The Kookaburra keeps to itself and we rarely see it but today was a exception and popped in for a fleeting minute,  maybe he wanted his photo taken as well.

The Rosella was enjoying one of our mango's, not the sharpest photo but one just to show how big the mango's are getting.

I quite like this photo of a Redwing Parrot looking at me behind the leaves making sure I was not a threat.

These Redwings were right up the back of the block, fighting over a mango on the ground.  I like how the dappled light through the leaves has shone on the  birds head.

This Redwing was taken at the last light of the day and I had to put the iso up to  1000  just so I could have the shutter speed at 160.  There was some noise but it was sharp when viewed at 100%.  However I just posted it Photography 4 All Forum and it looks blurred.  So I will have to recheck.

I hope you enjoy  and thanks for looking.  I am off on holidays as off tomorrow and I will be back with some photos to post of our adventures.

Bye for now

Nina

People sometimes wonder how I was lucky enough to get four kookaburras together on the one branch. Carnarvon Gorge is like an oasis in the middle of a very dry region of central Queensland, and there is plenty of wildlife about.

The gorge features a long bushwalk that runs along the creek and takes you past waterfalls, natural cathedral caves, indigenous art and many other unique natural features. At the end of a long day of walking, people return to the campground and light up the campfires to make dinner. That's the best time for catching kookaburra photos.

You see, when kookaburras are accustomed to people they are not shy, and will come very close whenever there is food cooking in the hope of snatching a bite. So they gather around the campground and wait for their opportunity to steal some food. A watchful photographer (that's me) sees times like this as a perfect opportunity as well. It was a little lucky to get four posing all at once, but as long as there was food around they weren't going anywhere.

You don't need to have a giant lens, or be an obsessive animal hunter to get good wildlife shots. You just need to know some places where the animals don't mind you getting too close. Whenever you visit a national park, check out the campgrounds and the picnic grounds. You may be surprised at the range of wildlife you can see up close.

Hope you like the shot. Don't forget to visit my website at www.naturesimage.com.au for more wildlife photos.

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Calling a pub the Isle of Wight in a town that's already nicked the name Cowes from said British island is hardly a statement of desire on the part of the locals to strike out from the motherland. So, with their visitors from the UK hoping to experience as much Aussie flavour as possible in their three-week jaunt, it didn't bode well.

But, as Bruce pushed the door open and began to descend the stairs, the unmistakable strains of Peter Garrett wafted across the bar. No, not reneging on another environmental promise he made before his election to Rudd's government, but from back in the day...

"How can we dance when our earth is turning?

How do we sleep when our beds are burning?"

Propping up the bar were a couple of mullets; behind it was a superb handlebar moustache. A woman from WA with highlights in her hair was soon exhorting Fran and her friend to stick around for karaoke later in the evening. The head of a shark was displayed proudly on the wall behind the bar. The taps offered a selection of unerringly shit beers. Despite the name, it was true Australia, country style, after all.

Keeping with the mood, the visitors plonked their sleeping eight-month-old under the screen showing computer-generated horse-racing and took in their surrounds.

"If ever they were to remake Withnail and I in Australia," offered Bruce, "this pub could be used for the scene in which he gets accused of being a 'perfumed ponce'." Nods of agreement.

Rather disconcertingly, Fran spotted two pictures of a large man in his 60s, sprawled lasciviously across a bed in a state of some undress hanging next to the shark; it was something one might expect to find in certain Collingwood haunts, but not here. One image - the more worrying of the two - had also been made into a clock.

"Country pub ticked off the list?" asked Bruce.

"Check," said Matt, heading for the door.

Phillip Island was to help him get much ticked off his to do list. Within 100 yards of the first sign warning of wallabies, two wallabies appeared at the side of the road. The trees were full of galahs, Rosellas, koalas and kookaburras. The fridge was filled with cans of Bundy and coke. The randy penguins did their parade on cue.

It mattered little, therefore, that for all the natural beauty of its coastline (inland it's a bit, well, meh), the island lacked character. The visitor centres had taken the motorway service stations of England as their architectural template and the towns - Rhyll, San Remo, Cowes - offered little of interest: perhaps the kooky folk who've inhabited the Yarra Valley, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula, the Dandenongs and so on are put off by the annual invasion of the Moto GP.

