On March 31st I hitched a ride to Kingscote from American River, about a 1 hour drive, and met up with a honey truck to take me to my next WWOOF place, an organic bee/honey farm near Vivonne Bay. Brenton has 450 bee hives in different locations around Kangaroo Island.
VIVONNE BAY
Vivonne Bay on the southern coast of Kangaroo Island was found and named in 1803 by Captain Boudin. The jetty was built in 1911 to a length of 980 feet. It was originally used to transport potatoes from Kaiwanna then later Yakka Gum from surrounding districts.
Brenton also has a new business called, KI OUTDOOR ACTION, a business renting sandboards, surfboards, kayaks and 4-wheelers to tourists. Brenton's KI OUTDOOR ACTION business is on the left and he leases the building on the right for storage of rock lobster and king crab after coming off the fishing boats.
Sandboards for rent at the dunes at Little Sahara nearby. One of my WWOOF jobs is to clean these boards.
Brenton lives at Vivonne Bay and this coastline is only a couple of minutes away from his house.
ROCK LOBSTER and KING CRAB fishing
This is Vivonne Bay where all the fisherman come in to unload their catch. The boats in the water are lobster and crab boats and the dingys or "tinnys" as they are called here, are what they bring the catch in on. I watched them use the hoist on the dock and a steel trolley that rolls on railroad tracks to roll the boats and their catch down the dock to unload and park.
This is the warehouse to store the fisherman's catch - all men here use their boats to catch rock lobster, king crab, and an occasional octopus. Since Brenton owns this building and it is right next door to his KI Outdoor Action business, and since this is such a small town and everyone knows each other, I get to be around these fishermen quite a bit, at least when Brenton is talking to them or drinking a beer with them. One night we sat in this warehouse and had a few beers with about 10 other guys, all skippers or deck hands, and it was incredible to watch them smoke and listen to them swear and laugh and tease each other in thick Australian accents. It was quite familiar, yet strange and otherworldly at the same time.
Massive lobster, a ROCK LOBSTER, and they are so beautiful, spiny and bumpy with no big snapper claws like the ones in the USA
This is a KING CRAB, and the guy says these are babies.
Clinton is the manager of all the creatures in storage. It is his responsibility to keep everything alive and healthy until they go to market. He is holding what he calls "the tractors" the larger KING CRABS.
This is the area for the fisherman to hang out - they call this place "the seafood depo" or "camp crusty" for camp crustacean. On April 2nd a bunch of crab/lobster fishermen got together here at night to grill food, smoke and drink beers - all to console Sous, the fisherman who ran his boat up on the rocks the day before. They had worked hard all day to try to pull the boat off the rocks (they were not successful) and the guys needed to let off some steam, tell stories, and get drunk, pissed, as they say here. I sat on the coffeetable and just watched and listened and laughed- an amazing community of guys.
Octopus, called a "by-catch", as the men are not trying to catch octopus, but are allowed 5 per boat I think.
The local paper headlines and certainly the talk of the town...
On April 1st, one of the boats ran into the rocks at Vivonne Bay during the night - skipper and boat owner Sous, and deckhand Sam.
photograph from the newspaper
Later Brenton, his brother in law Dean, and I made the trek through the scrub to see the boat. It was quite a bumpy ride, very windy and a bit wet from the periodic rain. On the way there we were joined by a truck carrying 6 other fishermen and deckhands out doing the same.
The waves were pretty fierce and the wind, as we climbed up that rocky knob, was so strong that I thought I was going to be blown off. I walked like a crab because of the winds, crouched and close to the ground.
Here all the guys are talking about the ordeal - boat - rocks - and what to do. Turned out that they tried, but the boat is a loss - they could not get it off the rocks - it was wedged under a cliff. It was a 47 ton steel boat and was about a $250,000 loss - no insurance.
and more drama, but of a different kind was happening at the same time...
