Colours of June – Part One

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I cheated this month. I caught an aeroplane to Northern Queensland, Australia and boarded a friend’s yacht. It is tropical so their winter is not really a winter.

Every day is a different adventure. Lots of sailing, swimming, snorkelling, photography, reading, knitting, bit of cooking. Could do with more showering.

Beautiful sunsets viewed from the yacht.

Amazing landmarks.

A variety of weather conditions.

 

 

Crab patterns in the sand.

Lots of tropical flowers.

Typical island scenery.

Palm trees and their fruit.

Breakfast @ the Twelve Apostles

It’s an annual fundraiser. The local Red Cross and Cancer Council get together and deliver a delicious breakfast at the Twelve Apostles.

Annie and I started early and walked about 12 kilometres to get there (this was huge for me) – along dirt tracks, through farms, and National Park. It was only in the final half hour of walking that I was needing a panadol or two or three.

Inquisitive sheep thinking that we may be delivering a meal.

Egg and bacon was first course followed by pancakes, strawberries and cream.

The Apostles were looking good.

 

 

 

It was perfect weather.

Late reporting of trip to Grampians. Beware – photo laden post.

Mitty and I went to the Grampians for a couple of days in late Spring, specifically to check out the wildflowers.

Well recognisable landscapes of the Grampians.

 

So many kangaroos in the one spot.

Looking for wildflowers.

Had to drive very slowly to avoid a head on with kangaroos.

Grass Trees are very slow growing with mature plants being centuries old.

‘The grass tree Xanthorrhoea, aka ‘black boys’, is a uniquely Australian plant, which epitomises the Australian landscape and is as tough as goats' knees. It will withstand drought. Bushfires will burn the foliage and blacken the stump, but then it regrows. Often a bushfire will encourage flower development. These remarkable plants have a lifespan of 600 years.’

Another typical Grampians scene.

We kinda left for our holiday on short notice and didn’t get organised for food. We had to buy in Hall’s Gap at the supermarket. We actually thought this would be a more economical way than eating out for our meals. Not so. This photo represents $95 worth of groceries. We went into shock at the cash register. In retrospect it probably would have been cheaper to eat out.

And this is kinda embarrassing. On the left we have my luggage and on the right we have Mitty’s luggage.

THE WILDFLOWERS

Common correa

I know it’s a daisy but that’s about it.

The common donkey orchid ‘diuris’.

Everlasting daisy.

Fringe lily.

Goodenia.

Green combed spider orchid.

Holly Grevillea.

Grevillea but unsure what type.

Pea flower.

Pea flower.

Pink Finger orchid.

Running postman pea flower.

Salmon sun orchid.

Swamp goodenia.

Tinsel lily.

And sighted amongst the native flora and fauna was a feral deer.

Not surprisingly, we decided that we needed to stay a lot longer to do a proper job of exploring the Grampians.

P.S. If anyone who happens to come by, and knows the correct identification of any of these flowers I would appreciate you passing on your knowledge.

Another adventure into Kaye’s bush

And what did we find today?

Not sure. Will have to ask Kaye.

Ditto.

A potato orchid (Gastrodia Sesamoides), sometimes called Cinnamon Bells. More information here.

A spider orchid, and that’s all I know.

But here it is again from a different vantage point.

A Spotted Sun Orchid (Thelymitra Isioides)

And to finish off the walk we spied some koalas taking it very easy in the heat. That’s a cute little baby on mother’s back but it refused to turn around for the camera.