Flora and Fauna-- a Brief Introduction

Flora and Fauna—a brief introduction

One notable difference between New Zealand and Australia is the variety of wildlife here.  Whereas birds were the only indigenous creatures in NZ (and everything else was introduced many centuries later by the immigrants, both Maori and then the Europeans), Australia has many indigenous species—including a large collection of deadly snakes, spiders and other nasty beasts, as hilariously recounted in Bill Bryson’s Down Under (just how scary does Southern Death Adder sound to you?).

Perhaps the most famous bird is the kookaburra, known for its laughing sound. 

But the ibis is also commonly seen, whether rummaging through a dumpster or in the trees of the Botanic Gardens.

The Eastern water dragon is a ubiquitous sight along the sunny walking trails near the water.

The zoo has an excellent bird show (OK, it’s technically not wild if it’s in the zoo, but the photo ops are better).

This thoughtful looking fellow is a meerkat.

Confession—we have not yet seen a kangaroo in the wild, but here’s one from the zoo, and a few of his non-Australian pals. 

Finally, after seeing this sign, we are constantly on the lookout for bandicoots, alas to no avail so far.

One animal we haven’t photographed but see every evening is the flying fox, really a bat, which likes to spend its evenings in the fig trees in nearby Rushcutters Bay.  They are quite creepy-looking.

As for flora, flowers and tropical plants abound here: