Principality of Hutt River

So, a very little known fact about Australia is that there is another sovereign state contained within its borders - the Principality of Hutt River (PHR). It is a principality because it is ruled by a prince - His Royal Highness Prince Leonard I (pictured below on the currency and as a statue). PHR is approximately 75 square km, and the local population is currently somewhere around 20 (the actual number is very elusive), plus something like 13000-20000 citizens living abroad. PHR seceded from Australia in the 1970's after a wheat quota was instated by the Australian government on families farming wheat in the region. The families stood to lose a lot of money (as the wheat had already been planted when they were informed of the quota), and they protested by secession. It is a great story, and you can find more information on PHR here: www.huttriver.net. Here are some pictures from Hutt River. The woman I am standing with in the Post Office is Princess Shirley herself. They even stamped my passport!

I am so bad at this!

Okay, so I'm obviously not very good at keeping any type of journal. But, if there is still anyone paying attention, here are some more photos of Australia! These are from Kalbarri National Park - still in Western Australia. I saw more feral animals in this area than anywhere else on the trip - feral goats, pigs, fox, cat, rabbit, and a horse down by Greenhead. This beautiful country has been sorely mistreated! Even so, Kalbarri was one of my favorite places. Absolutely stunning.

Pinnacles - Western Australia

Okay, here goes...On the road trip in Western Australia, we drove from Perth to Pinnacles National Park. The pinnacles are a fairly rare geological formation, but that is about as far as my knowledge goes because there seems to be a lot of uncertainty as to how they are formed. To get there, we traveled along the Indian Ocean for a good portion of the trip, then were forced inland due to a lack of roads. The landscape is dominated by coastal heath, limestone cliffs and spectacular beaches, and kangaroos! We saw heaps of them, some with joeys, and emus as well. The kangaroo are so numerous that all the vehicles traveling along the highway have "roo-bars" mounted on the front to prevent damage to vehicles from repeated collisions. Some pictures from the Pinnacles below, emus crossing the road, and the roo-bar on Hurvey the Van.

Perth - Pt. Douglas - Tassie

Hi all! Okay - I've been very busy having a great time! I don't have too much time to post right now, but the trip to the Pinnacles and Kalbarri were fantastic! We did a beautiful hike in Kalbarri National Park (here's me at Nature's Window). We saw heaps of roos and emu, but alas no echidna. Kalbarri was truly amazing - a ton of birds, great hiking, and beautiful country. Here are more photos of this amazing park (including one of Hurvey, the very cool conversion van). More to come!

Happy Thanksgiving

Everything is great - I will posts pics asap - just wanted to let you know I'm having a great time and have been very busy! I attended a conference and had to give a talk, but that is over now and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I didn't miss the gluttony, but I did miss family and friends and college football! Cheers all. I'm thankful for my wonderful life and the chance to go on this life-changing trip. Love to everyone.

On the road again

I'm taking a little road trip with Pat and Len in their hippie-esque conversion van known as Hurvey - so, no posts for a week but then there should be some really good pictures! We are headed to the Pinnacles, Kalbari National Park, and then Greenhead to do a little field work with Joe. Check back at the end of next week!

Cheers!

A dingo ate my baby

Okay, so it's not a dingo. But you knew that was coming eventually, right?

It's a southern brown bandicoot, also known as a quenda. Pretty cute. I almost stepped on one today. They are friendly little creatures, and they are all over campus. It let me get close enough to touch it, but I didn't.



Photo by Tony Brown