If proof were needed, it was found in the cooked breakfasts; they came with toast - plain, white toast. Now who, in their right mind, thinks they can get away with that in Victoria these days. The people demand sourdough as a very minimum, preferably from some obscure bakery and baked in a totally impractical shape. Honestly, what were the cafe owners thinking?

TappingBetty & I had chosen restricted view seats in the stalls ( may I say a much better view than our 'producers seats' on thursday night!) and had a great, almost completely unobstructed view of the show)

For me the highlights were:

Chloe Dallimore (Show off from The Drowsy Chaperone) She had a lot of fun with this number and it completely shows off her skills - cartwheels, splits, standing splits, tap dancing. I'd never heard of the musical drowsy chaperone but I've just listened to it on the web and TappingBetty has ordered it from amazon. Sounds great.

Sharon Millerchip (I gotcha from Fosse) Once again she chose a number that suited her down to the ground - her natural sassiness combined with her ability to perform the Bob Fosse style of dance made this one a winner.

Matt Hetherington (Anthem from Chess) I've never really considered Matt to be a big ballad singer - he 's a good singer, he's in  a band but to hear him belt out a  dramatic, vocally difficult number was a rare treat. The music for Anthem started, Matt strolled out, mike in had started singing - mike wasn't on. Matt stopped cracked a couple of jokes with the audience, checked that the mike was working and went off stage to start again. Only to reappear seconds later with a mike and mike stand which he set up on stage before heading off stage once again. Again the music from Anthem started and this time Matt came back on stage and completely delivered.

Nancye Hayes (The last rockette from Nancye with an e). What a classy performer - she always delivers 100%.

Others performing were Peter Cousens, Marina Prior, Rhonda Burchmore, Lucinda Shaw, Michael Falzon, Matt Lee, Ian Stenlake, Rachel Beck, Wayne Scott Kermond, Matthew Robinson (so talented), Julie Anthony, Rob Mills, Bert LaBonte, Lucy Durack, Kane Alexander, David Harris, and the VCA Musical Theatre students.

A great nights entertainment.

I mean, I don't really know what to think. Do I still owe her something, some sort of support or even friendship? Does the knowledge that she has no one, that she's miserable and wounded, and that I'm the only one who knows, cast upon me the responsibility for her welfare? Well, no, of course not. I barely know her. I've barely met her. And yet it would seem particularly callous at this point to leave her to the fates, and not spare her a thought nor a second of my time.

I did leave her my number. She took it. She seemed grateful. Is that enough?

Something is telling me no.

Plagued by indecision, I set out this morning in the direction of the hospital. God, I don't even know if she's still there. She could be anywhere, really.

I wandered through the University. As I approached the carpark leading up along the side of the hospital, next to one of the University's residential colleges, I noticed a kookaburra on a railing, making quite a lot of noise and generally broadcasting his existence to the world.

It's actually amazing how close he let me get to take the picture - my phone camera does not have zoom. I stood listening to him awhile, pondering how the human brain superimposes human speech onto animal calls. I almost wanted to have a conversation with this bird. In fact, scrap that. I did want to have a conversation with this bird. I suspect birds may be a lot more interesting to talk to than most people.

In my mind, this one was cutting me a deal. "Food," it said. "Bring me food, and I will make you rich and famous beyond your wildest dreams. You will have anything you want." Kookaburras are cunning things. Anything to get a free meal. I have vivid memories of visiting an elderly relative as a small child, and leaving out tiny pieces of uncooked steak for the kookaburras. They would swoop down like fighter jets, and the morsel would be gone before you knew it.

"Ah, wily kookaburra," I told it, "it is not that I do not believe you. But fame and fortune are more than I can handle today. Besides, I have nothing to give you."

"Fine." The kookaburra ruffled its wings, looked me sharply in the eye and warned, "You had your chance. I can bring kings to the throne, you know. Maybe I'll go offer incredible things to some other lowly sap. Some other lowly sap with a pantry."

