An extra blanket

I have been trying to find something blog-worthy each day.

I didn't think there'd be anything on this particular day, until we went for a late afternoon stroll along the beach at Hervey Bay.

Talk about shell heaven!

And then this little bit of love.....

And a glorious sunset.

Next stop, Maryborough.

Another strangler!

This one is in heritage listed Queens Park dating back to 1866.

And a leopard tree.

 Just look at the colours in that beautiful bark.

Maryborough was one of Australia's largest and busiest ports 160 years ago. Up to 22,000 free settlers landed there in the 1800's.

 The wharf district, parklands and grand old heritage listed buildings are magnificent. 

We chanced upon a street of the most beautiful Queenslander houses I've ever seen.

A town of great character and history.......one of my favourites.

Cooloola Coast is also new for us.

It is nestled between the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island.

We visited Rainbow Bay this afternoon.

Carlo Sandblow was a feast for the eyes and a chance to see the forces of Nature at work.

You can see the "coloured sands" cliffs in the distance.

On the walk to the Sandblow,

I noticed this perfect cosy residence for a forest creature.....

........and these fascinating Scribbly gums.

Inskip Point is where the 4WD campers had set up their tents and campfires and driven their vehicles onto the sand to launch their fishing boats.

Everyone around here is fishing.

Everyone.

( or in our case being entertained by people fishing and trying to get their boats and vehicles out of the water without getting bogged in the sand! )

Fraser Island is across the way, accessed by barge and 4WD vehicles only.

The view from our cabin tonight in Tin Can Bay waiting for the rain to arrive.

We've been given an extra blanket!

Hope those fishermen out there have an extra blanket too.

Three for free

It's been a day of free stuff for us today.

First up, the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens, recently awarded heritage listing.

We had coffee at the cafe there under the giant fig trees ( banyan fig or strangler..... ) thought to be 150 years old.

No labels for this tree but how gorgeous is that bark!

Loved this. 

The kids would have so much fun playing music on it.

An extraordinary tree which took Bill's fancy........ 

It's the Sausage Tree, once used to ferment beer apparently!

The "sausages" weighed a ton! 

Murray Lagoon is on the fringes of the gardens, a gorgeous place to watch the bird and animal life.

I think this is a sandalwood tree. It has the most beautiful bark.

The colours of these noisy rainbow lorikeets blow me away.

I resisted feeding them .....( not my hand)

Our second free stop was the Rockhampton Art Gallery.

They currently have an amazing travelling exhibition called The Lost Thing: From book to film. It is all about Shaun Tan's book, The Lost Thing, an intriguing picture book that was published in 2000 and later made into a short animated film. 

The exhibition was brilliant and featured sketches, drawings and paintings used in the making of the book and the film.

And later in the afternoon, a visit back to the Rockhampton Zoo located within the Botanic Gardens.....also free......where we finally found our cassowary. Pffffttt! I'm pretty sure we would have noticed you out in the forest! Check out the size of those feet!

And more of these guys after feeding time.

 

We have noticed many roadside stalls on our travels.

I love seeing how the growers set them up.

Supermarket variety......small, orange, very tartish taste ( not sure why I even bought them now!)

Home grown......juicy and sweet and delicious.

Why aren't these in the local supermarkets here....... I just don't get it!

Just sayin......

This little boy *big sigh* Miss.

You...n....jella

The views of Pioneer Valley were spectacular.

The weather was perfect.

We were on a mission to see the shy platypus up in these glorious ancient forests just west of Mackay.

We'd been calling this beautiful place "You...n....jella" 

Eungella.

But no, it's "Young....gu...luh...." Course it is!!!

It's a township as well as a National Park.

We looked and did plenty of....

( they are sensitive to noise )

....but turtles and an eel were our only sightings from the viewing platforms at Broken River.

Apparently they are most active at dusk and dawn (not my best times).

Loved this though.....

The mosaics were constructed by Christina Kent and the children from Eungella Primary School.

We also visited the Araluen Cascades, part of Finch Hatton Gorge. The noise of the water coming over those boulders was deafening.

Some pics from our time at Bowen and their picturesque beaches.

We had to use an "unknown" implement ( unknown to me anyway) from the tools in the car to crack open the shell, but oh it was so worth it!

Changing minds with blue twine

Potager planning

Actually this was take two.

Bill had already arranged the blue twine how he thought it should be when I was out one day......big mistake.

I changed my mind.

Then a quick look on Pinterest.....

......oh yes, I love this one. Let's do that fence. 

( audible groan from Bill.)

Luckily, only a couple of the posts were in and they were fine.

Today it looks like this......

And then on to the catmint walk.

I originally dug 80 holes.

Then changed my mind.....

Let's just go with 40. The line on the left and the line on the right and leave the middle beds for a mix of plantings.

Catmint ( nepeta) grows so easily and is pretty when covered in mauve flowers. We have it throughout the rose garden. It is easy to dig up and divide so a no-cost option. Got to love that!

Seed scattering.....

( Nature has a way of producing the perfect containers for it's seeds. )

These ones went in seed raising mix.

This delightful little posy of loveliness also came  from Viv. 

It was such hard work separating clumps of James Nottle kniphofia  ( yellow poker) but I'm sure it will be worth it.

I adore this plant in flower and now there'll be twice as many.

This photo was taken in January. 

Still in Bali........

Scrumptious little thing.

Amy spent a few days with Mum last week playing a board game marathon!

Amy..."Some people put flowers on graves. Me..? I put silverbeet."

There you go Pa. Hope you love your silver beet from your garden!!!!

 We are off to celebrate Mum's birthday next weekend. She turns 87.