Bashfuls New Years day adventure at Mossman Gorge

I was going to show you our New Years eve with Bashful ..the video for some reason will not upload to youtube..but we spent the evening on the beach at Palm Cove..watching fireworks on the barge at the end of the pier over the beautiful Coral Sea..we had a hankering for Fish and Chips but the only restaurant open was the Italian one..so they made us a kids serve and we ate this delicious food and enjoyed the fireworks and then headed back to our resort.

New years eve ..Bashful watching the fireworks at the beach

Well the first day of 2015..i awoke with what appeared to be a broken toe…it was like an eggplant and pretty dang sore…a pity as we had plans..and no bad toe was going to interfere!

We had booked for a guided tour through http://www.venturedeeper.com as they do Mossman Gorge tours.
This tour was for 3 hours so my toe would just have to ‘man up’ .
Mossman Gorge is not far past Port Douglas and we headed off with Bashful in the pea pod hire car .
As we approached the Gorge it was starting to rain..still humid and very warm the rain was refreshing and after all we were in the ‘wet tropics’.
We entered the Mossman Gorge Centre and were met by Rick our guide,he had umbrellas at the ready and to our absolute joy we were the only ones taking the tour with him!
This was going to be awesome!
The rain stopped as we went with Rick and caught a mini bus to our destination for the beginning of our walk..we had chosen the Upper Gorge walk (great with a toe like mine!)
Rick was a great guide , very knowledgeable about the plants the trees the environment and a musician also so Hubby was of course impressed!
The walk was stunning..not at all stressful on the feet..the scenery magical the water and giant stones awesome..the air was fresh with the smell of mosses and funghi. The canopy alive with birds and the water so clear and clean and full of native perch a protected species.
Rick explained the way the eco system worked here and we were amazed at the amount of diggings in the ground from feral pigs..he said they were a big problem and one that the lands caretakers were trying to manage as best as possible.To say we were impressed with this beautiful place would be an understatement!
Halfway through our tour we stopped at a gigantic strangler fig tree..where Rick pulled out of his backpack some thermos’s of water with a bit of lemon in them for us..very much appreciated!,then the trail mix and chocolates..we sat and chatted about life ,music, nature and family..a lovely break and in such serene surroundings!
I must say to that the resemblance of Rick to the actor Sam Elliot was uncanny..tall slim cowboy boots and an air of being totally at home here.
In a very candid conversation he explained his love of nature..he and his older brother used to shoot roos..they did this for feed for their dogs (many moons ago he said) and many country people did this.
One day apparently his brother shot one and when Rick went to prepare it for his dogs his brother said “no just leave it”
Rick never shot another roo..he could not comprehend the pointlessness of the roos death…like I said a candid conversation and an event that profoundly changed a young man and turned him into the man who had such respect for nature today and was so proud to share with us.

Our break over we continued our tour and before we knew it we were finished..3 hours of the natural world at it’s best spent with a man whose love for this gorge shone through every word he spoke.

When we returned we asked Rick if there was a good place for a safe swim..he got a piece of paper drew us a map and voila we had a place to cool off..we said thankyou and headed into the café for what was one of the best coffees I have had in a long time! Rick headeoff to take his daughter for a flying lesson!!
The following are some of the pics from our day..i have to do the second part tomorrow as there are many more of the water features and where we headed to with Rick’s map!

Mossman Gorge Centre

Arriving at the Gorge

Looking deep into the gorge wilderness

Beautiful mountains

The story of the mountain

Another view into the forest

Now this is impressive

Sticky bean tree

The sticky bean tree story

I loved how the light fell on some little patches in the rainforest..highlighting them for just a moment

The sky seems so close to the canopy

A funghi lovers paradise

Bashful chilling in the gorge

A strangler fig..these roots sound hollow when you touch them..unbelievable they hold such giant structures

More amazing funghi

The giant Strangle fig we stopped at for a break..Bashful really impressed

The strangler fig story

Look at these beautiful toadstools

The pattern on the trunk of this amazing tree looks like a tiger in the bush!

Wow..i was so enamoured of this beauty..look at the colour!

So pop back tomorrow and I shall continue our trek through Mossman Gorge..a day that was yet again spent in awe of our amazing world.

