Tag:wildlife

kangaroo on beach

Kangaroos: The Iconic Symbol of Australia’s Wildlife

Australia is often associated with the image of kangaroos hopping across the horizon or on a beach. Just like the koala, the kangaroo is a global icon of Australia. They are prominently featured on Australia’s coat of arms alongside the emu, and the flying kangaroo serves as the emblem of the national airline. The animals represent a nation that is constantly moving forward, as they are unable to walk backwards.

These hopping macropods (the name means big foot)  are the world’s largest marsupials. They are native to Australia and the offshore islands of Tasmania and Kangaroo Island, New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Varieties of Kangaroo include the eastern grey kangaroo, red kangaroo, western grey kangaroo, common and black wallaroo and antilopine kangaroo, as well as fourteen species of the Macropus genus, called Wallabies. Overall there are 45 varieties of kangaroo.

Kangaroos in outback NSW
Kangaroos in Outback NSW

Male kangaroos are called bucks, boomers, jacks or old men.  Females are flyers or jills.  Their young are called joeys, and a group of ‘roos is a mob, court or troop.

Appearance

Kangaroos are marsupials with large feet and powerful hind legs, enabling them to travel at 70 km/h and jump more than 9 metres in a single bound. In addition, their small front legs and long, powerful tail provides balance when jumping.  The red kangaroo is the tallest; the males can grow up to 2 metres tall, weigh 140 kg and is 3 metres long from nose to tip of the tail, which they use like a fifth leg.

Swamp Wallaby, Qld. kangaroos of australia
Swamp Wallaby, Qld.

In contrast, the smallest kangaroo is the musky rat-kangaroo at only 40 to 50 cm.  Kangaroos have exceptional hearing and can swivel their ears to pick up sounds.  They also have excellent eyesight but only react to moving objects. Their coat can be red, grey or light to dark brown, depending on the species. Kangaroos are superb swimmers and use their tails to propel them through the water and paddle with their front legs.  They swim to avoid predators and can use their forepaws to drown pursuers.

Behaviour

Young kangaroos will playfight, but the fighting becomes more serious as they age. Fighting is either over access to the females, to establish dominance and move up the mob hierarchy or against enemies. They use their forelegs to grip an enemy, rock back on their tail and swiftly drop their huge, sharp, clawed hind feet.  This action has been known to disembowel dogs and humans.

Young kangaroos play fighting
Young ‘roos play fighting.

When chased by hunters with dogs, they often head for water and have been known to turn and hold down on the dog with their forefeet in an attempt to drown it. When alarmed, a kangaroo will hiss and growl.  The females make clicking noises when communicating with their young.  Males also ‘chuckle’ during courtship.

Reproduction

Like all marsupials, kangaroos have pouches where the joeys are reared.  The pouches also contain four teats producing two different types of milk.  A newborn is attached permanently to one (neonatal)  teat and receives a protein-rich fluid.  The other teats produce ‘mature’ milk for the joey at her feet. Grey kangaroos allocate more protein to sons than daughters.

kangaroos - joey in pouch
Joey in pouch

Kangaroos produce one young annually.  The joey is born at a very immature stage, is only about 2 cm long, and weighs less than a gram.  Immediately following birth, it crawls up the mother’s body, enters her pouch, and attaches itself to the neonatal teat.  The teat then enlarges to hold the joey in place.  The joey leaves the pouch after nine months but continues to suckle until twelve months.

female kangaroo checking on joey in pouch
female kangaroo checking on Joey in the pouch

Within a few days of giving birth, the females enter heat again, mate and conceive.  However, after one week of developing, the embryo enters a dormant state.  This dormancy remains until the young Joey leaves the pouch.  Development of the embryo will then resume, and the female gives birth after a 30-day gestation, and the cycle starts all over again. Female kangaroos are literally permanently pregnant!

