Welcome to Ausemade… coming to you from the ‘heart of Australia’.

Ausemade 2024… saw a lot of new content for visitors and fans of our site…

The past 12 months has been very busy for us at Ausemade with plenty of new things offering a visual feast to whet the appetite, especially for the many flora and fauna fans. New categories appearing throughout the site, highlighting some of the things that travellers (even those within their own regions) can capture on their cameras and mobile phones.

For those planning a visit or living in Alice Springs in Central Australia, check out the ever expanding content of Alice Springs Birds at the Pond Index, Alice Springs Insects, Alice Springs Bees, Alice Springs Beetles, Alice Springs Butterflies, Alice Springs Moths, Alice Springs Wasps and Alice Springs Spiders.

For those in Queensland, you can check out recent additions to our Queensland Fauna, Gold Coast Fauna and Southern Downs Fauna. Our main fauna section also include a lot of content in our Moths Index and Spiders Index (that include some information on the delightful Maratus – Peacock Spiders).

If you missed out on the iconic Alice Springs Beanie Festival this year, you can see our 2024 Alice Springs Beanie Festival coverage (with more photos to come) and don’t forget to check out our growing list of Beanie Maker Artisan…

The huge growth of interest in Australia’s insects and spiders has seen Ausemade expand our content to highlight the amazing world that surrounds us here in Australia, with many people discovering the life in their own back yard. From native bees, wasps, ants, beetles, butterflies, moths or flies (among many others), there is plenty to observe, and to be found around Australia (so keep your eyes on the lookout for some of the fascinating insects in your travels around our magnificent country), whether it is the bush, the arid deserts, parks and reserves, there is plenty to see and photograph (and did you know that many photos on this page and throughout the site were photographed on the mobile phone…)

We would also like to acknowledge all of our fantastic contributors and authors, who have allowed us access to their photographs and providing articles and blogs, enabling us to share their love and passion of the world around us here in Australia.

As we continue to grow our bee section with a focus on native bees, check out some of the amazing photos in our Fauna > Insects > Bees section, many from our native bee contributors.

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Our recent exploration of insects in Australia has led us down the road of the Buprestidae, an amazing group of beetles known collectively as Jewel Beetles.

Among the family Buprestidae, in the order Coleoptera, is the genus Castiarina and our collection of photos from the many contributors. Among the beetles there are our Ladybirds with Australoneda bourgeoisi and Harmonia conformis, family Lucanidae, Paropsine Beetles, Paropsisterna sp, and the beautiful Feather-horned Beetle (Rhipicera carinata), just to name a few.

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Of course for bird lovers, Australia offers an abundance of locations to enjoy your passion for birds, from the coast to the arid heart of Central Australia. Check out our Bird Watching in Alice Springs and Central Australia. Sometimes you can be surprised at what you see, such as the Great Cormorant (rarely seen in Central Australia) and the Little Black Cormorant, enjoying the Redbank Waterhole in Owen Springs Reserve in the Northern Territory. Make sure you check out our main section on Birds (Aves).

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Then there is our growing collection of spiders, from the Australian Golden Orb Weaver Spider (Trichonephila edulis), the special Wrap-around Spiders and Twig Spiders (Poltys sp).

Check out some of the blogs about spiders, including The beauty and the… and A tangled web…

And who does not love the wonderful Peacock Spider Maratus volans…

and the unique strangeness of the Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata).

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Some of the photos also show the interaction between species, that was excitedly captured by our contributors…

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Of course we have not forgotten the many other animals that call Australia home, belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia are the commonly known Marsupials that include the kangaroos, wallabies and koalas (just to name a few)…

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For those who love our Australian reptiles, keep a look out for those sunning themselves on the road. There are many species to be seen, from the smallest of geckoes to our large perentie.

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BLOGS

Our blog sections continues with a wonderful collection of stories reflecting the lives and personality of the authors, from Popping the caps off Eucalyptus platypus flowers like champagne corks…, memories of my father…, Precious Jewels…, Strike a pose… potty wasp…, A beautiful life, Little Dave’s Story, a penthouse with a view…, a solitary performance, She wears it well…, Art of Birds – Sequel, Leafhoppers of Belair…, How do you like your Poached Eggs… and many more. Read about our Guest Authors.

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SUPPORT LOCAL TOURISM AND BUSINESSES

Travelling somewhere for a holiday, a quick break, visiting family and friends, or even work, there is always something to look forward to, whether it is enjoying some of the local attractions at your destination, or just to relax at the location cafes and restaurants. So for a number of Australian tourism operators and even small business and local shops throughout Australia who have struggles through 2023, and are still struggling, they welcome your support and spend. As some may still be trying to recover from fires and floods, whilst others are struggling to find workers, remember that a kind word and a little understanding, as well as a smile, can go a long way…

As some of us travel where we can and when we can… many Australians are now exploring not only their own backyard, but further afield, within their own state and territories, and then crossing borders to travel interstate.