Wild on Wednesdays

The roos have been very busy around here of late…maybe they know the grasses will be scarce soon when the Summer dries the ground again..so nearly every morning and afternoon this lovely family pays a visit..they start out the front and work their way down the front and then across the property..we did notice a couple of boys on the opposite side of the front drive..i am wondering ,as the big boy with the young girls and joey’s were on the other side if these boys are getting to an age where they need their own mob..they were a good size and looked quite strong and healthy…I also noticed ne had a sizeable scar on his leg..maybe the result of some boxing…and when these boys took off they displayed some really long powerful legs..they also stood and watched me quite boldly..i was on the front verandah and these young guys were only about 12 metres away (35 feet) eventually they got bored with me and turned tail and hopped off…

The big boy with the girls and joeys in his grazing area

Seems he has a little fan club of joey’s..or he is a babysitter

This young joey feels quite safe with his mob

One of the young big males on the opposite side of the driveway

One of the young guys standing watching me

The young big boy looks beautiful against the Kangaroo thorn wattle

A great close up of the young big boy with the other big boys behind him

Clearly this big boy has no worries about acting as a sentry..notice the scar on his left leg

When they go….they go….strength power agility and speed…

And of course there is nothing like ending with a picture of mum and her bubba

Solitary Sunday

‘Alone on a hill..the roo with a foolish grin is keeping perfectly still..’

WHEN DID A SHARK LAST ATTACK YOU IN YOUR HOME

BEFORE I BEGIN PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SIGN THIS PETITION.http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/the-western-australian-government-call-off-plan-to-cull-sharks-near-wa-beaches#

Shark Attacks In Perspective

Compared to deaths from other forms of water related activity the number of fatal shark attacks in Australia is extremely low. In the last 50 years, there have been 50 recorded unprovoked fatalities due to shark attack, which averages one per year. Australians have a 1 in 3,362 chance of drowning at the beach and a 1 in 292,525 chance of being killed by a shark in one’s entire lifetime. There is an element of risk in any activity we undertake.

  I am an absolute water baby always have been, as a small child and I mean 8 years old. I would go with my father out to a place called Beaumaris a beach side town in Melbourne. Here  my  father would launch the speedboat into the water..we would walk on the rocky seabed to push it out far enough to get in and take off..we would go so far out that land was nowhere in sight..now my father was not the most responsible..yes we had life jackets but sunscreen was never put on and I would sit up on the front of the boat while he drove ..I had the seaspray hit my face from the waves as we banged through them ..each wave jolting us and me loving every minute….I was fearless…it was the one time I ever felt my father and I had a good time. When we got out to the right spot (as far as he could assume was good for fishing) he would throw the anchor overboard into the black dark dark green ocean, this was my favourite time! I would launch myself into that water ..no fear ..it was always so warm in the first top layer but then beneath that layer it was cold..very cold..and often I felt fish around my legs or seaweed..it was paradise. I would jump back onto the boat and then start fishing.. catching  barracouta , flathead and snapper.Lunch and then back in the water.

My point is I love the sea , and people my think I as an inland bush girl have no real experience with the oceans  but  I spent every summer holiday at the beach and in the oceans..and when hubby and I retire it will be to the ocean…it always draws me.

Now one day while I was swimming close to shore at this beach I was struck just below the knee by something that felt like a knife..my father was out in the boat my mother..well I have no idea..I screamed it was incredibly painful and this lovely Italian man ..I will never forget him ..picked me up and rushed me to a tap and washed the wound which was sizeable and bleeding profusely..he had a funny bandage which he applied….still no idea where my mother was. What had happened was I had trodden on a stingray that was clearly well covered by sand and as I have it has whipped it’s barbed tail around….not it’s fault..i trod on it in it’s home!    .

I have swum in the oceans I have scuba dived, snorkelled , and sailed..i have never felt fear of being attacked by a shark. We take risks everyday and when we enter an environment that is NOT ours then we take chances. These creatures pose no threat to us in OUR homes and play a vital role as Apex predators in maintaining the balance in our aquatic world . Fear is such a destructive emotion…do we remove cars from the highways due to 1484 transport related deaths a year? what about the deaths from assault 217 a year ..864 accidental poisoning deaths a year …obesity related deaths 221 a year.. falling from ladders kills 27 people a year..  I could go on…compare this with 4 deaths from contact with marine animals…these statistics for Australia come from  The Australian Bureau of Statistics (which I once worked for) In total 140.000 deaths in 2010 in Australia.. the above recorded amongst them .

So Western  Australian Government has mandated a cull on sharks.. and so it seems that again money is the main motivation…tourists might not come to the area…outrage at possible loss of income..the money to be spent a budget of  $2 Million dollars…with the hunters getting over $5 thousand dollars a shark…do you imagine they care what size or species…well no already they have been killing undersized sharks… Great Whites,  the most feared of all ,are Listed as Vulnerable by The International Union for Conservation of Nature while there are no Official figures estimates are that the numbers could be as low as 3000.

These animals are killed slowly as the knowledge of humane killing is not high on the agenda.They are being hooked shot repeatedly and then dumped at sea.

