Marvellous mammal sighting makes coast trip worthwhile
I HAVE a habit of saying hello to most strangers I encounter and, as well, I give a wave to fellow motorists, it’s a country boy thing.
Doesn’t work quite as well when I am visiting my grandchildren in France and England, although it’s nice to squeeze out the odd bonjour” or cheers to locals.
Last week Mrs J and I found ourselves in Maleny, (bit of a hippytype place), for a couple of days, and we headed off around 6am each day for a short walk.
Down beside Obi Obi Creek we encountered two serious photographers with cameras as big as cannons and artillery to match – no room for box brownies here.
Tongue in cheek, I asked the man if he was Neville Cayley (who left us in 1950), the famous ornithologist who penned What Bird Is That a compulsory read for every Australian.
He responded, “No I am Neil Andison the Platypus Whisperer.”
Neil and his friend Sandy Gillis spend their time at the creek most days from 5.30am.
Horse whisperers I’d heard of but not platypus whisperers, so I pushed on with my inquiries and Neil took me down to the banks of the Obi Obi.
He’s a Blue Mountains boy, left school at 15 for the defence forces, navy and air, and after 20 years service returned home and later settled with his wife on Karragarra Island in Moreton Bay.
In 2002 they went to Mooloolah to house-sit and have been in the area ever since.
As a youngster Neil had a passion for photography but his passion collapsed when his inventory of photographic gear was stolen, in Sydney.
One day in 2012 he was returning from Sunday’s Maleny Showground markets and spotted his first platypus – his photographic passion was immediately reignited.
If you are a disciple of creation theories, the creator must have left this mammal until the very last day as he or she hastily gathered together a few spare parts including a duck bill, broad flat tail, webbed feet, egglaying capacity and poisonous spurs. Enter the platypus.
Neil and Sandy see them each morning and on Tuesday he told me he photographed five which he described as “Going off like frogs in a sock.”
Now he has 912 photographs to develop.
Platypus are found along the Australian east coast from the steamy tropics of North Queensland to the freezing snow regions of Tasmania.
If you’re taking the two-hour trip north to Maleny, think about catching up with Neil and going on one of his tours along the creek.
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ON HIS “PLATYPUS WHISPERER” FACEBOOK PAGE, OR CALL HIM ON 0412 518 952.