BRETT and AMANDA get MARRIED
My little brother Brett and his fiance Amanda got married on April 1st in the casino town of Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States. I am so far away, but luckily got to watch their wedding via an internet connection. They got married at the Shalimar Wedding Chapel and I got to watch every minute of it on the computer screen from my location on Kangaroo Island.
strange weather on April 2nd while I was trying to watch the wedding...
On another day Brenton and I hopped in the bee truck and drove to his friend's sheep farm to bag up some manure/soil for the garden. His friend Tim has 8,000 sheep on this farm.
The weather had been rainy and odd this day. In between the rain we bagged soil and just as we were putting the bags on the truck it started to rain and we saw a rainbow.
While Brenton was inside talking to his friend, I wandered around outside. This is a view looking past the sheep farm and back into Vivonne Bay. This rain cloud was an amazing looking creature in the distance, a cloud with rain legs.
As we drove into Vivonne Bay it started to hail, rather small half-pea sized hail, but LOTS of it. It covered the ground like a white dusting of snow. It did not last too long, but it was so strange and Brenton thought so too, very unusual, and the sky was all yellow and glowing - very beautiful actually. The photo below is the bee truck parked at Brenton's KI Outdoor Action shop while it was hailing.
HAIL ON KANGAROO ISLAND
Brenton's employee Graham making new bee hives in the shop at Brenton's house...
I had some time in the shop to myself - was looking at a honeycomb frame that was in the trash because moth larva had started destroying it - and I wanted to see if I could make a candle using what I could find around me - as low-tech and as simple as possible - without melting the comb down and such - just to see if it would work. I found a mop to harvest a cotton wick and away I ran.
VIVONNE BAY
Vivonne Bay on the southern coast of Kangaroo Island was found and named in 1803 by Captain Boudin. The jetty was built in 1911 to a length of 980 feet. It was originally used to transport potatoes from Kaiwanna then later Yakka Gum from surrounding districts.
Brenton also has a new business called, KI OUTDOOR ACTION, a business renting sandboards, surfboards, kayaks and 4-wheelers to tourists. Brenton's KI OUTDOOR ACTION business is on the left and he leases the building on the right for storage of rock lobster and king crab after coming off the fishing boats.
Sandboards for rent at the dunes at Little Sahara nearby. One of my WWOOF jobs is to clean these boards.
Brenton lives at Vivonne Bay and this coastline is only a couple of minutes away from his house.
My first few hours in Vivonne Bay and Brenton is trying to find a Fairy Penguin for me to see. They nest here along the rocks and under the low scrubby bushes. Brenton was determined and found one nestled in a rock crevice for me to peek at. Later on in the week I got a good look at one at night waddling on this road.
ROCK LOBSTER and KING CRAB fishing
This is Vivonne Bay where all the fisherman come in to unload their catch. The boats in the water are lobster and crab boats and the dingys or "tinnys" as they are called here, are what they bring the catch in on. I watched them use the hoist on the dock and a steel trolley that rolls on railroad tracks to roll the boats and their catch down the dock to unload and park.
This is the warehouse to store the fisherman's catch - all men here use their boats to catch rock lobster, king crab, and an occasional octopus. Since Brenton owns this building and it is right next door to his KI Outdoor Action business, and since this is such a small town and everyone knows each other, I get to be around these fishermen quite a bit, at least when Brenton is talking to them or drinking a beer with them. One night we sat in this warehouse and had a few beers with about 10 other guys, all skippers or deck hands, and it was incredible to watch them smoke and listen to them swear and laugh and tease each other in thick Australian accents. It was quite familiar, yet strange and otherworldly at the same time.
Massive lobster, a ROCK LOBSTER, and they are so beautiful, spiny and bumpy with no big snapper claws like the ones in the USA
This is a KING CRAB, and the guy says these are babies.
Clinton is the manager of all the creatures in storage. It is his responsibility to keep everything alive and healthy until they go to market. He is holding what he calls "the tractors" the larger KING CRABS.
