Before we start, some questions: has anyone patted an echidna? And does anyone believe that echidnas are spiky?
Today was really good, if quite quiet. We first drove to the Beaconsfield Mine to look at the incredibly informative information centre and tour. The first room we entered held old-fashioned machinery and the like, the second a detailed explanation of what it is like working in a modern mine, the third the story of the Beaconsfield miners trapped under ground, the fourth giving the history of the olden day mines. Finally, there was an outdoor area which housed more information and old machinery, including a massive waterwheel that turned and activated some thing-a-ma-doodles which made a lot of noise. I liked the fourth room best as I could try out an ink pen and read about the past, but the third room was incredibly interesting but very sad, as one miner was killed in the accident.
Moving on, we came to the Platypus House which was awesome. We first viewed some three platypuses (not platypi- the guide specified that), Thor, Dusk and Freya, being feed and swimming around. They were absolutely beautiful, a touch chubby, funny to watch and intriguing, being quite strange looking animals. The platypus is a monotreme, an egg-laying mammal. It’s only friend in the monotreme club is the echidna, whose skeleton is almost identical to the platypus, young are also called puggles and until a certain age the puggles are identical. They nose around with their duck-like beaks for food, and can stay under water for about 14 minutes. Next was Jupiter, a male platypus, who was also chubby and sweet, but either not hungry or a little dim as he completely ignored the yabby and worms put near him.
Next, in the same building, was the Echidna Garden! It houses 3 adorable, waddling, spiky and funny echidnas. Who, for the record, are not actually all that spiky when you brush your hand against their spikes. We got to feed the funny creatures, and watched their long pink tongues flash out and guzzle the watery mixture.
Moving on, we drove to our caravan park at Green’s Beach. We quickly settled in then drove to a national park for a short, steep walk involving scaling some rocks to get down to the water . Finally, we spent the rest of the afternoon mucking about on the beach, eating cheddar and goat milk feta on jatz and all out relaxing. I hope everyone is well!
Fauna: platypus, echidna, pademelon, horses, birds, little fish, yabbies, worms.
Wicked Vans: 0
Vehicles Overtaken: 0
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