How the Kangaroo Got a Long Tail, and the Wombat a Flat Forehead: An Aboriginal Tale

Many years ago, Mirram the kangaroo and Warreen the wombat were both men. They were very friendly, and hunted and lived together in the same camping-ground. Warreen had a very comfortable gunyah made of bark and soft leaves, but Mirram who was a careless fellow-did not trouble to build a home. He was content to sleep in the open, by the side of a big fire, with the blue sky for a cover, and the green grass for a couch. This open air life was very nice in fine weather, when the stars twinkled in the sky like golden fire-flies, but it was extremely uncomfortable in the rainy season.

One night a great storm arose. The wind howled eerily, and rocked the tall trees to and fro as though they were shaken by the strong arms of an invisible giant. The rain fell in torrents, and darkness covered the light of the stars. The rain quickly quenched the glowing embers of Mirram's fire, and he was left to the mercy of the storm. After shivering in the cold for some time, he decided to seek the hospitality of Warreen. "Surely my friend would not refuse me shelter on such a night as this," he thought. "I will ask him."

Feeling very cold and miserable, he crept to the opening of Warreen's tent, and seeing there was sufficient space for both of them to sleep comfortably, he woke him and said: "The storm has killed my fire. I am very wet, and the cold wind has chilled me to the bone. May I sleep in the corner of your tent?" Warreen blinked his eyes sleepily and answered in a gruff voice: "No. I want to place my head in that corner. There isn't any room." With this rude remark he moved into the corner, but, as he could not occupy the whole space of the tent, another corner became vacant. Mirram went away and sat by the wet ashes of his fire, and his thoughts were as miserable as the weather. The fury of the storm increased, and looking anxiously at the rainproof gunyah of his friend, he decided to approach Warreen again. He entered the shelter, and, touching Warreen gently on the shoulder, said: "The wind is very cold, and as biting as the teeth of the wild dog. The rain is falling heavily and will not cease. I should be grateful if you would allow me to sleep in that corner. I will not disturb you." Warreen raised his head, listened to the moaning of the storm outside, and then replied: "I will not have you here; there isn't any room. Go outside and do not keep waking me." "But," replied Mirram, "there is room in that corner. Surely you wouldn't drive me out into the storm to die!"

There upon, Warreen moved one leg into the corner and again a space became vacant. Seeing he could no longer hoodwink Mirram and hide from him his selfish intentions, he grew very angry and yelled: "Get out! Get out! I won't have you in my tent. I don't care where you die." This harsh treatment exasperated Mirram and he left the tent in a terrible rage. Outside the tent, he groped around in the dark until he found a large flat stone. Then he crept silently to the gunyah. By the sound of heavy breathing he knew Warreen was asleep. Moving very silently, he entered the tent, and, raising the stone high in his arms, dashed it on the head of the sleeper. The terrible blow did not kill Warreen but flattened his forehead. When he had recovered from his pained surprise, he heard the mocking voice of Mirram saying: "That is your reward for treating a friend so cruelly. You and your children and their children's children will wander through the land with flat foreheads that men may know them for your selfishness." As Warreen was no match for his opponent, he did not answer, but nursed his sore head and some very bad thoughts. From that moment, he was always planning revenge for his injury.

Some time later, Warreen was hunting in the forest, and, through the shadow of the trees, he saw Mirram a short distance ahead. He crept noiselessly towards him, and, when Mirram was looking for the marks of a possum on the bark of a tree, he threw a spear at him with all his strength. The spear struck Mirram at the bottom of the back, and so deeply did it enter that he could not pull it out. While he was struggling with the spear, Warreen walked up to him, and, in a bantering voice, said: "Aha! My turn has come at last. I have waited long to repay you. You will always carry the spear in your back and wander without a home while you live. Your children will carry the spear and be homeless for ever. By these tokens, men will always remember your attempt to kill me while I slept."

From that time the kangaroo has had a long tail, which makes a low, thudding sound as he wanders homeless through the bush, and the wombat still has a very flat forehead as an everlasting sign of selfishness.

