Busman's Holiday.

The great thing about living here is that when we get tired of our own beaches, we only have to drive for an hour or so north to find the truly special World Heritage listed attractions of the Cooloola and Teewah coloured sands.

Sure it's not quite on the Sunshine Coast, but it's rightly proclaimed to be a 'must see' attraction for those visiting the region.

Rainbow Beach

© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia
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Rainy days and Sundays

It's one of those beachy things to do when the weather says "stay indoors".   Bring out the dominoes and retreat from the world for a time.

One hundred and fifty millimetres of rain in a few days doesn't mean the great flood is on the way, but it is a bit too humid to go outside.

Dicky Beach

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Same Sunset, other direction

Sure my eyes hurt a bit, but ....

The glasshouse mountains peek over the buildings with their back to the sun.

Caloundra.


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Another Sunset

It's hard to believe that this building is in the middle of a built-up area, but it is.  The grassy "dune" is a pile of debris on a construction site, the building is predominantly white, but if one catches it at the right time of the evening, anything can happen.

Let's call it "art" and be done with it.

Kings Beach

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Sunset

Sunset on Canberra Terrace.

Caloundra

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Fig with building.

When Frank Llloyd Wright said that architects plant trees (or was it vines) in front of their mistakes, I wonder if he had this sort of thing in mind?

Caloundra

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Cotton Tree.

 In February?

Dicky Beach

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Walking.

Rain, hail or shine, we walk barefoot.  That's just how it's done until winter, when we put on our flip flops.

Moffat Beach.
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Under the Boardwalk.

Under the boardwalk.  Actually it's under the bridge, and I'm going to stay here too until the rain stops, which it will in a moment or two.

Tooway Creek


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Death of an Icon 4 of 4

Even in its death throes there is still beauty to be found within.

If you've ever wondered what the view was like from inside a pineapple, this is it!

Nambour

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Death of an Icon 3 of 4

Even though they are still structurally sound, and used regularly as the cover for farmers' markets, the building finishes at the Big Pineapple have truly seen better days.

It's a bit like exploring one of those abandoned developments in a formerly occupied or perhaps nuclear wasted country, but the buildings aren't abandoned.

Nambour.

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Death of an Icon 2 of 4

The story of the pineapple remains inside the Big Pineapple, but it is fair to describe what's left of the display as "shop soiled" or even "tired".  Pineapples which once moved happily along the wall now sit with rusty drive chains, covered in a few decades worth of stuff that covers things that haven't been cleaned in a few decades.

Nambour

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Death of an Icon 1 of 4

If it was an old pet we'd have to be thinking about putting it down.

The Big Pineapple is nothing if not tough and enduring, but now it's future seems unclear, certainly it's not there to promote the pineapple industry any longer, and there is a zoo attached and a market.

The land has been described as a "prime" development site, and I suppose it could be for those wishing to develop something demonstrably away from the beaten track.

When it was built it was on the highway of course, but that was in the words of the song, "yesterday, and yesterday's gone."

Nambour
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Dump Birds

Ibis are not a thing of wondrous beauty.  In populated areas they can be quite a pest as they are expert scavengers and tend to breed in areas where there is a food supply, so there is a quiet campaign to remove their eggs from their nesting sites to slow down the rate of expansion of the colonies.

I wonder if they were prettier if it would matter as much.

Battery Hill

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Camouflage

In the dappled light the bearded dragons are almost invisible.  Thankfully this one sat in the sun just long enough for me to take the picture.

Battery Hill

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They aren't kidding.

Much of the area in which we live was a military training area half a century ago, and it was not an uncommon thing to find all sorts of interesting things in years past.

Only a few years ago an unexploded bomb appeared in a backyard trench as a plumber was digging a drain.  There's an incentive to stay indoors watching television!

Currimundi.

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Can't be too careful.

On this side of the road, the fence is there simply to stop anyone accidentally walking into the bus stop.  It's nice to feel so cared for.

Battery Hill

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Cars Rule!

Another whinge about bicycle paths.  Can you see the path?  It's the one that does a right angled turn on the left, crosses the road for another right angled turn, crosses the road again, then sort of disappears under the trees.

So here I am, barrelling gently down the hill on the bike path, when I notice a sharp (right angled) bend ahead.   That's alright in principal, as it does tend to slow one for the road crossing.

Then I wonder out loud if I am really going to go across the road, stop again, do another right angled turn or will I just head off now across the footpath and straight over to the path on the diagonal.  (It does continue beyond those shadows by the way).

It's interesting that there is traffic calming and a nice concrete pad to boot, right there at the bus stop where no-one has a reason to cross, but bikes are some sort of sport in this town!

Dicky Beach
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What would I miss?

What would I miss if I moved from here?  Seriously?   I'd really miss standing on the rocks on a brilliant summer day, the temperature almost too hot to move, with the clear ocean bathing my feet.

The water of course is a gloriously refreshing twenty-six degree (that's 80 f) temperature in summer, so there's no shock to be felt on entering it.

I'd miss the odd swim too, but there's something special about just standing on those rocks.

Dicky Beach

This photograph is one of many on the theme "What would I miss?" from around the world, that can be viewed here:


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Got one!

Actually it turned out to be a lump of sea weed, but they were having fun.

Moffat Beach

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Said the spider to the fly....

Not much of a photograph, but I was trying out a new (non-macro) lens on this golden orb spider.  She's not specially large as these things grow, with a body not much longer than an inch and a bit.  Next time I'll use a flash and see if we can see her eyes!

Dicky Beach

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I see rescue boards!

After a couple of tragic accidents in competitions, Surf Lifesavers wear fluorescent vests when competing and training now.

I suspect it would be difficult for anyone to sneak away from training early though.