The first shark caught on baited drums shot and killed and dumped out further at sea

First baited drum shark catch

I am no expert but it seems to me that you need to respect your world and the creatures that live in it, they are there for a reason, they do not hunt us down they merely exist in a world we decide to encroach on, I have no doubt that by culling sharks we will not solve the problem of shark attacks, not unless you kill every shark and the results would be an ocean ecosystem thrown out of order.

We believed cats to be witches minions slaughtered them  en masse in England and received in return the gift of the Bubonic  Plague as the rat population thrived.

The clearing of the acreage next to us for a house to be built …. a small change you would think to the environment …has seen no return of our Echidnas, an increase in birdlife to our property and even no snake sightings..so imagine this huge change to the oceans and the resulting effects on the native species that live within.

Extraordinary animal

What an extraordinary animal, the perfect Apex predator, the perfect killing machine, millions of years in the making and without a doubt beautiful.

I have been signing petitions as many as I can , i cannot get to protests otherwise I would, I still have no fear of the ocean and will continue to enjoy it well aware that I am playing in another animals home and respectful rather than fearful is how I view the sea.

We’re going to need a bigger brain….

THE HEATWAVE CONTINUES

ANOTHER HEATWAVE IS HITTING OUR STATE AGAIN…WE HAD ALMOST A WEEK OF MUCH MILDER TEMPS AND TO PUT A DOONA ON AT NIGHT WAS SO NICE..BUT IT’S BACK.. LAST NIGHT WAS MUGGY AND STIFLING AND AS I TYPE THIS I AM LITERALLY DRIPPING SWEAT! IT’S 33C AND IT’S 10.00PM…LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER NIGHT OF PILLOW FLIPPING.. NOW I KNOW I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO FLIPS THEIR PILLOW OVER TO THE COOLER SIDE..THEN FLIPS IT BACK AND SO IT GOES AN EVENING OF PILLOW FLIPPING TOSSING SWEATING AND GENERAL UNREST.. THE GROUNDS OUTSIDE AND THE WHOLE LANDSCAPE ARE DRY ..BONE DRY..I DROVE TO A LITTLE TOWN CALLED MARYBOROUGH TODAY AND AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE IT’S BROWN GREY OR BROWN.. THERE WAS A FIRE THE OTHER DAY THAT WIPED OUT 350 ODD ACRES..AND THIS ON A WARM TO HOT DAY WITH NO WIND..I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE BURIED TO THE ARMPITS IN SNOW AND I FEEL GREEN WITH ENVY, AS MUCH AS I HATE BEING COLD AT LEAST I CAN RUG UP, STOKE THE FIRE AND TURN THE ELECTRIC BLANKET ON. THIS IS MIND NUMBING AND OPPRESSIVE HEAT THAT HAS TAKEN ALL MY ENERGY. COMPOUND THAT WITH A VERY BUSY PROJECT I AM WORKING ON WHICH HAS SEEN ME NOT IN BED BEFORE MIDNIGHT MOST NIGHTS AND I AM STARTING TO THINK I SHOULD SIGN UP FOR AN ARCTIC MISSION…. THE NEWS AND FIRE SERVICES INFORM US WE HAVE NO BREAK IN SIGHT..THE INNER CITY MELBOURNE HAS HAD A COOL CHANGE BUT WE WON’T GET IT , WE ARE TOO FAR INLAND. SO I AM TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH BLOGGIES BUT WITH ONE EAR LISTENING TO THE SCANNER ONE EYE LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AND BOTH HANDS TYPING DAY IN DAY OUT I MAY FALL A TAD BEHIND…AGAIN…. WHY DOES YOUR OWN SWEAT MAKE YOUR EYES BURN??? ARGHHHH… THE ONLY REAL BONUS IS THAT THE SUNSETS AND SUNRISES ARE DIVINE THIS TIME OF YEAR.. THE SUN RISES IN THE MORNING OUT THE FRONT OF OUR PROPERTY AND SETS OUT THE BACK…HERE ARE SOME PICS OF HER BEAUTY ..EVEN IF SHE IS A BIT OF A BEAST AT THE MOMENT! HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE ..

OUR FOREST FLOOR IN WINTER

AS MUCH AS I COMPLAIN ABOUT WINTER IT DOES AFFORD A DIFFERENT VIEW ON OUR FOREST FLOOR.

TO EXPLAIN OUR TOPOGRAPHY WE ARE DESCRIBED AS LIVING ON A ROCK REEF.

WE LIVE IN GOLD MINING LAND OF OLD AND AS SUCH THE GEOLOGY IS SLATE,QUARTZ AND SLATE.

