Starry Starry Nose

We have been watching with much delight, each weekly episode of the series Life, narrated by David Attenborough. We have been mesmerised by insects, enthralled by reptiles, and last night we were spellbound by an assortment of animals hunting and hiding.

Featured in the most recent episode is the star-nosed mole. I had never heard of it before, and I definitely hadn't seen one — it's not an animal one is likely to forget.

Isn't it remarkable? Aren't we lucky to be alive at the same time?

Just after the British colonised Australia, a platypus was taken from these shores to the Empire where people couldn't believe their eyes. They thought the animal was a hoax; that the sailors who had brought the specimen might have been playing some kind of joke on them. What would they have thought of the star-nosed mole??

If you're interested in finding out more, here's a great four minute vid:

Anti-Social Climbing

It's been nearly 18 months since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made his sorry speech to the stolen generation and still, tourists are allowed to climb Uluru, which is a sacred site for local Aboriginal people.

This week a draft management plan has been released for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park, calling for, among other things, a ban on people climbing Uluru. The plan also points out the environmental impact of climbers, such as erosion along paths and the effect on wildlife of rubbish left behind.

Earlier this week, Julian Morrow from The Chaser dressed up in mountaineering gear and attempted to scale the spire of St John's Anglican Church in Canberra, where Prime Minister Rudd was giving an address and where he and his wife were married in 1981.

When it was reported in the news, The Chaser's stunt was called inappropriate and of poor taste.

But why? Because spiritual sites should not be climbed?

The Local Campfire

This is the fireplace next to which we spent a great deal of our time last week. The house was très homey, albeit rather drafty. (I'm sure there's a Dad joke in there somewhere about written drafts and windy drafts, but I'll leave it up to mine to make it.)

Although our home here becomes super snug at the press of a button, we are missing the presence of the fire in our lives. Reading, writing, talking, knitting and making love by the heater just isn't the same.

When television was first invented then commercialised, apart from the programs it offered, I can definitely see why people were so inviting of it into their homes – there is much to be said about the comfort and company of flickering lights in the centre of a room. I agree with the sociologists who said that first television then the internet, are the new global campfires.

Although I found it difficult to be offline last week, I'm finding it just as hard to live without a fireplace now we're home.