Dicky Beach

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Nippers

After the crowds have gone, we'll still have the Nippers (junior lifesavers) to keep us entertained as they thrash about in their fluorescent surf gear.

Dicky Beach

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A shadow of his self

So there I was standing under the clearest of skies in the brightest of sunshines, trying to see if I'd captured the shot when I must have accidentally fired the shutter.

Make of it what you will.

Dicky Beach

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You'd never guess

The casual visitor would be hard pressed to work out what was going on here.

Today is Australia Day, a national holiday celebrating many things, but historically the landing of the first settlement fleet in 1788. Not everyone stays home in a darkened room on this day, some of the occupants of this picnic shelter for instance had camped overnight to ensure the pick of the spots was theirs.

By seven in the morning they had lounge chairs, tables, tents, marquees, a massage area (for the girls)  and enough flags decorating their picnic to sink a fleet.   They were waiting on the arrival of a twenty metre water slide and a few more car loads of people, food and refreshment when we left them.

By nine, at the rate others were arriving to set up their own little parties, there will be standing room only in the park!

Eleanor Shipley Park

Moffat Beach
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Evening discussion

The surf will still be there in the morning.

Moffat Beach

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Cheesy Postcard

It's the same scene, completely 'blaaaahged" in colour processing.  

Tooway Creek at sunset.

Moffat Beach

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Native colours.

One mostly thinks of drab greens and olive browns when one thinks of the Australian bush, but one doesn't have to look far to see a very different story.

Yandina

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A trip to the nurseryt

It's time to sort out the garden, while the weather is still steamy and there's the promise of rain, so a visit to the nursery is in order.

Yandina

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Clouds on fire.

"So Papa, how come if clouds are made of water, it looks as though they are on fire?"

A trick question from an eight year old while we walk home from the beach.

Moffat Beach

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Falcon under street light.

After watching the sun go down over a hot rod, look what I found under a street light on the way home, more "vintage tin".

Moffat Beach.

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Not Alone

I guess if you don't want people to take photographs of your hotrod, you leave it at home.

Kings Beach

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Vintage Tin

Here we go again - American car culture and the surf - a match made in heaven apparently.  The setting sun gives a distinctly seventies feel to the scene as well.

Kings Beach
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Shake Shake Shake

It's best to get those petals and all that sand out of the mat before it goes back in the car.

Bulcock Beach - after the wedding.

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After the wedding.

The party has gone, which just leaves the packing up to do before the sun goes down.

Bulcock Beach

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Barn Owl.

Not sleeping, just wondering why this picture didn't post when the button was pressed!

Caloundra

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Hi Neighbour!

As I was wandering down the street, desperately looking for subjects to photograph, Eric kindly stopped pruning to say hello.

Dicky Beach.

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Pee Wee

I have no idea why the Magpie Lark is known only as a Pee Wee in our state, it's one of those regional curiosities whose origins have been lost in the depths of time.

But here, is a Pee Wee, sitting on a fence.  Actually it isn't sitting, more balancing on (although it isn't clear) its solitary leg.

Moffat Beach

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Mailbox

I wouldn't blame the mailman if he was too frightened to deliver letters to the vet.

Moffat Beach

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Bottom of the wave.

I love the creamy little ripple at the bottom of the wave too, as it meets the one that went before.

Moffat Beach.

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Top of the wave.

I just love the colour contrast between the face of the waves and the ocean beyond, particularly when the sky is grey.

Moffat Beach.

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All at sea again.

The ocean is a big place for a small craft.

I am not sure that sailboarding alone out there with a storm coming is the most sensible thing in the world.  Actually it's not and I am sure, but it is fun.

Off Dicky Beach.

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Whomp!

Whomp!

The sound of a small steep wave breaking on the sand.

Moffat Beach



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All at sea

Actually on dry land!  One of the attractions at the Ginger Factory.

Yandina
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Not as it seems

The train at the Ginger Factory is pulled by the steam engine from an old cane tram, or is it?  Well no, what would have been the little carriage carrying coal now houses a diesel engine which does the job very nicely, but the old engine still very much looks the part.

Buderim Ginger Factory
Yandina

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Garden with fountain.

Just a view of the garden taken on the move from the little train at the Ginger Factory.

 Buderim Ginger Factory
Yandina
 © Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia
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Sub Tropics

It's the greens that give away the sub tropics.  They aren't as deep and rich as in the true tropics, but they are still rather green!

Yandina

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Too Late!

Note: if you are going to turn up at the farmer's market to take some photographs, it pays to get out of bed before ten!

Nambour

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Monkey Nuts

The fruit of the Cocos Palm is a relic from a sub-tropical childhood.   

The Palm itself is a declared weed now, but that doesn't stop the fruit being created in abundance and spread by hungry flying foxes (fruit bats) far and wide.   When the husk has gone the brown nut has a pattern which resembles a pair of eyes and a mouth and even a nose in between, bearing some resemblance to a monkey, at least in the eyes of some.

When I was much, much younger my friends and I used to try to hit them over our house with a cricket bat.  If we failed to make the distance, the resounding clatter on our iron roof would alert us, and sadly any adult who happened to be inside!

Yandina

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Happy New Year!

I have selected this photo as my "photo of the year",  because it's the only one I've taken so far!

Actually it was taken at sunset yesterday, and the real reason I have chosen it is not because it has any particular merit, but that it says much to me about why I live where I live.  

It is taken from the bridge over Tooway Creek, a few hundred metres from home, and when I am not gallivanting around the globe I can often be found not far from here, particularly in the early morning or late afternoon.  

I hope that all who are reading this have a "prosperous" (in every sense) new year, and I look forward to being able to find more photos just like this one as the year rolls on!
 

 
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