07 January 2007

Lizard Dreams

4 January, 2007

To combat jet lag and restore vitality, we opted for a hike through Lane Cove National Park, a luscious forested preserve that sprawls across valleys and ridges just behind our hotel. The gentle trail follows a mossy river cut through towering sandstone cliffs and is lined with some of the most exotic and fragrant plants I have ever seen. Crows and cockatoos shrieked over head as we cut through the bush. As we walked, some very large lizards (about two feet long) skittered off the trail, pausing to stare at us from the underbrush as we walked by, then circled around behind us to watch us recede. It is rather unsettling to be regarded with such concern by so many large reptiles, and I couldn’t help but conjure scenes from Jurassic Park. I was just amazed by their size.

That is, until we came across this beauty nonchalantly strolling through the parking garage of our hotel. Sorry, I couldn’t get any closer for a better picture, but I had no doubt that the lumbering monster could obtain top speeds and gouge out my innards with its massive claws faster than I could leap back into the car. In case you can’t tell from the photo, this dragon is about 2 meters long, and the bulge in its belly is curiously the size of the stray cat we saw walking along the wall the night before…

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think you should approach the lizards and introduce yourself. They're hanging around in civilization, so they must be okay. Otherwise, some municipal department would have eliminated them by now.