A cruise on the Lady Douglas with the photo club.

We have been on the Lady Douglas paddle boat numerous times but every time seems to be a little bit different.  As we boarded the Lady Douglas at the Port Douglas marina we noticed that this time was going to be very different because it was low tide.....a very low tide.  The photographers were excited because this is perfect for photographing crocodiles.  They love sunning themselves on the mud flats that are covered in high tide.  It was a glorious day both from a photographers point of view and the tourists.  The sun was shining with just a little white fluffy cloud to break the blue of the sky.  We made our way slowly along Dickson Inlet passing many moored boats and quite a few wrecked boats courtesy of Cyclone Yasi. 

 The council offers free mooring for boats along the inlet but we saw people living on unseaworthy boats that too my mind are a bit of an eyesore....but that is my opinion.

It didn't take long for us to spot our first crocodile.  This was to be the first of only two that we saw.  It wasn't a large croc but still not something I would like to get close to!

At the turnaround point of the inlet we were given some delicious snacks of fresh fruit, cakes, dips and biscuits.  We then slowly made our way back to the Marina and then on to the entrance to the inlet.  

We saw some funny sights like this fisherman that obviously didn't realise that the tide had gone out.  He was in for a long wait until high tide!

We passed St Marys By the Sea and Sugar Wharf where a wedding was about to take place..

and finally made our way back to the Marina and our mooring place.

It was, as usual with a photography outing, a beautifully relaxing day full of photo opportunities.

A Hidden Gem

I love visiting new places when we go hiking and that happens quite often because of where we live.  There is so much unexplored beauty within a days drive of our home and I think we will spend the rest of our lives finding such places.
On Sunday our friend Joan picked us up for a trip to a place that we were privileged to visit.  You see everyone that knows about this place keeps it very much to themselves.  It is somewhat off the beaten track and you would not find the entrance to it without knowing where it is.  It is a short walk compared to a lot of other places that we have visited with Joan and at this time of the year it is quite beautiful.  The waterfall is unnamed as far as we know but it should be named teacup because the waterfall falls into what looks like a giant cup.  There was not a lot of water flowing over the falls at this time of the year and I look forward to revisiting the falls after the wet season.  But what is most appealing about the falls is the number of orchids.  They live in every nook and canny surrounding the falls, and that is the reason that everyone keeps quiet about this place.  You see there would be a lot of people who would come in and steal these beautiful orchids and that would be disastrous.  I love seeing these magnificent plants in their natural environment.  There is a large variety of orchids living here from giant to pin head size.  There are only a couple that are flowering at the moment and Joan said that the majority will flower in September/October.  That might be a nice time to re-visit.

Spectacular Orchids

Philip and Joan walked to the top of the falls while I recuperated after my tumble!

I had a bit of fall on some slippery rocks at the falls (Grade 2 MCL ligament sprain) so it cut short the time we would normally spend in a place like this but we found this lovely spot to park and have a cup of tea and lunch.  It was, as always with a Joan, and lovely day.

A new work horse!

No....not the four legged type.....the four wheel type.  When I first moved west to our Julia Creek property we only ever mustered with horses.  Life seemed to move slower back then.  To bring in a mob of cattle to the cattle yards took most of the day.  Morning tea and lunch was packed into the smoko vehicle with a thermos of tea for smoko and when my father-in-law mustered with us, a stubby of beer with lunch! Ahh....those were the days.
Things started to speed up almost without us knowing it.  Mustering became expensive.  We went from paying $50/day for a contract musterer to $300/day.  Consequently the muster started speeding up. No-one wanted to pay extra dollars mustering cattle that were barely covering their cost of carry.  Motorbikes (and later quad bikes) became more prevalent.  The motorbike rider could cover a lot of country in just a quarter of the time that a horseman could.  These days we almost exclusively muster with bikes.
On our little property here are Julatten the quad bike is used constantly for mustering, weed spraying, gardening, fencing....you name it.  Philip got himself well and truly bogged last week and in the effort to extradite himself from the bog hole he "blew up" the diff on the quad.  We debated whether to pay the $$$'s to fix it or just buy a new one.  The quad is almost eight years old so it was a no brainer.
So, we are now the proud owners of this beauty.

