Ramblings of a retiree in France
As my beloved and I conducted our holiday port-mortem, it inevitably threw up our vacation highlights. We then attempted to whittle these down to five – easier said than done on such a great trip. So here we go!
As confirmed urbanites, we’re just not used to seeing wild animals, just domestic ones. At Wolgan Valley we loved coming out of our bungalow and finding roos and wallabies enjoying the surrounding grassy areas. These were regularly watered and, from the animals’ perspective, had lots of nice juicy green shoots. When they saw us approach, the wallabies tended to freeze and were therefore easier to photograph while the wombats and kangaroos scuttled or hopped away. However, we got some great shots of the kangaroos when we rode around the estate on mountain bikes.
We also love all the noisy birdlife though they proved even more difficult to photograph. Long range my iPad photos are too fuzzy or by the time my beloved had focused his camera the bird had literally flown the coop. Easiest of all to photograph were the animals at EKKA or at The Farm who were visibly constrained.
I didn’t mind the large lizards who enjoyed basking in the sunshine. The ones on Whitehaven were larger than those we spotted elsewhere but that might have been on account of them snaffling the BBQ left overs!
Plus, my beloved much enjoyed snorkeling in both the Whitsundays and on the Great Barrier Reef and seeing the amazingly colourful sea life.
I’m pleased to report that we did not at any time get up close and personal with sharks, orcas, crocs, snakes or poisonous spiders.
We absolutely loved the scenery, everything was just so lush and green. Of course, most of the time we had no idea about the names of the trees or flowers though many of you have since kindly identified much of what I’ve photographed and it’s much appreciated.
Because of the absence of any nearby lights, the skies were jet black and the stars did indeed twinkle like diamonds. It was quite magical and I’m only sorry that our attempts at photographing such magnificence came to nought. But we’ll never forget. The sunrises and sunsets were pretty spectacular too!
Living on the Cote d’Azur we’re used to the bright light beloved of artists but this was even brighter. Consequently, we rarely ventured out without Factor 50+, hats and sunglasses. Although we photographed loads of fabulous views, from time to time I wished I painted so as to better capture the light and the way it fell on the magnificent Aussie scenery.
Aussies are by their very nature a friendly bunch and we met many who were escaping the winter conditions where they lived or who were enjoying holidays with their youngsters, before being tied down to school holidays. We also met a very entertaining family from India, a family of Chinese from Shanghai, all 20 clad in a team trip t-shirt and a delightful couple from Spain. Staff where we stayed were also unfailingly helpful with their much appreciated recommendations. Plus, I was most fortunate to catch up with fellow blogger Lyn in Brisbane in between her travels.ย A big thanks to all of them for enriching our vacation.
One or two of you may be muttering what about the Great Barrier Reef? Well, that’s deserving of it’s own special post!
Beautiful!
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Thank you
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Awesome shots! ๐
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Thanks!
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beautiful
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Ty
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Wonderful!
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Great post, Im looking forward to a barrier reef post!
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Itโs coming soon……
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Great
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Wonderful adventures, and images of the wildlife, and scenery! I’m looking forward to seeing your Barrier Reef post.
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Itโs coming soon……
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An excellent trip. Trips like that remain vivid in memory as the years go by.
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Plus I have an excellent memory
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A beautiful summary of your stay in Australia. Wonderful shots, you are a professional rapporteur.
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Thank you for your kind comments.
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Knowing how much you saw and did, you did well to narrow it down to 5 faves. I have lived here most of my life and I never tire of our native animals with my favourite being the wombat. It is rare now to see Koalas out in their natural habitat but they are there. People always make my trips that much better. It was super to meet up with you Sheree and we will hopefully have more time next time you are down under. Lyn
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Thanks Lyn it was great meeting you too. Until next time!
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Beautiful
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Thanks!
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๐๐๐๐
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Looks like a wonderful trip. Great pictures.
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It was!
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I canโt believe all the Beauty there! I have always wanted to visit there. I love all your pictures and canโt wait to see the reef!
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Itโs a fabulous place a d donโt even get me started on the food!
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Seems like a great wonderful trip with all these beautiful images ๐
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It was fabulous
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Sounds like you had a thoroughly enjoyable time and have a raft of great memories to cherish!
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Absolutely
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Beautiful recap and pics ๐
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Thank you Ashok ๐
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Pleasure Sheree
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Nice pictures! The ones in #2 remind me of Florida.
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This look amazing! Great photos ๐
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Thanks
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From blue skies at home to blue skies away… and a whole load of fun in between!
As they say in the classics… epic! ๐
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Thanks!
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What a great impression of downunder โฃ๏ธI hope that I can go there sometime not to far in the future ๐Thank you for this wonderful blog post ๐๐
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Thank you Mona and I hope you get yo visit Australia too.
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Whoa! Must have been difficult to narrow it down to the top 5! As you were sharing wildlife encounters, any of them with the creatures from the insect world?
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I did meet a very large cricket but it was largely marsupials and lizards.
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Good to hear! I recently saw a documentary about the 10 most dangerous insects, guess how many of them live down under? ๐
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I guess quite a few but Iโve never seen anything remotely dangerous on my 4 trips but then I donโt go looking for them either……
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Gracias por traernos tus maravillosas aventuras.
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