Beautiful one day, perfect the next….another cracking day dawns at Wonga, Christmas Day. I have to say that the dawn chorus here is more raucous than chorus with incredibly loud repetitive shrieks, squawks, haunting whistles, cackles, hoots and coos….and then the insects get going as the heat and humidity rise, the noise getting louder and…

Would you swim here? This is a local swimming hole near to the house. We are ‘assured’ that there are no crocs here ‘cos apparently they don’t swim uphill… ‘ Who knew? It was so tempting on a roasting hot morning to plunge into the cool water, but we chickened out. Whereas the other photo…

It’s too darn hot for the beach as we’d fry to a crisp within minutes after say 10am. The best time to explore is at sunrise and early morning or late in the afternoon, just as the intense heat of the day subsides. That’s when the reef appears to shimmer on the horizon. It’s a…

As Omicron spreads its tentacles around the world, sending us back into some form of restricted life or, heaven forbid, another lockdown, it’s somewhat of a relief to fly to apparently COVID-free Tropical North Queensland – far from the madding crowd… Though getting here was an anxiety-fuelled rollercoaster, with a negative PCR taken within 72…

We’ve been coming to the relative cool highlands of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains for many a year, particularly transfixed by the breathtaking views at Govetts Leap, a vast and spectacular look-out across this World Heritage wilderness just 2 hours out of Sydney.  I’ve previously posted on the remarkable ongoing regeneration since the devastating fires…

Sadly, the last ‘known’ Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) died at Hobart Zoo in 1936, though ask any local, especially in the north western wilderness areas of Cradle Mountain about Thylacines and they’ll wax lyrical about reports of sightings in the area – a suspicious paw print in the forest or even a pile of stinking scat…

High Summer in glorious Sydney

But there’s a sting in the tale… We woke this morning to news that Sydney’s beaches had been invaded by a mass ‘bloom’ of Bluebottles (siphonophores), a type of jellyfish which are common here in summer. Blooms are rare though, needless to say, when thoughts turned to an early morning swim, the ocean was out of…

On a blisteringly hot Australia Day, we thought an early morning swim at Bronte would be the perfect way to greet the day….and so apparently did the rest of Sydney. Even at 6.30am the beach was packed, the car park-parked out and the cafes heaving with eager beavers. So rather than tootle around looking for…

“This place, with its shifting, salted air, tangled fabric, voluptuous topography, winding muscular flora and glorious chiaroscuro light, seemed to me the most thrilling, most picturesque, most romantic city on earth.” – Elizabeth Farrelly One of our favourite spots for a swim is the intimidatingly named Shark Beach at Nielsen Park – thankfully, there’s a shark…