the Gallipoli Campaign, casualties on both sides were similarly heavy, with losses of over 56,600 lives each:

The Allies lost 56,707 lives; the ANZACs lost 11,430 lives between them, and British forces lost 34,072 with 7,654 either missing in action or prisoners of war.

The Ottomans lost 56,643 plus another 11,178 either missing or prisoners.

I don’t want to disrespect anyone by belittling their loss and not including them here, so below is a table from Wikipedia listing casualties:

Gallipoli casualties (not including illness)
	Dead	Wounded	Missing & Prisoners	Total
Ottoman Empire	56,643	107,007	11,178	174,828
United Kingdom	34,072	78,520	7,654	120,246
France	9,798	17,371	–	27,169
Australia	8,709	19,441	–	28,150
New Zealand	2,721	4,752	–	7,473
British India	1,358	3,421	–	4,779
Newfoundland	49	93	–	142
Total Allies	56,707	123,598	7,654	187,959