03-Sep-2019
One for the Carnivores
Daughter No. 2 ordered this to share with her husband.. I believe its ALL meat! Coco
Mojo do a magnificent shared dish with seafood, both daughters ordered that when we
had a meal here to celebrate daughter No. 3's birthday. Now all the meat/sea food eaters
can drool! :)
This is the last image for this gallery, hope you all enjoyed a taste of the Australian tropics!
03-Sep-2019
Eating Out
The last evening in the lovely warmth of the tropics we ate out at our favourite
little restaurant called Coco Mojo. This was my meal - vegetarian ofcourse - rice
balls and salad with satay and/or chilli sauce. Tomorrow I'll feature what some of the carnivores ate.
This will be the penultimate entry to this gallery.
03-Sep-2019
Life Savers Shelter
I'm not sure how many life savers would fit inside this little shelter, my
guess is that on weekends and school holidays there would be more than one.
My view obviously is from the back of the shelter... Clifton Beach where we stayed had
one near the children's playground on the foreshore.
Foreground is a drinking fountain.. photo taken on the walking trail.
Re the walking trail, I believe the paving is recycled car tyres..makes walking on them
less tiring that cement would be.
03-Sep-2019
The Swimming Flags
There is a marking using the flags to let swimmers know the safe place for them,
and there is a lifesaver hut along the pathway back to the central section of the beach.
In this photo you can see the flags, its not a large section, and I'm not sure whether
this is surrounded by netting to keep out the sharks crocodiles and stingers prevalent in these
warmer waters.
If you look closely there are a row of buoys in the water.
This particular beach has a selection of cafes and other touristy shops, whereas the beach where we stay there
is only the walking trail; but there is a top class restaurant and a group of shops with everything you need in Clifton Beach.
03-Sep-2019
Around another bend
This time at another beach further south of Clifton Beach .. our last day in the tropics so Dick and I
went for a drive. The others had decided to go up into the Daintree and were gone all
day. We've done it before, all those winding narrow roads.
Instead we had a leisurely walk along the beach and walking path followed by a coffee. You can compare
cameras here, this was the Lumix, and yesterday's the Canon & long lens.
02-Sep-2019
Around the Bend
Another photo taken from the lookout on the walking trail. Lovely to see
families and dogs enjoying the sunshine.
02-Sep-2019
Best mates.
There's always a few people walking the dog/dogs on this beach, or on the walking
trail.
02-Sep-2019
Waving in the Wind
I had plenty of palm fronds to choose from... this tree took my eye.
02-Sep-2019
Breakers...
I find them mesmerising to watch, especially in the late afternoon when I often went
for a stroll along the walking trail... and finding a spare seat would sit for a while.
The breakers never reached the huge size that some beaches have,
I think the islands off the coast created a shelter for this row of popular beaches.
02-Sep-2019
Looking towards Kewarra, the next beach south..
I took this photo from a lookout on the trail you saw yesterday with my long lens so you can see some detail
of housing amongst the trees. Best in original rather than auto format.
01-Sep-2019
Units where we stayed
Unfortunately they have been sold so this was most probably the last year we
will have our holiday here. We have been staying in these units for the past 5 years,
mostly with some old friends, but a couple of times part of our family came too, as they
did this year.
01-Sep-2019
Through the fronds
A fair bit taller than I am..
01-Sep-2019
Late Afternoon Walk on the Beach
Lovely time of the day to sitting on a bench watching the world go by, and an ideal
time to have the camera ready to catch some of the activity.
01-Sep-2019
A Quiet Spot to rest the legs
On the walking/riding trail along the beach front, this seat doesn't get much
use, its partly hidden amongst the plants. The magnificent paper bark trees cast
a lovely shade.
30-Aug-2019
The Story of the Cassowary
Alongside the bird was this plaque with a story. Throughout the Aquarium quite a
few displays and plaques enlightened the visiting throng. One wouldn't want to
mess with a Cassoway, they can rip you apart with their huge claws, and they use
their feet as weapons.
30-Aug-2019
Cassowary
Besides fish, dry land displays were included and this native bird and local reptiles were a feature.
This bird is an endangered species as you will see written in tomorrows image.
All the glass in the aquarium gives this image an eerie appearance.
30-Aug-2019
An Eel I believe
We spent quite a few hours in the Aquarium, a relatively new addition to the city of Cairns.
We queued up, paid an astronomical fee and eventually were admitted to the sights. So glad I only had my little Lumix, the heavy Canon would have weighed heavily
by the time we emerged at the end of the tour. The place was packed with people, and the display enormous. Here I believe is an eel - correct me if I'm wrong. I was quite
disappointed with how my photos turned out and I won't be adding many to my holiday gallery. So many photos were blue and this one has quite a lot of blue as well.
31-Aug-2019
Luxurious Tropical Gardens
I couldn't resist taking a few photos while wandering around this garden, you
can see why I got left behind the others... even though we've been there many times
before, I still very much enjoy this place. The plants are so different to what
we grow back home where we live.
31-Aug-2019
Shady walkway through the gardens.
Pathways lead off in different directions, a lovely way to spend an afternoon
after a delightful lunch. Our 3rd daughter, husband and their daughter (our
granddaughter).
31-Aug-2019
Fruit on the palms
I can't find a name for these in my book... but they were hanging down on some of the
palms at the resort where we had our meal. As always we go for a stroll around the
garden here, there's always something to see and admire here.
31-Aug-2019
Walking back from the beach..
One of our granddaughters walking back from the beach. This beach is only 3ks from where we were staying. Kewarra/Clifton Beach/Palm Cove
are 3 beaches within 6Ks., and we were staying in the middle beach, Clifton.
