Atherton War Cemetery

T’other day, I drove down a seldom travelled road to get to a neighbouring town, Lower Dismal Swamp. This caused me to see something I had never noticed before … I never knew that there was a war cemetery in Dismal Swamp! Furthermore, it’s listed in the Queensland Heritage Register.

There are 164 graves with identical headstones for soldiers and airmen of the district who were killed during World War II.

In an online reference, it is noted “The graves represent 19 different Australian services and corps including: Infantry, Army Service Corps, Air Force, Volunteer Defence Corps, Medical Corps and Engineers, and one grave belongs to a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association.” 

What else might I discover during my last week in Dismal Swamp?

 

 

Public transport in Dismal Swamp

If you want to get away from Dismal Swamp, here is one of your options: rail travel. I’ll be happy to take your money sell you a ticket to wherever you want to go.

Bring a cushion, especially if you’re not well padded. Oh, and there’s no Wi-Fi access in any of the carriages. But, that’s a plus, right?

All aboard!

 

 

Just typical!

Every time I turn around, there’s one of those little Nissan vans. I’ve found out the model is called S-Cargo.* (Say that with a French accent, and you’ll get it!) This one was parked near a local leash free park, and I deduce the dogs I saw having a good time are members of the circus that is in Dismal Swamp just now. I don’t know why Dismal Swamp was one of the chosen venues for the touring group of the Moscow Circus, another mystery of life! Here’s a view of the interior of the vehicle. I was surprised to see it’s an automatic. The specifications tell me they were all produced as right hand drive, the motor is 4-cylinder, 1.5 L. This one wasn’t decorated as a wee mouse. I assume that when the circus leaves town, that’ll be the last I see of these quirky little vans.

*  “The Nissan S-Cargo is a small retro commercial van manufactured by Nissan. The styling of the S-Cargo was directly inspired by the appearance of the small postwar French Citroën 2CV Fourgonnette delivery van; it even used a Citroën style single spoke steering wheel. The 2CV was in its final years of production in the late 1980s and had a niche popularity in Japan at this time. Its name was a double entendre meaning both “Small Cargo” as well as “Escargot“, the French word for snail, a nickname for the Citroën 2CV being The Tin Snail.” Wikipedia

Il topo (The mouse)

Spotted on a street in Dismal Swamp, this cheeky little vehicle. At first glance I thought it was a Citroen, but a closer look revealed it’s a Nissan product.

 

A very prickly character

I reached into a shrub to get rid of a cluster of dry leaves, and the darn thing bit me! This only reinforced my aversion for gardening of any description.

My curiosity was aroused, and I found something quite unusual clinging to a twig or two.

Introducing the mystery “not a bunch of dry leaves.”

That is the hand of my intrepid son, who was coerced into doing this, to give you some sense of the size of the creature. (The insect, not the son.)

I discovered online that the head looks sort of back to front. The chewing bits would be found between the front legs. I did not offer a digit to find out if this was correct information. In fact, when I think about it, that makes perfect sense. If the mouth was on the other side, that would just be daft. Don’t trust online information, folks. (Except mine, which is impeccable. )

And now I see why the darn thing felt very prickly. It would be a brave predator who attacked this tasty morsel.

 I found a few interesting things about these insects:

The female Spiny Leaf Insect lays her eggs from a tree where they drop down into the leaf litter. The eggs are collected by ants and carried down into the ant nest and stored as food. The ants feed on the knob on the end of the stick insect egg. When the nymphs hatch from the egg they resemble ants and smell like ants. Before the ants realise the stick insect is an intruder it escapes from the nest and heads for a eucalypt tree where it climbs up to feed on the foliage.

The female insects can lay eggs without the help of a male. This biological miracle is called parthenogenesis and means that all the phasmids born will be female.

The Spiny Leaf Insect is a popular insect pet.

 

We have a winner in the Name that Cat contest. In fact, we have two winners

Minx and I burned the midnight oil to select just the right name for the colourful addition to the family.

22 people submitted a total of 29 names, and they were all worthy of the honour. Minx and I thank each and every one of you for your creative ideas. 

After many cat treats (Minx) and glasses of wine (me), we narrowed it down to two that we just couldn’t separate.

So, please meet Arlecchina-Serena, with thanks to Roberta and Lou. (Roberta, we took some liberties with your spelling, I hope that’s OK with you.)

Arlecchina-Serena

Minx is exhausted from  her role in this big job, and has assumed relaxation pose number 25.

Thanks again, all you good sports.

Name that cat contest

Yes, I have another cat, it was  impossible to resist.

It was a Christmas present from my son, and after he went to all that trouble to bring it from interstate, how could I refuse?

It’s very pretty and so nice and cuddly, it’ll be no bother, I’m sure.

I can’t think of a suitable name for it (we’re not sure of its sex right now).

So, can you give me some ideas, please? All names will be carefully considered, and the winner will have their name published right here on this blog!

Here’s what it looks like.

Even Minx doesn’t seem too worried about another cat usurping her position of dominance in the household.

Those of you who write blogs may recognise the emotions expressed by this fellow blogger …

 

Presepe in St Joseph’s Church, Atherton

Presepe in Italian means “crib” [see note below] . It is also used to describe the nativity scenes, simple or grand, that churches large and small display in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The Catholic Church in Atherton (St. Joseph’s) has a charming, simple nativity scene.

The red brick of the exterior of the church makes a lovely contrast to the cloudless blue sky.

The church interior is modest in its presentation.

The nativity scene echoes this modesty.

The presepe itself is empty, awaiting Midnight Mass, when the babe will be placed in the manger.

I wish all my readers a most happy Christmas.

Note: Please read the comment from Vera below, which explains the correct use of “Presepe”

A secret revealed

This is how to ensure Father Christmas finds his way to your house, in Dismal Swamp.

Good things happen to sweaty people!

It  all started when my tongue detected a gap in a tooth, a gap that hadn’t been there the day before. A call to my dentist gave gloomy news, the first available appointment was in late February.  I was asked if I had pain, and I said “No”, and then mentally kicked myself,  thinking I could have put to use my acting skills (gained at the Dismal Swamp Academy of Overacting/House of Beauty and Hair Removal). I have to learn to think on my feet, although in all fairness, I was sitting down at the time.

The first break came when I had a phone call 2 days later, saying they had a cancellation; could I come in tomorrow? You bet I could!

On my happy way home, knowing I had an intact tooth and had just boosted my dentist’s bank account, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a most splendiferous scene, which I captured on my phone camera just for you, captive audience.

Who knows how many people hours have gone into making the characters set up in this front yard, for the amusement of passers-by? So, it was an ill tooth that had a silver lining, or some such mixed thing-o that took me on this street I seldom travel.

Here it is, a Christmas Wonderland, as only Dismal Swamp can do it.

Yes, it’s Santa Claus and Santa Duck, I guess.

 

I got quite confused, trying to identify the characters clustered around Santa. That might be a self-portrait of the artist we see between the red hat and beard.

 

There’s even a koala in that be-lighted tree.

 

And, Peter Pan showing off the pretty casement windows.

 

 

How many cartoon characters can you identify?

 

But, here’s what it’s really all about.

 

The presepio of Dismal Swamp.