It is an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) that can carry an extra passenger and it also has a small tipper tray that the gardener will love!  We probably should have had one of these years ago but they have been somewhat pricey.  However, thanks to the Federal Government immediate write off of up to $20,000 for business use assets purchase, it has become affordable.

My camera and I went mustering with Philip this morning.  It was great.  We chatted about various farm matters as we drove along and then identified all the new mothers and calves.  All our stud cows are numbered and we jot down the cows number and whether the calf she has given birth to is male or female.  This makes it a lot easier when the time comes to tag the calves.  

We have three mobs of cattle at present, cows and calves, males (bulls and steers) and the young female mob.  We had to move all three mobs today.

Cow and calf Mob

Cows and calves

Some nice steers here for the butcher market

The boys

The girls

Lily came along for the ride but really she doesn't enjoy it much anymore.  Arthritis is really taking hold of our poor old girl.  All those years of faithful service have taken their toll.  

We stopped in Swamp Paddock so that I could get some photos of the birdlife but not a bird to be seen! Ah well......maybe next time.

An early start to the day

Philip gets up quite early (5am) on Saturday mornings to go for a bike ride with his Port Douglas Cycling group.  He tries to be very quiet (and he is) but I just sense the movement in the bedroom and inevitably I wake up.  I try very hard to go back to sleep but this morning I just gave in to the wakefulness.  I am pleased that I did because it was a glorious morning.  The fog had rolled into the valleys for a short period of time so I quickly grabbed my camera to get a quick couple of photos.  By the time I got dressed and ready for my morning walk the fog had lifted and I was greeted to a beautifully crisp winters day. While I was donning my joggers I took some photos of the sun shining through the trees next to the cattle yards, and I quite liked the effect. 

When I arrived home after my walk I went straight to the garden to pick some flowers to adorn the house.  The winter garden is somewhat bare of colour but the roses are spectacular.  I thank God everyday that I live in the tropics where I can grown roses all year round!

Winter Cattle Work

Philip has just arrived back from Julia Creek after being out there for the last week or so helping Marco with a few jobs including a full stock muster and count.  That is not as big a job as you would think as our stock numbers have sadly dwindled with the ongoing drought.  It was cold out west, as cold as it gets.  The temperature got down as low as one degree but with the wind chill factor it is probably equivalent to minus five!  The atmosphere at this time of the year is also extremely dry so hubby has come home with very dry, cracked skin.  Poor body needs a bit of love and moisturiser!
I was looking through my image vault today and came across these photos that I took a few years back....2010.  It was winter and it was very cold, not unlike this year.  The good news is that the wet season of 2011 was excellent so maybe 2016 will bring us all a good wet season. Fingers crossed.  A lot of the locals say that you need a cold winter to bring a good wet summer.
These photos were taken at the "Caleewa" yards before Marco rebuilt them.

It's Show Time!