Diet and Habitat

Kangaroos are herbivores and graze on grass, young shoots, leaves of heath plants, and grass trees. They get most of their water from the plants they eat; thus, they require very little water to survive and can go months without drinking water. They also conserve water by only being active when the weather is cooler.  During the day, they will rest in the shade, coming out to eat in the late afternoon and at night when it’s much cooler. They can be found across woodlands, forests, plains and savannahs of Australia. Like cattle, kangaroos regurgitate their food.  They chew it twice before it passes into their chambered stomach.  

kangaroos are herbivores and left handed
Kangaroos are left-handed
Population

The current kangaroo population in Australia is estimated to be around 50 million.  To slow the rising population of kangaroos, which has doubled in the last six years, scientists are asking people to eat more kangaroo meat (which has been legal to consume since 1993). The rise in population is attributed to an abundance of food after three years of heavy rains due to La Niña.  Concerns are a loss of diversity if the population keeps growing.  Calls for a kangaroo cull are growing. Kangaroos have only three natural predators – dingoes, humans and wedge-tail eagles. Unlike many species, European settlement has actually benefited their numbers. 

small mob of kangaroos
A small mob of roos

Settlers cleared vast forest areas and put in bores, dams and tanks, providing permanent water resources and abundant pasture grasses.  Coupled with the extinction of the Tasmanian tiger and the dingo fence, they have become overabundant in some areas. As a result, there are now more kangaroos than people in Australia.

Caution Required

Kangaroos may look cute and friendly, and some are quite tame as they have become used to humans as they encroach on suburbia. But they are still wild animals, and not all are friendly and docile or as ‘smart’ as the star of the 1960s television show ‘Skippy’. Some have been known to attack humans and dogs. 

kangaroo
friendly young kangaroo

While most attacks aren’t serious, in 1938, a New South Wales man died from injuries he received protecting his dogs.  This year, in Western Australia, a 77-year-old man died after being attacked by the western grey kangaroo he had hand raised from a joey.  Kangaroos are protected under federal conservation laws, and it is an office to harm or keep them as pets.

The Australian Echidna: A National Icon and Fascinating Species

The echidna, (Tachyglossidae) also known as a spiny anteater, is Australia’s most widespread native mammal.  Significantly, along with the Platypus, the echidna is the only mammal in the world that lays eggs. In zoological terms, the platypus and echidna are monotremes, primitive mammals that lay large yolky eggs and have a common opening for the urogenital and digestive systems.

Appearance

Echidnas eat and breathe through the bald, tube-like snout. While echidna species are referred to as short or long-beaked, they actually have snouts, not beaks. They have dome-shaped bodies covered in brown fur and 5cm long (2 inch) spines similar to a hedgehog. The spines are formed from a single hair. These modified hairs range in colour from cream to black.  Echidnas have beady eyes, slits for ears, and a tiny mouth at the end of their snout. They also have a low body temperature and cannot tolerate extreme heat.  Therefore, they shelter from the midday sun and can be active both day and night.

Echidnas grow between 35 to 76 cm long and weigh 2.5 to 10 kg.  Both male and female echidnas have a belly pouch.  They have poor vision but possess an excellent sense of hearing and smell. In addition, the long spines help provide camouflage in the bush. The male echidna has the most bizarre penis in the animal kingdom. More info on that odd appendage can be found on Australian Geographic.

Diet

When hunting food, they slowly and methodically probe along the ground, searching for prey. The echidna’s long, rear-facing claws also make them excellent diggers. They primarily eat worms, termites, ants, and other insects, and, like anteaters, they have no teeth. Instead, they poke their 7-8cm snout into rotting logs and termite mounds and then use their 18cm long, sticky tongues to scoop up insects under the bark.

echidna
Echidna digging for ants
Species and Habitat

There are four species of echidna. The long-beaked echidna is found almost exclusively in high-altitude alpine meadows and humid mountain forests in the highlands of New Guinea.  The short-beaked echidna is found throughout Australia and New Guinea’s lowlands in various habitats, including rainforest, grassland, and desert. Sir David’s long-beaked echidna and the eastern long-beaked echidna are only found in New Guinea.  Echidnas are solitary animals apart from the mating season. However, they are not territorial.  During the winter months, they hibernate in their burrow. 

echidna
Breeding

The breeding season is from the end of June to early September. During the breeding season, it’s not unusual for a  female to be trailed by from one to ten males.  This mating train can last for up to four weeks. When the female is ready to mate, she lies relaxed and flat on her stomach.   The males that formed the ‘train’ dig a circular trench around her. Eventually, the largest male pushes the competing rivals out of this ‘mating rut’.  The male then digs more dirt out from the spot where the female’s tail is resting, he then lies on his side and, placing his tail under hers, they mate.

