O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat

We just can't get enough of the spectacular rainforests that are all within a couple hours drive of our house! Last weekend we traveled to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. O'Reilly's is somewhat unique for many reasons, the first being the trek it takes to get there. We (Bryan actually) drove on a small, VERY curvy, one-lane road all the way to the top of the rainforest. You had to crowd to the side of the road or hope to hit a widening in the road if you met another vehicle (see our picture in the slideshow.) Although somewhat treacherous the drive was beautiful as we went in and out of the rainforest all the way.

O'Reilly's then has two highlights to do while you are there. One is to feed the birds. You could buy birdseed and hold your hand out and several parrots and crimson rosella's would come and eat directly from your hand. They were beautiful birds and lots of fun. We tried to get Evan to stand still long enough to feed one himself, but he thought you fed the birds just like the kangaroos and just tried to shove the food in their face.

After feeding the birds we went on to the next unique part of O'Reilly's - the suspension bridges in the rainforest. The connecting bridges were built so that you could travel up through the rainforest and get different views, rather than always staying on a path at the base of the rainforest. Along the suspension bridges were also a couple of ladders you could climb (on the tallest tree in the rainforest) so that you could get a view from the top, looking out over the rainforest canopy . . . very unique and beautiful views!! We really enjoyed getting to see the rainforest from another perspective.

We also went on a morning hike Saturday morning at Mt. Coot-tha and hiked 1.5-2K through the natural forest up to the Brisbane lookout. We wanted to try out Kaden's new hiking backpack . . . he was getting too big for hiking several kilometers on the front!! The hike was primarily all uphill and a great workout for us . . . Kaden and Evan enjoyed the scenery.

Australian Education: Flying foxes
While driving down a (wrong) road, trying to get to O'Reilly's I looked up and saw what I thought were TONS of bats hanging from the trees all around us. Bryan didn't believe me so he turned around and saw for himself the HUNDREDS of "bats" that were all over in one section of trees along the road. We stopped and Bryan took several pictures so that we could learn more about these creatures. We stopped to ask for directions and Bryan also asked the women about the bats and she told us they were flying foxes. They used to nest down near the river bank but for some reason this season they moved to the trees where we saw them.


Some information about the flying fox:
- The flying fox is actually a bat and is the largest of all bats.
- Flying-foxes have large eyes which are highly adapted for day and night vision and particularly suited to recognising colours at night.
- Flying-foxes are found throughout tropical and sub-tropical Asia and Australia and on islands of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
- Flying-foxes are intelligent, social and nocturnal. They roost together in large numbers at a 'camp' during the day and feed individually or in small groups at night and feed up-to 50km from their roost site.

Here is another interesting sign that you often see in the country around the area:

Mt. Tamborine

During the past weekend we celebrated the Chinese New Year with friends and went on another family hike through several rainforests at Mt. Tamborine.

Celebrating the Chinese New Year - the year of the rat - was something new for our family. We are used to our typical, American "Chinese" food but this was something new and different. We were invited by some friends from John Deere to come with them to Singapura, a local restaurant to celebrate. There were 22 people total with our group, 11 per table. We ate 11 separate courses throughout the night (you can see two of them in our pictures.) Towards the end of our meal the lions showed up for a dancing and firecracker show. It was very unique and interesting to see . . . the food was also (surprisingly) good!

On Sunday we traveled about an hour from our house to Mt. Tamborine to go hiking. We first hiked through a beautiful rainforest to Curtis Falls. We are getting stronger and stronger with Bryan lugging a 34 pound toddler on his shoulders and me supporting a 20 pound infant in the Bjorn! We also stopped to view the glow worm caves at Mt. Tamborine and learn more about this interesting creature (see Australian Education for the week.) Our final stop was at Witches Falls, another lengthy hike through a rainforest. It has been raining alot and, as you can imagine, there is alot of rain in a rainforest, so the paths have been muddy and sometimes difficult to pass. We ended up going almost all the way through a 3.5K circuit only to have to turn around and head back along the same path because water was covering the path . . . uugghh. I think we totaled 3-5 miles in one day but it was refreshing to get to be out in the open and see some spectacular sights!

Australian Education: Glow-Worms
As mentioned in the post above we got to see glow-worms this week so I thought I would share some interesting information about them.

Glow-worms are the larvae (immature stage) of a small fly. The larval stage is the only stage in their life cycle that can glow. The adults are delicate flies that do not have working mouthparts, and as such, only live for a small number of days (females two day, males six days). AS the adults are unable to feed, glow-worms must gain enough sustenance during the larval stage to get them through the rest of their lifecycle. The larvae are believed to live for approximately one year, although this is heavily dependent on environmental conditions and prey abundance. The glow-worms that we viewed are the local species, which are found only in rainforest areas of southeast Queensland.

Glow-worms glow to attract small insects that emerge from the leaf litter and water around which the glow-worms reside. The glow-worms construct "snares" (like a spider's web) made from silk thread and sticky droplets to capture the insects attracted to their glow. The chemicals needed to generate the glow are all produced within the body of the glow-worm and the light is projected out of the very rear end of the larva. The light produced is reportedly 99% light and only 1% hear, making it an extremely efficient source of light!

Cute poem about a glow-worm:
I wish I was a glow-worm,
a glow-worms never glum
'cos how can you be grumpy
when the sun shines out your bum!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Brisbane has had TONS of rain in the past month and when it rains we have to find alternative places to go that don't involved the outdoors . . . and this is difficult in Australia!! So, we decided to take Evan to the Science Centre in downtown Brisbane last weekend when our plans for visiting another rainforest fell through. Evan enjoyed running from exhibit to exhibit at the Science Centre but really didn't understand any of the "science" behind each unique station. Bryan and I, on the other hand, would have loved to have spent time reading each science station and completing all of the experiments and projects they had available . . . but, another day I guess!