"Good luck with that." I waved to it cheerfully and continued on my way. But by the time I reached the hospital my confidence was gone. She does have my number. If she wanted to see me, she would call. She doesn't even know me. I'm just some strange guy who found her on the street. And one who is arguably not completely in possession of his senses at present. He's talking to birds, after all.

I hovered near the entrance, watching the automatic doors open and shut. I couldn't cross. I went home. Maybe the old man was right - some walls are there for a reason, even if they're inside your head.

They're not peaceful, you know. They are fiercely protective of their nest, wonderfully fiercely. They perch there on the roof guttering above their nests and keep watch. They attack and attack and attack until any other bird goes looking elsewhere for territory or for a nesting materials or for food or simply for company.

I'd been wondering what happened to the kookaburras. Perhaps they've been 'peaced off'.

Twenty-five years, and I don't look a day older than one! Alas, I can't say the same for my Travelling Companion. I spend most of my time inside a book (well, duh) while the TC sees the world. Read all about me and follow my blog posts to share my experiences as bookmark and travelling worm.

From time to time, I'll say something meaningful. Like a t-shirt.

Today’s travel notes

Noisy creatures, birds. The Travelling Companion has been up and about, recording the dawn chorus in Sydney's Northern Beaches. She also found a rather garrulous magpie in Curl Curl. I've put some videos on my YouTube site and also posted them below.

There are no photographs of me this time. Sorry to disappoint. I try to avoid appearing in the same space as a bird. On one occasion I did get perilously close to Jonathan, a seagull. There are some pictures to prove it in my blogpost about Surfers Paradise.

Traveller's tip

The early worm catches the birdsong.

The book I’m in

Cry No More, by Linda Howard.

Linda writes really comfortable books.

The videos

The sun is still below the horizon in Sydney's Northern Beaches. I don't know the name of the first bird you'll hear. Then there's a raven's mournful cry and a butcherbird's yodel:

It's a bit lighter now. The kookaburras are always naively cheerful this early in the morning. The currawongs chime in, and then the rosellas utter their first chirps of the day:

Here's the sunrise, pretty enough if you like that sort of thing, with the rosellas still chirping and squawking away (they do that most of the day, I've noticed):

A magpie might draw a laugh and a bit of grudging admiration with his performance in this video. The hissing in the background is the sea at Curl Curl:

That’s all for today, dudes.

They are getting up earlier than me. For the last couple of days I've made it to the kitchen to set up for breakfast, opened the curtains of the bay window, and there they are. Already eating.

I don't really mind them starting before us. I just wonder why they have to respond so quickly to the earlier sunrise. My alarm clock doesn't. And it's not as if the worms are going to go anywhere.

Today they not only got an early start, but they got an early finish as well. Off they went as we sat down in the window. And then along came a peewee.

He just walked around the yard picking worms from the grass as if they were scattered quite deliberately for him. He got more than the kookaburras normally do. And that is what put my mind to work on the old proverb. You see, today it was not the early bird after all. It was the one who got a good night's sleep and wasn't going to be rushed into the new day just because of the way the earth tilts or spins around the sun or whatever it is that makes the sun creep over the horizon just a little bit earlier each day at this time of year.

I love it when the wisdom of the ages is put to flight like that. Matter of fact, I might even set the alarm clock ten minutes later tonight and get a little bit more sleep.

It's not as if the world is short of worms.

Noticed that? TV animals eat more than they used to.  Not only that, but they eat at meal times. Our meal times. In our house.

Seems that every time we consent to turn on the TV at dinner time David Attenborough has a wild tiger in his sights. And the tiger has another smaller animal in his sights. And we sit there with our macaroni cheese while the tiger pulls away the haunch of some poor antelope and David Attenborough thinks we need a close-up of the blood covered face of this most wonderful of animals and of the still quivering flesh of its prey.

Our new home has the dining table at the other end of the house from the TV. There's that problem solved. Except at breakfast.

At breakfast we sit facing out the bay window into the back garden. We are visited each morning by a pair of kookaburras. They are magnificent birds with charisma and personality. They think they own the place, and considering that the dog moved out with the previous owners, I guess they now do.

