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Published: February 25th 2008
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25th February 2008
I need to make an amendment to yesterday's diary. The big green and black butterfly is a Cairns Birdwing Butterfly not a Queensland as I said on the photo. There were several gliding over our balcony this morning. They don't flutter like the other butterflies but swoop and soar like a small bird, hence the name.
Speaking of photos I am now having to make do with a long 300 mm and a very wide angle 10-20 mm as my wonderful Sigma do everything lens has given up. It will take the odd picture but then goes into error mode so I will be taking close up far away or far away very close up!!! Should be fun.
Last night we ate at the only resturant open in Yungaburra, except for a rather dubious take away pizza place, called the Eden Hotel. This rather old world hotel is a renovated Queenslander house and very pleasant. A limited but good menu and some fine wine.
We started today with breakfast on the veranda outside of our motel room with the sun shining again. We had planned to start early and do the walking track along Peterson Creek which has
platypus and tree kangeroos living beside it. It was very quiet and peaceful by the creek but the recent storms meant it was very full and when we reached the ford the stepping stones were under water so we turned round to go back only to find a very large, about a metre long, thick black shinny snake lying across the path sunning itself. Fortunately the snake was as scared as we were and slithered away very fast before we could move or take a picture. We later learned from a ranger it was a red bellied black snake and quite venomous.
After that rather too exciting start to the day we went back for a strong cup of tea before setting off the other way along the creek to look for a Lumholtz tree kangeroo which had been sighted in the area. Unfortunately she had moved on with her baby. We did see a kookaburra who was obliging enough to let us take his picture, before flying off laughing loudly. We also saw a rusty old car parked in a beautifully manicured lawn, as a garden feature.
After our walk and a brief lunch we went on a tour
of Lake Tinaroo. On the way we stopped to look at Cathederal Fig a 500 year old fig tree. The scale of it was enormous it was 42 metres around the base. I am not sure that the camera will be able to do justice to it.
The road around Lake Tinaroo was unsealed and was a bit dicey as there were enormous potholes which were a bit of a hazard for our little hire car which we are not supposed to take off sealed roads.
We got back safely after 28km of bumping and slipping and had a take away pizza from the dubious shop as we needed to be ready for a guided nocturnal walk.
Alan met us at 7.30 and we went onto some farmers land to spot possums and tree geckos but sadly no tree kangeroos. I managed to drop my camera with the long lens on so it may wide angle or nothing from now on. I managed acouple of shots of the green ring tailed possums and a white tailed tree rat. The coppery brush tailed possums were too busy chasing each other for mating to pose for a picture.
It was a good
evening and Alan was an Australian Tony Wharton so we learnt a lot about Queenslands flora and fauna. Bob thought it was very funny when a flying rhinoseros beetle leapt at me and got stuck down my shirt hissing furiously!!!
Packing now for our trip to Darwin tomorrow, may be late loading the diary for the next few days as we hope to be in Kakadoo National Park.
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Lucy
non-member comment
Wow
Still getting some amazing photos broken camera or not Mum!