This is the area for the fisherman to hang out - they call this place "the seafood depo" or "camp crusty" for camp crustacean. On April 2nd a bunch of crab/lobster fishermen got together here at night to grill food, smoke and drink beers - all to console Sous, the fisherman who ran his boat up on the rocks the day before. They had worked hard all day to try to pull the boat off the rocks (they were not successful) and the guys needed to let off some steam, tell stories, and get drunk, pissed, as they say here. I sat on the coffeetable and just watched and listened and laughed- an amazing community of guys.
Octopus, called a "by-catch", as the men are not trying to catch octopus, but are allowed 5 per boat I think.The local paper headlines and certainly the talk of the town...
On April 1st, one of the boats ran into the rocks at Vivonne Bay during the night - skipper and boat owner Sous, and deckhand Sam.
photograph from the newspaperLater Brenton, his brother in law Dean, and I made the trek through the scrub to see the boat. It was quite a bumpy ride, very windy and a bit wet from the periodic rain. On the way there we were joined by a truck carrying 6 other fishermen and deckhands out doing the same.
The waves were pretty fierce and the wind, as we climbed up that rocky knob, was so strong that I thought I was going to be blown off. I walked like a crab because of the winds, crouched and close to the ground.
Here all the guys are talking about the ordeal - boat - rocks - and what to do. Turned out that they tried, but the boat is a loss - they could not get it off the rocks - it was wedged under a cliff. It was a 47 ton steel boat and was about a $250,000 loss - no insurance. and more drama, but of a different kind was happening at the same time...
BRETT and AMANDA get MARRIED
My little brother Brett and his fiance Amanda got married on April 1st in the casino town of Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States. I am so far away, but luckily got to watch their wedding via an internet connection. They got married at the Shalimar Wedding Chapel and I got to watch every minute of it on the computer screen from my location on Kangaroo Island.
strange weather on April 2nd while I was trying to watch the wedding...
On another day Brenton and I hopped in the bee truck and drove to his friend's sheep farm to bag up some manure/soil for the garden. His friend Tim has 8,000 sheep on this farm.
The weather had been rainy and odd this day. In between the rain we bagged soil and just as we were putting the bags on the truck it started to rain and we saw a rainbow.
While Brenton was inside talking to his friend, I wandered around outside. This is a view looking past the sheep farm and back into Vivonne Bay. This rain cloud was an amazing looking creature in the distance, a cloud with rain legs.As we drove into Vivonne Bay it started to hail, rather small half-pea sized hail, but LOTS of it. It covered the ground like a white dusting of snow. It did not last too long, but it was so strange and Brenton thought so too, very unusual, and the sky was all yellow and glowing - very beautiful actually. The photo below is the bee truck parked at Brenton's KI Outdoor Action shop while it was hailing.
HAIL ON KANGAROO ISLAND
Brenton's employee Graham making new bee hives in the shop at Brenton's house...
I had some time in the shop to myself - was looking at a honeycomb frame that was in the trash because moth larva had started destroying it - and I wanted to see if I could make a candle using what I could find around me - as low-tech and as simple as possible - without melting the comb down and such - just to see if it would work. I found a mop to harvest a cotton wick and away I ran.
certainly the ugliest candle that I have ever seen, but it worked
coating new bee boxes with a liquid wax
I went out on 2 'bee runs' with Brenton - out in the truck driving to all the sites, checking all the hives and seeing if they needed another bee box stacked on top. If the hive was full of honey and active with bees we gave them a new 'apartment block' or new bee box to move upwards into. Many times we could tell just by the sound of the bees, sometimes quite loud, if the hive was full of honey.
We slid some of the frames out of the box to check for honey production in each hive. The frame below has white comb indicating that the bees are cleaning up the comb and making new comb, white wax, to get ready for placing nectar in the cells.
