Last day of our Australian Adventure

Today, we headed out to Kings Beach to take advantage of one last day of swimming. It came at a cost - sunburn, but we had a blast and it was worth every red mark

I find these drifts a little more acceptable.

 

The Glasshouse mountains named by Captain Cook as they reminded him of the glass furnaces of Yorkshire England. They were once lava plugs within volcanic cones.

 

 My son and I took Jan out for supper. Brisbane had converted an old Gas Storage area into a trendy café, area.

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R & R after travelling the day

Today, we arrived late at our hotel, so only had time for a walk about, swim, supper then bed..

            Beautiful seemingly wild flowers that I came upon while walking up a roadway.

 

The beading water droplets and sunset in the background provided a lovely pastel picture of the pool.

Burleigh Heads

Today we took a drive to Burleigh Heads along the Gold Coast. Beautiful day. We just stopped at the beaches, did some sauntering around, had lunch at the Burleigh Surf Club.

We then returned to Surfers Paradise and went to see the Q1, which is the highest residential building in the southern Hemisphere.. and the 3d highest in the world. This is the view along the beach towards our hotel and was taken from the 77 floor of the Q1.

The waves as seen from the Q1.

Gold Coast

 

Driving along the Gold Coast on our way to Byron Bay, we stopped along many beautiful beaches.

 

                These little sand balls are created by crabs as they dig out places in the sand to hide, unfortunately I couldn't catch a glimpse of them out of their holes.

Surfers Paradise

View from our room, 18th floor of the Vibe Hotel. Blessed with both the ocean and the waterways.

 

 

I believe this to be a coconut husk.

 

This beauty is a Pointsietta tree!

 

I was thrilled during my morning walk to capture this picture of "The bird of paradise"flower" This one seems to display the bird form exquisitely.

 

Australia Day

Australia Day - Public holiday, with community activities, capped off with fireworks on the river. We went to the Story Bridge Hotel for the cockroach races. You could buy a cockroach for $5 and it cost an addition $5 to register it  for a race. All proceeds went to charity.

 

Here is Le Duke of Roachville catching a few last minutes of rest before the race.

 

My son wearing his cool Aussie sunnies, a gift from my dear friend Janet.

Jan & I  hamming it up for the camera.

Morning walk and Botanical Gardens

The metal plates placed strategically along the side of this building makes it appear that the building is warped. Cool architecture.

 

The beautiful floral and fauna of  the botanical gardens in Brisbane. These gardens were only 4 blocks from our hotel.

 

                                         The beautiful water lilies were in full bloom.

 

These flowers reminded me of jelly fish.

Art Chairs

One of the food courts in a Brisbane Mall, is decked out in these art chairs. What a great idea! A chair gallery

 

The visit to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation area of Australia, afforded me the opportunity to take many many pictures. The rainforest didn't let me down as it rained the entire day.
These fern trees offered up a beautiful lacy view.

 

This solitary vine growing down the rocks appears to be so simple compared to the complexities of the rain forest.

 

Stairway down the rainforest to a meeting site.

 

If you look closely on the stairs above you will see this leaf.

 

Natures own water bowls.

 

 

Interesting vine.

 

One of the many downpours.

 

Low lying clouds on the Daintree River.

 

The Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia

There is nothing like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Tyler ( my son) and I spent 5 hours in these waters, swimming with the fish and enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer. It brought me a better understanding of this treasure, and the importance of its preservation.

 

Tyler

                                Tyler waiting to pat "Wally" as he swims by.

 

 "Wally" a Napoleanfish (Humphead Wrasse). Incredible species. They love human contact and love to be petted. They seem to form a bond with certain individuals more than others. He loved Tyler and would follow him around everywhere, trying to get in close for a cuddle. He somewhat reminded my of how cats like to rub up against people. "Wally" was certainly was the highlight of our trip - He is one Amazing Fish.

I was totally mesmerized with abundance of coral. So diverse in its shapes, sizes and colors. Truly beautiful.

            The softness of this picture is what I love  about it. Doesn't really look real.

 

              Who can resist a Sail boat, one we were passing on our return to port.

Cairns

A view on the flight to Cairns Australia

 

 

Bats having their daytime siesta in Cairns.

 

One of the beautiful flowers surrounding our pool.

More Brisbane Esthetics!

This beautiful old church fits so well with the modernization of the city of Brisbane.

 

 

This is Brisbane's City Hall, located on King George Square, a gathering place for events, and yes the clock does work and chimes on the hour. Both the church and City Hall were located directly across the street from our hotel, The Mercure.

 

I found the windows in this structure to be a work of genius. It adds such a unique visual appeal to the building.

And what would a trip to Australia be without being able to see a Kangaroo. What a wonderful display of artist talents. There were 4 Kangaroos in this collection, which was randomly situated along the street.

 

This is the shipwreck of the SS Dicky, which ran aground in 1893. It is located on Dicky Beach on the Sunshine Coast and is the only beach named after a shipwreck.