Part 4 Around Cairns

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After returning to Cairns we had a day of leisure where I headed to the Cairns Aquarium then on the walk back to the hotel had a lovely yoghurt ice cream. That evening we had a cruise and dinner on the harbour.

The next day we headed south of Cairns to Babinda, then to Paronella Park past some banana plantations. We returned via Innisfail which has many art deco buildings.

Remember, by hovering over the photo you will see the name of the photo giving clues as to where we are.

 

 

Part 3 to Cape York

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On the last post we had reached Weipa on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. This post will continue our journey to the tip of Cape York, across to Thursday Island then flying back to Cairns from Horn Island.

Remember, by hovering over the photo you will see the name of the photo giving clues as to where we are.

Part 2 to Cape York

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In the last post, we had just reached Cooktown in Queensland. It is here where Captain James Cook beached his ship Endeavour in 1770 after it had hit an unknown reef a few days earlier.

In this post we are heading to Weipa on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. It is here where they mine bauxite which is used to make into alumina then smelted into aluminium.

Remember, by hovering over the photo you will see the name of the photo giving clues as to where we are.

 

Another recent trip to Cape York or the Tip

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About 8 years ago I went on a 4WD trip to Cape York. But for some reason I hadn’t downloaded the images when my ipad conked out. Hence I had lost all those photos. So When Garry and Sharon offered the same trip this year, I decided to do it again. As I took lots of photos, I will probably write a few posts.

This first one is from Cairns in Queensland mainly following the coast road north to Cooktown. By hovering over the photo you will see the name of the photo giving clues as to where we are.

Trips away

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Long time since I have added anything to this blog but one of my friends from USA doesn’t use Facebook but likes following me on my trips away. So I said I would add some photos from my most recent holidays to the mainland of Australia.

My first trip was to the Whitsunday Islands area.

 

This was another trip organized by my friends Garry and Sharon from Oatlands.

Z – zee best animals and plant

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I didn’t want to use an image of a zebra for this final post so have decided to choose images of an animal and plant that I enjoy looking at ‘zee’ best.

The first is a wombat seen at a school camp I attended out in the bush area of Tasmania. Wombats are known for having square shaped poop. Read this article to find out how scientists have been researching this fact.

Wombat at school camp

The second is a Tasmanian Devil. He looks very different to Taz from Disney fame, but he does act in a similar way, running around in circles and snarling. If camping in the bush in Tasmania, they make awful sounds during the night. I take a soft toy Tassie Devil when I travel and he had his own blog at one stage.

 

The third is the Tasmanian waratah which looks very different to the New South Wales waratah. The NSW species is very densely packed florets compared to the Tassie version. I took this image while driving  on the west coast of Tasmania. You can also find yellow versions of the Tasmanian waratah.

Waratah

Y – Yucca species and yabbies

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While staying with friends when they lived in Arizona, I did a lot of driving near their house. I often found these Yucca species. In some respects they look like the grass trees mentioned in the letter X post yesterday, but they are naturally found in the Americas.

Flower stem of yucca

Yabbies and crayfish

In Tasmania we have a freshwater burrowing crayfish which is endemic to our state. But many of our crayfish species are being threatened by the mainland yabby which has been introduced into Tasmania. What is the difference between yabbies and crays? Thanks to my friend Sue Waters for sharing her yabby image on Flickr.

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W – Wattle tree and white heron

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There are many species of wattle tree in Australia. This image is probably Acacia dealbata or Silver Wattle. Many acacias look similar and often the leaves or phyllodes are how you can differentiate between species. The Golden Wattle is the national floral emblem of Australia.

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White heron

These birds are often seen in creeks near where they enter the sea or in ponds and dams on local properties. They are also called egrets.

White heron in the bay

V – Very …..

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Another tough letter for animals and plants so I am using the word ‘very’ in the photos.

Very tall

While in Cincinnati on one of my trips to USA to attend an education and technology conference, I went to the zoo and saw some great animals. One of them, the giraffe, was very tall. The Botanical Garden is also part of the zoo area.

Giraffe 2

Very big

Whenever I go to the USA, I hire a car in Los Angeles and head off driving, often to no specific place but I knew I wanted to visit a place where there are ‘very big’ trees. Luckily, I hired a small car. There are other places where you can drive through these big trees. Note Davo the Tasmanian devil is sitting on the bonnet of the car.

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U – Unusual

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It was hard to find an animal and plant starting with this letter so I have decided to use the word ‘unusual’ for this post.

A couple of animals that look unusual are the platypus and the weedy sea dragon that you can see at Beauty Point attractions, Platypus House and Seahorse World. Better photos of a platypus can be seen at the link above.

Platypus

Weedy sea dragon

An unusual plant is the Potato orchid. My dad has these growing down the driveway at his house. Sorry one of the photos is a bit blurry.

From the first image you can see why it is called a potato orchid.

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T – Turkey bush and Texas longhorn

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This photo was taken in 2021 when I was travelling from Darwin to Broome on a bus tour with fellow Tasmanians. This flower, when squashed, is used by aboriginals as an insect repellent. It was found at an information area on our way to Kakadu in the Northern Territory.

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Texas Longhorns

While driving through Texas I often stopped at signs explaining history of the area and these Texas longhorns were seen nearby the sign for the JA Ranch at the Palo Duro Canyon.

Texas Longhorn

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