Hans and I are once again together...but after learning from the lessons of our history, live apart...we each have our own 'space'...which we both need and yet now enjoy each others company when we are together...
My faithful and reliable car of 9 years Annie Astra has moved on to a new life with someone who I am sure will love her as much as I did...It was time, as living here especially during the Monsoon Season can throw many driving challenges your way...
Knowing what a Suzuki Jimny can do...I decided that thats what I wanted for my next wheels...
Introducing Suzy Q!
So now Suzy has a sister!
The Wet...or as we have renamed it The Monsoon Season continues to delight us all with relieving tropical downpours and exciting summer storms, which reduce the high humidity that builds just before these events...
The magical array of colours
Stopped in at Hutchins Creek a few days ago...
Clear pristine rainforest water flowing...
Local kids enjoying the cooling water...
Briefly visited Thornton Beach...Thats Struck Island in the photo...Doesnt take a lot of imagination to work out how it got named that!
Hans is now writing a weekly feature article for the online 'newspaper' coming out from Port Douglas called The Newsport...His articles are headed 'In the Rainforest this week'
http://www.tourismportdouglas.com.au/PORT-DOUGLAS-NEWS-DAILY.3081.0.html (and click on News above recent news top left hand corner)
We were out that day looking for flowering and seeding plants to write about...
We were out that day looking for flowering and seeding plants to write about...
The Daintree Fan Palm is in flower...
The Walking Stick Palm is flowering...the flowers/seeds are either red or orange...Hans tells me they are the only palm seed flower that is edible.
These Bromeliads, although not native to the Rainforest were putting on a show worthy of a photo on someones property...
Water Lillies abound in the wetlands and temporary lakes that form this time of the year.
In the Mangoves, the Cannon Ball is fruiting..these trees grow up to 25 metres high..the Cannon Balls contain 12-18 tighly packed seeds which are released when the ball ripens to a golden brown and opens...
The Bread Fruit Tree...with ready to eat Bread Fruit just there for the picking...there is a whole orchard of these growing just out of Cape Tribulation Village...which Hans planted himself around 20 years ago...
The Bread Fruit was introduced to FNQ by the Samoan Missionaries...The bread fruit weighs up to 4kg and are around 20cms in diameter when mature...
A versatile fruit...used more for its potato like qualities...high in starch but not calories...it can be peeled and boiled, roasted, baked whole in the oven, BBQ'd.
We took one home that day and made Bread Fruit Chips...absolutely delicimo!
Whilst up at Cape Tribulation the hot and humid day was relieved by a tropical deluge that lasted but 30mins...so refreshing
A Golden Orb under cover of the corrugated roof was undisturbed by it all.
The drive back was certainly different to the drive up...
Coopers Crossing...which on the way up was dry (the crossing) and the river so clear you could see the stonebed beneath, had transformed to this...
The backpackers on the otherside decided that maybe they wouldnt be camping at Cape Trib that night as they turned around and went back.
The water tables around the whole of the area are full...the ground so saturated that anything that falls from above now becomes ground water looking for a place to go ...added to that the rain falling in the hills above coming down the valleys in volumes you wouldnt believe, hence the instant flooding...
This creates challenging and ever changing driving conditions....and why I now have Suzy Q!
Out of interest we went again to Hutchins Creek on our way back...
On another day when the sun was out photographed this Golden Orb settling down to dine on this beautiful beetle in Patricks garden...
And another awesome sunrise to start another Magic Day...
Quote:
