watch the birds

Australian heat is in the air. A few sun rays enlighten our days at 5am. Short sleeved bike tops, sunglasses and our tan-lines eliminate typical November vibes.

Everything points to summer.

The more we adapt to this inverted world, the less we understand a bunch of situations we encounter.

Lindt chocolate Christmas bears turned into Koala chocolate bears. Pumpkin soup is replaced with ice cream at the beach nowadays. Instead of fall we enroll with summer feelings and enjoy a different November than what we always knew. All of this seems bizarre but acceptable.

Concerning however are pedestrians, who hoist umbrellas into the dazzling sun, cyclists wearing helmets covered with cable tie sticks and bird warning sign at the beach.

What is going on here?

Before we left Switzerland, we were told tons of frightening stories about Australian wildlife and its deadly animals. We were therefore aware of snakes, spiders and sharks. But birds as a threat? Seriously?

What we thought was a joke, turned out to be a real danger.

The Australian „magpie“ is a black and white bird, native to Australia.

During a magpie’s breeding period, some of the birds tend to protect their nests by turning streets and parks into actual battlefields. Once a harmless human enters their territory, they know no mercy. Swooping down on people’s helmets, attacking cyclists from above and threatening anything they fear.

As we experienced by ourselves, every possible protection measure - for example the mentioned umbrellas and cable ties - could be useful.

Are you planning your down under stay?

Forget about toxic snakes and watch the birds above instead.