They sit on the clothesline, watching our grass grow. And just as we are about to take a spoonful of meusli or a sip of tea (Twinings Earl Grey) one of them flies down and pulls a worm from hiding - and eats it. David Attenborough lives I tell you. At least there's no quivering flesh of antelope.

The kookaburras look in our window as much as at the grass. And one of them has developed a bit of territoriality. When it's time to go he flies directly towards us, turning about a foot from the window and zooming away past our line of vision. It's a wonderful sight as his wings almost brush the glass.

I don't think he likes us watching him while he eats.

Ella was made an E.L.F on Monday at school, in a badge and certificate ceremony. ELF stands for Envrionmental Leaders for the Future. She was voted by her class, and is very proud of herself. Her teacher says she is always picking up rubbish, turning off lights, and reminding her peers to bring "nude" food to school for snacks (food without packaging). This is what we encourage/practice at home, so I am pleased to see some of it rub off on the kidlets.

I came home from the Craft Fair inspired, and wrote down a big list of all the unfinished sewing projects and future projects in mind. Big mistake! The list is looong. I remedied some of that by sewing together the legs of a knitted octopus puppet while watching Mia swim on Wednesday, then began a new project today. It will be out of the house soon though - I am sewing a little bag for a 6 yr olds birthday party on Satruday. I am supposed to be sewing nappy liner/boosters for the pocket cloth nappies I bought for the baby - hhhhmmm. Possibly I should order the fabric and get on with it. The recent sunny warm weather has been luring me outside - blossom trees are on their way, and the bulbs are all confused.

笑翠鳥(Laughing Kookaburra)

依照網路上查的資料：

笑翠鳥又稱為「笑狗魚鳥」（這是哪個人想出來的名字？竟然給我結合了三種動物），學名是「白化藍翠鳥」，是澳洲獨有的鳥類。不論在鄉間、或是城市裡面，笑翠鳥是澳洲常見的鳥。

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笑翠鳥的身高有42～46公分高、體重約500公克。笑翠鳥是在翠鳥(kingfisher)家族中，體型最大的一種，其喙大而有力，上身棕色、腹部灰白交間，雄鳥翅膀有藍色以做識別。

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笑翠鳥的主食是小動物、蛇、蜥蜴、與昆蟲。笑翠鳥最為人所知，是它響亮、如卡通般的、像似人笑聲的叫聲。
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Wow, it’s amazing how time flies here on this blog. I felt like I just updated our travel plans the other day, and before I know it, weeks have passed! We’ve already gone to and returned from Tampa and St. Petersburg and did everything that we had planned on our itinerary (plus more).

A few highlights: The Lowry Park Zoological Society of Tampa was fantastic. We took a jeep ride and saw animals I’ve never seen before—kookaburra, manatees, and komodo dragons. The girls had a blast in “The Billabong” water area. This hadn’t even been on our itinerary, but we stumbled upon and were thrilled.

Another surprisingly good afternoon was spent at the University Mall in Tampa. In a way it’s a typical mall with anchor stores and other popular stores; and in a way it’s like a big flea market. We spent hours rummaging through locally owned shops, stopped for some snacks in the food court, and then saw a movie. We had spent the morning at St. Pete Beach and wanted to do something low key on our way back to the hotel, and University Mall hit the spot.

I wonder where we’ll be off to next….

• Family Vacation Ideas for Orlando, Tampa and Central Florida
• Zoos and Aquariums in Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Central Florida
• Shopping in Orlando, Tampa, Disneyworld, and Central Florida
• Beaches in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Cape Canaveral and Central Florida
• Places to Visit in Orlando, Tampa and Central Florida

If you've noticed, I've changed it twice the last week. My demands are humble, but I can't find any default Wordpress themes that fit. The one I have now is better than the last one, but it's not perfect.

I need it to look good - preferably green, really green. Or maybe something that looks brownish old and rusty and sophisticated? I don't know, something that I can relate to.
I need it to be wide enough to contain those comics I published last time (that's why this thing came up now. The one I used before wasn't wide enough)
I need it to have a customizable header - because one of these days I will try to design a cool header with photo/s of me.

I guess I'll keep pondering how to do this, and ask my wife to guide me.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, eating all the gum drops he can see...