SYDNEY NSW

We have been expanding our content on Sydney and surrounds, with some Sydney Art, Sydney Attractions, and the iconic attractions from the Sydney Opera House, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Tower, Barangaroo and more… check out our Sydney Cityscape and our fun look at Sydney City of Escalators.

Travels to the Northern Beaches in Sydney, we have brought back some great information on the popular locally known rainforest habitat of the Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden.

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ALICE SPRINGS / CENTRAL AUSTRALIA

As we are based in Alice Springs, our website main focus is on Central Australia, that include Central Australia attractions.

If you are coming to the heart of Australia, check out some of our information, as we continue to grow our content. Read some of our recent additions to Alice Springs Flora and Alice Springs Fauna, as well as the many attractions such as the Alice Springs Desert Park, Olive Pink Botanic Garden and the Araluen Cultural Precinct.

New content has been added to Alice Springs, including listing of accommodation, attractions and places to eat in Alice Springs. There are also topical stuff that reveals the not so arid heart as we talk about Water in Central Australia and our ever popular Aboriginal Symbols and Wildflowers of Central Australia page.

Central Australia remains a vibrant artistic centre, with amazing works from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists. From our archives, we introduce “art in the park” or as in the case of Alice Springs “Art in the Botanic Garden“. Some of these works are still amazing even after all this time and many Araluen public artwork are still on display. There are of course the annual art exhibitions including the Advocate Art Award, Desert Mob and other exhibitions held in Alice Springs.

If you are planning to visit Central Australia for holiday or short-term work, it is wise to ensure you have your accommodation pre-booked and confirmed. Check-out our Alice Springs Accommodation list of providers.

ALICE SPRINGS FESTIVAL / EVENTS

The heart of Australia is a very popular destination with their iconic events and attractions, such as the FABalice Festival, Parrtjima Festival, Alice Springs Beanie Festival, Red Centre Nats and the Desert Mob, just to name a few. Check out our Alice Springs Festival & Events page and follow some of the links.

If you missed the Alice Springs Beanie Festival 2023 or you want to revisit some of those memories of this wonderful event, check out out the many beanies that were there for 2023… and as this is a work in progress, we will be adding more content from the 2023 festival over time… enjoy.

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THE REST OF AUSTRALIA

We continue to add content about the rest of Australia. We have been working flat out for the past 12 months and are still going through some great content from our former site to include in our revamp website.

Occasionally you will see pop-up things from our archive, with some expanded on the original article such as Bourke and the historic North Bourke Bridge.

For those planning a visit to the Queensland Southern Downs region, there is some great contributions from Marc Newman about the fauna that can be found in the Southern Downs district. And check out his recent blogs about Gnammas in the Granite Belt…

ADELAIDE HILLS SA

We are expanding content for Adelaide Hills and surrounds, including Belair National Park. Many of the photographs from our author/contributor Marianne Broug.

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FLORA & FAUNA

Fauna and flora is one of our favourite subjects at Ausemade… indeed what a poorer world we would live in if there was not the beautiful diversity. In Australia there is an amazing array of life from the smallest of insects to the huge whales that swim up and down our coastline.

Our Fauna and Flora section have been steadily expanding, and we are now please to add a new section Funga (that will cover the different species of Australian fungi, lichen and more). A special thanks to the wonderful contributions from fans of our site, guest bloggers, friends and family. You will also find some flora, fauna and funga sections within specific destinations.

Some of our most popular addition is the Golden-browed Resin Bee (Megachile aurifrons), the Caper White Butterfly (Belenois java teutonia), the beautiful Waroona Cuckoo bee (Thyreus waroonensis) and the informative life of our Australian Golden Orb-weaver. Make sure you check out our expanding Wasps section and the recent addition of the Crusader Bug (Mictis profana). Take the wildlife tour with us as we continue to expand the ever popular section on Australian birds, Marsupials, Reptiles, Spiders, Beetles, Native Bees, other Insects and more.

For bird lovers, we are continually growing our content on Birds with some wonderful photos from our contributors including Dorothy Latimer. We group some of the birds species into their own collection such as Australasian Wrens, Honeyeaters, Kingfishers, Parrots, Raptors, Waders etc.

Also the popular Insects and Spiders will open up our eyes to the wonder of creatures small and smaller. The popular Beetles, Bees, Wasps, Butterflies, Fliess (Diptera), Hemiptera bugs, Moths, Dragonflies, Spiders and more, continues to grow with some fabulous images from our many contributors.

Our section on Grass and Grasses, will highlight some of the great and not so great grass species that grown all over Australia, such as Kangaroo Grass and Silkyheads. If you peer closely at some of the grass species, you may be surprised at what may be hiding or resting on the grass.

