Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park - Caravonica, Queensland, Australia

Light My Fire! 
(edited from original posting)
The indigenous Tjapukai Aboriginals demonstrate the art of making fire.

I got this shot a few weeks ago at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in Caravonica, Queensland, Australia.

 Looks like success!

 "Smoke gets in my eyes"!

 ...but, where are the flames?

 ahhh...FIRE!

Mellow Yellow Monday
Ruby Tuesday
 Our World Tuesday

Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Please click on photo to enlarge!
My husband and I spent an afternoon snorkeling on  this very isolated sandy cay.

Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

December 9, 2011

Was it wonderful?  YES, YES, YES!!!

SkyWatch Friday

Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia - Snorkeling

I took several hundred photos of our snorkeling experience in the Great Barrier Reef off Michaelmas Cay.

The water was VERY warm and the color extraordinary!

Jerry and I spent 4 hours with our faces in the water and came out very wrinkled!

I don't know the name of this fish.  It looks transparent but it's just reflection of the underwater color.

There were several dozen of these guys swimming in circles around me!

Glad they weren't sharks!

My husband saw a quite large white tipped reef shark cruise by...

no encounter...just cruisin'.

This is one of the many species of Parrot Fish in these waters.

This guy was so much prettier than this image reveals.

He is a lovely yellow dotted with teal spots on his body and stripes on his tail.

Awesome color...

 she is invading my territory!
I rented a very nice Canon underwater camera for A$50!
 I must say...I have got to get my own!

I took a WHOLE lot of photos...just couldn't stop!

December 9, 2011

Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

(Two hours via Catamaran from Cairns)

Mellow Yellow Monday
Blue Monday

Sydney's Icons

While planning our trip to Australia, I had much anticipation of photographing Sydney's two great iconic landscapes...the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  I wanted my photos to be special to me and not like every postcard on the racks throughout the country.

The top photo was taken on a very rainy night - November 23, 2011.

Please click on images to enlarge!

 

This image was taken the next afternoon.  

It was still very rainy with a dark sky.

 Jerry and I walked across the Harbor Bridge a few days later.

We lingered on the bridge for quite a while watching the boats and activity beneath us.

Under the Sydney Harbor Bridge on the North Shore at Milson's Point.

Please click on images to enlarge! 

SkyWatch Friday
Scenic Sunday
Blue Monday

Katoomba (Blue Mountains) NSW, Australia

We spent a night in the Blue Mountains (Katoomba) in NSW, Australia.

This is Echo Point...a gorgeous valley with craggy rock formations that we were NOT able to see!

 My husband strolls over to join the other tourists who believe they see something...hmmm!

I have been wanting to do some 'foggy' photography but not at the expense of missing some of Australia's iconic scenery!

This is a candid image of someone I do not know...

I don't think she even saw me down below!

Our World Tuesday
Watery Wednesday
Outdoor Wednesday

The EAGLE Has Landed - Sydney International Airport, NSW, Australia

 We're cruising along the Australian coastline getting closer to Sydney!

Yay!!!!
Please click on photos to enlarge!!!

 I see the coastline...Yay, again!!!

 The final approach into Sydney International Airport commences!

 A nice view of Botany Bay down below...
hmmm...it's going to rain.  I just know it!

The EAGLE has landed!  That is, Qantas (QF12)!!!

I see a very cool control tower!

14 1/2 hours of flying and we are ready to be land animals once again!

Our World Tuesday

Watery Wednesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Bush Fire / Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia

This is the aftermath of a bush fire in the Blue Mountains of Australia...a few hours from Sydney, NSW...

The fire came to the property line of a beautiful hotel where we stayed just 3 weeks after the flames were put out.

Please click on images to enlarge!

My husband and I walked down this road to the bottom of the valley.

The fog and rain made it an eerie few hours!

Amazingly, this yellow wheel escaped the flames!

And, equally amazing, the regeneration of this tree fern is just 3 weeks old.

raindrops on a little something that escaped the flames...

 

 The fog looks like smoke.  The burn smell was still quite strong in the damp weather.

 We weren't alone...someone else is braving the fog and rain, too.
The fire ends at this point...quite amazing!

Scenic Sunday

Mellow Yellow Monday

Ruby Tuesday

Manly Beach, Sydney, NSW, Australia

A rainy day on the beach...Manly Beach, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

November 23, 2011

Watery Wednesday
Outdoor Wednesday

SkyWatch Friday

Tonight's Sunset Last Night

My husband and I spent 3 super great weeks in Australia and returned to Los Angeles this morning earlier than we left Brisbane.

This is tonight's sunset last night...

taken over the South Pacific very near where the Equator and the International Date Line intersect.

Blue Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday
Ruby Tuesday