In this frame below the comb is a darker color and most of the cells are full of dark glistening honey.
smoker can for calming the bees as each box is opened - burning pine needles are used to produce the smoke
Brenton tying the boxes containing new frames onto the bee truck - he uses a great knot to tie down and tighten the load
This is what was blooming, what was producing the nectar for the current batches of honey, the
CUP GUM
Dawn in a bee suit - or anti-bee suit - it was fun and pretty comfortable to wear and made me much more relaxed around all those bees
Some of the banksias were also flowering - Brenton stopped the bee truck on the road to look at these flowers and to see how much nectar they were producing - we could see the glistening droplets of nectar and it tasted so warm and sweet - reminded me of the sweet smell of corn tassels
This weird blob is PROPOLIS
following text from Wikipedia
PROPOLIS is a resinous mixture that bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. For centuries beekeepers assumed that bees sealed the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts. However, 20th century research has revealed that bees not only survive, but also thrive, with increased ventilation during the winter months throughout most temperate regions of the world. Propolis is now believed to: 1. reinforce the structural stability of the hive 2. reduce vibration 3. make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrances 4. prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive 5. prevent putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However if a small lizard or mouse, for example, found its way into the hive and died there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless. Propolis is marketed by health food stores as a traditional medicine, and for its claimed beneficial effect on human health. Natural medicine practitioners often use propolis for the relief of various conditions, including inflammations, viral diseases, ulcers, superficial burns or scalds. Propolis is also believed to promote heart health and reduce the chances of cataracts Old beekeepers recommend a piece of propolis kept in the mouth as a remedy for a sore throat. Propolis lozenges can be bought in Australia, Republic of Korea, and France. Though claims have been made for its use in treating allergies, propolis may cause severe allergic reactions if the user is sensitive to bees or bee products. Propolis is used by certain music instrument makers to enhance the appearance of the wood grain. It is a component of Italian varnish and was reportedly used by Stradivari.
This frame is not only full of honey, but full of honey and the wax cells are capped, closed off by the bees for storage of the honey - meaning the bees are finished with their magic - this is when Brenton removes the frames for extraction of the honey
A magazine wanted to run an article about Brenton and his KI OUTDOOR ACTION business, so he took them out on one of his ATV tours, the kangaroo dusk tour, to get some good photographs to use. A few of Brenton's friends and I were the models for the evening. It was fun, we rode fast, and we saw a lot of kangaroos and a beautiful sunset. On another day, we went out to the sand dunes with the same photographers to shoot sandboarding pictures. I sandboarded in a skirt and I am sure they have photos of me yelling with my eyes wide as I slid down the dunes. I know how destructive humans can be to sand dunes and I know how loud and gas guzzling the ATV's are, but I do have to embarrassingly admit that I had fun. My comfort zone was definitely challenged by both of these sports.
Brenton's father Peter Davis built this new building, the ISLAND BEEHIVE, a cafe, shop and information center about bees and honey, as well as a place to extract the honey that comes in from the fields/sites.
inside the ISLAND BEEHIVE - honey for sale as well as the entire right side wall dedicated to information about bees and honey - and a wonderful old honey extractor - a wooden barrel with handle to crank and spin the honey out of the waxy comb frames
the honey extraction process - this was so great to see and I took tons of photos of this process
the honey was collected and so was the wax - here is the hotbox for melting the yellow beeswax
sweet smelling yellow beeswax
Peter Davis, Brenton's dad, pouring fresh honey into buckets to be shipped and sold
this honey is from the CUP GUM trees that are in bloom all over Kangaroo Island right now
buckets and boxed jars of honey ready to be sold
empty frames ready to go back out to the bees
On the way back from the bee sites, we took the bee truck and swung by to see one of Brenton's friends, Cory and his family. This farm seemed to be pretty typical of the area - sheep and chickens and a garden.
Another typical site on Kangaroo Island, as well as many parts of Australia, is a rain-catch barrel like this one at Cory's house. Almost all roof-tops are utilized to catch valuable rainwater.
Cory' young sheep were 'play-butting' their heads together with their ears cocked back like frisky teenagers, and the striking pink and grey Gulahs have gathered to glean the grain from the ground.