Then there is are growing section on native orchids, family Orchidaceae, with many great contributions from our friend Terry Dunham in Western Australia.

There is our growing flora sections with indexes on Banksias, Eucalyptus, Grevilleas and Hakeas.

There is the rare Waddy-wood (Acacia peuce) that can be seen at both the Alice Springs Desert Park and the Olive Pink Botanic Garden, and if you can travel, you can see the waddy at the Mac Clarke Conservation Reserve. Even in our own backyards, we can be surprised and delighted by what grows and lives there.

So the next time you are out and about in your travels, instead of what is that flower, what creature is that, or what is the name of that bug, you may have already seen information on our site that provides you with the information and knowledge.

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BLOGS

Our Blogs have entertained and provided us with a variety of stories, insights and topics, with many of our authors sharing a little of themselves with you our readers. Our recently published The Definition of Mental Anguish…, Hylaeus mysterium puella…, To bubble or not to bubble…, and Peek-a-boo… from our writer Gary Taylor provides an insight into the inner character and wonderful Australian humour of the author. Whilst DaQua is currently back home in Wales, you can still read her blogs Alice to Auburn – the Audacity of Adventure, and her Autumn Passion poem sent to us whilst in New Zealand, along with the Waitati Wandering.

Our very first blog Treasures of our Western Bowerbird (July 2020) and sequel Looking forward… (1 January 2021) took us through the making of a bower and the journey we travelled.

2023 saw a lot of activity through the year at the bower and we are still happy to say the bower is in full use into 2024, the treasures are still being laid out meticulously by the industrious male Western Bowerbird.

There is our blogger Dorothy L., who gave Fleeting moments of reflection and a solitary performance. Included is our flashback to 2010 with the Night of a Thousand Croaks, and more recent blogs Where there is goodness, there is magic!, In the folds of the Platypus buds our cheeky bees do it… and Morning Glory.

For dog lovers, there is Camp Dogs and Beanies by Andrew Turner, who also reminiscence in The Camouflaged Pisser, a cheeky I am a snotty gobbler and reflects in his Part of the family… A light is shone on the iconic Bird Watching at the Beanie Festival, that takes us to The Art of Birds from our blogger Koh Lin, who also writes how he was smitten by the Faces of the Blue Moon, My heart at the tail end, Golden moments, A hard life, A tangled web, Not so squeamish now…, Those White-plumed Unexpected Moments, Its a jungle out there! and the moment he Felted Love…

We would like to welcome Marianne Broug as a contributor and guest author. Her love of nature and the world around us are shared with us through her amazing photographs, with many of her works telling a story.

Check out Stefan Jones amazing photographs of the Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) and Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider (genus Deinopis), we look forward to more content from him. You can also read contributions from Marc Newman with his blogs that include Too much for Mrs Carpenter and Looking for Love… We like to thank David Rennie for his series of blog contributions about Little Dave’s Story (Prologue), and indeed a story worth telling of a life well lived.

We hope you enjoy our bloggers and their blogs, where we will be bringing our thoughts, our musings, our experiences… through articles and blog style quirky ramblings.

Take a stroll through our site, as we ‘showcase Australia’… See the places we have been, share our interest and those of our contributors and authors in flora and fauna, festivals and events that we have experienced, and learn about Australia from the coasts to ‘the living heart’.

Keep coming back to our Snapshots (as we grow and evolve this section), including Snapshots from Antarctica, Snapshots: The Breakaways, Snapshots: South Coast, Snapshots from the Northern Territory and Snapshots Road Trains in Australia.

We look forward to up-coming events and look back at those that have been and gone, such as Vivid Sydney, and those in Central Australia including the Parrtjima Festival and Alice Springs Beanie Festival,

Throughout the site we detail the source of our information, listing them in our Footnotes & References and on our publication page, we list books and other resources we enjoy here at Ausemade.

For those who cannot explore at the moment, we share what we can through social media and our own website, and hope that one day soon, you can experience what you find here…

WHAT’S NEW

As we add new and re-edit content every day to AusEmade… we will mention some of it here with quick links… Check out our expanded listing on Recent Additions… then take a stroll through the pages of our website.

○ Beanie Maker Artisan ○ Alice Springs Beanie Festival 2023 ○ Alice Springs Beanie Festival 2024 ○ Alice Springs Moths ○ Beetles ○ Coleoptera (Beetles) ○ Buprestidae ○ Castiarina ○ Central Coast ○ Formicidae ○ Birds at the Ponds ○ Landscape at the Ponds ○ Landscape of Birds at the Ponds ○ Sapphire Coast ○ Western Australia Insects ○ Western Australia Moths ○ Western Australia Spiders ○ Stirling Range National Park ○ Bees ○ Southern Downs Native Bees ○ Spiders ○ Blogs