A baby echidna is called a puggle
Puggle Image courtesy of Taronga zoo

Echidnas are one of only five egg-laying mammals in the world that drink milk.  Apart from the four species of echidna, the only other egg-laying mammal is the duck-billed platypus. Female echidnas lay a single egg in their pouch,  which then hatches after about ten days.  At birth, the baby echidna (called a puggle)  weighs just 0.5 grams and is less than half an inch long. The puggle stays in the pouch for  4 to 5 weeks. During this time, the puggle is fed from milk, the mother secretes, and the puggle laps up. Puggles in the pouch do not have spines. The mother moves the puggle into a burrow when its spines begin to break through its skin. She will return and feed it every few days until it is about seven months old when it can leave the burrow.

Spurs

Like the male platypus, the male echidna has spurs on its hind legs.  However,  the platypus and echidna use their spurs for drastically different reasons.  In the case of the male platypuses, the spurs are a venomous weapon to help them compete against other males during the breeding season.  In contrast, the male echidnas secrete a milky substance from their spurs during breeding season as a means of scent communication with females.

monotreme
Echidna (public domain)
Predators

Cats, dingoes and large goannas may eat the young echidnas, but adult echidnas don’t have many natural predators due to their spines.  When threatened, an echidna will curl into a ball, lodge itself into a log or rock crevice, or quickly dig a shallow excavation leaving only its sharp spines exposed.

Echidna rolled up in a ball being moved off the road
Echidna rolled up in a ball being moved off the road – Creative Commons Image
Conservation status

In New Guinea, Sir David’s long-beaked echidna and the western long-beaked echidna are both listed as critically endangered, with populations declining.  In Australia, the eastern long-beaked echidna is listed as vulnerable, and the current population size is estimated to be around 10,000 mature echidnas, but this number is likely declining. The IUCN categorises the short-beaked echidna as a species of Least Concern. In Australia, picking up or moving one from its natural surroundings is illegal.

Echidnas are considered to be a vulnerable species due to habitat loss and disease. Conservation efforts for echidnas include protecting their natural habitats, monitoring populations, and educating the public about the importance of these animals. Additionally, organisations such as the Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours offer programs to support echidna research and conservation.

serendip sanctuary

Birding Hotspots – Serendip Sanctuary, Lara

One of my favourite birding hotspots is Serendip Sanctuary. Situated in Lara, not far from Geelong, the sanctuary is home to around 150 species of birdlife, plus kangaroos, wallabies, and emus. Parks Victoria uses Serendip for wildlife research. Additionally, it serves as a holding facility in the captive breeding program for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot. Serendip also focuses on environmental education of the flora and fauna of the wetlands and grassy woodlands.

Serendip Sanctuary features open grassy woodlands and wetlands of the western volcanic plains.  Four interconnecting trails meander the sanctuary with predator-proof fencing providing a safe haven.  The trails start at the information centre; each path is no longer than 2km.

yellow billed spoonbill - serendip sanctuary
yellow-billed Spoonbill
Nesting Yellow-billed Spoonbill
History

In the 1860s, George Fairbairn Snr, one of Australia’s most successful pastoralists, established Serendip as a premier sheep stud.  He named it ‘Woodlands’ before changing it to ‘Windemere’ in 1880. Unfortunately, the grasslands vanished with the land cleared, driving all wildlife from the area. The Victorian Government purchased the property in the early 1900s.  However, the Lara Inebriates Institution took over the homestead and 258 hectares.  In 1930, James McDonald bought the land when the Inebriates Institution closed. He then turned it into a crop and sheep farm and leased the original homestead to the State Tobacco Company.  

tawny frogmouth at serendip sanctuary
Tawny Frogmouth

Oscar and Edna Mendelsohn bought the property when the Tobacco company folded in 1948. They named the property Serendip and established an almond orchard. In addition, the water reservoir was proclaimed a wildlife sanctuary for birdlife. Finally, in 1959, the Mendelsohns sold the land to the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. The Department assumed control of the 240 hectares surrounding the wildlife sanctuary.

Emu - serendip sanctuary
Emu
Wildlife Walk

The wildlife walk is the most popular and allows visitors to experience a close encounter with wildlife.  This walk takes you past grazing Eastern Grey Kangaroos, then through a series of bird hides, viewing areas and finally into free-flight aviaries.

