Main Range National Park – Queensland 04-10-11

Our mum 1916 – 2006 would have been 95 to-day!

2010 sculpture of the Barred Frog (Mixophyes fleayi) Once thought to be extinct, rediscovered in Main Range National Park.

We were so lucky (right time of year) to see a few Barred frog tadpoles in Dalrymple Creek!

These tadpoles are large (50mm in length) compared with other frog species. It’s rows of teeth, and sucker like mouth help it hold on in running water as it feeds on algae stuck to the rocks. The tadpole stage of Fleay’s barred frog can be from six months to two years. These tadpoles are fast swimmers and dart under rocks when disturbed.

Barred Frog - Photo by Julian Bently

We heard them only!

Rainforest walk

Stinging Tree

Spanish Moss ? – a lichen anyway

Epiphytes caught in sunlight

Main Range view – part of the Great Dividing mountain ranges in Queensland.

Yet another Satin Bowerbird – one of a great number around the campsite but we could not find their bowers.

Have yet to identify this bird that has an olive green back. The closest match I could fine was the cuckoo shrike.

Female wren

Crimson Rosellas

Childers to Bunya Mountains National Park - Queensland 02-10-11

Childers Post Office

Windera Park circa 1988 Our tea stop

Spotted camels in paddock en-route

Windy day

Chinese Dowry Tree plantation

I was told that when a girl child was born in China, her placenta was buried in the garden and this tree was planted on top. The child had to tend the tree until she was ready for marriage. The tree was then felled and the wood used to make her dowry furniture.

The wood from this plantation is used to make furniture to-day.

The Chinese Dowry tree blossoms have a sweet perfume similar to the lilac and I noticed a huddle of bee hives next door. No honey for sale though!

A kind of thistle?

Mature Grass Trees ( Xanthorrhoea glauca) At almost 5m high they are some of the tallest now in existence. They are extremely slow growing and could be over 500 years old - It was a cold day in Bunya Mountains National Park!

Brush-tailed rock wallaby Petrogale penicillata) perhaps not since this species is listed as endangered.

Not so the Satin Bowerbird!

Satin Bowerbird’s bower!

A cross Pied Currawong

Bunya Pine (Arucaria bidwillii)

Bunya Pine foliage

Bunya Pines stencilled against the sky

Bunya Pine forest as seen over 200 years ago

Australian First Peoples -They came from the north, from the south, east and west travelling hundreds of kilometres along traditional pathways, across hot, dry land towards the Bunyas – and the promise of cool forests, cold mountain streams and nourishing flesh of bunya nuts. They gathered to feast and celebrate the bunya nut harvest – to tell stories, to settle disputes, to renew friendships, to pass on wisdoms, to marry and dance.

The soft, juicy young bunya nuts were eaten raw, while the mature nuts were roasted. After cracking the outer shells of the mature bunya cones(as big as a football!) on an open fire, kernels were pounded into a meal and roasted into a kind of cake that could be stored for several weeks. Rich nutty meals were the main food. Hunting of wild life was strictly controlled during the gatherings, which could last for several months from December to March.

Rockhampton Botanic Gardens – Queensland 25-09-11

The house I want to buy – it is right next to the Botanic Gardens where I could work as a volunteer! Such is the stuff of dreams!

Entrance to the Botanic Gardens

Bar-shouldered Dove

Australian King-Parrot – male The female is predominantly green, with scarlet belly and undertail coverts.

Unknown duck - female

Lattice Palm

Flat white

Banyan Fig (Ficus bengalensis) Planted in 1895

Queensland Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta)

Flowers from the Buttercup Tree (Cochlospermum vitifolium)

Fascinating tree – one of a row not labelled!

Edible Candle Tree (Parmentiera edulis) - Mexico

Exotic from India

Black Bean (Castanospermum australe) A beautiful timber = fine grained and lovely honey colour with rich dark coffee coloured banding.

Dingo in captivity (Canis lupus dingo) The dingo, unlike the modern dog, is descended from the Indian wolf. it yelps and howls, does not bark, has a different gait and its ears are always erect. Dingoes are naturally lean and usually cream to reddish-yellow with white points. Like so many native animals, the pure dingo’s future in the wild is uncertain.

Spoonbill

The illusive Cassowary! Only 1500 (estimated) remain in the wild. Efforts are being made to remove the eggs and rear the chicks in safety before returning them to their natural habitats within the Wet Tropic National Parks.

Giant Waterlily (Nymphaea gigantea)