I seemed to live in the midst of a vast, enigmatic play which combined aspects of tragedy, mime, circus, and opera in daily dramatic events in which participants communicated by gesture and song. You could catch slapstick honeyeater chases and lizard wrestling matches, ringing bird operatic performances, and earthy, slice-of-life family dramas. The performance was endlessly engaging, despite the indecipherable plot. Throughout the year, the forest was the stage for a dazzling, complex extravaganza of carefully-timed connections, disappearances and subtly-foreshadowed reappearances. Quick prey starred opposite quicker predator; patient, supportive nectar-bearer opposite vivacious nectar-gatherer. All were hacked up by an avian and insect cast of millions. Its ceaseless change displayed an intricate and mysterious regularity and order but always seemed to outrun anticipation and regularly produced the unexpected.
(Val Plumwood, from The People's Forest).