Blue Faced Honeyeater
Blue Faced Honeyeater
Wildlife

Over time, attracted by the wetlands, the number of species breeding there increased from 40 in 1959 to 150 in 2021.  Cape barren geese, magpie geese and yellow-billed spoonbills thrive in the shallow freshwater wetland. Additionally, the marshland is home to many ducks and white-faced herons, nankeen night herons, black swans and grebes. Honeyeaters and wattlebirds feed on the nectar and insects in the trees around Lake Serendip while Whistling and Black kites soar and swoop overhead, looking for small prey on the ground.

Turquoise Parrot
Turquoise Parrot

The Billabong habitat is home to Ducks, swamphens, moorhens, frogs, water rats, and snakes. In contrast, the north arm is a permanent wetland with reliable fish populations providing food for pelicans and cormorants. 

Bush Stone Curlew
Bush Stone Curlew
Protected Species

Australian Bustards and Bush Stone Curlew are two rare Victorian birds that were once common on the western plains.  As the Brolgas and Australian bustards were on the verge of extinction, they were selected for the captive breeding program.  The success of the program has since received international recognition.

Australian Bustard
Australian Bustard

Australia’s rarest waterfowl, the Freckled Duck, is also on display at Serendip, along with the most secretive of owls, the Masked Owl. Pademelons can be seen at the sanctuary but are now extinct in the wild in Victoria.

Brolga at serendip sanctuary
Brolga
Sulphur crested cockatoo feeding a juvenile cockatoo
Sulphur-crested cockatoo feeding a juvenile cockatoo
Where is it?

100 Windermere Road, Lara

Open 8 am to 4 pm.  Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday

Entry is free

Return to Great Ocean Road Pt 1

The Great Ocean Road is one of my favourite road trip destinations. Loads to stop and see along the way, great lunch spots, and very, very changeable weather.  We have had sunny, hazy days, cloudy overcast days, rainy days and one glorious sunny day. We have been chasing the elusive sunrise and sunset several times over the last few months. 

Split Point Lighthouse
Redwood Forest

Determined to get that ever-elusive sunrise/sunset, we travelled down the GOR in December, January and again in February…

Otway Ranges

Heading down in December, we stopped off at the Redwood Forest in the Otway Ranges.  Beautiful Californian Sequoia Trees planted along the Aire River in 1939 now rise majestically up to a canopy towering above your head. The ground is covered with rusty red leaf litter; it’s a stunning, serene place to walk in, peaceful and silent like a cathedral of trees.  The Aire River meanders through at the back, lined with tree ferns. It cascades across rocks and under fallen logs. Its vibe is otherworldly. You almost expect to see Frodo or Gandalf walk out.

Otway Ranges
Peterborough

Leaving the redwood, we skipped Apollo Bay and headed towards Princetown. Being the height of the Christmas period, the coast road was packed with tourists, so we had decided to stay a bit further along at Peterborough, passing the Twelve Apostles. The roads were lined with barriers to stop parking on the side of the road, LED signs in both Chinese and Australian, and gazillions of people swarming over the boardwalks and lookouts. Staying further along was looking like a great plan.

Bay of Martyrs

When we arrived in the sunshine, the following day was very grey and overcast. So we decided to beat the tourist buses by getting out early. It was nice and quiet, just a couple of others out, not cold, but overcast and windy, not the best weather.

Bay of Martyrs
Princetown

Skipping ahead a month, we went back in January. This time the sun was well and truly shining as we headed down

Traffic was terrible

revisited all the stops that we did in December, as well as taking in Lorne, but this in lovely sunshine with blue skies

Teddys Lookout

We were staying at Princetown itself this time. It is a sleepy little place with a tavern (with great food). Accom (very basic) and a general store that keeps surprisingly short trading hours had dinner at the tavern (great food) and then went to the twelve apostles for sunset wasn’t bad but still not a box ticked.  I got back to the carpark well after dark and headed back to our accommodation at 9 pm, and everything was closed, a sleepy little place Accom (very basic), and a general store that keeps surprisingly short trading hours.

We were up for sunrise the following day at 5 am and should have stayed in bed. We were definitely out of luck or over-optimistic but going on the cars at the carpark, we weren’t the only ones that thought a sunrise at the twelve apostles on Great Ocean Road was a good idea.

