Julatten to Home - 01/05/05
May. 17th, 2005 06:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapeofthingsLeaving the birdwatcher's lodge (where they knocked a few dollars off after I did my grumpyfish impresion), we drove down to Tolga and had a scrumptuous brunch at the woodwork gallery. Best scones I have ever eaten! Satiated (and after Alex had taken lots of photos of the lovely furniture for future reference) we headed on out towards Lake Eacham, a volcanic crater lake surrounded by national park, stopping along the way to visit the Curtain Fig, a huuuuuuuuge strangler fig that towers above the surrounding forest. So hard to capture the sense of scale in a picture!
I had mixed feelings abut seeing Lake Eacham. For any Australian ecologist, Lake Eacham is the textbook case-study on the potential impacts of translocating native species outside their natural ranges. Isolated from any river systems, Lake Eacham was home to two endemic species, the Lake Eacham rainbowfish and the Eacham crayfish. Somewhere around the early 1980's, new species were first recorded in the lake: local anglers had introduced the predatory archerfish and mouth-almighty (native, but not endemic to this previously predator-free environment). Subsequent surveys failed to locate a single Eacham rainbowfish or cray. Restocking attemps were made for the rainbowfish (it's an aquarium species, so has survived), but were unequivocally unsuccessful. Subsequently, another local rainbowfish species has been introduced. More predator-savvy than it's Eacham cousin, the chequered rainbowfish are flourishing.
I was prepared for an ecological catastrophe, so was pleasantly bowled over to find a spectacularly beautiful, azure blue crater lake, wrapped in rainforest (the pictures don't do it justice). Brave tourists were swimming and admittedly it looked lovely (but chilly) in. The biggest, fattests, tamest archerfish I've ever seen paddled about, on the lookout for handouts from tourists happy enough to ignore the "do not feed" signs. There was a good information board telling the story of the lake and the long-gone Melanotaenia eachamensis, so this ecologist was satisfied and I rather enjoyed watching the archers and chequered rainbows displaying in the clear open waters.
A rather large archerfish poses for me
We abandoned plans to visit a waterfall somewhere else and set out along the trail that circumnavigates the lake, drinking in the solitude and abundant birdlife (at last!). Scrub wrens chittered and darted about, waggling their tails cheekily before disappearing into the tangle of regenerating forest. Unfamiliar calls frustrated curious Toni as I couldn't even guess at families, and the few birds that braved the open moved too fast for my shutter. But then we got lucky...
Grey-headed Robin (Poecilodryas albispecularis)
Pale-yellow Robin (Tregellasio capito nana)
Many thanks to Ian Montgomery of http://birdway.com.au for ID assistance. If you're into bird photography or birdwatching in any way, please go look at his site - the photos are spectacular
The walk was lovely and we were very glad we decided to stay at the lake. It was getting on, however, so we headed back towards Cairns, stopping at the wonderful pub in Yungaburra (now there's somewhere I want to spend more time) for a beer before moving on. We made it to the airport with just enough time to return the hire car, grab a quick meal and board our plane. Homeward-bound, tired as hell but very, very content. In only 2 days we saw and did so much, and would happily return to this part of the world again someday. Still, I'd been away for almost a full week as was very much looking forward to my own bed. I love travelling, but perhaps the best part is having a comfortable home to return to =)
I had mixed feelings abut seeing Lake Eacham. For any Australian ecologist, Lake Eacham is the textbook case-study on the potential impacts of translocating native species outside their natural ranges. Isolated from any river systems, Lake Eacham was home to two endemic species, the Lake Eacham rainbowfish and the Eacham crayfish. Somewhere around the early 1980's, new species were first recorded in the lake: local anglers had introduced the predatory archerfish and mouth-almighty (native, but not endemic to this previously predator-free environment). Subsequent surveys failed to locate a single Eacham rainbowfish or cray. Restocking attemps were made for the rainbowfish (it's an aquarium species, so has survived), but were unequivocally unsuccessful. Subsequently, another local rainbowfish species has been introduced. More predator-savvy than it's Eacham cousin, the chequered rainbowfish are flourishing.
I was prepared for an ecological catastrophe, so was pleasantly bowled over to find a spectacularly beautiful, azure blue crater lake, wrapped in rainforest (the pictures don't do it justice). Brave tourists were swimming and admittedly it looked lovely (but chilly) in. The biggest, fattests, tamest archerfish I've ever seen paddled about, on the lookout for handouts from tourists happy enough to ignore the "do not feed" signs. There was a good information board telling the story of the lake and the long-gone Melanotaenia eachamensis, so this ecologist was satisfied and I rather enjoyed watching the archers and chequered rainbows displaying in the clear open waters.
A rather large archerfish poses for me
We abandoned plans to visit a waterfall somewhere else and set out along the trail that circumnavigates the lake, drinking in the solitude and abundant birdlife (at last!). Scrub wrens chittered and darted about, waggling their tails cheekily before disappearing into the tangle of regenerating forest. Unfamiliar calls frustrated curious Toni as I couldn't even guess at families, and the few birds that braved the open moved too fast for my shutter. But then we got lucky...
Grey-headed Robin (Poecilodryas albispecularis)
Pale-yellow Robin (Tregellasio capito nana)
Many thanks to Ian Montgomery of http://birdway.com.au for ID assistance. If you're into bird photography or birdwatching in any way, please go look at his site - the photos are spectacular
The walk was lovely and we were very glad we decided to stay at the lake. It was getting on, however, so we headed back towards Cairns, stopping at the wonderful pub in Yungaburra (now there's somewhere I want to spend more time) for a beer before moving on. We made it to the airport with just enough time to return the hire car, grab a quick meal and board our plane. Homeward-bound, tired as hell but very, very content. In only 2 days we saw and did so much, and would happily return to this part of the world again someday. Still, I'd been away for almost a full week as was very much looking forward to my own bed. I love travelling, but perhaps the best part is having a comfortable home to return to =)
