Bent Wing Bats

Friday night the skies stayed clear so we were able to venture over to Mount Etna (named after the one in Sicily, but no, not a volcano) to the bat cleft. The bats arrive every November to have their young and depart near the end of February once they are able to fend for themselves. According to our guide, we were hitting it at the perfect time...mums were still there and bubs were starting to venture out in the evenings to test out their wings.

We made the trek up the 1.2k trail to the top gradually with our guide who would stop to give us a bit of the history of the fight to protect the bat cleft and other nearby caves from mining and to point out different plants and insects native to the variable dry rainforest that we were in. She educated on how the different plants would have been used by the aboriginals. One of the tree leaves contained a substance that could be used as soap, another could be used for cooking and others contained poisons used for fishing. There were a number of butterflies along the way. We even saw an Echidna (see below).


Once we made it to the cleft (which was like a vertical crack in a wall of rock) we donned harnesses that would allow us to clip ourselves into the rock face so we could safely lean over the cleft to watch the bats as they departed for the night. It was then that she mentioned the snakes (there wasn't anything about snakes in the brochure)! Two types of python and the brown tree snake hunt bats. Lovely.

Now it was getting dark and the bats were starting to emerge, so one at a time we clipped into the rock and leaned over into the cave. Bats swirled their way up the shaft and out into the night flying right past us and sometimes, especially the less skilled new fliers, into us. They felt like getting brushed by a feather they were so light and soft. Sure enough after only a short time the snakes began to make their way into the opening to hunt for dinner. We had the privilege (ha ha) of seeing a spotted python and a brown tree snake. Lucky me! The spotted python (below) is supposed to be harmless to humans and the brown tree snake was said to prefer bats over people any day, but I was still a little uneasy. I do have to admit it was kind of interesting watching them lunge out from the rock to catch a bat, but as soon at one was remotely close, I was ready to leave.



We travelled much quicker down the hill stopping only now to learn a little about the geology of the region. A number of frogs had come out at this point and we were introduced to a few different varieties. A few wallabies hung out for long enough for us to see them under our flashlights. We also ran into a fair number of moths and spiders as well. By the time we were back to our cars, the mozzies were out in full force...too bad there weren't any bats around now!

Koorana Crocodile Farm

Today we did not have to venture far from Rocky to get to the Koorana Crocodile Farm. This facility has been around since 1981 and started out at a "removal service" for the area. Once the crocodile was protected in Australia, they began flourishing and locals needed a way to get rid of the trouble makers. So that is when the Lever's stepped in to offer their services. Over the years the farm has grown and now they give 2 tours a day to the public. While we were there we were able to see 2 newborn crocs that had just hatched that morning. We also had the opportunity to hold the "runt of the litter" croc that had become a mascot for our tour guide. He only stood up to my knee standing tail to tip of nose! The facility houses a number of saltwater crocs and a pair of alligators (just for comparison). The largest of the crocodiles was over 850kilos.

Jasper

We have a new addition to the family.  My sister had a boy on Jan 19th.  Little Jasper was 8lbs 5oz.

5K of Pain

Today I got around to riding up to the top of Mt. Archer. It is the best climb around here, I have been meaning to ride up there for a while now, but today became the day when I went to the track and no one was there. I guess they were scared away by the threat of rain.
I don't have the official numbers, but I was told that it is 10-11% grade. It was almost exactly 5K from the base to the top. This was one hell of a climb, I am pretty sure I have not climbed a mountain this long at this steady of a grade. When I cycled through Colorado, I defiantly did longer climbs, but never this steep. It was a narrow 2 lane road, reminded me of the roads you see on the tour de france. I knew I was screwed when I clicked into my lowest gear and I was still having trouble turning over the pedals. I wished I had taken off the 11-23 cassette and switched it over to a 11-25 or 11-28 prior to leaving CA, but those are all in a box somewhere in storage.
So I slogged on up the hill, it was the presence of a guy behind me somewhere that kept me going, otherwise I think I may have turned around a few times on the way up. I was sweating so much (I do live in the tropics) that I was having trouble holding on to my wet handle bars. As I neared the top I came into the cloud cover and some rain. It was sort of neat to climb out of the sunshine and into the clouds. I finished in just over 30 min, not bad considering the fastest time up the hill was 24 min (the other cyclist told me this, not verified).
I realized how steep it was on the way back down. The roads were now slick because of the rain so I kept my speed down, I didn't really want any broken bones. My hands actually hurt holding onto the brake levers. I was able to use my new HR monitor for the ride and I averaged 168 on the way up, not bad. I am looking forward to trying the hill again next week. I am going to steal the cassette off Laura's bike first though.