Oh dear, you should have seen their expression.

Our happy looking kookaburra. We have a famous song about kookaburras in old gum trees. I loved singing it as a lil' billy.

Our garden used host over a dozen different species of bird-life. Including a whole family of kookaburras. Sadly a year or two ago noisy miners invaded the garden and forced out all but one hardy resident and some migrating birds who only stay a short time.

The miners work like a well trained army. Together they viciously attack any other species and even turn on each other, and compared to the other birds, they're just so ugly as well. They're the worst thing for the garden.

This is the bad guy, miner bird, caught in the rain a few weeks ago.

Our remaining kookaburra though, seems to work around the awful miners. We're always so happy to see him in trees above us, and enjoy watching him search for food, because one minute he looks so fluffy and harmless and then he cocks his head aggreesively when he spies a tasty lizard or grub and bounces down to nab it, with a  glup, hop, hop.

He sees it, and  is about to dive.

An Australian Water Dragon sunning himself on the rocks next to a small pool in Sydney's Botanic Gardens.

A Kookaburra watching us eat brunch.

A bunch of palm fruits which was about the size of my head.

And an eminently sensible way of reproducing.

Australia's wildlife rocks.

Oh. Am I the only Canadian kid that knows the old 'Kookaburra' song? Phil was baffled when I mentioned it.

'Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey that's me

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be'

Afgelopen dagen hebben we weer volop mooie en erg leuke beesten gezien. Zo stonden we op een camping met 'tamme' kangaroes, parkieten, met alle kleuren van de regenboog en kookaburra's.

Kangaroes hadden we natuurlijk al eerder gezien. Maar de kangaroes op de camping verroerden geen poot toen wij een foto kwamen maken. Ze vonden het best! Je zou ze zo kunnen aaien en de verleiding is erg groot... Maar het mag niet. Je mag ze ook niet voeren. Overal staan bordjes met uitleg. Het is niet goed voor hun 'dieet'. Daarbij kunnen de beestjes aggresief worden als ze honger hebben en gewend zijn om hun voedsel normaal van mensen te krijgen.

Miriam ondervond dat al even toen ze een appel at in de buurt van de kangaroes. D'r was er een 'als de kippen bij' en stond op zijn achterpoten klaar om Miriam te bespringen. Brrrr Mim heeft gauw de appel in haar jaszak gestopt. Ze stond druk gebarend voor Skippy 'er is niets te eten'. De kangaroe keek alsof ie dacht 'ben jij gek of ben ik het?'. Mim koos vervolgens het hazenpad want een volwassen kangaroe op achterpoten is toch wel errug groot!

Nee, het 'wildlife' voeren we niet. Of nouja... bijna niet. Want nadat we gezien hadden dat vele campinggasten de vogeltjes voerden wilde we dat zelf ook weleens beleven. Zulke gekleurde vogeltjes hebben we thuis namelijk niet. In de Van Wassenhovestraat wonen alleen maar (huis)mussen. En ook in de voiliere van 'dun ouwe Cees' zagen we nooit zoveel vrolijke vogels tegelijkertijd. Jeroen heeft daarom 's ochtends heel stiekem een boterham met zijn vrienden gedeeld. Wel moest Miriam de kraai, die vervolgens ook kwam schooien, wegjagen. Die pastte niet op de knie ;-)

Oh, hier willen een paar vrolijke vrienden de groeten doen aan 'dun ouwe Cees'.

He pap, als je deze gekleurde vrienden in je voilere had, zou je de boel dan ook opgeruimd hebben?

Kookaburra's hebben we al eerder gezien. 's Avonds hoor je kookaburra's hard lachen. Vooral als er een aantal bij elkaar zitten maken ze een enorm lawaai. Erg grappig. En voor de oplettende kijkers: Mim had er een op haar hoofd in een vorige posting. Oke, een trucfoto, het beest zat natuurlijk gewoon op een paal. Toen we hem voor de eerste keer 'troffen' wisten we eigenlijk alleen dat hij overal in Australie voorkomt en dat er een liedje over de vogels is dat alle schoolkinderen leren. Wij zingen nu ook altijd voor hem. De oorspronkelijke melodie zijn we echter kwijt. Wij zingen daarom hard & vals: 'Heeeeeeeeeej kookaburra' (melodie 'eeeeen kopje koffie'). Laatst hoorden we echter dat kookaburra's vleesetende vogels zijn. Ze vangen slangen en gooien die van flinke hoogte naar beneden. Daarna wordt het dode beest lekker opgepeuzeld.

