OZ Blog #14 Recap, Back to Cairns I forgot about......

Yes Dear Readers, I completely forgot about an amazing exhibition I saw at the Cairns art Gallery.

If you read the blurb below I was impressed by the overall art content,  you will see that furniture designer and craftsman Damien Wright helped with this exhibition. IMHO he had quite a large input into these pieces although they are not actual functional cabinets, they are terrific objects of Art.

 And these came from the isolated little islands north of Cape York.







This is the more traditional work of this area, which is stunning and something I’ve been attracted to for a long time.





Back out in the real world (the streets of Cairns) these plants in the park really grabbed my eye.

Yes these two colours are on the one branch..nature is amazing eh.

Heading for a yoga class at 6am sunrise over the City.

Discount for “Aged Pensioners” is there any other kind?

I visit Jayco Cairns for a new Anode rod for the water heater, I also purchased the tube spanner to get right in there and be able to change the anode on the road.

Hmmm... I would say they are Anode Domine...kaput... stuffed...gone..had it... knackered, past their use by date etc.

This might be called Frog Rock....for some reason!

Ah ha.... my favourite Cafe in Yungaburra, the Mad Hatters Cafe, it certainly is a fun place.

 A vegan Pie...and no plants were harmed in its eating.

Just outside Yungaburra is the famous curtain fig tree...and they do give quite a fig about it.

It’s really a bit of a strangler.

No comment!

There is a mural happening on the Atherton Mens Shed building.

Jodam the artist is also a Mens Shed member. He’s originally from Papua New Guinea.

Here I am shortening the stones brush on the Ranger, it was almost dragging on the ground when hitched up!

Much better clearance now!

At the Yungaburra market there was a motorbike rally passing through. The Indian below is in beautiful condition. I noticed when he took off, it was a left hand throttle. That would take some getting used to, especially if you had another bike you rode regularly.



Another piece of sculpture purchased at the Market for the Richmond garden in NZ.

The bowling green in Yungaburra was in full use with a lot of friendly chatter going on.

And if your back is troublesome, somebody invented this contraption.

Another little trip down the creek to see more Platypus... I waited sitting on a seat by the creek playing my whistle.

Then......I noticed ripples coming down the still water...

and what do you know... here comes a Platypus.

That’s all folks for OZ Blog #14

The next one will feature the Mareeba Multi-Cultural Festival.

Till then stay safe, be creative and have fun!

Cheers

Jimu & Christine

OZ Blog #13 Hartleys Crocodile Adventures.

There was so much to see at Hartley's Crocodile Adventures it really demanded its very own blog!

This guy was the welcoming committee .... tame as Mate!

It’s quite an experience, you can wander around and see all sort of dangerous animals (from a distance).

Not sure about this turtle tho - apparently crocs do eat them from time to time.

Not a case of “shell be right Mate”.

These next two photos are through glass.



My very first crocodile pie, quite tasty, hoping to avoid being crocodile tucker myself.

The snakes show. Tracey tried to convince us that snakes are the perfect pets - better than cats or dogs - but she didn’t convince me.

This one is the second most vemenous, I forget just how many thousand people the venom could kill, anyway I don’t really need or want to know.

She even got one of the brave kids out of the audience. This snake was only 18 months old, I don’t think it is dangerous.

These guys certainly are....

That dragon fly is pretty safe though.

This was the Crocodile Attack event, where this guy goes in with one big croc and feeds him. 

Classic Aussie dry humour and bravado, the first thing he did was take off his boots. His comment “if a croc grabs you what’s the difference if you've got boots on”.

Although he does this every day, no way its a put on.  That croc is doing what crocs will do.

Appparently it’s the vibrations in the water that they zero in on.



He showed us how the crocs do the death roll, and it’s highly effective so they tell me.

Boy did he have to move fast for that gate....





He can have his job, no matter how well it’s paid, he loves it I reckon.



They have a bird enclosure where we go in with them and are able to photograph the birds really easily. 

The Kookaburra is becoming my favourite Aussie bird.

Cassowary are a huge bird, fairly timid in this environment, but out in the wild they can be dangerous too.

The iconic Koala Bear. Their diet of Eucalyptus is one of the reasons they are so lethargic and why they sleep a lot - sometimes 20hrs a day.

On the trip back to Cairns we spotted a tourist attraction of a different kind and totally safe.

We stopped at Kuranda and checked out the market, it's on every day and there is plenty of it.

The artist at work right in the shop, no secrets, he’s getting the colours and shapes from an image on his phone.

Lots of Japanese tourists about. These two lovelys shared an icecream, very Asian I reckon.

At Mareeba’s famous Coffee Works, where you can sample different blends of coffees, teas and chocolates all at the same time.

Not so good for me I was buzzing for quite some time.





I loved the thoughts behind the overall concept and set up of Coffee Works. In my opinion it really does “Work”.

The artist behind this, I feel is right on with her statements below. Hats off to you Annie Webber.

The Coffee Museum is very comprehensive, and I learned and enjoyed many facts about coffee.

Obviously today’s women are not petitioning against coffee drinking, from my personal experience!

So that was another fabulous foray down off the Tablelands into the Cairns area.

Next blog I return to Yungaburra, the market, go to see the Curtain Fig tree and prepare for a trip to the Cape.

Till then stay safe, have fun and be creative!

Cheers

Jimu and Christine.