Bryan also spent part of his work week in Sydney to attend and present at a John Deere meeting. He would have loved to get to explore Sydney a little more but didn't have alot of extra time planned into the trip. The entire John Deere group did get to complete the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb which turned out to be quite the experience for Bryan. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of three bridges in the world that you can actually climb (while harnessed to a cable.) The Bridge Climb takes you along catwalks, up ladders, and steadily to the summit of the bridge. Bryan completed the "night" climb with 11 others . . . in the rain . . . with 30mph winds. Not the greatest scenario for getting to complete this awesome experience but you manage what you are dealt! Bryan enjoyed the experience and getting to see the Sydney night lights from the top of the bridge but overall was just pretty impressed with the cable system that each person was latched to and how it worked and was created.

Here are some interesting facts that Bryan picked up while on his climb:
- It is a 1.7km climb up and down the bridge = 1.06 miles
- There are 1,437 total steps.
- The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the widest long-span, steel-arch bridge in the world.
- The Harbour Bridge contains 8 lanes of traffic, 2 train lines, 1 cycle path, and 1 foot path.
- The bridge is not completely stationary and can rise or fall 18cm due to heating and cooling.
- Paul Hogan (Croc. Dundee) was once employed as a painter on the Harbour Bridge.

One of the pictures in the slide show is of Bryan and Grant, another John Deere expat here in Australia. The picture shows them soaking wet in Sydney. They went out in pursuit of a Taco Bell that they "heard" was in Sydney and soon found that it had closed down. This was to be the ONLY Taco Bell in Australia . . . darn, we'll have to wait for Taco Bell until our return to America! Another eye opener . . . Bryan bought me a Krispy Kreme donut at the Sydney airport (you don't find Krispy Kreme around here) and he paid $2.50 for ONE donut! Enjoy those .80 Krispy Kremes in America!!

Australian Education:
In one of my previous Australian Education lessons I forgot one additional road sign that we have come across recently . . . the echidna. The echidna is one of the world's only monotremes, or egg-laying mammals and feasts primarily on termites. A smaller species of this animal can be found in southern Australia.


More Australian Education: Creatures Found Around the Perry Household - YUCK!

This is a Golden Orb-Weaver and is still hanging between two bushes in our front yard. When it is full-size it will be as big as your hand. It is primarily found in Eastern Australia. It creates a strong orb web strung between trees. We have had it in front of our house for several weeks now but haven't knocked it down yet because so many people like to come by and look at it and take pictures of it. Even through all of this rain the spider and web have survived.



This is an Australian cockroach and is a large pest in houses in Australia. We found this one outside our house on the back patio . . . thank God!


I don't know much about this spider, except it is a Flower or Crab Spider. We found this one attached to the outside of my car.

Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort

Last weekend we traveled to Moreton Island (off the eastern coast near Brisbane) to the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort. There is a limited number of vehicles allowed on Moreton Island so we had to meet the Tangalooma ferry and travel to the island by boat. It was beautiful the first night we arrived and we just hung out on the beach and walked the shoreline to watch the sunset.

On Saturday we started our morning off feeding the pelicans . . . very interesting birds and fun to watch! We also signed up for a Desert Safari Tour. We rode a large (bumpy) bus through the back roads of the island out to a large desert/sand field. After our guides gave us the rules we were soon sand tobogganing down one of the steep hills out in the desert. I don't think the pictures tell you just how steep and difficult it was to climb these sand hills. We were lucky that it had just rained slightly so it made it somewhat easier to get your footing in the sand as you climbed. Evan and dad made the first trek up the hill . . . and then Evan ended up riding on dad shoulders about half way up. I was worried that they would get to the top and then Evan, in his terrible-two-year-old form, would refuse to come down the hill. BUT, he rode down on Bryan's back, sporting lovely goggles, and held on the entire trip down. When finished he jumped up and wanted to go again. It was a fun first for all of us . . . and Kaden enjoyed watching and getting lots of attention from the Asian (Chinese) families along the tour with us. Once again, photos were requested. This time though they wanted pictures with our entire family!! Just think of the money we could be making if we had started charging for these pictures from the beginning!!

We spent the rest of our morning at the resort pool before getting some much needed rest in preparation for our big night - feeding the wild dolphins.

We later fed the kookaburras and learned more about this amazing animal. The final FUN activity of the night was getting to feed the wild dolphins from the shoreline. Every night several wild dolphins from the ocean will come in to the Tangalooma jetty at sunset and everyone lines up to get a chance to hand feed them. Evan dove right into the fish bucket and grabbed himself a fish to feed his dolphin. When it was their turn they started walking into the ocean but Evan soon got scared of the waves crashing against him (small waves to us but probably seemed pretty big to him!) Bryan carried him out about thigh-high into the ocean and Bryan first fed Echo the dolphin. Evan saw how easy it was done and stuck his fish right in the water so that he, too, could feed Echo. Evan was the only participant of the night to receive applause from the spectators in the stands for being brave and feeding the dolphin . . . he was quite proud!!

We had also planned on snorkeling to see some amazing fish while at Tangalooma but the currents were too strong so we were unable to snorkel on this trip. We will be heading back out to the resort sometime in March and April so hopefully we'll have a chance then to snorkel.