I’ve never been one for cities much. Not to live in. I tend to want something closer to the wild. Born on a farm; teenage years spent in a suburban area that had natural bush and a swamp close by (mostly tidied up now, less so then); even when we were in Vienna, we could walk into the Vienna Woods (and did, often).
 |
| A mealy bug destroyer!…yeah, that white thing. It’s the teenager of a ladybug sp… |
Our present house started off with forest and swamps close by, but now is pure suburbia, and not very attractive at that. So when it comes to buying a place for our retirement…we both prefer something less noisy and busy. (You know, somewhere where we are not blasted with the ugliness of loudspeakers for up to 3 hours a day, seven days a week, starting with a half hour session at 5.15 a.m. every day!) It looks like we are going to settle for a place next to a nature reserve on an estuary, with the wildness of an open sea a mere 2 kms away.
The following are just photos snapped by my husband with a digital camera, no fancy lenses, during our week in Western Australia in search of a place for retirement.
 |
| An oxidation pond with wood duck and a White Ibis |
 |
| Wood duck strolling through a park |
 |
| Crested Pigeon |
 |
| Pied Oystercatcher |
 |
| Birdwatching while househunting |
 |
| Above & the 3 below: Len Howard Conservation Area — bordering where we want to live |
 |
| If you look close, you’ll see preening comorants |
 |
| Coot with chick |
 |
| Wing drying… |
 |
| Nankeen Night Heron |
 |
| This is W.A.’s avian villain – The Silver Gull, denizen of rubbish bins/dumps, and expert thief |
 |
| It must have been ladybird season — saw at least 4 distinct species on this trip |
 |
| Motorcycle frogs in my sister’s frog pond — and yes, they sound like motocycles |
 |
| Locked out? There’s always a way under the gate… |
 |
| Peewit, Mudlark, Magpie-lark, Peewee. Whatever. |
Looks like you should be very happy there with all the wildlife. Being away from the muezzin would be great I think.
It's not actually the muezzin who's the problem. I've no beef with the call to prayer. It's the other stuff they think we want to hear, day in, day out –sermons, recorded qu'ran readings, etc. The really sad thing is that no one has the guts to say anything to criticize for fear they'll be branded anti-Islam or kaffir or something. All I actually am is anti-noise pollution, especially in my own home.
Oh, I hadn't realise that was the problem. Well you sure won't get that in Oz.