Delay for the next installment!

Getting home from our exciting weekend at 7.15 and then sitting down to relax has taken my energy away! Home is a great place!
I will fill you in on our last day on Tangalooma "tomorrow"!
Tonight I will have a comfortable bed not a rock hard one so "sleep, here I come!"
AJ

Another day on an (almost) deserted island

Waking bright and early as usual I watched with dismay as the clouds greyed the sky – but the sun was behind the hill and hadn’t pushed the evening cover off the island yet so by the time we were walking the rather long distance to the breakfast restaurant the sky was blue and not a hint of rain in the puffy white clouds at all.
The meals are really generous but the amount of walking that has to be done means that we will not put on any weight!
What a lavish display of food was laid out for the breakfast buffet! I felt almost ashamed having only one American pancake and maple syrup before being very British and having a slice of toast and marmalade! Colin made up for my lack of breakfast appetite and wolfed down bacon, eggs, mushroom and tomato – and a couple of pancakes too!

After brekky our group meandered over to check out the “helicopter workshop” and made an enthusiastic bunch of people for the young pilot to talk to. I was invited to accompany Joyce on a helicopter flight – she was only able to take the flight if she purchased two tickets and would I like to go with her. Would I……? Amazing! Now I know why I had an itchy palm this morning!

We took forever sitting inside this tiny flying machine before the pilot lifted it skywards – there are so many safety checks that have to be done first. The rest of the gang watching from the sidelines was getting tired of waving!

I fitted the long lens on the camera thinking that we would be a long way up and I would need it – especially since we might see whales from “up there”. However we had barely gone five minutes when I realized that I needed a much wider view that the 50-300mm would allow so hurriedly switched back to the 17-55mm and part way through the flight remembered that I had changed the White Balance the night before – for the dolphins in the dark – and put that back on daylight! Grr! Thank goodness for Photoshop! That will let me put the colours right. Incidentally we didn’t see one whale!
All through the short flight I was juggling between the Nikon D90 and the JVC pocket video cam so I have some terrific pics of this sand island that is Morton Island and hopefully some good video too. I just hope it doesn’t make the viewer air sick!
Once on the ground Joyce, Colin and I purchase a coffee and sat and yarned for a while and were soon joined by five others from our Bombora group so stayed on and purchased a sandwich each for our lunch. It was great to sit and chat and learn more about each other.

After picking up a jacket from our rooms we all boarded a flat bottomed punt like boat that took us a short way to an artificial reef made up of old, rusting ships and barges.

To get into the punt we all had to remove our shoes and socks and roll up trousers and paddle through the ankle deep sea water before stepping onto the ramp at the back. That small adventure set the mood for the rest of the “cruise”! There was a lot of laughter. Once at the wrecks we were all given tubs of pelletised fish food. Sprinkling the pellets onto the surface of the crystal clear water soon brought a myriad of tropical fish racing to eat them.

Our skipper tried to educate us as to what fish was what but I think that most people just enjoyed seeing the frenzy these colourful creatures were creating!

The reef of wrecks creates a sheltered harbour for pleasure craft and there were plenty of beautiful boats to admire of all shapes and sizes – from small yachts and cabin cruisers to massive multi decked ones that were almost the size of liners! (slight exaggeration!)
Once on dry land again I dragged my patient hubby along the sands back to the wrecks – I was determined to get a sunset with them as a backdrop. I am telling you – it was the best decision! I am so pleased with the shots I got.

I could bore the socks off you all with the number I took! (but I wont!) I love to have something of interest between me and the sky. Others take the sky, I know, but I like “something” in addition!
Half an hour after the sun had disappeared there was still colour in the sky so I sat down on the wet sand and put the camera on my gorilla-pod and with a slow shutter speed took another couple of shots.
There was no time to return to the hotel room before the “Aussie Barbecue” evening meal. I did find somewhere to wash off all the sand before I entered the restaurant though! When the food was brought out for us – a special room with a special meal, just for our Bombora group of nine, plus Joyce, the lady who took me on a helicopter trip – I could not resist taking more photos.

The presentation of the food was magnificent. Fruit and vegetables were cut into decorative flower shapes and the actual BBQ food looked so special – and it was.

So, Saturday was another full and special day filled with exciting activities and leaving me with lots of amazing memories to carry with me. Tomorrow couldn’t possibly better today! But I don’t want it to!
AJ

Tangalooma Whaling

It was such an early start this morning. I was in the shower by five thirty! With so many morning chores to be done before heading off to join our tour bus I had to start early! We were on the road by seven and after picking up a few other passengers along the way found ourselves at the wharf right on time for our ten o clock departure.
I had no idea how long it took to reach Tangalooma – the name of the resort on Morton Island, to which we were going but it took forever just to get to the mouth of the Brisbane River! We slowed down as we passed every moored ship – many of them! I guess that is so that the wake caused by our vessel did not throw them around as they were being unloaded. It actually took an hour and a quarter.