No sunrise today!
Back to Apollo Bay

ah well, there’s always February

O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat

Once a year, my sister and I take a week’s holiday together. No hubbies, no kids. Just sister time with our cameras.  This year we chose the hinterlands of the Gold Coast, staying at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat for four days before heading down via Springbrook National Park to Surfers Paradise for another four days. Finally, we flew out of Melbourne, arriving in Coolangatta 2 hours later… due to Qld not having daylight savings, the watches had to go back an hour, putting us at the rental desk to collect our hire car only 1.5hrs after leaving Melbourne. 

“Four years after the arrival of the O’Reilly family in 1911 Lamington National Park was declared, effectively isolating the O’Reillys from the outside world. While Lamington wasn’t Queensland’s first national park it is the most significant, and was regularly referred to as ‘Queensland’s National Park”

https://oreillys.com.au/lamington-national-park/
Our ride for our eight days

A free upgrade saw us heading off in a lovely little Mitsubishi ASX instead of the Toyota Carolla.  Not that it helped with luggage storage … we had two large suitcases and two rolling camera suitcases, and the big suitcases held more camera gear!  Gone are the days of travelling light.

O’Reilly’s Canungra Vineyards
Canungra

The first stop was O’Reillys Vineyards, Canungra, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch before a wine tasting and bought some wines to take with us.  There was apparently platypus breeding in the creek, but with the skies getting darker and a storm predicted and 34 kms of very, very winding road up the mountain ahead of us, we decided to push on.  It was good that we did, as while Qld doesn’t believe it needs daylight, saying it would really help!  Daylight is around 4.30 am every morning, but it’s dark by 6 pm. 

Lunch on the wide veranda
Goat Track of a Road

Road crews were working on the road repairing damage from Cyclone Debbie. This made some sections narrower than they were already, and it was one lane all the way up.  Not one lane each way… one lane in total!  there were lots of little turnouts to pull over into, but a couple of times, we came around a blind corner with another car coming towards us…. a wine was definitely called for by the time we arrived. (we found out later the road was an old logging track they covered with bitumen!)

View from the room at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat

O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat is a village-like retreat high up the mountain in Lamington National Park, with a dining room, bar, cafe, discovery centre, church, mini-mart, gift shop, and accommodation options from self-contained through to guesthouse or camping. 

Birds Galore

We had decided to stay in the mountain view rooms with a little back deck overlooking the mountains in the distance.  It turned out to be an excellent choice as each morning and evening, we had such a myriad of birds in the trees around our room that we quickly bought some rice crackers at the mini-mart to attract them closer.

That night we strolled down to O’Reilly’s dining room… amazing food with massive portions…. not really overpriced for what you got, but geez.. our lamb share platter for two could have fed four; we did our best but still left half…. mind you we still made room for the pavlova even if we had to share that too 🙂

The lamb leg for two (this was what we left after we were full!

Mildura to Broken Hill

Tuesday morning, as pre-arranged the night before, everyone was up in the dark, out the door by 6 am and heading down to the Mildura Wharf for sunrise. 

Sunrise On The River

The river was still and quiet, save for the morning bird calls and the odd early morning jogger going past.  We were set up on a lovely wooden walkway that gave a good view down (up?) the river to the bridge over the Murray. But, even at that hour, there was a constant stream of traffic across the bridge.

Blue hour on the river

By 6.45 am, the sun was coming up, more joggers and walkers were going past, and traffic was picking up… the river and the houseboats all remained quiet, though.

Golden hour on the river
Back On The Road

Once the sun was up, we headed back to the motel for breakfast and showers, then booked out and headed to Broken Hill, 296kms up the Silver City Highway.  The road is well-maintained bitumen but long, with the occasional bend to keep you on your toes.  Between Mildura and Broken Hill, reception drops off quickly once out of Mildura, and you don’t get it back till about 20kms out of BH.  There is only one little general store between Mildura and BH and three unattended rest stops.  Apart from that, it’s just you and the goats..lots and lots of wild goats beside the road and the emus.

