Magnetic Termite Mounds

As soon as I set eyes on these termite mounds, thanks to David Attenborough I knew exactly what they were! I had first seen them on one of his documentaries a couple of years earlier and now here we were seeing them with our own eyes.

What I didn't realise at the time, was that we were at the most southerly point in Cape York where these particular termite mounds can be found. And the termites that build these particular mounds are named after the township we were just heading to "Laura". Amitermes laurensis are found on the Cape York Peninsula  in Far North Queensland AU and only north of Laura do they build magnetic mounds.

It is generally believed that the reason these mounds align to a north/south direction is so that the termites are able to protect themselves from the extreme heat. Other types of termites are able to retreat into the ground to keep cool, but in areas North of Laura, the termites cannot do this during the wet season for fear of drowning  so they have to find a way of surviving in the mound throughout the summer heat and rain.

River Bed

The diversity of the Australian landscape has always fascinated me. Looking at this photo you would be hard pressed to believe that we were an hour away from the Tropical Rainforest in the middle of the wet season!

This dried up river bed cuts a striking picture through the dry Eucalypt forest. (My favourite kind of Australian landscape).

Garden Fungi

If you are a regular viewer of my blog, you will already know that I have a thing about fungi. Here's a new addition to my collection of pics, these sprang up in my back yard over the last few days as the weather here gets wetter and more humid.

Fern

I took this pic this morning in our garden. I've always been a huge fan of ferns, and we have a lot throughout our property.

Torch Ginger

One thing that the tropics does very well is flora. I'm still constantly wowed by some of the flowers that I come across here. This Torch Ginger is one of my favourites. It is a visually stunning flower used often in floral arrangements, but is also used in cooking in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaya.
I just love it for it's waxy "candle like" appearance.

Arse Rock

I was quite taken with this rock formation when we came across it at Finch Bay in Cooktown. We had this great walk through the bush from the Botanical Gardens (which unfortunately were very disappointing)  and we ended up at this secluded bay with white sand and turquoise waters.  When I turned around to look at where we had come from, there were these rocks. Now I don't know about you, but I only see one thing! Fabulous.

Poinciana

Isn't this tree magnificent? This is a Poiciana and is actually native to Madagascar, but we are fortunate enough to have lots of them here in Queensland. They flower at the start of the rainy season and is a sure sign summer is on it's way.