GULAHS
This is the BREAKFAST that I got to eat while working out on the bee truck! Oh so yummy, warm from the sun and sweet.
photos of some of the beehive sites
here Brenton goes out to see what is blooming next to the hives
Fall/Autumn is the time for CUP GUMS to bloom on Kangaroo Island - called cup gums because of the cup that forms at the flower base that collects a lot of nectar that the bees love - we could take off the flower parts, tip up one of these cups and sip out the nectar
cup full of glistening nectar
This building IS the entire town of Vivonne Bay - the VIVONNE BAY GENERAL STORE - a place to get petrol, buy food, rent sandboards and socialize. I spent time here cleaning sandboards for Brenton's business. And speaking of food, this shop made the best hamburger, a traditional hamburger in Australia with beetroot and fried egg.
Brenton at the beach swinging around his niece, Jimmi, to her delight
DAWN 4-WHEEL READY
Brenton takes a couple of girls from Israel on a dusk tour and I get to go with them. We see several kangaroos, the ocean, and a nice sunset.
Brenton and the two girls from Israel
a dark spot up in the tree - a sleeping koala
bright red parrots - CRIMSON ROSELLAS
we rode up this track on the 4-wheelers to see the coastline and ocean
Brenton shows all of us the YACCA tree
YACCA - also called GRASS TREES
Xanthorrhoea species
common on Kangaroo Island is the Tates Grasstree - x. semiplana
this is a versatile plant:
flowers - nectar and spear
crown center - vegetable
pith - juice to ferment
leaf base - resin
yellow wood - turns well
Brenton showed us a dead and dried up YACCA tree - specifically the red colored resin that was found at the base of the leaves. This is what was harvested as an industry a long time ago, resin used to make varnish and also used as a binding agent in fireworks. And even before that, the Aboriginals used this resin as an adhesive material, to haft a spear or knife, often mixing the resin with kangaroo dung to make it stronger.
I unloaded lots of bee frames from the bee truck - the buzzing noise was so loud - I had my protective bee suit on - all the frames were empty, no honey, but there were still bees coming in to "rob" any tiny bit of honey remaining - Brenton called them "robber bees".
Rope/Knot Board that Brenton made for WWOOFers to practice the tie-downs for the bee boxes on the bee truck. I am not exactly sure, but think that this is called the "truckers hitch knot"?
There were many bush fires on Kangaroo Island in December, 4 months ago, that were all started by lightening strikes. The fires lasted for 10 days and raced through a lot of the southern areas of the island. This is the Vivonne Bay area touched by fires, a charred landscape, but full of the new blooms of the YACCA tree. I went on a bike ride through this area and found all the charred bits and black seed pods fascinating.
With the Tates Grass Tree the flowering is fire stimulated or flowering can be erratic usually in spring. The Tates Grass Tree is restricted to South Australia including Kangaroo Island also Fleurieu, Eyre and Yorke Penninsulas.
resin at the dried leaf bases
Some honey packaged by Brenton's dad, Peter Davis - I really liked this kind of honey, a stronger taste - from the STRINGY BARK trees
I drank a lot of tea at Brenton's house - I think just so I could stir in some of his honey
I was absolutely thrilled that the Kingscote Library let me check out books! I looked at a lot of bush tucker books and this is one of my favorites:
I discovered author/illustrator MAY GIBBS while on Kangaroo Island and then I found this book while digging around in the Kingscote Library. Her work really touches me - her drawings are so sensitive and her use of the local flora and fauna is magical - reminds me of how I thought of things when I was little - still do to some extent.
This book is about her life work as an author and illustrator and artist in general in the 1880s.
MAY GIBBS was born in 1877 on Jan 1st in Cheam Fields Surrey. She came to Adelaide in Australia in 1881 when she was 4 years old.
The BANKSIA cones really do look like this and I can see why she animated them and used them in her books.
This drawing by MAY GIBBS is of a BAGWORM in his little protective, camouflaged house. I have seen these in the USA and also saw one at Andrew's house in Tilba Tilba on the coast of Australia south of Sydney.
This caterpillar is a Bagworm. Bagworms are Moths in the family Psychidae. According to BugGuide: "Larvae (bagworms) construct spindle-shaped bags covered with pieces of twigs, leaves, etc., and remain in them, enlarging them as they grow, till they pupate (also in the bag). Adult females remain in the bag, emitting pheromones which attract adult males to mate with them."
