September 4 - spring break trip

The first time I woke up this morning, it was raining, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Eventually I got up and out of bed (around 9:00am). Chris went off to work and Diane and I decided to explore some more – this time going to Yanchep state park about an hour or so north of their house. We packed a lunch and left around 10:00am.

At Yanchep it was mostly cloudy and a bit breezy, but we made the most of it. There was a bunch of big white-tailed cockatoos flying around. There are two very similar-looking species of white-tailed black cockatoos, and we were told by one of the park rangers that these were Carnaby’s cockatoos, a somewhat threatened species. There were at least several dozen flying around and hanging out in some of the trees. I got a few photos using my binoculars. Yanchep has several guided tours and demonstrations of various areas of the park throughout the day, and we decided to see the “Aboriginal demonstration” and tour Crystal Cave. While we were waiting for the first of these, the demonstration, we took a walk around Lake McNess (that really was its name!) and a short stroll through the small botanic garden in the park. In the garden I saw a new bird, a tiny little, completely bright blue bird called the splendid fairy-wren. I was really hoping I’d see one of these guys in Western Australia, so it made me really happy to see him. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any photos. After strolling through the botanic garden we went thru the koala park, a small area of the park where there were, go figure, a few koalas. The koalas were all sleeping, and we only saw three. Koalas aren’t native to Western Australia because their required eucalyptus trees don’t grow there.

The Aboriginal demonstration was really informative and Diane and I both learned a lot. It turns out not many people are at this park on a Monday afternoon, so we were the only two people at the demonstration. It was nice though, because we got to ask as many questions as we wanted. The guy that did the demonstration was Robert, and he appeared to be only about 50% Aboriginal, but was a descendent of the tribe native to the Perth region. We sat on kangaroo skins draped over logs for the demonstration. He showed us many of the tools that the Aboriginals used, and talked about how they were made. We got to see several different kinds of clubs, a few spears, a spear-launcher (which enabled the Aboriginals to throw the spear at a much higher velocity than just throwing it by itself), knifes, hatchets, handbags/clothes made out of kangaroo skins, etc. He would normally have demonstrated a traditional Aboriginal dance as well, but it was quite windy and fairly cold today so he skipped doing that. Instead he demonstrated for us how to make a knife out of a sharp piece of quartz rock and a stick. The Aboriginals knew how to make a “glue” out of the resin of the grass tree/grass palm plant. This palm has a resin that sometimes oozes out of its trunk, and what they did was collect this hardened resin to make the glue. The resin was crushed and ground into a fine powder in a wooden bowl by using a round stone. Dried kangaroo droppings and charcoal were also crushed and mixed with the resin – the kangaroo droppings provided pieces of grass fibers that helped make the glue much stronger, and the charcoal helped retain heat in the glue when the knives were being made.

Robert crushed up and mixed the ingredients, then built a small fire out of some dead sticks. He showed us the tools that Aboriginals traditionally used to start fires, but he said since that takes five minutes (if you’re experienced) or longer, he uses lighters or matches to start fires these days. He decided to make a rather dull knife today, and said we would be able to take it home as a souvenir. After the fire got going, he took a small stick that was to become the handle for the knife. He held the stick in the fire to heat it up to where it just started to smoke. He took the hot stick then, and put it in his wooden bowl with the glue mixture, covered it with the powder, and pressed down on it to get some of the resin mixture to melt onto the stick. He repeated this over and over again, putting the stick in the flames, and then covering and pressing it in the glue mixture. Eventually a considerable amount of the glue been melted onto the stick and it was time to add the blade. Apparently if charcoal is not added to the glue mixture, it remains malleable for only about 4 seconds, but with the charcoal it remains pliable for about 15 seconds. This makes it much easier to manipulate, as was necessary when he inserted the quartz blade to attach it to the stick. After this was done, he continued the cycle of heating in the flames and covering with the powder mixture, and moulding it to make sure the blade was securely welded to the handle. Finally, after about 5-10 minutes of work, the knife was completed. A minute or two of letting it sit and all of the glue had completely hardened and he handed it to me to keep as a souvenir. That’s a pretty darn cool souvenir!! J

