Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
Over the last 15 years seals have become an increasingly common/obvious presence in the Coorong-proper and on/around the Goolwa Barrage.
This has delighted some people, but infuriated/worried some others.
Some of the infuriated/worried people perceive the seals as “intruders”, as “fish thieves”, as “out of control”, “a threat to fish and bird populations”.
So, who are these seals, are they “newcomers”, and are they a threat to “the natural balance”?
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When an Australian thinks of seagulls, the relevant species is almost certainly our most common, emblematic one.
Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae – the Silver gull – has prospered mightily, post-1788.
Arguably, this highly-adaptable bird should no longer be described as a “seagull”.
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One of the pleasures of Australian life is to look up and see pelicans “surfing the thermals”, soaring, spiralling ever-higher, with so very little apparent effort.
They are also wonderful to watch as they take off from water (or land on it); then, however, a great amount of effort is spectacularly evident.
Pelicans are one of “our” world’s largest, living, flying “machines”.
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Q: How would you reach the Hallelujah Hills?
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It is worth remembering that these are the observations of a former senior Federal Government Minister, also – in Opposition – a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, and that he departed Parliament at a time of his own choosing, as one of its more widely-respected members.
A government that must deal with sensible independent centrists is better than a government that must rely on the support of the most eccentric ends of its party spectrum.
One CommentIn this, the final episode in this 25-part series, the featured image looks to the Inlet’s mouth, from a vantage point circa half way along the inlet’s western side.
Waychincup’s particular geology is the key to its singularity.
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Waychinicup’s inlet is shallow and sheltered.
It is also dynamic, healthy, and reliably well-watered; low rainfall sometimes turns off the freshwater “tap” (i.e inflow from the Waychinicup River) but ocean waves and tides ensure that this inlet is constantly flushed/refreshed.
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Solid granite cloaks a lot of Waychinicup’s upper slopes.
As a result, when it rains, a whole lot of water flows downhill, some of it into little gullies which briefly become rushing rivulets.
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The photo was taken at 1.57 pm on 15 March 2021, a little less than one hour before the one in #21 of this series.
#21 offered a telephoto view, focused on Waychinicup Inlet’s eastern shoreline, as viewed from midway along the inlet’s western side.
#22’s is a wide-angle (24mm) view, taken from the inlet’s northwest “corner”; it looks along the inlet’s western side, out to where the Southern Ocean meets the inlet.
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