These are the YACCAS, GRASS TREES, TATES TREES, or BLACKBOYS that I have been seeing on Kangaroo Island - the ones that were burned by the December bush fires and are now high with tall blooms. She seems to have animated these trees in a really beautiful way and they feel just the way she makes them appear.
I saw a spider weave a nest out of leaves like this while I was on Kangaroo Island...
I take my books back to the library and Brenton gives me a ride back to Adelaide - we take his dad's truck, get on the ferry and head to Adelaide so he can do business stuff and I can head to my next WWOOF place in Mylor, east of Adelaide. We drive most of the way there and then stop and sleep along the road - Brenton sleeps in the swag outside and I sleep in my warm sleeping back in the truck - it was pretty cold that night , but we were rewarded by a beautiful site in the morning - a beautiful sunrise on a crisp morning with fog rolling across the bottom of the MYPONGA RESERVOIR.
MYPONGA RESERVOIR
60k south of Adelaide near Myponga
Brenton's dad's truck - good place to sleep and large enough to haul stuff from Adelaide back to Kangaroo Island.
Brenton dropped me off in Adelaide and I had time to explore before I got on a bus to head to the Adelaide Hills / Mylor area. I found a hostel to stay in - and the next day I went back to the Natural History Museum to see the ethnobotany/aboriginal plant use section and also back to the Botanical Gardens in Adelaide - here I saw these massive lily pads, not native to Australia, but impressive anyway, housed in a glass greenhouse on the grounds.
I went out on 2 'bee runs' with Brenton - out in the truck driving to all the sites, checking all the hives and seeing if they needed another bee box stacked on top. If the hive was full of honey and active with bees we gave them a new 'apartment block' or new bee box to move upwards into. Many times we could tell just by the sound of the bees, sometimes quite loud, if the hive was full of honey.
We slid some of the frames out of the box to check for honey production in each hive. The frame below has white comb indicating that the bees are cleaning up the comb and making new comb, white wax, to get ready for placing nectar in the cells.
In this frame below the comb is a darker color and most of the cells are full of dark glistening honey.
smoker can for calming the bees as each box is opened - burning pine needles are used to produce the smoke
Brenton tying the boxes containing new frames onto the bee truck - he uses a great knot to tie down and tighten the load
This is what was blooming, what was producing the nectar for the current batches of honey, the
CUP GUM
Dawn in a bee suit - or anti-bee suit - it was fun and pretty comfortable to wear and made me much more relaxed around all those bees
Some of the banksias were also flowering - Brenton stopped the bee truck on the road to look at these flowers and to see how much nectar they were producing - we could see the glistening droplets of nectar and it tasted so warm and sweet - reminded me of the sweet smell of corn tassels
This weird blob is PROPOLIS
following text from Wikipedia
PROPOLIS is a resinous mixture that bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. For centuries beekeepers assumed that bees sealed the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts. However, 20th century research has revealed that bees not only survive, but also thrive, with increased ventilation during the winter months throughout most temperate regions of the world. Propolis is now believed to: 1. reinforce the structural stability of the hive 2. reduce vibration 3. make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrances 4. prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive 5. prevent putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However if a small lizard or mouse, for example, found its way into the hive and died there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless. Propolis is marketed by health food stores as a traditional medicine, and for its claimed beneficial effect on human health. Natural medicine practitioners often use propolis for the relief of various conditions, including inflammations, viral diseases, ulcers, superficial burns or scalds. Propolis is also believed to promote heart health and reduce the chances of cataracts Old beekeepers recommend a piece of propolis kept in the mouth as a remedy for a sore throat. Propolis lozenges can be bought in Australia, Republic of Korea, and France. Though claims have been made for its use in treating allergies, propolis may cause severe allergic reactions if the user is sensitive to bees or bee products. Propolis is used by certain music instrument makers to enhance the appearance of the wood grain. It is a component of Italian varnish and was reportedly used by Stradivari.