Rest stop at the halfway mark
Mildura to Broken Hill
Wild goats abound!
A mirage on Silver City Highway
Mildura to Broken Hill
Old Man Emu
….And his mob
Mildura to Broken Hill
Who wanted to cross the road
Broken Hill

We made it to BH by around 1 pm – where the group met up again at the  Demo Club.  The club began life as the  Barrier Democratic Social Club, a working man’s club similar to the RSLs,  but it has evolved into a curious cross between a pub and an RSL.  There are no half-full wine glasses here.. every glass was a millimetre from the top and half the price of the victorian pubs.  We booked into our rooms at the motel from the demo club, unpacked, and took a brief rest before heading off again.  This time we were off to the Line Of The Load, a miner’s memorial overlooking BH.  It has the name and cause of death of every miner who has worked the mine in BH… and there was a lot.  No such thing as OH & S a hundred years ago.

Mildura to Broken Hill
View over Broken Hill
Sculptures In the Desert

From the memorial, we headed just outside Broken Hill to Sculptures in the Desert – 12 sandstone sculptures on a hilltop.  With Bill and Deanne Holmer from Melbourne Light Painting, we would shoot the sunset and then do a little bit of light painting before the ranger kicked us out at 7 pm to lock the gates.

Waiting For Sundown
Mildura to Broken Hill
Fire In The Hole!!
Mildura to Broken Hill
Orbs!
Mildura to Broken Hill
Lighting up the Sculptures

Right on clockwork, the Ranger turned up at 7 pm and dispersed the party…then it was back to BH for dinner at Mario’s Palace Hotel…made famous from the movie Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.

Tropical North Qld

One of my favourite places on earth is Tropical North Qld.

Correction, it’s my most favourite place. It’s warm, usually sunny, the people are beyond anyone’s yardstick for friendly, and the lifestyle is so laid back you don’t need yoga or massages. I visited here in 2012, came back in 2014 and returned in 2016. This trip was impromptu – I usually don’t travel in the high season, but I wasn’t turning up the chance to go again.

Flights

We flew Jetstar, and apart from the struggle with cabin baggage restrictions, it was problem-free. I would guess 7kg as carry-on is acceptable for the regular holiday traveller. However, it is a challenge for someone who travels with a DSLR and several lenses. Fortunately, hubby was travelling with me this time, so I could span my gear across our cabin bags and the clothing was checked in.

A Pillow To Lie My Head On

We stayed in Trinity Beach this time rather than Cairns central, which turned out to be the best decision we could have made. Unlike Cairns, there were no parking problems or wall-to-wall people. Cairns is fabulous. But parking is problematic, and it’s becoming crowded.

Hopefully, it takes a while for people to catch on that Trinity Beach is only 25 mins from Cairns and awesome 🙂  (shhh, you didn’t hear it from me ).   Our rooms at the Trinity Beach Club Apartments were fabulous. Comfy, well-appointed, reasonably priced, and only 5 mins walk from the beach. We made good use of the saltwater pool and spa too 🙂

Getting Around

You can use the ‘Sunbus’. I saw many of them around, and it seems an easy way of getting around. Each time I have been to Cairns, we have hired a car. Mainly because of the gear I lug around. And I hate waiting for public transport. As usual, we opted for an economy class car which before has served well. However, there was no cruise control, and the vehicle, a Hyundai Accent, struggled on hills with inferior pickup, Something I will be aware of next time when I book.

What To Do

Hubby is happy to just veg on holiday while  I look for photographic locations when we are away. One given, when in Cairns, is we have to go to Hartley’s.

Hartleys Crocodile Adventures

I have been there every trip up North and never tire of it. It’s the best place to get croc pics and see them up close They also have excellent wildlife areas that cover lots of other Australian animals and reptiles Last time, I sat in on the Croc attack show. This time we were there in the morning, so we took in the Croc Feeding OMG, awesome, doesn’t cover it, And Ryan really needs a pay rise No way would I hand feed the beasts!

Cape Tribulation

Apart from Hartley’s, we finally drove to Cape Tribulation. I had wanted to go here for ages but never got there till this visit. The drive up from Cairns is about 2.5 hours, including crossing the Daintree on the car ferry. There is no bridge, so it’s the ferry or swim. And with about 60 crocs in the river, that’s not advisable. The ferry is a reasonable $26 return. It takes about 10 min Peak hour can see quite a lot of cars queued up, but if you avoid 10 am-12 pm or 3 pm-6 pm, it’s good. Once off the ferry, we drove to Cape Tribulation beach. It’s pristine, clean and quiet. Even though there were about ten other people there, it felt like you were the only ones on earth. The rainforest reaches right down to the sand. Idyllic doesn’t begin to cover it.