01-Sep-2019
A Pathway to the Beach
One of the many on the walk along the Clifton Beach bike/walking trail.
29-Aug-2019
Walking the Dog
I had plenty of time to have a wander, and as the beach was just over the road this
is where I headed and found a few were enjoying the sunshine on the beach including people walking their dog.
29-Aug-2019
Surrounding gardens
While I waited for my daughters to make up their minds in the dress shop I had
a wander around looking at the gardens... here is one view.
29-Aug-2019
Girl's Day Shopping
One of our son-in-laws drove us over to Palm Cove to go shopping for clothes at a
favourite clothes shop - it sells clothing for the tropical climate
and we all love
the selection available there, they suit our summers in the high 30's to mid 40's Celsius. You can't actually see the display in this photo,
but the shop is behind
those glass windows on the right of the photo.
Palm Cove is a difficult place
to find a carpark... we were dropped off and we phoned when we needed to be picked up. :)
28-Aug-2019
Cheesecake at a dairy
A cafe, restaurant, gourmet dairy produce and handmade chocolates where we stopped
for a coffee in the Gallo Dairyland near Atherton. We came out the door bearing cheese & chocolates..
The last photo from this day in the Atherton Tableland.
28-Aug-2019
Pathway around the lake
We were heading back to our family group with my son-in-law leading the way. The last photo from
Lake Eachem.. a few more to follow from our holiday, and I am beginning to take photos of
the spring flowers in our garden.
Sorry I didn't get to make any comments last night, after an appt. with our optometrist and drops in the eyes,
I couldn't see well enough to comment. Back to normal this morning!
28-Aug-2019
A quiet place
We were enjoying the quiet part of the lake, especially the reflections. We
did keep a keen eye on the path we were on, there had been a sign to watch out
for crocodiles as there often is in this tropical part of the world.
28-Aug-2019
Where the water meets the plantlife.
Lake Eachem in a quiet stretch of the lake.
28-Aug-2019
Around the edges
Lake Eachem has a pathway around the entire lake, and we went for a stroll part way and took a few photos.
28-Aug-2019
Lake Eacham, Crater Lakes National Park
A clear lake surrounded by cool rainforest, Lake Eacham offers swimming, birdwatching, canoeing, picnic areas and
shady walking tracks. It is a popular recreation area for locals and visitors.
28-Aug-2019
A swimmer in the falls pool.
Millaa Millaa falls showing someone in the pool having a swim.. while we were there
several people had a short dip here, but most were content to just watch.
28-Aug-2019
Water falling over basalt.
A special feature of the Millaa Millaa waterfall was the basalt, which you can see
also in the next image in this gallery.
I changed my lens to get a close-up of this very interesting phenomenon.
28-Aug-2019
Millaa Millaa Falls.
The falls can be found close to the charming town of Millaa Millaa, the name of which is taken from the Aboriginal phrase MaMu
that refers to a rainforest vine that is common in the area. The waterfall itself soars around 18 metres skywards and there is a pool
at the base that’s the perfect spot for an afternoon dip.
28-Aug-2019
Malanda Falls - view 2.
I walked around to get a much closer shot of the falls, seen here.
28-Aug-2019
Malanda Falls - view 1.
The Malanda Falls is a cascade waterfall on the North Johnstone River, located in the Tablelands Region
in the Far North of Queensland, Australia. After the distillery
we stopped for a while at these falls. We almost had the place to ourselves and
our granddaughter was considering having a swim here.
28-Aug-2019
Surrounded in Bananas!
While the family visited the tasting rooms of Mount Uncle Distillery, I wandered around
the beautiful gardens that surrounded the area... including the edges of some of the
banana plantation. Here is just a small taste of how bananas trees look for those who
can't grow them. The photos I took of the beautiful gardens I will save and make a
special gallery at the end of this series of the flowers/greenery/gardens.
28-Aug-2019
Unfortunately shut for the day...
We called in to the Mount Uncle Distillery and were hoping for a coffee, but the cafe
was shut... the others all lined up in the tasting rooms of the distillery, but not me.
Nestled within a beautiful banana plantation, the Distillery produces a range of award winning premium spirits and liqueurs .
These include a gold rum. Mt Uncle Distillery in Atherton Tablelands outside Cairns won at the
World Rum Awards in London in 2019.
24-Aug-2019
Seat in the Shade
We walked this path once or twice daily along with many others, some walking their dogs
riding bikes, or just going for a stroll like us.
02-Sep-2019
I have my eye on you!
The Bush Stone-curlew, or Bush Thick-knee, is a large, slim, mainly nocturnal, ground-dwelling bird. It is mostly grey-brown above, streaked with black and rufous.
It is whitish below with clear, vertical black streaks. The bill is small and black, and the eye is large and yellow, with a prominent white eyebrow. Both sexes are similar.
Young Bush Stone-curlews are similar in appearance to the adults, but are paler, and a little browner in colour. Bush Stone-curlews are nocturnal birds (night birds),
doing all their feeding and other activities at night.
Notes from BirdlifeOz.
Unfortunately I posted this on the day that Pbase had a hiccup with comments, hence the lack of them.
29-Aug-2019
Beach Scene
3 Ks from where we were staying is a delightful beach with plenty of SHOPS to entertain
the ladies. We chose to visit during the week as the place is a hive of activity on the
weekends and very difficult to find a park.
Thanks everyone for all the lovely comments on my recent gallery that featured our
place during autumn and winter. We came from from temperatures in the high 20's and
sunny days to a late winter still hanging around at home. Shorts & t-shirts back to
layers of clothing.
Tropical Gardens and Plants of Far North Queensland.
Various garden photos and close ups of plants and flowers during our travels and locally where we were staying in Clifton Beach.