Some quips from Down Under

What’s up with all the Speedos? Kudos to the guys over here for not being prideful, but c’mon. Every morning on my walk to the beach, I pass buy an old guy who is built like a steamer trunk with a beer-belly strolling back from his morning swim wearing nothing but a pair of Speedos… it’s like sneaking downstairs on Christmas Eve as a child and seeing Santa wearing a thong bikini… Doh!

I’m not sure how they spell it, but a chook is a chicken and a chuck is a sponge. I hope I get it right next time I stop by the butcher shop.

Before I moved down here, a friend advised me to NOT use the term “fanny pack” (those little side-saddles with a strap we wear around our waist). I finally asked someone at work about that and for those who may come over for a visit, the advice is spot on… and not for the reason you may (or may not) think.

Cheers to everyone… I’ll be posting more pics this weekend.

Until then…

Gobble Gobble

Happy Turkey Day to everyone back home :) I hope you find yourselves amongst family and friends tomorrow (it's Thanksgiving day over here as I write this, the eve for you...), sharing many smiles, friendship and great food! As you know, I'll be celebrating T-day with some fellow Americans on December 3rd, but tomorrow I'll be with you all in spirit tomorrow, gobbling up as much stuffing as I can get my hands on.

In the meantime, Vanessa came back from holiday with a new camera and has been taking pics of everything... including a "get silly" moment while trying out the count-down setting. From L to R in the pic (click on it to enlarge) it's Vanessa, John, Dr. Kate, some guy you know, Kellie, and that's Inka on the floor recovering from her knee surgery.

Happy Holidays to everyone in MA, NH, NY, NM, NZ, NC and SC... and anywhere else I forgot to mention. I've also updated the snake surgery blog with pre and post-op radiographs for anyone interested in taking a look at what we did... you can see them at taipansurgery.blogspot.com and Lady Tai is still doing very well, considering...

Cheers

Hello Everyone :)

It's been a pretty uneventful last 2 weeks. Morning walks on the beach, having a great time at work, and I bought a bike... but the back tire is now flat so I'll need to work on that tomorrow.

I hope all is well back home on the other side of the planet. While it's cooling down for you, we're on the back side of spring and it's been warming up as we head into summer and the wet season. It hasn't rained too much since I arrived (mostly sunny day with a cool breeze off the Coral Sea) but living just outside the rainforest, I've been assured the water is coming so I better get going on that Ark :) What's a cubit, anyway?

Last week at work, I met an American couple who moved here 12 years ago and they invited me to their Turkey Day ho-down on December 3rd. Every year, they invite the Americans they know around here so for a few hours it will feel like home (without the football, of course)... and I'll be introducing them to a deep fried turky for the first time. They also called a friend back in the states and mentioned meeting me... turns out their friend is from NC and they know me from doing spinal surgery on their cat. Small world, huh?!

I'm on call this weekend, so not much will be happening, but we're going down into Cairns next Saturday to experience Rusty's Market. It's like a flea market for food and produce vendors, artists and the like. I heard it's a pretty good time so I'll be sure to post some pics. I'm also hoping to get a snorkeling trip in before Christmas... gotta get some reef pics up for Terri :)

Cheers to All!

Snake surgery blog online

G'day everyone! All is well Down Under and I'm enjoying life and work over here more and more every day. And something I'm finally getting used to is how fast the sunlight dims at sundown because we're a costal region so close to the rainforest mountains... it's almost as if Mother Nature has a rheostat and she gets tired of turning the knob so slowly. Coming here from spending 12 years on what is basically a sandbar off the east coast of NC with barely a hick-up of a hill, dusk-to-dark taking a matter of minutes can be a bit of an eco-shock.

I also wanted to let ya'll know that I finished publishing the blog of the pictorial essay of the spianl surgery on the Taipan. It's now 2 weeks since her surgery, she's doing quite well and was fed her first meal today (snakes of this size only eat once or twice a month). You can take a look at www.taipansurgery.blogspot.com . This particular blog is also being shared with other zoos and herpitologists in hopes the information will be educational, if not helpful.

A Visit to the Rainforest

Today I went for a visit up to Peter's place. He and his wife live on 70 acres in the rainforest. On my drive over the mountains to get there, I stopped to take a pic of the Coral Sea coast. My little town of Trinity Beach is far off in the middle of the pic. It's quite a view, ay? When I arrived at Peter's, I found myself atop a hill with their small corrigated metal shack (his word, not mine :) amid one of a few meadows and surrounded by the rainforest. It's coming to the end of the dry season, so it's not as green as it will be in a couple of months, but it's still a wondrous place.
And no worries, folks... there's no crocs in this particular creek.