Thanks Steve, Jeff and Xabier. Once, maybe twice, I’ve seen snow here in Melbourne at 37.8 degrees S. July and August are bitterly cold. The houses are mostly poorly built, especially our timber house. But it is beautiful. With the wind off the Great Southern Ocean, almost, there are Russians who have never been colder than in Melbourne, they say.
We do have deadly snakes. While the Taipan has the deadliest venom, the Brown Snake, found here, is the deadliest for biting more than once and more envenomation. This spot is less than 5km from the General Post Office in the central business district. I can walk along the river in virgin bush for an hour. The middle photograph at the top had me treading in undergrowth for several metres. You look down and consider every step. Having said that, the last time I saw a snake was 1990, courting my European wife on a walk above the sea in another Melbourne suburb. A woman from near here died from a bite in her garden despite raising the alarm with family and getting straight to hospital and receiving antivenene. So yes, adds to the excitement. That sign is less than ten years old. All children are taught to be careful near rivers and undergrowth and to make a bit of noise to alert any snake to slither off. News stories in Australia often feature a snake under a house, or even close by some sleeping child who posed no threat to the snake. It’s surprising the snake that causes the trouble. My habits probably account for me hardly ever seeing one.
Xabier I am not surprised by your love for and thoughts on trees. Thank you. These trees have torn clothes and tired limbs some of them. They have inspired many Australian painters. We have intense blue cloudless skies, exaggerated by this lens, and sometimes there’s an almost blue smoky haze amongst trees like these in the heat of the day. A forest of these will still have a lot of light.
