Wild World

A friend recently told me that for her, Australia conjures a sense of pure wildness; a frontier where true danger exists.  This is probably what most people envision.  The fact that my friends and I are children of the 80s means that much of what we know of Australia we learned from Crocodile Dundee - -at least, speaking for myself. :) But in recent years, the other three members of my nuclear family have spent extensive time here in Oz. So I hear much about the cosmpolitanism, culture, and class this country has to offer.  I guess I somehow felt that I wouldn't really encounter that wildness and that danger unless I directly sought it out.

I am learning that these things are not so removed from day to day reality, but rather, co-exist in a stark juxtaposition. The sophistication and modernity are ultimately at the mercy of this fearsome land, powerful waters, and its deadly inhabitants. If the natural world had a spokesperson, he or she would say "Sure, you can have your fine restaurants, your upscale shops, and your museums.  But ultimately, I'm the boss.  And at any moment, without warning, I can ravage you."

OK, I'm getting a little dark here, and that was not my intention with this post.  Rather, it is to honour that land and water and wildlife.  I'm inspired by what I observed yesterday. I had the afternoon to myself, so travelled to a neighbouring town and beach, Peregian Beach.  The town itself is a classy little beach hamlet, with high end boutiques and a French cafe selling a perfect croissant (some of you may know, these are my weakness).  But the beach?  A wild, ominous, albeit GORGEOUS place. It was almost deserted when I was there, and the few surfers were struggling to get on their boards.

There's no way this captures the pounding surf, and the utter wildness of this place .  As I was sitting there, taking it all in, I thought to myself: "Yeah, I could see how a shark could be swimming around an area like this".  Not that I'm actively worried about sharks, but you know what I mean. It's just such a foreign (yet present) reality.

My paradise.  Beach, warm wind, blue sky, pounding surf, croissant, iced coffee.  No sharks allowed.



















Before leaving for this trip, my mother, who's been to Australia about 7 times, regaled me with a story about how one of her colleagues here lost her dog to a crocodile.  The dog was running on the beach (near a river, I think), and a croc just ran up and snatched it.  Her advice was, "You just need to ask the locals, wherever you are." Hmm.  I think I'll heed that advice.   So when I saw this sign on the way down to the beach warning me to watch out for snakes, I picked up the pace just a little (hence the blurriness of this pic.  It was taken at a slight distance).  If I saw this sign at home, would I be concerned?  What would that mean, a rattlesnake at worst?  But in Australia?  I don't want to know.  I'm just going to take their word for it, and steer clear.

Here's the daily wave conditions.

And here's the Peregian Beach lifeguard stand.

I love it all.  I love that there are koalas in my 'hood.  That we see bright green, yellow and red lorakeets (like small parrots) flying around.  That we have a resident possum, who eats the leftovers our kids spill on the deck each night.  That I saw a pure white, BIG parrot perched on a tree on Noosa Main Beach last week.  I don't have a lot of love for snakes, crocs and sharks (and all manner of crazy spiders that inhabit this land).  But I love that we're in a place where we can feel so connected to the land, and yet not feel that we're in control of it. 

And I wish you were all here to experience it with me...