This frame is not only full of honey, but full of honey and the wax cells are capped, closed off by the bees for storage of the honey - meaning the bees are finished with their magic - this is when Brenton removes the frames for extraction of the honeyA magazine wanted to run an article about Brenton and his KI OUTDOOR ACTION business, so he took them out on one of his ATV tours, the kangaroo dusk tour, to get some good photographs to use. A few of Brenton's friends and I were the models for the evening. It was fun, we rode fast, and we saw a lot of kangaroos and a beautiful sunset. On another day, we went out to the sand dunes with the same photographers to shoot sandboarding pictures. I sandboarded in a skirt and I am sure they have photos of me yelling with my eyes wide as I slid down the dunes. I know how destructive humans can be to sand dunes and I know how loud and gas guzzling the ATV's are, but I do have to embarrassingly admit that I had fun. My comfort zone was definitely challenged by both of these sports.
Brenton's father Peter Davis built this new building, the ISLAND BEEHIVE, a cafe, shop and information center about bees and honey, as well as a place to extract the honey that comes in from the fields/sites.
inside the ISLAND BEEHIVE - honey for sale as well as the entire right side wall dedicated to information about bees and honey - and a wonderful old honey extractor - a wooden barrel with handle to crank and spin the honey out of the waxy comb frames
the honey extraction process - this was so great to see and I took tons of photos of this process
the honey was collected and so was the wax - here is the hotbox for melting the yellow beeswax
sweet smelling yellow beeswax
Peter Davis, Brenton's dad, pouring fresh honey into buckets to be shipped and sold
this honey is from the CUP GUM trees that are in bloom all over Kangaroo Island right now
buckets and boxed jars of honey ready to be sold
empty frames ready to go back out to the bees
On the way back from the bee sites, we took the bee truck and swung by to see one of Brenton's friends, Cory and his family. This farm seemed to be pretty typical of the area - sheep and chickens and a garden.Another typical site on Kangaroo Island, as well as many parts of Australia, is a rain-catch barrel like this one at Cory's house. Almost all roof-tops are utilized to catch valuable rainwater.
Cory' young sheep were 'play-butting' their heads together with their ears cocked back like frisky teenagers, and the striking pink and grey Gulahs have gathered to glean the grain from the ground.
GULAHS
This is the BREAKFAST that I got to eat while working out on the bee truck! Oh so yummy, warm from the sun and sweet.
photos of some of the beehive sites
here Brenton goes out to see what is blooming next to the hives
Fall/Autumn is the time for CUP GUMS to bloom on Kangaroo Island - called cup gums because of the cup that forms at the flower base that collects a lot of nectar that the bees love - we could take off the flower parts, tip up one of these cups and sip out the nectar
cup full of glistening nectar
This building IS the entire town of Vivonne Bay - the VIVONNE BAY GENERAL STORE - a place to get petrol, buy food, rent sandboards and socialize. I spent time here cleaning sandboards for Brenton's business. And speaking of food, this shop made the best hamburger, a traditional hamburger in Australia with beetroot and fried egg.
Brenton at the beach swinging around his niece, Jimmi, to her delight
DAWN 4-WHEEL READY
Brenton takes a couple of girls from Israel on a dusk tour and I get to go with them. We see several kangaroos, the ocean, and a nice sunset.
Brenton and the two girls from Israela dark spot up in the tree - a sleeping koala
bright red parrots - CRIMSON ROSELLASwe rode up this track on the 4-wheelers to see the coastline and ocean
Brenton shows all of us the YACCA tree
YACCA - also called GRASS TREESXanthorrhoea species
common on Kangaroo Island is the Tates Grasstree - x. semiplana
this is a versatile plant:
flowers - nectar and spear
crown center - vegetable
pith - juice to ferment
leaf base - resin
yellow wood - turns well
Brenton showed us a dead and dried up YACCA tree - specifically the red colored resin that was found at the base of the leaves. This is what was harvested as an industry a long time ago, resin used to make varnish and also used as a binding agent in fireworks. And even before that, the Aboriginals used this resin as an adhesive material, to haft a spear or knife, often mixing the resin with kangaroo dung to make it stronger.
