Exquisite

A walk in the park this afternoon, and this was one of the first things I saw. It is so gob-smackingly exquisite, it almost takes your breath away.

Ethereal beauty

It is, of course, another of our terrestrial native orchids, and I've never seen one before. An Eastern Mantis Spider orchid (Arachnorchis tentaculata). It grows to a height of 40-50 cms, and is apparently very common.

Found throughout Australia except the NT and Tasmania, this large spider orchid is pollinated by a thynnine wasp. It is unusual in that it occurs in a wide variety of habitats and varies in size throughout its range. It is thought that its ability to use several different types of Sebacina fungal partners, and the widespread distribution of its wasp pollinator, gives it a competitive advantage over endangered orchid relatives. This info comes from the Australian Geographic website, which I generally find to be very informative.

Actually if you haven't seen the Australian Geographic Magazine, it's well worth a look, especially if you are planning on visiting. And even if you live here it shows you things you never even knew about.

Which reminds me, I sat next to a young girl on the plane from L.A. to Sydney, and she's an American lass coming out to visit her boyfriend. Never been here before, and her naivety was astounding. She lives in Los Angeles and her boyfriend - wait for it - comes from Alice Springs. Apparently he told her it was in the middle of nowhere (her words) but when I told her Alice was about 1500 kms from Adelaide, her jaw absolutely dropped. She thought of "in the middle of nowhere" in American terms not in Australia terms. I can't help but wonder how she got on.

It's not been a good day for me today - I seem to have hit the jet-lag wall, so to speak. Woke up with a headache, and it feels like I've been walking through glue all day. It simply has to be better tomorrow.