THE ABOVE GROUND LAND MASS IS DESCRIBED AS ..

HEATHY DRY FOREST.

THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS IS : GROWS ON SHALLOW,ROCKY SKELETAL SOILS ON A VARIETY OF GEOLOGIES AND ON A RANGE OF LANDFORMS FROM GENTLY UNDULATING HILLS TO EXPOSED ASPECTS ON RIDGE TOPS AND STEEP SLOPES AT A RANGE OF ELEVATIONS .THE OVERSTOREY IS A LOW ,OPEN EUCALYPT FOREST POOR IN FORM TO 20M TALL WITH AN OPEN CROWN COVER.THE UNDERSTOREY IS DOMINATED BY A LOW SPARSE TO DENSE LAYER OF ERICOID-LEAVED SHRUBS INCLUDINH HEATHS AND PEAS.GRAMINOIDS AND GRASSES ARE FREQUENTLY PRESENT IN THE GROUND LAYER,BUT DO NOT PROVIDE MUCH COVER.

PRIMARY OVERSTOREY(TREE SPECIES) IRONBARK,GREY BOX,AND RED STRINGY BARK.

THE GREY BOX BEING A PROTECTED SPECIES IN OUR AREA DUE TO GOLD MINING WIPING OUT SO MANY.

SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE BATTLE TO GROW A GARDEN,GET A PADDOCK BACK TO HEALTH,DIG A HOLE!!     ALL THE WHILE KEEPING THE INTEGRITY OF THE LANDSCAPE THAT WE LOVE.

SO WHEN THE EARTH HERE SHOWS ME IT’S NATURAL BEAUTY I LOVE TO CAPTURE THE IMAGES..THIS IS NATURE,AND SOME OF IT IS NEW TO HERE AS WE HAVE WORKED THE LAND AND TRIED TO BRING BACK IT’S VITALITY ..BY ADDING BACK TO THE EARTH WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN SOME NATIVE SPECIES RETURN.

WE HAVE PROVED THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR ENVIRONMENT HEALTHY AND HAVE LIVESTOCK AND HAVE DOMESTIC ANIMALS IF YOU TAKE THE APPROPRIATE MEASURES.

THE LAND WILL TAKE A LONGTIME TO BE BACK TO IT’S ORIGINAL FORM. BUT WE ARE TAKING SMALL STEPS AND ARE ALREADY SO THRILLED TO SEE THE CHANGE.

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Sometimes you just have to wait

What i see when i try to drive up my street..i almost crawl,they are everywhere at the moment and I dread hitting one..

Notice the little one popping up and pretending to be a big roo..

I love my neighbourhood..it’s pretty cool

Have a great day

MY BACKYARD

I LOVE MY BACKYARD..IT’S ALWAYS GOT SOMETHING WONDERFUL TO SEE

WHITE MOUSTACHIO ALPHA MALE

CLICK TO BIGIFY 🙂

THE SCREAM

Somedays even our trees have had enough…I love our ‘screaming tree’ ..I have no idea what caused it to be so distressed…

Could be an environmental statement…could be seeing me putting washing on the line in my undies..

Maybe the girls have been clawing it or the boys cocking a leg on it…

Perhaps it is burdened with the secrets of the gold miners who once tortured the earth here to find their wealth…

Maybe seeing the wildlife vanish amid tree felling has left it in dismay…

How many Cattle have rubbed against it to scratch an itch when the land was left by the miners and handed to the stock for using…

Does it miss being hidden by all the other trees that once many many years ago shrouded it and kept it a secret..

Or is it simply another expression on the face of our land that engages me in wild speculation and day dreamy thoughts?

THE SCREAM TREE

Thankful Thurrsday

Tassie devils getting restless for dinner

Looking back through photo archives i came upon these pictures.

They reminded me that i am so thankful that there are groups of people committed to preserving and saving our beautiful wildlife.

The Tasmanian Devil has had it’s numbers almost decimated due to facial cancers that are contagious,yes contagious facial cancers!

They bite each other either accidentally or on purpose while eating and this is how this cancer is spread.

It causes such horrible problems with them dying of starvation as they can no longer eat.

What is believed to be the main problem is in- breeding which has not allowed this gene to leave the gene pool,so a group of dedicated people are moving them to various areas around Tasmania and the mainland in order to hopefully slowly let the gene pool get larger.

Private property owners in Tasmania have set aside parts of their land for this purpose also.For their size they have the strongest jaw pressure of any carnivore,they are powerful and very vocal.

Early settlers called them Devils because of the noises they made,they believed there were devils in the bush.

The Tasmanian Devil

This little guy looks anything but devilish !

They are great climbers

Up we go

Their scream is quite spooky!