Travelling Worm

This is the blog of a 25-year-old bookmark. I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1.

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

Today we went for a stroll along the Spit to Manly Walk. It’s a ten-kilometre path which follows the shore line from Spit Bridge to Manly, near Sydney in Australia.

Of course, you don’t have to do all of it in one go. We didn’t. When you’re travelling with the TC, you can’t get very far without stopping to exclaim over the bird life. Occasionally she manages to trip over the odd snake or something a bit more interesting.

We started at 40 Baskets, near Balgowlah, and headed off towards Spit Bridge.

Traveller’s tip

Tread lightly, because you never know who’s under your shoe.

The book I’m in

Caravans, a novel of Afghanistan, by James A. Michener.

The photos

Let’s start with a bird’s eye view and move progressively to a much more interesting worm’s eye view. It’s spring in Sydney, and the Flannel Flowers are out in full force.

Here’s a closer view of a Flannel Flower:

The Spit to Manly Walk runs along the coast, so you get the Australian bush all round you and the sea right there too. Most of the time, it’s a fairly tame view because you are in the harbour rather than on the ocean. Still, it has a quaint appeal.

The Water Dragons are all over the place, looking at you askance and then scuttling away into the undergrowth. Here’s a rather unflattering view of one of them:

This one is about 80cm long and quite chubby. Here’s another shot of him:

And here’s his altogether more sauve-looking cousin:

Now we get to the question in the title of this blog post:

Do snakes have legs?

Check out this lass:

Is she a snake, or could she be a “legless lizard”, also known as Pygopodidae? Maybe she can even call herself Delma impar, one of the endangered ones? Take a closer look at her middle bit — there are little half-formed legs that move away from her body as she slithers along. She was not a fast mover, so the TC had ample time to take a photograph:

I’ve decided to call her Lizzie, for want of a better name. The TC narrowly avoided stepping on poor old Lizzie. I don’t know how she did avoid it, to be frank. She had her head in the trees, as usual, watching the birds and totally unaware of the far more interesting life that goes on at ground level. It’s lucky she has a worm like me as a travelling companion, or she’d miss out on all the important stuff.

If anyone knows what Lizzie is, let me know. She is quite short — less than a metre. Here’s a better look at her face:

Getting even more of a worm’s eye view, here’s a rather stunning little insect that was flitting about on the rocks on 40 Baskets beach:

This creature is less than a centimetre long. Tim P dropped a comment on my previous blog post, asking for more close-ups of the “intense detail apparent in tiny living things”. I know he was asking for more photographs of myself, being such a remarkable specimen of a worm, as well as of other small creatures. I promise to post some more of me soon. In the meantime, this one’s for you Tim.

Does anyone know what insect this is? It looks like a fly of some sort. Drop me a comment if you know anything about it.

That’s all for today, dudes.