Een kookaburra ziet er dus koddiger uit dan ie is. En met bovenstaande in het achterhoofd bezorgt zo'n doorgrondende blik van het beestje je de rillingen over je rug. Ze zitten altijd gewoon op een paaltje of hekje vlak bij je camper. Eerder gingen we altijd een 'praatje' maken met um. Maar tegenwoordig benaderen we ze toch maar wat minder. Stel je voor dat ie je ogen eruit lepelt! Je weet het niet he, als ze honger hebben. Wat voor kangaroes geldt, geldt misschien ook wel voor kookaburra's ;-)

Miriam kreeg op een van de campings trouwens een demonstratie 'kookaburra voeren' door een campinggast. D'r werd een stuk bief gehaald... HAP, slok weg!!! Vier kookaburra's aan 't vechten voor biefstukje twee. Nee... Het voeren van die beestjes laten we zeker achterwege.

Ook zagen we, toen we 's avonds ons kampvuurtje aan het opstoken waren, een possum. Het beest liep een beetje rondom onze camper te kraken. En omdat wij een enorm groot, eng en gevaarlijk beest verwachtte -SPANNEND- zijn we toch maar even gaan kijken. Tja, in het donker is alles anders he? In Nieuw Zeeland worden possums gezien als ongedierte. Ze zijn daar in erg grote getalen aanwezig en eten hele bossen leeg. En omdat er op die manier geen voedsel overblijft voor het nationale troetelbeest (de kiwi) worden de beestjes druk bestrijd. Vallen, gif, jagers... En of je, als je er een op de weg ziet, aub gas bij wilt geven. Ja, in Nieuw Zeeland wonen dierenvrienden! Maar in Australie is een possum gewoon weer een leuk beest. Waarschijnlijk heeft ie hier voldoende natuurlijke vijanden. Ze woekeren hier niet. Misschien dat een kookubarru? ;-)

Gisterenavond in 'Kangaroo Valley' hebben we nog een nationaal symbool van Australie gezien. Oke, ook een paar kangaroes, wie had dat gedacht ha, ha. Maar die bedoelen we niet. Nee, we zagen wombats! Een wombat is een soort reuze cavia (gemiddeld 35 kilo, nauw verwant met de koalabeer, echter de wombat zal je niet aantreffen in een boom). Jeroen vindt het trouwens meer 'een tank op pootjes' ;-) Overdag ligt het beest lekker te vegiteren in zijn hol. En 's avonds als het schemert komt hij tevoorschijn en zoekt een mooi veldje om te grazen. We zijn speciaal naar 'Kangaroo Valley' gereden omdat we hoorden dat er daar veel zitten. Nou, het klopt hoor! Ze kwamen zo langs onze camper gewaggeld op naar 'het diner'. We zijn 's avonds met onze zaklampen op onderzoek uitgegaan (Jut en Jul op avontuur). Rond onze camper alleen al hebben we er acht gezien! Helaas zijn de beestjes wel een beetje schuw. En ze vinden het ook niet fijn als je in hun oogjes schijnt of ze op de flitsfoto zet...

Wombats vinden het trouwens ook lekker om te wroeten. Dat bleek vanmorgen toen we het grasveld bij daglicht weer zagen. En weet je wat ze ook fijn vinden? Schurken tegen campers. Daar kruipen ze onder en schurken vervolgens lekker met hun rug tegen de onderkant. Ja, ja... je moet krabben waar het jeukt! Gelukkig had Forbes verteld dat die mogelijkheid bestond. We lagen vannacht namelijk te schudden in bed! Vast de wombat die ons wilde straffen voor het grote zaklamp & flitsgebeuren. Hij heeft namelijk ook onder de deur van onze camper gepoept :-)