 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
|
George Burnett - is a proven High Quality Spice Merchant of 16 Years! "HERE"
|
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
|
Your Pictorial Web Site containing 1,120 Pictures of; |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Designed and Constructed by George Burnett of Hervey Bay Queensland, 4655 Australia | ||||||||||||
| Barrier Reef | Birds of Prey | Blue Mountains | Cape York | Eastern Forests | ||||||||
| Esperance | South West | Tropical Fish | Flinders Ranges | Flora | ||||||||
| Fraser Island | Gippsland | Gulf Country | Insects | Kakadu | ||||||||
| Kangaroo Island | Mount Gambier | Nocturnal | Open Country | Other Birds | ||||||||
| The Outback | Parrots | Philip Island | Pilbara | Pinnacles | ||||||||
| The Red Centre | Reptiles | Sea Animals | Sea Creatures | Snowy Mountains | ||||||||
| Tasmania | Water Birds | Wetlands | Wild Flowers | Wild Life | ||||||||
| Wilson Promontory | Whales | Backpacking | 4 Wheel Drive Hire | My Links | ||||||||
|
|||
|
|||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
|
|
| This web site is still under construction, please return. I will complete all names and details of pictures as soon as possible, thank you for visiting, George Burnett | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
| Tasmania Page 1 | |||
 |
|||
|
| Introduction |
| The smallest of Australia's States,
Tasmania covers 68,300 sq km, with almost 1.4 million hectares protected
by World Heritage listing. Once connected to the rest of Australia, the
land bridge across Bass Strait was submerged more than 13,000 years ago
during the great melt down which ended the last Ice Age. The Dutchman Abel Tasman was the first European to set foot on the lovely island in 1642, and promptly named it Van Diemens Land. Although there were other expeditions, it was not until 1804 that the first European settlement was founded, in Hobart, the name of the colony being officially changed to Tasmania in 1856. Tasmania is a land of diversity; within a small area there is a vast change of scenery, from gently rolling hills and lunar landscapes to the sunny beaches of the east coast and the rugged, mysterious mountains of the west. There are no red land and desert, or vast expanses here; this is one of the most mountainous islands in the world. Highlands cover two thirds of the State, most of them at an altitude of more than 1,000 metres above sea level. Australia's deepest lake and most ancient trees are found in Tasmania. There are caves to explore, fantastic bush walking trails, challenging rock climbing, some of the best white water rafting, fishing and plenty of historic villages to visit. Gem fossickers will be kept busy sifting through the undergrowth at some of the old diggings around the State. Dolerite is the most common rock, and cracking has formed impressive column sculptures of gigantic peaks. The prevailing winds from the west and the polar region left their marks, and the south-western coast is well known for its rugged cliffs. Snow is liable to fall at any time in the mountains, and south-western Tasmania has a wetter climate than any other part of Australia. On the central plateau, on one in three days through the year, the temperature drops to freezing point. In contrast, the eastern side of the State has a milder climate, and the coast has plenty of sandy, inviting beaches. |
| Little Penguin - the smallest of all |
| The Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor,
also called Fairy or Little Blue penguin is the smallest of the 17 species
of penguin and is the only one to breed in southern Australia. People of
all ages are fascinated by this charming little flightless bird. Its legs
are set far back on its body and this results in the characteristic
upright position the Little Penguins have while walking. Every night the little birds return from the sea and waddle up the beach to their burrows. They build their burrows and nests in the sand, under bushes or stones. At 33cm in length and weighing between 1,000 to 2,000 grams, the penguin's natural environment is the sea, a streamlined body and webbed feet helping it to speed through the water in search of food. It is a shallow diver and generally hunts for food in the top ten metres of sea water, feeding on squid and small fish such as pilchards and anchovies. The penguin needs to catch 240 grams of fish daily to maintain its weight. Breeding usually begins in September, when the females are noisily courted. Penguins only have one partner at a time and usually mate for life. Normally two white eggs are laid with the incubation period of around 35 days shared by both parents. For the first two weeks the chick is continuously brooded by either one of the parents while the other spends the day at sea, returning at night to feed the chicks with partly digested food. After 15 days both parents go to sea to feed and the chicks wait outside the burrow for them to return. As penguins do not need to come ashore except to breed and moult, most of the chick's first year is spent at sea. When it is around one year old the penguin returns to the colony of its birth for its first moult. The moult takes between 15 and 20 days and is a period of fasting for the penguins. Normally the penguin is waterproofed by a waxy substance it secretes from a large oil gland at the base of the tail, which it smears onto its beak and feathers. During the moult the waterproofing is of course lost and the penguin is unable to go back to sea until the new feathers have completely been formed and waterproofed once more. In their second year the penguins stay closer to the colony, with half of the penguin population breeding for the first time at the end of that year, usually at the colony of their birth. The life expectancy of the Little Penguin is around seven years, although the oldest bird found is 21 years old. Their predators are large ocean gulls, snakes, foxes and dogs, while their eggs are taken by lizards and rats. At Phillip Island over 1,000 chicks are tagged each year with numbered bands to identify individual penguins and provide information on their dispersal to other colonies. Selected birds are also fitted with small radio transmitters to monitor their feeding movements. |