I have been living here for almost nine years but I have never been to the Cairns Show.  That changed this week when my friend rang to see if I wanted to go with her.  I jumped at the opportunity.  We have the same likes so I knew that I was going to enjoy it.  Not everyone wants to wander through the various pavillions to look at the exhibits but it is what I enjoy the most about a show.  We started off nice and early on the first day of the three day show.  It was a good move as there were not a lot of people and we were able to move around freely.  The first place we visited was the Cat, Dog and Guinea Pig building. The day we visited it was the cat display.  They are so beautiful and I really would love to have a cat again but we just don't need the responsibility at this stage in our lives.  The next stop was the commercial pavillion where businesses set up there stands.  It was huge and we had a great time entering our names in all the giveaway competitions......will let you know if we win anything!  After that it was on to the flower, fruit and vegetable hall.  The flowers were just gorgeous and gave me lots of great ideas for the garden.  The fruit and vegetable section was well subscribed and I am once again in awe of the wonderful produce that can be grown in our area.  The final exhibitions we visited before lunch were the photography and art.  Such talent!
Lunch was always going to be "show food" so we munched our way through dagwood dogs and chips.  Mmmmmm!  We both looked a real sight with tomato sauce from one end of our face to the other but boy they were good!
During lunch we realised that we had not seen the craft, cake, jam and relish exhibits that turned out to be just under where we were sitting in the grandstand so after lunch we headed there. It was great and apart from the fantastic exhibits there were lots of talented ladies demonstrating their crafts.
Our last thing to do was visit the farm animals display where the children are allowed to get in amongst the little animals.  They were so cute.  We watched the duckling slippery slide and thought how much fun the little ducklings appeared to be having until we realised that they didn't really intend slipping down the slide into the pond. There were enticed to get some feed from a tray at the top of the slide that was just out of reach meaning that they really did "slip" down the slide.  Poor little things....
We finally started making our way back to the exit gate via the "Heritage Walk" where we tasted damper the was cooked over a fire in a camp oven.  It was the best damper I had ever tasted.  The lady that served it said the secret ingredient was powdered milk.
I had a great time and will go again next year with hubby who I'm sure will love it also.

Miss Show Girl 2015

A colourful display at the entrance to the show

A glorious day to sit in the grandstand and take in the view

Just a few of the jams and relishes!

Cake decorating demonstration

Its hard to believe that these flowers are not real.

I loved the lacework demonstration.

The duckling slippery slide

Heritage Walk

Camp Oven Damper is delicious!

Josephine Falls

Tropical North Queensland would have to be one of the most beautiful places in the world if not THE most beautiful.  We are fairly well travelled and in all our travels we have never come across a place quite like it. The tropics have it all. On Saturday I went for a drive to Josephine Falls that is just south of Mirrawinni.  My daughter in law had spread her fathers ashes around a tree at the base of the falls and as it was the anniversary of his passing she wanted to revisit his resting place.  I tagged along.  

We all meet at 11am and made the short uphill walk into the falls.  There were a lot of young tourists swimming in the rock pools and we all agreed that they must be from a very cold climate because the water would have been chilly!

We stayed for about an hour and a half, taking photos, watching the antics of the young and simply taking in the magical tranquility.  The falls had a lot more water falling over them compared to my last visit but there has been a lot of rain in the catchment area in the past week.  

We decided to have lunch at Fishery Falls Hotel on our way home.  It was a delicious meal and very cheap.  I had the crumbed steak, chips, gravy and salad all for $10!  I highly recommend it.

It was a lovely day and all the better for spending it with family.

Josephine Falls from the second lookout

Marco and Suzie found a good spot for photography

The falls from the top lookout

A young adventure tour group enjoying the rock pool and vine "swing"

Can't pass by without taking a photo of the different fungi.

 

July Photo Club

Our photo club meetings come around so fast or maybe it is just that our lives are so busy.  It is, once again, the first Saturday of the month and also once again it is a mad frantic rush to get photos ready for the monthly challenge.
This months main challenge is "I Love.....".  When I saw this challenge I immediately thought of liquorice all sorts.  I love them and they would make a great photo but of course I did not have any in the pantry.  (I love them too much to keep any on hand!) So, the only thing left to do was go to my photo library to search through my photos.  I have almost 30,000 images in my library so it is not a quick job but I did have a photo in mind.  The other three photo challenges were "Food", "Furry Animals" and "Old People".

These are my submissions.