After he finished making the knife and had extinguished the fire, Robert decided to end the demonstration by teaching us about the didgeridoo. Didgeridoos are made out of the hollow trunk of a small tree. I learned that the length of the didgeridoo is what determines it’s musical note, and he said the one he had there was actually a C-sharp. He let me try to “turn on the didgeridoo” first. My first try didn’t work. He then told me about how I had to make a buzzing noise with my lips, and make sure my lips vibrated, as it’s actually my voice, and my lips vibrating, that makes the didgeridoo work. After a couple more tries, I actually got it to work and sound like it’s supposed to – he said I did a very good job and seemed a bit impressed, as he said it usually takes people at least a couple of minutes before they can get it to work. After I got it to work, he showed us how the Aboriginals played the didgeridoo. There are several ways of altering your voice and lip vibrations to get it to make different sounds. Additionally, some cool noises can be made by giving a quick “shout” down the didgeridoo, and by tapping on the side of it with a stick while you’re playing, even more sounds can be made. He also explained to us how Aboriginals use circular breathing when they play. By keeping your cheeks puffed full of air, it is possible to squeeze that air out your mouth while inhaling a new breath through your nose, allowing for the continuous playing of the didgeridoo. After demonstrating each of those techniques for us individually, he finished with a 1-2 minute continuous demonstration using all of them to make some really neat didgeridoo music!

All in all Robert did an wonderful demonstration for us today, and Diane and I both learned a lot. Diane said he provided by far the best and most informative demonstration she had ever seen, as she learned a lot of new things today as well. We thanked him for everything he showed us, and for my souvenir Aboriginal knife, and walked back to Diane’s car. We got out our packed lunches and had our meal in the park during some free time before the Crystal Cave tour. After we had finished, instead of walking 5K to Crystal Cave, we drove over. It turns out there was only one other woman there for the tour, so again we essentially had our own tour, and got to ask whatever questions we wanted to.

Our tour guide was a young lady about my age, and she gave a great 45 minute tour of the cave. Apparently this cave is one of many similar caves in the area, and in Western Australia. This particular cave was discovered by a farmer in the early 1900s. Originally, and up until about 20 years ago, there was water in the cave, as the water table was historically higher. There used to be a unique, blind, white crustacean species that lived in the waters in the cave, but is presumed extinct since the water table has dropped in recent years (due most certainly to the increased population and resultant ground water use of the Perth area). I learned that while most limestone caves typically form from the top down, this, and many of the other caves in the area are unique in that they were formed from the bottom up. Pretty much what this means is that as the ground water flowed through and continued to carve away at the rock on the bottom of the cave and make it bigger, rocks fell from the top of the cave, and this continued to do so until the cave had been formed to its present state. As a result of being formed in this way, there are many large rocks and boulders laying around in the cave, which is unique. Another unique feature of the cave is that its floor is mostly sand, which accumulated naturally from the wearing away of the rock.

Crystal cave has had numerous modifications over the years, including several tunnels being created between some of the larger “rooms”. Stairs have been constructed within the cave as well, and it was pretty funny, but there is actually an emergency exit (closed with a wooden door) where a tunnel was made as an alternative exit for in the case of an emergency, such as a collapse that would close the natural opening. Another modification to the cave was electricity, and there were fairly numerous lights, with switches to turn them on and off, as we moved into each new “room”. Interestingly, we were informed that Aboriginals never used the caves as shelter, as they were frightened of the spirits/monsters that were believed to inhabit such caves. During the tour we got to see many of the typical stalactites and stalagmites, ribbons, frozen waterfalls, and other crystal structures formed by the deposition of calcite from water dripping and flowing throughout. Some stalactites were still dripping, so there is still growth of the crystals within this cave, although much less so than when there used to be more water in the cave.

After the tour of Crystal Cave we headed back to the house. After we got back, I packed up my stuff, we ate supper (really yummy, home-cooked food! Mmm!), and I watched TV as I passed time until it was time to go to the airport. Australian Idol came on and tonight was the final episode where the judges chose who out of the remaining 24 would become the final 12 to continue on the show. One of the guys, Branden Boney, is a good friend from highschool of one of the guys that lives on my floor. It was cool to see him make it so far, but ultimately he was eliminated from the competition by the judges. It was still really cool to see someone in the final 24 people who has been in my dorm at UC! :)

After Australian Idol was over, I caught the news, and was saddened to learn that Steve Irwin, the famous Crocodile Hunter, died today when he was stabbed by a sting ray though the heart. L It was a big shock to everyone, and I guess America was still sleeping when I heard the news, so they didn’t know about it yet. Apparently he died in what is being called a “freak accident”, as sting rays are not typically aggressive at all, and it is extremely unusual for anyone to die from one, or even get stung! Apparently he was snorkeling out on the Great Barrier Reef off of Port Douglas, Australia. Tonight I leave for Cairns, Australia, which is only 50 miles south of Port Douglas. It’s going to be weird to be so close to where he died just a day before my arrival…

Finally, it was time to take me to the airport. Chris and Diane drove me, and I thanked them very much for the accommodation, food, and hospitality. My visit to Perth was much cheaper, and way more amazing than it would have been had I just stayed in a hostel in the city. I checked my bag, got my boarding pass, and waited at the gate to board my plane. Goodbye Perth, here I come tropical north Queensland!