Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia - where the rainforest meets the reef, and where the cassowaries hang out... I loved this place!
Copyright (c) 2008 Wendee Holtcamp
My latest article - on cassowaries in Australia - is out! It's my first article published in Wildlife Conservation Magazine, and sadly it will be my last. May 2009 is the magazine's final issue. It was a fantastic magazine, and I am sad to see it go, another victim of the sorry state of our economy. The article is not found on the WCS website linked above but I did reprint a PDF of the article below. Check it out!
Saving Big Bird: A cyclone forced endangered cassowaries out of the rainforest and into the danger zone. Wildlife Conservation Magazine. May 2009.
I gave a talk recently at my son's private school called The Tree Huggers Revenge: Why People Need Trees. I created a PDF of the Powerpoint but unfortunately it turned sideways... so I haven't bothered to upload it. It was all about the studies showing the many benefits trees and forests provide, but in it I also talked about the tropical rainforests specifically and my visits to both the Australian rainforest and the Amazon rainforests. I showed the kids photos of the cassowaries I saw and the awesome Aussie rainforests which look like a sort of magical wonderland with all the tree ferns and fan palms. I just love that place.
The three visits I made to Australia last year made me feel so alive, and made me think, "Pinch me, is this really my life?!" I think that perhaps my lack of adventure and travel lately is part of the problem contributing to my poor mood. I really crave the ocean, and the forest and adventure!! The only adventure I had recently, to Oregon and Washington, ended up with me snowed in... I will have to ponder how I can make a grand adventure a part of my near future. Here are a few more photos from my trip to the rainforests near Mission Beach. More are at my August 2008 blog archive.
Oh and don't forget to listen to my live podcast I did for Discovery Channel Earth Live while I was over there!! It's not long - just 4 minute or so long segments!
Fan palms in the Australian rainforest.
Another view of the fan palms, looking toward the sky.
Verdant ferns in the Aussie rainforest.
Beautiful sunrise over the ocean in Mission Beach.
Beautiful pink water lilies in what one naturalist called the "cassowary love spa"
Close-up of a rainforest fern.
2 comments:
Yes, I can relate to that. I haven't had a grand adventure since my 5 year old was born and it's weighing on my spirit too. I don't know you but you seem like such a truly nice person. I'm hoping you get your adventure soon and that your funk passes even sooner.
I enjoyed your article on the Cassowary. Gotta love the Australians labeling seeds "Cassowary crap". We'd be way more pc about it in Canada, more's the pity. :)
ahh thank you for your comment! I'm glad you liked the article and yes isn't it a riot that they labeled it "cass crap" - lol. I definitely think that's better than cass feces, or cass scat but I do equally like cass poo. Poo is a word I commonly use in my writing :) Hey, I'm a wildlife writer so I can get away with it! Thanks for the kind wishes on my mood - it's better today, hopefully it will stay this way!
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