Of Bunyips and Bluegums…
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Descriptions of bunyips vary wildly. It is usually given as a sort of lake monster. Common features in Aboriginal drawings include a horse-like tail, flippers, and walrus-like tusks or horns. According to legend they are said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds and waterholes. At night their blood-curdling cries can be heard as they devour any animal that ventures near their abodes.
Charming!
Wikipedia goes on to say that Aboriginal folklore may have passed down the memories of an ancient ‘Australian megafauna’ from some 50 000 years ago! Enough to keep you setting up camp a fair distance from the billabong in those days, that’s for sure. They hint at the night sounds made by possums or koalas could have been mistaken for the bunyips mighty roar…
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To my knowledge, no-one has ever actually sighted or recorded evidence of a bunyip at OUR Bunyip Hole.
But I’m certain enough teenagers have had campfires and beers (and whatever) near the rattly old timber bridge beside this waterhole, for any kind of apparition to have gained ‘local legend’ status.
I (being the boring realist that I am) am more interested in the trees here. They are Blue Gums – a eucalypt which is found along watercourses and grows enormous and ponderously elegant.
When the sun is strong, they cast deep heavy shadows across the creek flats and when the clouds descend, their white and grey scribbled trunks glisten and reflect any moisture in the air or at their base.
To me, these marvellous trees lend more of a mysterious air and age-old beauty to the place than any non-existent monster.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m ever, ever gonna camp near at the Bunyip Hole.
I’m not crazy!
11 Comments
debby
Your pictures are so mysterious that it certainly seems possible that a bunyip would raise his gruesome head any minute.
BB? BB…? Hey. Has anyone seen BB?
*walks off muttering: Jeesh, the creature better put her back where he found her. This is sure to piss off SSB*
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
You are a crazy woman Debby… funnn-neeee! And yes, the silly Bunyip would be in deep sh** if SSB made his dinner late… all hell might break loose. (I’m jesting, he’s actually been quite a good nurse these last few days… but don;t tell anyone. Might ruin his rep.)
BB
Pencil Writer
Lovely pictures. The place seems so placid. Yet . . . could a bunyip REALLY be lurking ‘neath the rippling surface? Ooooooh. I’m with you! No camping nearby for me! (No to mention the thousands of miles I’d have to fly just to get there and set up camp. Though Austraila sounds like an intriguing spot to visit. Have seen pics–yours of course and travel shows.)
Glad you feeling a bit better. Carry on, right?
Anonymous
Wow, those trees are gorgeous. One of those shots looks like a water color. Pretty.
I wonder if I could get a Bunyip to move into one of our ponds. Maybe it could clean out the snapping turtles?
I haven’t wanted to give any of my kids away yet. This is the only year that all of them will be teens, and it’s been a blast. There’s going to be big trouble though, if I’m not a grandma in the future.
Here’s a song for Cruel:
Sheep are cute, sheep are fine,
Sheep are soft and curly.
When I take them into town
I have to start real early.
Sheep don’t know just what to do,
So I need someone to help me….
I just give a whistle, and I call for Bob the Kelpie!
I’m off to find a Bunyip!
Remudamom
Leigh
Glad to hear you are back in the pink BB. Hope the pups are doing well. Thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures.
On another note, I’m getting a camera from hubby as graduation present, a Nikon D40. Any tips on good books/websites to get me going? I’ve only used point and shoot. See what an inspiration you are!
Leigh in NYC
jeanie
What wonderful shots, Big Sis. Glad you are well enough to spin a yarn.
Jenni
Beautiful!
dykewife
there’s supposed to be one of those monsters in lake penticton on british columbia. they call it ogopogo. i don’t know if it was an old aboriginal tale or if the old scots settlers who originated the tale.
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
PW… Australia is pretty fabulous. The only thing is its a BLOODY long way from one place to the next. We are used to it. But visitors are often shocked that you cannot just get a cab from one town to the next. “Sure love, got a couple of hundred up front?”
Leigh… glad I could “inspire” something other than tantrums in my kids. One word of advice: photography is a fabulous job and a really expensive hobby. OK, I’ll be a bit more helpful soon. Let me think about it.
DW…Ogopogo sounds a lot like a name we might give to our towns out here.
And my dear Jeanie… I’m semi-upright and no longer contagious… but Hotel GG is not doing five star (OK, it never was) this weekend. Bring your washin’ up gloves… oh, and Happy Birthday!
BB
Tracey
Just amazing photos. I am such a sucker for any of our native trees, but I’d risk the bunyip to camp near there so I could soak up the atmosphere of those majestic beauties. I don’t know how it is possible for a city/suburban bred girl like me to feel so strongly about gum trees, but I do.
Andrea
Those are beautiful trees! All that water reminds me of Louisiana! We don’t have any bunyip, but we do have nuetra rats that are hudge and nasty and so real!! Yikes!! LOL, beautiful photos!!