Well, Australia Day weekend is over. All around the country the barbeques need a clean, the beer fridges are empty, and the cars are still full of camping gear.
No-one wants to get back to real life but the kids are due back at school on Wednesday after 6 weeks off and there are probably many mums out there, just like me, who have more things to do than there are hours left.
I will be spending today (Tuesday) naming the huge amount of school books I picked up for the kids on Friday (and are still in the back of my car), finding school uniforms (that I have washed and put away carefully. So carefully in fact that we may not be able to find them), and hoping that there are shoes suitable for wear somewhere in the house; the weather has meant the kids haven’t worn anything other than thongs for weeks (no Aussies don’t call them flip-flops!!).
I also have to unpack the caravan as we decided at the last minute to go off camping at Heathcote with the fossickers for the weekend.
It was a great weekend for camping, the weather was perfect and we had a very relaxing time. I didn’t do much more than sit around and read and the kids threw rocks in the nearby dam and played with the dog. Yes, we were very lazy 🙂
Even though it was supposed to be the entire purpose of the weekend only once did we do anything that resembled fossicking. We went off with a few other to a nearby creek and did a bit of gold panning. We didn’t have much success, only a few tiny, glittering flakes. We are never going to make our fortune that way!
We had more luck finding wildlife though, and without even trying.
Minutes after we arrived a yabbie was unexpectedly shovelled up by one of the group and delivered to Number 2’s gold pan. He was examined and returned to a safer part of the creek.
Soon after that Number 2 moved a clump of floating weed and a few small shrimp-like critters jumped out and flopped around his feet. These guys were also scooped up into the pan, showed around and returned to safety.
Dragonfly nymph skin.
Number 2 was also excited to find a few recently shed skins of dragonfly nymphs just above the waterline. These guys didn’t need to be cared for quite so gently and were turfed into the bushes once they had been investigated!
We also found a small frog, beetles and other wiggly water creatures whose names were beyond our powers of identification.
The most interesting discovery of the day came once we decided to go back to the caravan and make some lunch.
We were wandering back along the edge of the creek heading towards the car and came across a huge red-striped leech hurrying towards the fossickers who were still left. Eeek! He was clearly on his way to lunch as well and we were glad we were going in the opposite direction!
Even though our bug-loving kids are usually my faithful photographic assistants and happy to hold any critters for me they were strangely reluctant to touch this one…. Ok, maybe their reluctance wasn’t so strange. The leech was as wide as my finger and twice as long, we joked that it was so big we could hear it sniffing for blood and its little jaws gnashing in anticipation!
We tried to move it on with a stick, gently encouraging it to go somewhere else and safely away from our friends but it seemed intent on its meal. Oh well, everyones gotta eat. 😉 We called out a warning to the potential meals still hard at work downstream and made our escape.
Later that night no campers reported damage, so clearly the leech either had no luck in the creek or was sufficiently sneaky and managed to feast unnoticed. 😀
Panning for yabbies.
I had horrible thoughts when you said no-one had worn anything but thongs all week since over here thongs are an item of very skimpy ( and quite uncomfortable) underwear. I was so pleased when you announced they are flip flops. Such a similar language yet so far apart. xx Hugs
Whenever I mention thongs in a blog post I always make sure I am clear as to what I am talking about!
We call feet things thongs, and your version of thongs g-strings. Flip flop is something a stranded fish does! 😉
When I hear the rest of the world referrring to thongs as underwear the first thing that pops into my mind (and I am sure I am not alone) is a inappropriately placed item of footwear making walking extremely uncomfortable! 😀
Language is a funny thing!
Is there anything worse than coming across a wriggling leech working its way through the water? I know they pretty much harmless, which is why they used to be used regularly in medicine, but, boy, are they awful looking. Nice of y’all to give a warning to those downstream.
Leeches are horrible, I agree. They are harmless but a single sighting can clear an area pretty quickly can’t it!
We couldn’t let those downstream stand around not knowing that doom was slithering their way. They were all wearing waders so they were probably fairly safe, but I would want to know one was on the way.
A couple of years ago I was wading in a placid creek here in South Carolina and came across a good size turtle – at least 18 inches long. I pulled him from the water and noticed he had three leeches on his shell. I took a stick and scraped each off. I noticed that when they fell into the water, which was only about a foot deep, they landed in such a way that they looked just like a long leaf resting on the sandy bottom. I had never even noticed leeches in the creek before, but now my mind was awash with thoughts of bloodsuckers latching onto me as I made my way the two miles or so back downstream. Of course, nothing of the sort happened, but I was amazed, and none too happy, with their ability to blend in with the environment.
It is funny isn’t it. As soon as you see one leech imaginary hordes of them are making their slithery and unrelenting way towards you. *shudder* 😀
I didn’t know what a yabbie was so thanks for the picture. I couldn’t work out the other picture either until you explained.
It must be great panning for gold, never knowing what you’re going to turn up. I saw the giant nugget found in Australia the other week although he used a good metal detector to search where others already had. Is it legal to keep what you find? I bought a metal detector years ago (first purchase after working) but was frustrated by the lack of places I could use it. So I never made any historical finds. Yet…
We have heaps of different kinds of yabbies, all the same body shape but different colours and some of them can grow to a gigantic size.
Now you have made me think about it I am sure I have a photo of a yabbie a kid bought for show-and-tell at school a few years ago. I might have to post it. He had bought it in an esky and the yabbie was so big that it couldn’t turn around inside it. The nippers were so huge that it could have easily taken off an unsuspecting finger. The one in the photo above might give you a nasty pinch at worst!
That big nugget the other day was pretty spectacular wasn’t it! Just goes to show that you never know what you might find.
We sometimes hear about amazing historical finds made in England by people with detectors. I doubt there is much of Britain that hasn’t had some sort of habitation nearby at some time, the chances of finding something interesting are pretty good if you can get permission to access a farmers land. Good luck with your detectoring 😀
Except for that leech it sounds like a really relaxing weekend!
It was relaxing and the leech was no problem, we were heading in the opposite direction! 😀
I just hope no leeches migrate to my fishpond. I want it to stay a leech-free zone!
They would certainly give a whole new dimension to gardening that’s for sure!
Ugh. No gardening without gloves and knee high boots!
Aah, school, and in Qld there are people who call them flip flops, they have a weird language set up there. But the fun in the confusion could be quite entertaining….
I have just finished naming all the books and stationery and getting organized and am completely buggered 🙂
I have noticed that flip flop has started to infiltrate our lingo and it is hugely annoying!! Resist people, Aussies call them thongs!!! 😀
Mmm, yabbies. I’d have been searching for more… with a side of fresh bread & butter 🙂
Eeek!
I know that yabbies are yum, but we used to have a few in a tank as pets (The Yab Four) and they were a source of constant amusement. Since then I could never eat one! 😀
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