From http://www.sacred-texts.com/aus/smalaa.htm

Three Sisters Legend

According to an Aboriginal dreamtime story, the three huge rocks formation were once three beautiful sisters named 'Meehni', 'Wimlah', and Gunnedoo' from the Katoomba tribe. The three sisters fell in love with three brothers from the nepean tribe but their tribal laws forbid their marriage. The three brothers did not except this law and tried to capture the three sisters by force. This caused a major tribal battle and the lives of the three sisters were thus threatened. A witch doctor decided to turn the sisters into rocks in order to protect them and thought to reverse the spell only after the battle. Unfortunately, he was killed in the battle and the three sisters remained as the enormous and beautiful rock formations until today.

Australia

Australia is the only country that has a whole continent to itself. World famous for its natural wonders and wide open spaces. Australia's biggest attraction is its natural beauty. The landscape varies from endless sunbaked horizons to dense tropical rainforest to chilly southern beaches.

Australian flora and fauna is essentially unique to the island continent, the result of having been isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years. Amongst Australian animals are a large group of marsupials and monotremes Just some of the animal icons of Australia are the kangaroo (national symbol) and the koala.

The continent of Australia was apparently first settled more than 40,000 years ago with successive waves of immigration of Aboriginal peoples from south and south-east Asia. With rising sea levels after the last Ice Age, Australia became largely isolated from the rest of the world and the Aboriginal tribes developed a variety of cultures, based on a close spiritual relationship with the land and nature, and extended kinship. Australian aborigines maintained a hunter/gatherer culture for thousands of years in association with a complex artistic and cultural life - including a very rich story-telling tradition.

Queenstown, New Zealand Flickr Fun

Central Library Arches

New Zealand has quite awesome and breath-taking landscape and several block-buster movies were filmed on location. Did you know Peter Jackson's Lord of the rings trilogy and King Kong (2005) were shot on location.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pfong/6220651/
Rohan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/southnz/579770608/

Isengard

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80651083@N00/126681734/

King Kong

How Hybrid Vehicles Work

Lets face it, we live in an oil dependent world and the United States alone consumes roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day and this has direct consequences on our planet. We now are nearing an age when global warming is inevitable and our resources are ever so heavily used and are beginning to deplete, but there are some simple suggestions that we can follow to conserve resources. For example, when traveling we can take the bus or carpool and hybrid automobiles are another way to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, but surely these altenatives are no pancea for the dilemma we face in the future: running out of fossil fuels and ultimately widening the ozone hole, leading to climate change.

Many people have misconceptions on how hybrid vehicles operate. Some of the advanced technologies typically used by hybrids include:

Regenerative Braking. The electric motor applies resistance to the drivetrain causing the wheels to slow down. In return, the energy from the wheels turns the motor, which functions as a generator, converting energy normally wasted during coasting and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.

Electric Motor Drive/Assist. The electric motor provides additional power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill climbing. This allows a smaller, more efficient engine to be used. In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.

Automatic Start/Shutoff. Automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop and restarts it when the accelerator is pressed. This prevents wasted energy from idling.illustrates the main parts of a hybrid vehicle.


*Photo from U.S. Department of Energy http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

100% Pure New Zealand

You really can't take a bad picture in New Zealand: the flora and fauna are quite remarkable. Just make sure you have a spare battery for your camera.

*Did you know?

Legend has it that New Zealand was fished from the sea. Fact has it that New Zealand was the last land mass on earth to be discovered, making New Zealand the youngest country on earth.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tirau_dan/79508483/

Nature's best

Do places still exist where man and nature do not coexist? Are there such places on Earth where the pavement and plow don't spoil the land, and where nature's beauty dominates? Places where the water is so clear and the sky so blue that you could possibly reach out and touch the clouds. I think so.

In this blog, I will present some of my finest photography from my travels. Sit back and enjoy pictures of my trips to exotic lands and countries, witnessing the beauty of lands and places you never knew existed and learn a thing or two along the way.