The Explorers

Books can really bring a place alive. Following a six month self-indugence in Patrick O'Brien's wonderful Aubrey-Maturin books, some of which are set in the South Pacific, I read Caroline Alexander's account of the mutiny on "The Bounty". That brought especial interest to our visit to Fiji. On his magnificent voyage back from the mutiny, Bligh sailed through the "Cannibal Islands", as Fiji was then known, but did not dare to stop. There was also a certain Conradian aspect to sitting on the veranda of our hotel just north of Nadi. See what you think:

Just now, I'm reading a collection of excerpts from the diaries of early explorers of Australia: The Explorers by Tim Flannery. It starts with Jansz in 1606 and Carstensz in 1623 exploring the northern most tip of Australia, continues with Cook and Banks in 1770, Flinders circumnavigation in 1802, and ends (I'm not there yet...) in 1977 with Peasley (I have no idea!).

Someone mentions black swans with the same sense of wonder that we had when we saw them:

The droppings of "Whom-batts" form a topic of some discussion. Here's a picture of Judi finding wombat droppings in the woods:

I guess the point is that you can still find the unexpected.

Tim