This week’s challenge info can be found HERE
Well, where would I rather be? Out in the forest looking for wildflowers!
I have a few pics that I think will qualify for this challenge – just for fun :)!
On Friday I went to a Wildflower Exhibition held by the Busselton Uniting Church. This was its 91st exhibition! And what a good show of flowers that had on display, including many native orchids! I couldn’t resist putting them all on display in one post :).
Yesterday we went on a whale watching tour and enjoyed over three hours sailing in Geographe Bay, Indian Ocean.
The brochure highlighted that around 35,000 whales migrate through the Bay each year on their journey to Antarctica.This includes Humpback, Southern Right, The Blue and Killer whales. But …
There were none to be seen yesterday!
We were heading back to the Port when a pod of dolphins followed the charter boat for a short time. This certainly lifted everyone’s spirits and I took some photos of them. As I was snapping away, my husband said “Do four dolphins equal a whale?”
At this point we actually hoped we didn’t see a whale because the ticket guaranteed if no whales are sighted we are entitled to another trip for free. We will have another go once the school holidays are over and the weather will be a bit warmer too!
As we were relaxing and eating lunch today my husband pointed outside and said “snake”. At first I thought he was joking. We do get an assortment of creatures passing by our patio. I got up and had a look and sure enough, it WAS a tiger snake!
Once that thought registered I stood for a moment looking at it – it was quite beautiful really, in a reptilian sort of way! I even went to grab my phone to take a photo. By that time it had moved beyond our sight and I wasn’t about to follow it.
We got in contact with a local group who, according to their brochure they “devote their time and efforts to meeting the needs of injured, misplaced and misunderstood reptiles.”
Unfortunately the very brave, young lady was unable to locate the snake but will come again if there is another sighting. We love living close to the natural bush behind us but it is difficult to come to terms with sharing our space with dangerous reptiles.
We went to Augusta yesterday. It is only an hour’s drive from home. It was a nice spot but we decided to come home after one night. I took some snaps of the character features in the cottage we stayed in. They should have mentioned the loo was outside – a big oversight in the advertising.
The location was lovely so we may go back to Augusta again but next time we’ll make sure it has an inside loo. I think I got a bit traumatized when we were living in Fitzroy Crossing W.A. and we found a big King Brown snake in the outside toilet :-).
Over the last few months several magpies have been dropping in to our back garden for a visit and a snack. Sometimes they just hung out there not even looking for food. I took these photos a couple of weeks ago and I am glad I did as we have hardly seen them since.
But of course! It is spring and there are more important things to do!
Today I sat outside in the sunshine for a few minutes and I noticed a big nest in a tree in the bush-land behind our home. I saw a little black head pop up from the nest and the maggie flew directly to my fence and then onto the chair beside me.
I offered him/her some bread but there wasn’t much interest. It wasn’t at all fazed by my presence and would take food from my hand – just to be polite, it wasn’t really hungry.
After a few minutes in hopped back up on the fence again and then flew directly back to resume sitting on the nest. What a lovely encounter with nature :-).
I am taking part in BirdLife Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds Project. I have been allocated an area of beach to monitor along with another woman (see map below).
This morning I did my second monitoring visit looking for the elusive Western Hooded Plover (pictured below).
These delightful creatures nest directly on the beach or the nearby dunes and their nests are susceptible to being stepped on by people or damaged by dogs. They are so well camouflaged they are very difficult to find. I didn’t see any this morning but I will be back again in a fortnight to have another try.
Here are some snaps I took while at the beach.
When I hear the expression, forces of nature, I am reminded how powerful tropical storms are and the damage they cause to the landscape – especially man-made infrastructure.
I took these photos in the mid-1980’s in Fitzroy Crossing, during the wet season, after floods had isolated the town from surrounding communities.
My first trip overseas was to Ubud in Bali in 2004. Prior to that I hadn’t stepped off Australian soil. I was pretty excited about it. We stayed at a lovely resort called Waka di Ume.
We left home at 5.15am and arrived at Denpasar Airport at 11.50am. We met ‘Jan’s Tours’ who transported us to Ubud. The trip was fascinating for me – I was amazed at the number of motor bikes, the different architecture and vast expanses of industry.
The accommodation included a big four-poster bed with mosquito netting all around it. We relaxed and had a lovely meal at their restaurant that evening with a tropical storm brewing outside. It was in their wet season (February 2004).
The next day we experienced the hustle and bustle of the shops/markets but I found the currency very confusing and a bit overwhelming.
The following morning we enjoyed breakfast on our veranda overlooking the rice fields. A stray cat came and spent some time with us.
After breakfast we walked through the village, away from the shops. We found a mixture of temples, rooms to let, people’s homes and small enterprises. The narrow road was moderately busy and yet some women were spreading their grains out on the road and traffic had to go around them. Some people were doing their washing in the drains (after the good rains the previous day) and the clothes were then laid out on the grass to dry.
I had heard a lot about massages in Bali and decided to have one at a place close to where we were staying. It was not what I expected and there was a communication problem. No real harm was done but I was really pleased to get out of there.
Our time was mostly spent reading, relaxing, eating and enjoying the swimming pool. Bali was very quiet when we were there. It was not long after the Bali bombings when several Australians were killed. People had stopped coming but not for long – I believe it is back to being a very popular holiday spot for Australians. It is only about five hours flight time from Perth to Denpasar.
My next trip was to Singapore and that was a very different experience, including some karaoke!
