(Snowboarding with Eucalyptus trees in the background. [Mt. Hotham])
(Egg & Bacon Peas (Fabaceae) attract bees with their large, showy petals. The markings are nectar guides for the bees. [Apex Lookout, The Great Alpine Road])
(The Grevillea (Proteaceae) is characterised by its tepals (long petal parts sticking off). These tepals secrete nectar and attract birds (because they are red). When the bird drinks the nectar, the tepals bop the bird on the head which deposits pollen. Hopefully, the bird will help spread the pollen. [Apex Lookout, The Great Alpine Road])
(This is a termite (Isoptera) mound. Australia has 15% of the termite species in the world. These mounds are excellent at managing the environment and the inside is usually kept at 95% humidity. [Apex Lookout, The Great Alpine Road])
(Upper falls at Eurobin. Despite the name, there was no bin full of euros anywhere on the hike. [Eurobin Falls, Mt. Buffalo])
(You can barely see the platform for para-sailing. The idea is to run down that wooden runway and jump off the cliff... [Underground River, Mt. Buffalo])
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteJust got back from visiting some universities with your mom and Maggie. What a great experience! Impressions:
1. Otto Graham went to Northwestern. Evanston is pretty affluent and Lake Michigan is beautiful. Chicago has a smell that we remember from our last trip. Maggie looks great in purple.
2. North Carolina is in the south, tobacco, plantations, southern drawls, outwardly slow paced, polite, ended our visit with hugs. Football stadium is in the middle of campus, sedate tailgating, 65,000 students & alums dressed in baby blue, some with their bare chests painted. Michael Jordan is an alum. Maggie looks great in baby blue.
3. North Carolina State has a lot of brick. The word is that a brick factory owning alum donates all of the brick with the stipulation that they use all of it. Crews were literally continually laying brick in sections as we were there. The main student quad is called the "Brick Yard" made famous by ESPN where celebrations were broadcast when the late great Jim Valvano coached the Wolf Pack to it's 1983 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Maggie looks great in Red.
Love,
Dad