Our fast cat ferry (the one in the background!)

There was time to take a few photos from the jetty when we arrived before we all climbed back on board so we could go out into the ocean on a whale watching trip. The best part of that was the cup of coffee on board! We saw one whale breach (which was wonderful) but the rest of the time we saw water and felt the huge swell toss us around. I was happy when we pulled up and we were on solid ground again!

We were taken on a walking tour of the resort, which is huge and fantastic (and many more superlatives) but when I pointed out that one of the members of the party had major mobility problems (bad knees) we were all treated to a buggy ride for the rest of the resort travel.

Our rooms are quite luxuriant and after enjoying a welcome cup of tea and a muffin (from home!) I left with my camera to take a walk and some photos – I found a collection of curlews and had fun chasing them with the camera and then swung my attention to the sinking sun. I had picked a location earlier that would be good if there was a sunset so that is where I aimed to return to. It was perfect!

At six in the evening the lights on the jetty are turned on and in come the bottle nosed dolphins to be hand fed. We had to listen to a “Japanese Marine Biologist” for what seemed to be an overly long period of time as she explained about the rules of feeding and touching and the ages of the dolphins – all we were all interested in was SEEING them! But we were rewarded. Six dolphins came in and played below us in the water and four of them came in to be hand fed. Amanda, Steven’s girlfriend, braved the cold water and had the thrill of her life! She tried to hang onto her fish so the dolphin would stay longer!

Our day was completed with the most enormous and delicious five course meal that I could not complete! What a treat we have had today! I finished up by going around our table and taking photos of each of the couples, we have already become good friends! Yes, Colin and I had our photos taken (with my camera) too.

Another busy day tomorrow? You betcha!

AJ



Dreaming of holidays

My son suggested a trip to the Caravan and Camping Expo that was "on" this weekend. Naturally I grabbed my camera - it seems to enjoy coming on outings with me! Money might be tight but there were plenty of wonderful touring "outfits" to admire and pick ideas from. We have a fairly basic but large off-road camper trailer and have found it rather a pain to fold up ready for departure. I was attracted to one wonderful set-up that had a remote control that when pressed folded the camper down giving the single (single!) operator the time to wander from side to side to tuck in the canvas as the solid base folded over the trailer. Brilliant!
There were plenty of camper trailers, pop up caravans and caravans with pop out sides or backs, motor homes with bits that extended, awnings and fly screen dining areas that zipped on. Oh! All sorts of wonderful bits and pieces.

Here you can see just a few of the camera trailers - the tents are part of the trailers so can accommodate a family comfortably. solar panels were in great numbers as was running hot and cold water in the camper trailer set-ups. That made our seem VERY basic!

Steven is admiring the smart pull-out kitchen on one of the camper trailers - click on the picture and you may faint when you see how much it is! the trailer is magnificent and has everything you could possibly need - but it is still a trailer with a fitted tent, not a caravan.

Of course, if you have a camper trailer or caravan you need something to tow it with so there were a few people with suitable vehicles on display. My menfolk were interested in making enquiries about the vehicle in the centre of this picture - it is a "Great Wall" - I don't think I would be too keen on driving a vehicle that has such a name! They were impressed with it though! It is half the price of the Nissan that is nearest the camera. I must admit that it does look quite smart . . .
we have a huge country to explore - but all caravan parks have cabins in them and to use cabins in various parks while touring makes much more sense to me than paying so much for a camper that spends most of its life in the back yard.
AJ

Another free loader!

I know, I often write about the birds that come visiting my place! Here I go again! Well, I get a lot of pleasure from these beautiful wild creatures getting to be so trustful of our proximity. I never try to turn them into pets, I do not encourage the birds to come and sit on the feed dish as I hold it or try to get them to perch on my hands. I feel it is necessary for them to have a natural fear of humans so they can survive long enough to have grey feathers. (They don't get grey feathers!) We do have one bird that has become VERY trustful, Twisty Beak, the lorikeet with the deformed lower bill will now fly over and sit on Colin's hand as soon as he comes outside with some treat for him/her (we don't know what sex Twisty is) and will even stay on his hand when Colin walks inside the house to show off his feathered friend to any visitor that might be in our home.
But I did not set out to write about Twisty. We had a new visitor to our lorikeet and finch feeding dishes this weekend. It was a surprise to see such a large bird on the inside of the cage.

