08-AUG-2016
Gondwanan Evolution
The Gondwana Rainforests provide an interesting living link with the evolution of Australia.
Rainforest once covered most of the ancient southern supercontinent
Gondwana and remains the most ancient type of vegetation in Australia.
Few places on earth contain so many plants and animals which remain relatively unchanged from their ancestors
in the fossil record! The garden is divided into zones, representing the different stages of plant evolution.
Some of the oldest elements of the world’s ferns and conifers are found here.
[notes via web].
I intend continuing with this gallery during our summer when our temperature climbs and
its cooler to work indoors [on Photoshop 6]. I have plenty of the plant life and tropical gardens still to come.
08-AUG-2016
Reflections...
A coffee in a cafe in the Visitors Centre was an interesting experience as you can see
from this photo... can you find me in the photo?
08-AUG-2016
A path in the Fitzalan Gardens
We discovered across the road from the main gardens there were some lovely pathways
through some very exotic plantings, and we had them almost to ourselves on the
last day of our holidays in Cairns for 2016.
We have had an unpleasant week, firstly me being very off colour, then our little dog
Flossie suddenly got very sick last night and we were very worried she could have
had a bite from a snake - but she is still with us and I think I've worked out
the cause - a bite from a jumping ant. I am very allergic to these and I think
an ant has bitten her several times, she went into an anaphylactic shock - causing
an emergency visit to an after hours vet. Sorry that I haven't kept up with comments
but I'll do my best asap.
07-AUG-2016
Pelicans
The tide being well out added some interest to the scene.
07-AUG-2016
Helicopter
It caught my eye as we wandered along the foreshore.
06-AUG-2016
Palms in the tropics
Fascinating to look upwards and view the fronds intermingling, they took my eye
when walking daily on the pathway
05-AUG-2016
Curtain Fig Tree
We circled the tree on a raised walkway, a worthwhile stopover!
The Curtain Fig Tree is one of the largest trees in Tropical North Queensland, Australia,
and one of the best known attractions on the Atherton Tableland. It is located
just out of Yungaburra.
The Curtain Fig Tree is of the strangler fig species Ficus virens.
Normally these figs germinate on top of another tree and try to grow roots into the ground.
Once this important step is accomplished,
the fig will grow vigorously, finally kill the hosting tree and then grow on independently.
In this case, the hosting tree tilted towards the next one; the fig also grows
around that one. Its curtain of aerial roots drops 15 metres (49 feet) to the ground.
Although these figs kill their hosts, they are an epiphyte which basically feeds
from the ground, unlike a parasitic plant which feeds from the sap of the
host plant/tree. [Wikipedia]
05-AUG-2016
Innovative shops
We managed having a look in both of these cute little shops!
Yungaburra's economy today revolves around tourism, and the town contains a primary school, post office,
library/telecentre and a range of businesses and services for the use of residents and visitors. Other facilities include a tennis court
and a bowling club.The town has 18 Heritage Listed buildings, and is the largest National Trust village in Queensland. The Yungaburra Markets,
held on the fourth Saturday of each month, are one of the largest in Far North Queensland, and each year around the end of October,
Yungaburra holds the two-day Yungaburra Folk Festival, featuring concerts from Australian (and sometimes international) folk musicians.
[Wikipedia]
05-AUG-2016
Decorations in the park
The baskets of flowers took my eye as we walked around this pretty little town
on the Atherton Tablelands, here is some history courtesy of Wikipedia.
Prior to European settlement the area around Yungaburra was inhabited by about sixteen different indigenous groups,
with the custodians being Yidinji people and neighbouring Ngadjoni people. In the early 1880s the area around Allumbah Pocket
was used as an overnight stop for miners travelling west from the coast.
In 1886 the land was surveyed, and in 1891 settlers moved in.
In 1910 the railway arrived, and the town was renamed Yungaburra,
to avoid confusion with another town called Allumbah.
The name Yungaburra comes from Janggaburra, after janggaburru,
the Yindiny word for the Queensland silver ash (Flindersia bourjotiana).
By 1911 indigenous numbers had fallen to 20% of the pre-settlement population
due to disease, conflict with settlers and loss of habitat.
05-AUG-2016
The Crystal Caves
I didn't get to have a look inside this shop, the menfolk were keen on visiting a
bakery further along the street.
05-AUG-2016
"The Stump"
The hotel has been a landmark of the Tablelands since the early 1900s. In 1944 a fire ravaged the formerly timber building
leaving only a charred light pole which was dubbed the “black stump”. Due to WW2 the new building was not finished until 1954
so a temporary bar to satisfy the pubs loyal clientele was quickly set up on adjacent land.
Times have changed, but to patrons the Aussie pub is still affectionately known as “The Stump”.
[Notes from the web]
03-AUG-2016
Walking the avenue
A lovely safe way back to the car park after promenading the esplanade
