First Runner Up -- Primary Section / Peter Sharp Memorial Award
Taroona High School
Maria Island National Park
The soft sound of wind through the eucalypts, the scurrying of a wombat through the under-growth. Pig face flowers dotted along the shore and through the open fields. The indents in the sand, tiny little feet from hooded plovers running on their spindly legs. A goshawk soaring over the winding hills in the direction of Bishop and Clerk, safe under the watchful gaze of a sea eagle. When the sun sets, if you listen, you might be able to hear the hiss or hoot of an owl, the soft pitter patter of feet from a devil prowling its dark domain. The sensitive ears of native mice prickling at the slightest swish of wind in the grass or footstep of a quoll stalking its prey. Then a flourish of wings and a soft ‘boobook’ as the little brown owls with white spots dance from tree to tree, until the soft fuchsia dawn.
Mount Field National Park
A flash of pink, the electric high-pitched call of a pink robin warning the forest of the danger of humans, the gurgle of a waterfall in the distance, an echidna plodding across the path, melancholy and unaware. Crayfish hiding underneath rocks in the never-ending creek, safe from danger, then a spurt of speed as a platypus struggles her way upstream. Unaware of the watchful gaze of a masked owl staring down from her throne in the trees, she stays here until nightfall when a predator is awakened. Snakes slither around the field ready to strike at the slightest sign of danger.
Kunanyi
Green rosellas calling to each other from tree to tree. A currawong sings in the distance setting off a chain reaction of noise from other birds, thornbills squeak in the man ferns. As the sun sets hundreds of little lawn mowers come out bouncing on their massive feet, bandicoots scratch at the ground, occasionally a fight breaks out when one finds a large worm. Brown owls hoot at each other, hundreds of them predating the insects of the mountain.
Arundel Farm, Bushy Park
Ducks quack noisily down at the dam; swamp harriers and brown falcons glide majestically through the air. Wallabies and hares bounce cautiously around the sheep eyeing them with suspicion. Dusky wood swallows jump from perch to perch in the hops, glancing at the sky, nervously waiting for a burst of wings and high-pitched squeaks from a sparrowhawk. The occasional wombat waddles through the mud, scaring quail and small mammals out of the way. Black-headed honey eaters rejoice at the bountiful quantities of sap and insect they can feast on in the bark of the old gums.
Tinder Box Hills
An echidna slowly makes its way through the rough gorse bushes; skinks scatter at the sound of each step; whip snakes slither through the crevasses in rocks. A peregrine dives and soars above the trees glancing down into the vast crystal blue abyss where spotted stingrays glide through the sand. Draught board sharks swim amongst the seaweed and kelp. Blue fish with yellow stripes predate on the cod and other small fish, hiding far down into the blue, seeking sanctuary from the gannets that penetrate the surface seeking the seafood reward.
Woodbridge
Frogs croak down in the creek; black birds fighting a never-ending war attempting to get into the raspberry net; an old grumpy blue tongued lizard stalks through the veggie garden, his throne and property for years; fairy wrens hop delicately in the bracken. Rabbits emerge from their tunnels, causing potholes when they step on them. Bandicoots dig cone shaped holes looking for sustenance. Feral cats scatter as the devils and quolls come out to hunt, all of them enemies, and all of them ready to fight.
Freycinet National Park
Brush tailed possums sit curiously on posts at dusk and dawn unaware of how dangerous humans can be; dolphins patrol friendly beaches keeping the waters from humans; sooty and pied oyster catchers line the rocks, stirring uneasily when a seal passes by; wombats plod along the road side holding up the traffic; finches and grass wrens flit though the branches; cuttlefish float around in the gloomy waters of Wineglass Bay. Further out at sea the albatross are bashed around by the wind seeking shelter in the coves and cliffs scattered around the park; at night gales push gliders through the air forcing them to take refuge in hollows occupied by boobooks. Tawny frogmouths sleep happily in their perches all flattened head and pointed bill staying as still as a stick.
Have you ever been enchanted? You could have been enchanted by a human or animal or maybe just the feeling of a place. Whatever enchanted you, you will remember that time forever, leaving you feeling happy, and that’s what we all want.