"I Love....."  dinner for two in a romantic setting

"Old People" - photo taken in Peru

"Furry Animals" - photo taken on Sun Island, Bolivia

"Food" - Paleo Chocolate Mousse

The healing powers of Yoga

I've always thought that yoga practise was beneficial to the body and when we lived out west, not having any classes nearby, I purchased a yoga video.  I tried very hard to follow the instructor but actually did myself more harm than good by trying to watch the TV AND manipulate my body into the correct pose! The video eventually got gobbled up by the old VHS player (remember that!) and I was secretly relieved!
So when we moved to Julatten I was pleased to see that there was a yoga class each Thursday at our local community hall. I am a shy person and found it a little intimidating to front up to that first class not knowing a single person, but to my relief, everyone was so welcoming!
So,  I have been practising Yoga ever since....more than 8 years!  I really enjoy it and try very hard to get to practise twice a week but life gets in the way sometimes so I probably only average once a week...."sigh"... but I really love every single practise.
Yesterday I hurt my back.....really hurt my back....to the point that I could hardly straighten.  I did a stupid thing and lifted a box without bending and holding in the tummy muscles.  I spent most of yesterday on my back.
Today is yoga day.  My back was still really hurting but I decided to go along to the yoga class anyway.  When I arrived I talked to my instructor about the problem back and she advised to just do what I could and rest if there was any pain.
We always start our Hatha Yoga practise very gently with lots of stretches before we get into the stronger poses.  Today we started with some gentle spinal twists.  Three in all.  The first twist is with knees bent, feet hip distance apart, and twisting from side to side with shoulders firmly on the floor, the second is with knees to chest, twisting from side to side with shoulders firmly on the floor and the third is a full body twist with knees to the side, shoulders to the floor.  As I relaxed into the third twist I felt a click in my spinal area.  My first thought was, "Oh my goodness, what have I done", but as I came out of the pose I realised that my back was miraculously back in alignment.....NO MORE PAIN!
Years ago I used to go to a chiropractor to "re-align" my back.  I always felt pretty good afterwards but now, years later, I remember that what he used to get me to do, was exactly what I had done today in my yoga practise.  How ironic.
Yoga is a beautiful practise.  I always leave my class feeling about six inches taller and I love it.

I will remember this stretch forever and a day......

Laura Campdraft, Races and Rodeo

Last year our friends from Mossman were telling us about their trip to Laura for the annual camp draft, rodeo and races.  They loved it and we all decided that we would go in 2015.
For those that don't know where Laura is, it is about a three hour drive from our place at Julatten.  Laura is a small town with a population of about 120 and is north of Lakeland in Cook Shire, North Queensland.  It is on the only road north towards the tip of Cape York Peninsular and is the centre for the largest collection of prehistoric rock art in the world.
In order for us to get the best camp spot, our friends drove to Laura on Thursday and we did without a doubt, get the best spot.  We had a huge mango tree on one side of us that gave us beautiful shade in the afternoon and we were camped right on the race track, well,  as close as we were allowed which was about five metres from the rail!  We did have a rowdy young mob camp to the other side of us and the police were called to them Friday night at about 1pm to ask them to turn off the music but other than that the camp was perfect.  The rowdy young mob turned out to be from Mossman and one of them did come and apologise to us for the noise.  Saturday night they were as quiet as lambs!
Friday and Saturday morning is the camp draft and barrel races and Saturday afternoon is the races.  Saturday night sees the bull ride under lights and then all day Sunday is the Rodeo.
We enjoyed the weekend very much and will be back in 2016 although next year we will arrive on Wednesday and leave on Monday morning.   We both love the rodeo and it was a shame to only see half of it on Sunday.
Some photos:

The "Tardis" 

Our lunch stop was at the entrance to somebody's property.  We had a chuckle at the sign beside the tree.  Really?  Do people really use his gateway for their toilet stop?

Laura Campdraft

Our camp.  Just visible on the right is the branch of a giant mango tree.

Campsites are all along the racetrack where campers gather to watch the races if you don't feel like getting glammed up!

 

And at the end of the day......nothing better than a campfire to tell yarns around

Bull ride action

Saddle Bronc 

Young fellow cheering his mates

Well that's one way to dismount from a bucking bronc!

And there is always the inevitable cowboy that gets his hand caught in the bull ride as he comes off.