Bats and Beer

Eat your heart out Christopher Lee!

Here it is coming into land - the fruit bat! Wingspan is one metre and it's in a colony of thousands just about a mile and a half from central Brisbane. Imagine something like this in Platt Fields in Manchester - people would freak out - but the Brissie folk don't seem to bat (sic) an eyelid! According to the Brisbane Walkabout website: "The bats around Queensland, including Brisbane, do carry diseases. One of them is the Hendra virus which can be transmitted to humans and is commonly deadly. So it's best to call the bat rescue people!"
But then most stuff over here is pretty deadly - eleven out of ten of the world's most poisonous snakes, lots of biting spiders - some sting as well, jellyfish, crocs, sharks, etc, etc, and of course the Gympie Stinger!!!

Goodnight John Boy.

There are two different types of bat at this riverbank colony - they're also called megabats (which my spellchecker is trying to turn into megabytes), the little red flying fox (just a metre wingspan) cohabits with the grey headed one (metre and a half!) There are some in the Philippines almost six foot across - eek! Seeing hundreds of them formation flying upriver is a little sinister - where are they going, what are they doing, how do they do it?




And talking of bats here's a photo of Batman Bridge in Tasmania where we are now.

A bridge too far?

We're staying in Launceston, this bridge is over the Tamar River which is close to Exeter - you could be forgiven for thinking we're really down in Devon and Cornwall. There's a reason for the West Country names - tin was discovered in large quantities in the 19th century and they needed experienced miners down here who, on arrival,  gave their settlements familiar names to remind them of home. Batman however is nothing to do with Marvel Comics or Bruce Wayne; John Batman was a nineteenth century explorer and entrepreneur but also a right rogue to boot. Anyway the particularly interesting feature of this bridge for me is that the 'A frame' at the far end supports most of the weight of the bridge - it's perched on rocky ground, whereas on the near side the ground is too soft to support much weight. If you're anything of an engineer you'll understand what I mean. (In fact most folk with common sense should get this!)

OK final comment for today is that we are continually surprised by the fact that all around the world people seem to drink awful beer but at the same time there are options available if you look around.

Tasty Tassie Ale.

Two illustrative photos - this one on the left of Tasmanian beers (at least I was told they were brewed in Tasmania - the Hawkers comes from Melbourne!) and the piccie below is from our recent time in Sardinia where there are dozens of microbreweries, some of them very very good indeed. I thought the 50 Noddi ale from P3 Brewing was one of the best beers I'd ever tasted but then they brought out a 100 Noddi - wow! Here's a depiction of their current range. We'll be back.

Scrummie Sardinian - always say 'Birra Artigianale, per favore!'