Water Tower

The sun going down behind a water tower near to home. Love the rustic feel that this pic has.

Beach Sunrise

I'm always in my happy place when walking on the beach. The best time of day has to be sunrise; particularly when it looks this good.

Tranquility

A short drive from home there is a walk through the rainforest, which runs alongside a creek and finishes up at a beautiful waterfall called Tranquility. Its such a nice little part of the world, with some great wildlife. Here's a couple of pics from my last visit.

Sails Up!

 I took this last year on my birthday when hubby and I headed out for a day out sailing on the gorgeous Coral Sea. We hung out on a beautiful little island for a few hours, snorkeled and then headed back to dry land..sparking wine in hand. A fabulous day.

Millaa Millaa Falls

This stunning waterfall is approximately 18m in height and is listed as a Queensland heritage site. It is now a very popular tourist stop and crowds converge here to swim in the cool pool below the falls. But that has not always been the case. 

The immediate area around the falls was used as a rest stop for the early horse and mule pack teams that travelled along the Palmerston track on their way to and from the Herberton mining field; used as a depot for the first land surveyors working in the area; a camp for workers on the Millaa Millaa railway, and as a quarry for road materials.

Wikipeda 

River Mouth

This tranquil view is the halfway point on my morning walk. The smoke in the distance is from the local sugar crushing mill which is going full pelt at this time of year as they harvest the sugar cane. Its a real struggle to get out of bed in the morning.

Beach Moods

Its been a while since I've posted. Not sure why. Just wasn't feeling inspired I guess. Well, that all changed this morning when I went for a walk on the beach. Usually we are blessed with clear blue, cloudless skies, and don't get me wrong, that makes us lucky. But it's a little boring isn't it? Well, this morning was a little different as you can see and it really made me stop and look. Beautiful.

Sugar Wharf

I took this pic coming back into Port Douglas from a sunset cruise the other week. It was a beautiful calm night and the Wharf looked stunning at dusk.

Cooktown Sunset

We were fortunate enough to stay in the only accommodation that over looks the water in Cooktown. This also meant that every evening we had the best seats in the house for the sunset. It really was spectacular.

Mossman Gorge

Recently I paid a visit to one of my favourite local spots with my family. Unfortunately, what was once a beautiful natural rainforest area which could be accessed by anyone at any time, has now been turned into a money generating, tourist encouraging, over crowded monstrosity.

Much to my disgust the so called "Discovery Centre", does not educate, advise or provide the average Joe with any information about what they are about to see and experience, but does however exhibit some art (which is for sale), hosts a gift shop (with more stuff for sale), has a cafe (ditto) and of course numerous points of "sale" for bus tickets to get you down to the Gorge (as you are no longer able to take yourself!).

It really was quite horrific, even the bus ride was just that. No running commentary about where we were going, no introduction to the ancient rainforest and all it's beautiful secrets. NO...just herded onto the bus, given a ride to the Gorge with a dozen other people who we then had to spend the next 2 kms trying to distance ourself from so that we could actually enjoy the Gorge in all its splendour and in peace.

 But unfortunately that wasn't to be. We even walked past a group of young people who were fiddling with their iPad, incredulous that there was no internet reception!!! What?? No internet? In the oldest rainforest in the world. GOOD LORD! Sigh.

 Even the Boyd's Forest Dragons were conspicuous in their absence.

I was angry for a while. Now I'm just incredibly sad.

That was the last time I will ever be visiting Mossman Gorge.

Annan River

On a recent trip to Cooktown; QLD. We took some time out for an evening fish on the banks of the Annan River. The river and it's surrounds were spectacular and even more beautiful in the light of the "Golden Hour".

Coral Coast

When we think of tropical coastlines, we tend to think of white sands, palm trees and still turquoise oceans.  This photo of the Coral Coast was taken during the "Wet Season" in the Tropics and depicts quite a different picture. I love the beach when it's stormy and the tropical coast in the Summer does stormy really well!

Barron River

This majestic looking river runs from the Atherton Tablelands down to meet the Coral Sea, just north of Cairns. The Barron River has some spectacular falls (see later posts), especially in the Wet Season, and is also home to the Saltwater Crocodile which is found in many of the rivers of Far North Queensland. This photo was taken from the Skyrail Cableway.

Ocean Sunset

Taken on a recent fishing trip out on the Great Barrier Reef, this view was making us reluctant to pull up anchor and go home.

Smooth runnings

We came across this beautiful creek when we were travelling the Creb Track recently and I took the opportunity to practice my "running water" shots. I was pretty pleased with the outcome of this.

Up the Creek

My favourite spot down at the local creek. It's such a beautiful, peaceful place where all you can hear is the parrots squawking and occasionally a Ulysses butterfly flits past your head or a paradise kingfisher flies past. Many an hour or three wasted down here!

Billabong

The great Australian Billabong!!! We found this on our explorations the other week and had a great afternoon cruising through the bush taking photos and looking at the wildlife. We were lucky enough to spot quite a few dragons, sea eagles, and skinks but unfortunately no snakes!

Aoraki Mount Cook

It has to be a relatively clear day for anyone to be lucky enough to see the peak of Mount Cook. It is the highest mountain in New Zealand which is reflected by the Maori name for it; Aoraki or Cloud Piercer.
It is seen here from the shores of Lake Pukaki, a stunning alpine lake whose turquoise colour is created by "rock flour"; rock which has been ground to fine dust by the glacial waters. These particles suspended in the water and combined with sunlight give the lake it's unique colour. Quite simply breathtaking.

Blue Pools

The one thing that I've always said about NZ is that there is a "WOW" round every corner. Well, there really is! This is the magnificent Blue Pools near Haast on the West Coast of the South Island. Just a short walk from the road through some native bush and you are met with this stunning sight. The crystal clear waters of the Makarora River are really quite something!

Ripples

I've always loved beaches. The sand, the waves, the smells, the rockpools, the seaweed and most of all exploring for hours on end for shells. I just feel at peace on a beach. I don't remember where I took this photo, but it sums up for me the "Essence of" a beach.