Bubbler Crab Patterns in the Sand
Kuranda

We took the Skyrail up and back to Kuranda to visit the market on Saturday. Another of my favourite things to do is the Kuranda Market. The heritage markets aren’t large but worth the visit. Loads of other shops, the traditional markets, cafe’s, Birdworld, Butterfly World, and Venom World are all within an easy walk.   Being smart and too lazy to walk uphill, we took the courtesy bus up to the markets and then strolled back downhill when we were ready to return to the Skyrail.

Hubby also went out on a morning fishing charter with Paradise Sports Fishing and had a ball. While he was doing that, I chilled at the Esplanade Lagoon with my book.

Eating…..

We just about camped at the Trinity Beach Bar and Grill. Sprawling across the corner opposite the beach, it seemed a favourite of both locals and tourists. The food was great, portions large and reasonably priced. We tried the Trinity Beach Tavern one night, and the seafood was superb. Likewise, for the Blue Moon Bar and Grill. Both provided excellent food and good service. Our biggest disappointment was Chiantti’s Pizzeria. The pizza was ok, pasta less so.

Sunrises

One of the things I always try for and rarely get while on holiday is a decent sunrise. Out of the five days we were there, we went out twice. The best one of the lot was in the middle of our stay. With a huge rising red sun and a deep red, Of course, that day, I was driving into Cairns to take the man to his fishing charter and missed it 😐 On the days I did go out, I shot bracketed shots, combined them into HDR, and came home happy with the two I managed to get.

Day Two: Trinity Beach Sunrise
Day Four: Sunrise at Trinity Beach

We have already promised a return in 2018. So if you are looking for heaven on a stick, Tropical North Queensland is the only contender in my book.

Reptiles!

It was reptiles shootshoot day!

One of the benefits of being in a camera or photography group is the strength of numbers.  Numbers that allow us to book or attend events, not normally open to the public.  Hence our reptiles day.

Blue Tongued Lizard
Bearded Dragon
Reptile Photoshoot

After hearing about a reptile photoshoot,  we decided to investigate it as an event for our group (Victorian Photographers Collective).  A few weeks later, a group of us met at the premises of the reptile handler.  We tested it out as a group event before opening it up to the members.  We photographed the slow and sometimes fast-moving reptiles and amphibians for ninety minutes, complete with a quick “hold this” (a green tree frog) while a recalcitrant snake was gathered up.

Quick Hold This!
reptiles
Magnificent Green Tree Frog
reptiles
Diamond Python
reptiles
Water Dragon
reptiles
Water Dragon

Apart from the said snake and a massive python named Darth Vader, they were all reasonably slow and happy to sit and pose for us.  And surprisingly soft.  I expected them to be rough-skinned, but they were like fine handbags (maybe not the most politically correct analogy LOL).  I was also giving the new macro lens its second outing.   It had been used on mushrooms the month before,  but I was still unsure of its merits.  But after Reptiles, I love it!

The Fine Details

All images taken under continuous soft boxes, on Canon 6D, AV Mode,  F4, Auto ISO (averaged between 4000 to 6400) using Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Churchill Island

Over the bridge in Phillip Island is the turnoff to Churchill Island Heritage Farm. It has been farmed since the 1850s and became the holiday retreat of the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Samuel Amess, when he purchased it in 1872.

Churchill Island
A day on the farm

Last Sunday myself, and a dozen or so photographers from Melbourne Photography Excursions travelled down to the island for the day to visit the farm. It’s tiny, only 57 hectares but has heritage gardens, historic buildings and fantastic views over Port Phillip Bay.

We stayed in Cowes overnight as I hoped to get a sunset and sunrise. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a total bust with thick clouds moving in the late afternoon. It was going to be a hot day, though, on Monday, so we called in at the Forrest Caves near Cape Woolami. 

Suffolk Sheep
Cape Barren Goose
Peacock Tail
Cowes

We missed low tide so that we couldn’t get to the caves, so we dodged sand flies for an hour while trying to get some long exposure shots from the beach. It’s a beautiful spot but a challenging walk. A big staircase up and down over the dunes, we were all puffing like ten pack a day smokers by the time we made it back to the car.

Phillip Island
© Bevlea Ross