{"id":2698,"date":"2014-12-31T15:36:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T14:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/scurry\/?p=2698"},"modified":"2014-12-31T17:29:33","modified_gmt":"2014-12-31T16:29:33","slug":"impressions-of-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/scurry\/2014\/12\/31\/impressions-of-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Impressions of Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been struggling to write something about my trip to Australia<\/a> in August,\u00a0my first visit to that great continent and undoubtedly a highlight of 2014. In my determination to get away from the rather banal what-I-did-on-my-lecture-tour-and-family-holiday trope, I ended up loading the first draft with too much historical and philosophical baggage. By one point I had even included mention of the career-defining voyages of Darwin and Huxley, as if they bore any comparison to our month long flit across the country.<\/p>\n

Eventually I came to my senses and realised all I really wanted was to tour\u00a0through the photographs that I took of a place\u00a0I thought I knew, from frequent encounters in films and on TV, but which I found at every turn to be delightfully discombobulating.<\/p>\n

So here goes.<\/p>\n

I knew of course that Australia is filled with weird and wonderful creatures that are not readily seen in\u00a0Britain but nothing quite prepares you for that first encounter with a Kangaroo, which happened for us at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary<\/a> near Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5567\/15311551485_565b6ba187_z.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They have such an apparently relaxed and thoughtful outlook on life.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5553\/15124957888_a4cca9bf2d_z.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That chilled demeanour\u00a0is also shared by Koalas, Australia\u2019s greatest and most obvious statement of cuteness.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5580\/15124962208_de3ddfae27_z.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the seas off Queensland, we came across humpback whales. We have been whale-watching several times before in the coastal waters near Boston in the US but have yet to tire of meeting these magnificent creatures\u2026<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3836\/15311203972_0c958b4e9d_z.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026even if they are rather shy.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5591\/15124841170_6134e06a88_z.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We flew to Lady Elliot Island at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkelling with the fishes. It\u2019s a tiny place, just long enough for a landing strip.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3864\/15288524856_b314bacbc2_z.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The day was rather overcast and rainy\u00a0but, as long as you kept your wetsuit zipped, the sea \u2014 and the sea creatures \u2013 remained\u00a0inviting. We dived in from three separate locations around the island, equipped with a high-definition GoPro 3 video camera, which allows me to share just a couple of minutes of a quite wonderful experience:<\/p>\n