CAMELS IN AUSTRALIA - WHO'D A THOUGHT?

Yesterday, April 8th, Betty, Melanie and I headed for the Port Stephens area for a day of adventure and fun. Our first stop was at the Tilligerry Habitat State Reserve. The habitat is staffed entirely by volunteers and offers a chance to view koalas in their native habitat. We walked along the boardwalks, sand and gravel trails for about an hour trying to see some koalas. Unfortunately we were not lucky and did not see any but we did see some beautiful trees and plants and had a nice walk.

We stopped next at Tanilba House, a beautiful and elegant home which is one of Australia's oldest historical buildings. Lieutenant William Caswell was granted 50 acres of land at Tanilba in 1831 in recognition of his military service in the Royal Navy. Using convict labor, the foundations of Tanilba House were laid in 1837. The house was beautiful and had very interesting articles and pictures posted about the history of the house.

And who'd a thought.........

that I would have come all the way to Australia to ride on a camel. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would ride a camel! Well, I did. My camels name was Trooper and I shared the ride with a little girl who talked non-stop! I have to say that I hung on for dear life and was terrified when the camel got up and more terrified when it laid down (look at the grimace on my face). The camels took us up and down the sand dunes, and down to the beach where they walked in the water. It was very similar to riding a horse and the camels we were on were pretty docile (thank goodness).

The very first camel to ever set foot on the red Australian soil arrived in 1860 and came from the Canary Islands. Camels came to Australia mostly from India and Palestine. Australians also started breeding their own camels. Camels proved to be the perfect transport solution for the Australian outback. By the 1920s the camel's working days were numbered due to roads, railways and airstrips being built. They multiplied, and multiplied and now the camels are seriously upsetting the balance of the fragile Australian desert ecosystem. It is estimated that there are over 1 million camels in Australia.

After lunch we went to Nelson Bay, a coastal resort town, where we took a dolphin watch cruise on the Moonshadow cruise line. Nelson Bay at Port Stephens is a blue water paradise and the permanent home of bottlenose dolphins. Dolphins love to ride the bow waves of a boat. It was so exciting every time we saw the dolphins appear out of the water. They are so graceful and beautiful.

As we were headed in for shore, the captain lowered the net at the end of the cruise ship for any one who wanted to swim. There were two children and two adults who were brave enough to endure the cold, cold water. It looked like a lot of fun and who knows, if I had only had my bathing suit, perhaps I would have tried it (NOT).

What a fun and exciting day!