I unloaded lots of bee frames from the bee truck - the buzzing noise was so loud - I had my protective bee suit on - all the frames were empty, no honey, but there were still bees coming in to "rob" any tiny bit of honey remaining - Brenton called them "robber bees".
Rope/Knot Board that Brenton made for WWOOFers to practice the tie-downs for the bee boxes on the bee truck. I am not exactly sure, but think that this is called the "truckers hitch knot"?There were many bush fires on Kangaroo Island in December, 4 months ago, that were all started by lightening strikes. The fires lasted for 10 days and raced through a lot of the southern areas of the island. This is the Vivonne Bay area touched by fires, a charred landscape, but full of the new blooms of the YACCA tree. I went on a bike ride through this area and found all the charred bits and black seed pods fascinating.
With the Tates Grass Tree the flowering is fire stimulated or flowering can be erratic usually in spring. The Tates Grass Tree is restricted to South Australia including Kangaroo Island also Fleurieu, Eyre and Yorke Penninsulas.
resin at the dried leaf bases
Some honey packaged by Brenton's dad, Peter Davis - I really liked this kind of honey, a stronger taste - from the STRINGY BARK trees
I drank a lot of tea at Brenton's house - I think just so I could stir in some of his honey
I was absolutely thrilled that the Kingscote Library let me check out books! I looked at a lot of bush tucker books and this is one of my favorites:
I discovered author/illustrator MAY GIBBS while on Kangaroo Island and then I found this book while digging around in the Kingscote Library. Her work really touches me - her drawings are so sensitive and her use of the local flora and fauna is magical - reminds me of how I thought of things when I was little - still do to some extent.
This book is about her life work as an author and illustrator and artist in general in the 1880s.
MAY GIBBS was born in 1877 on Jan 1st in Cheam Fields Surrey. She came to Adelaide in Australia in 1881 when she was 4 years old.
The BANKSIA cones really do look like this and I can see why she animated them and used them in her books.
This drawing by MAY GIBBS is of a BAGWORM in his little protective, camouflaged house. I have seen these in the USA and also saw one at Andrew's house in Tilba Tilba on the coast of Australia south of Sydney.
This caterpillar is a Bagworm. Bagworms are Moths in the family Psychidae. According to BugGuide: "Larvae (bagworms) construct spindle-shaped bags covered with pieces of twigs, leaves, etc., and remain in them, enlarging them as they grow, till they pupate (also in the bag). Adult females remain in the bag, emitting pheromones which attract adult males to mate with them."
These are the YACCAS, GRASS TREES, TATES TREES, or BLACKBOYS that I have been seeing on Kangaroo Island - the ones that were burned by the December bush fires and are now high with tall blooms. She seems to have animated these trees in a really beautiful way and they feel just the way she makes them appear.
I saw a spider weave a nest out of leaves like this while I was on Kangaroo Island...
I take my books back to the library and Brenton gives me a ride back to Adelaide - we take his dad's truck, get on the ferry and head to Adelaide so he can do business stuff and I can head to my next WWOOF place in Mylor, east of Adelaide. We drive most of the way there and then stop and sleep along the road - Brenton sleeps in the swag outside and I sleep in my warm sleeping back in the truck - it was pretty cold that night , but we were rewarded by a beautiful site in the morning - a beautiful sunrise on a crisp morning with fog rolling across the bottom of the MYPONGA RESERVOIR.
MYPONGA RESERVOIR
60k south of Adelaide near Myponga
Brenton's dad's truck - good place to sleep and large enough to haul stuff from Adelaide back to Kangaroo Island.Brenton dropped me off in Adelaide and I had time to explore before I got on a bus to head to the Adelaide Hills / Mylor area. I found a hostel to stay in - and the next day I went back to the Natural History Museum to see the ethnobotany/aboriginal plant use section and also back to the Botanical Gardens in Adelaide - here I saw these massive lily pads, not native to Australia, but impressive anyway, housed in a glass greenhouse on the grounds.
