L'amour d'escargot

After a wonderful dinner at Bistro One, a restaurant not to far from us, we were out in the parking lot when Katrine mentioned the snails were out. The first one we found was next to some guano, so we found another one. Low and behold, as I was about to take pictures, we found another two, being quite amorous. Well, I should say we think they were being amorous, but apparently, when snails actually do mate, they come up together neck to neck. You can read more about snails, love, and their nasty little love darts here.

Shipwreck, and NC-17 rated stuff

My boyfriend came down at the beginning of July, and on one of my days off, we borrowed the car and went looking for the obsolete, desolate beaches that nobody goes to. The roads were bumpy, but the views were spectacular. We went to one beach where the slope down was so steep, we decided that short of hiking gear, we couldn't make it. Of course, some spear fisherman came up the slope in fip flops, so I guess we just don't know the trick!

On our way, we passed Morgan Lewis Beach, which is where we saw that spectacular leatherback turtle (check the archives!) laying her eggs. A beach on the map, but no signs indicating where it is - just a pair of tire tracks! There is a half of a yacht on the beach, and as part of my experimentation in post processing with pictures, I stuck a texture payer on it, and did a lot of fiddling around. I kind of like the effect, but I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea. If you hate it, I'll still like you :D

Up next, we have some NC-17 rated pictures of mongooses. Mongooses were introduced to the island in an attempt to control pests, presumably rats. Now, they are a pest in themselves - elongated rats! However, we've got a family (maybe more than one) on the complex. During breakfast, we were treated to a little bit of lovin'. The male would chase the female around the yard. When he finally got a hold of her, he would hold her around the stomach and lift up and then stand on her hind legs to try and get her to sit down. He was only successful about 1 out of 4 attempts, as they would run into the bushes and then appear again.

If it is the same family, they've got some babies as well. Today I saw a juvenile mongoose try and jump up a small ledge, miss, and try again. When he finally got up, he was so excited, he started jumping - almost like skipping around.

Anyways, a friend has mentioned interest in writing a book on animals and mating behaviour. Maybe these pictures can get used?

The British Invasion

So we've had two British blokes who go to uni in Newcastle here for a month. Tonight, they decided to make a nice pork casserole and baked potatoes with garlic bread for dinner. As we're waiting, working on whatever needs to get done, Andrew comes in, and hesitantly says 'uhm, we've got a slight problem here.' Needless to say, there was a grease fire in the oven, where the spuds were baking. After much running around to shut the gas line off, find the fire extinguisher, and get it out, we were left with a lovely smoking mess.

The pork casserole was delicious, however, despite the adventures surrounding dinner. We teased them about the extra carbon taste in our meal, and we've dedicated Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire song to them!