| Mt William National Park |
| At the top right hand corner of the
island is Mt William National Park, with 13,812 hectares of beaches,
heathland and dry sclerophyll forest. It was first proclaimed as a
National Park in 1973. It serves as a refuge for the forester kangaroo and
is an ideal environment for a number of plant communities found nowhere
else in Tasmania. White sandy beaches and granite headlands make up much of the park's terrain from Ansons Bay to Musselroe Bay. Offshore rocky islands like the George Rocks are nature reserves for several species of sea birds. Swimming in the mild, protected waters, bushwalking through groves of black peppermint eucalypts and banksias, and fishing for bream at Ansons Bay are favourite pastimes. Thousands of native marsupials can be observed along Forester Kangaroo Drive at the park's northern end, and mobs of Forester Kangaroos, Tasmania's only kangaroos, can be seen grazing on the ample grasses. Pademelons, wallabies and wombats also live here in profusion. The ideal times to see them are at dawn or dusk. Bird watching is also rewarding, with more than 100 recorded species. The extensive sand flats around Musselroe Bay provide excellent feeding areas for the thousands of wading birds that visit Tasmania. Further inland, honeyeaters appear whenever the banksias are in flower. The way up Mt William, the park's namesake, is an easy climb through dry forest leading to a flat rocky peak worn by millennia of erosion. The ocean views from the top take in features as far away as Cape Barren Island and Flinders Island. Apart from the abundant bird and marine life, the pristine white sands and the clear blue waters, the isolated Mt William National Park promises solitude and quiet. |
| Fairy Penguin - Introduction |
| The Little (or Fairy) Penguin is the
smallest of the 17 species of penguin and is the only one to breed in
southern Australia. People of all ages are fascinated by this charming
little flightless bird, a point confirmed by the popularity of the Penguin
Parade at Phillip Island in Victoria, where every night the little birds
return from the sea and waddle up the beach to their burrows. It is
Australia's leading natural wildlife attraction with over 500,000 visitors
annually. At 33cm in length and weighing between 1,000 to 2,000 grams, the penguin's natural environment is the sea, a streamlined body and webbed feet helping it to speed through the water in search of food. It is a shallow diver and generally hunts for food in the top ten metres of the water, feeding on squid and small fish such as pilchards and anchovies. The penguin needs to catch 240 grams of fish daily to maintain its weight. Breeding usually begins in September, when the females are noisily courted. Penguins only have one partner at a time and usually mate for life. Normally two white eggs are laid with the incubation period of around 35 days shared by both parents. For the first two weeks, the chick is continuously brooded by either one of the parents while the other spends the day at sea, returning at night to feed the chicks with partly digested food. After 15 days both parents go to sea to feed and the chicks wait outside the burrow for them to return. As penguins do not need to come ashore except to breed and moult, most of the chicks' first year is spent at sea. When they are around a year old the penguins return to the colony of their birth for their first moult. The moult takes between 15 and 20 days and is a period of fasting for the penguins. Penguins are waterproofed by a waxy substance they excrete from a large oil gland at the base of their tail, which they smear onto their beak and feathers. During the moult the waterproofing is of course lost and they are unable to go back to sea until the new feathers have completely re-formed and waterproofed once more. In their second year the penguins stay closer to the colony with half of the penguin population breeding for the first time at the end of that year, usually at the colony of their birth. The life expectancy for the Little Penguin is around seven years, although the oldest recorded life span is 21 years. At Phillip Island over 1,000 chicks are tagged each year with numbered bands to identify individual penguins and provide information on their dispersal to other colonies. Selected birds are also fitted with small radio transmitters to monitor their feeding movements. |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
LEFT: Our 24/7 Online, Workstation, providing Information, and FREE Booking Service World Wide! |
|
|
|
|||
 |
 |
||
 |
|
The Spice Guys |
|
|
|
|||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
|
|
| Luxury Paints Hervey Bay | |
|
Business
Cards, Web Page Design & Hosting Internet Marketing; Computer Software Upgrades; Sales & Service; Computers; Monitors; Accessories; New or Used; DVD & CD Burning; Scanning; Secretarial Services; Digital Photography; Computer Tuition Working in Association with; Bay City Electronics, Shop 8, Focal Point, 19 Taylor Street, Pialba Qld 4655, near Corner of Torquay Road. Q4655 (Ph: (07) 4124 6015 By Appointment Only Ph: (07) 4124 8687 Mobile: 0422 297 925 E-mail: georgewhale@yahoo.com |
|
| George Burnett, Webmaster, Unit 3, 327 The Esplanade | |
| Scarness, Hervey Bay, Queensland 4655, Australia | |
| Web Site Design, Marketing, Promotion, Scanning, | |
| Video Capture, CD Burning, Data, Music, Entertainment, Computer Backup, | |
| TV, Video Capture, Business Cards, Computer Upgrades, Repairs, Computer Tuition | |
| Fraser Island Marketing, Hervey Bay Real Estate, Hervey Bay For Sale | |
| Phone: (07) 4124 8687 - Mobile: 0422 297 925 |
|
sprake real estate since 1938 |
|
|
| R. G. Sprake & Co. Real Estate at it's Best! | ||
| R. G. Sprake & Co. | ||
| Hervey Bay Office: | Ph: 07 41246200 | Email Hervey Bay Office |
| Maryborough Office: | Ph: 07 41212466 | Email Maryborough Office |
| sprake | Web Sites | "CLICK HERE" |