 f/5.6  1/100    ISO 200   55mm

My first picture was taken as I stepped through the door onto the veranda. I did not want to frighten our new visitor, he might not be able to make a quick get away and might hurt himself.
I stood still in the doorway for a few minutes to be sure the bird had settled down and was not going to panic. then moved  around the table to get a little closer.

  f/5.6  1/100    ISO 200   55mm

Kookaburras do not eat seeds so there was nothing inside this cage that would interest him at all. I have no idea why it would have gone in there - unless it was after the little finches that were there earlier enjoying the budgie seed. Kookaburras are meat eaters, they love insects, lizards, grubs and worms but they also like small birds and mammals. Another explanation could be that I had the slow cooker making beautiful meaty smells out on the veranda (keeps that smell outside). Well, it's possible!
I edged a little closer and took another shot of our visitor.

 f/5.6  1/100    ISO 200   55mm

There is something very special about this famous Aussie - his laughing call through the bush always makes me look up to see if I can catch sight of the bird. I was puzzled as to how this large fellow managed to get inside the cage that we had placed over the feeding platform (to keep the cockatoos from throwing the dishes to the ground).
We called our house guest to come and take a photo, she attempted to get as close as I had been and before she could raise the camera to her eye the kookaburra dipped his head and just dropped through the bars at the bottom of the cage - the bars the dishes sit on - and flew off. Under all those feathers must be one skinny bird!
To see the pictures larger, click on them and then click on the "back" arrow to return to this page.
It is wonderful to go to new places to see new things - but sometimes new thing come to you at home!
AJ

A magic location

I have been busy with my video editing! On Wednesday Colin and I took Amanda, my son's girlfriend, to see one of our favourite places. Our home is at the base of Mount Springbrook so it is only a 30 km drive to see some truly magnificent scenery. Actually, we don't need to go quite that far before the "wow" factor sets in! The drive up the mountain is a delight. There are curved bridges and palm filled valleys and old stumps with holes in them that tell tales of the timber times (Cedar cutters were the first residents of this area)on the road leading up the mountain.
For most of the time I was busy with my still camera but remembered to use my tiny JVC bloggy camera once we had reached Purlingbrook Falls.
I hope you enjoy visiting one of our favourite locations! Again I remind you to click on the title on the top left of the video to see it in "widescreen" in Youtube.

If you haven't been to Springbrook yet, let me take you there!
AJ

Up with the eagles

How wonderful to be able to fly. A trip to Mount Tamborine allowed me to take a few minutes video of some people who could do it quite effortlessly.
The sun was bright so I was totally unable to see what my camera was aimed at so this entire video was taken by pure guess-work. This is what you have to do when there is no viewfinder to put up to your eyes!
I hope you enjoy what I am showing.

To see this video without the sides trimmed off, click on the title at the top left of the video and you will be taken to Youtube.
AJ

In full feather

A short while ago I wrote about and showed photos of a very under-feathered cockatoo. Well, we have had a few really cold mornings with quite heavy frost on the lower levels so I would expect that we will not see that poor creature again. So to show you the true beauty of these wonderful wild creatures I was happy to be able to get outside this morning and capture a few shots of these visitors to my veranda.

f/ 4.0  1/800  ISO 160   85mm

I might have told you how I usually chase the birds away because they can be very destructive if they think they can get a regular feed and then find the feed dish empty. As a result of this the birds are quite skittish when I open the door to come out with the camera!
I first noticed the birds on the feed dish cage when one of them had his head thrust between the bars and going his hardest at cleaning out the seed dish. He initially looked as if he was stuck! When I slid the door open he had to wriggle to free himself without removing his neck feathers!
I had seen the birds through the window to start with so changed lenses so that I had the 70-300mm attached. I wanted both birds in the shot first and when one flew off (the one that had managed to get at the seeds) I zoomed in!

 f/ 4.0  1/800  ISO 160   100mm

Don't you just love "back lighting"! Of course I have had a little help from Photoshop to lift the shaded area on the birds front (Select the bird, Ctrl+J to duplicate, use levels, mask and tidy using a soft brush, smart sharpen and merge down) There is rarely a photo that I do not use Photoshop.

 f/ 4.8  1/800  ISO 160   200mm

Zoomed right in for this shot and if you click on the picture to enlarge it you will have the surprise I did - I did not realise that cockatoos had brown eyes! I thought they were black!

f/ 5.0  1/800  ISO 160   240mm

The bird was very suspicious about my activity - many birds think that a big camera is a gun! So it wasn't long before he flew into the tree a little distance from the veranda (We have had a tree lopper in so the branches of the tree available as perches are further away!) This is where I prefer to see the cockatoos! They are beautiful birds but they have been endowed with huge voices that only another cockatoo could love!
AJ