Snow again.

Ben Lomond taken through the window at home here in Launceston, Tasmania.  There certainly has been some good snowfalls in the mountains and high country in Tasmania this winter, however none here at home as usual.  Now we are in spring the wind has come with days being a little warmer but the wind makes you feel cold.

Cradle Mountain above and below which is along the northwest coast and inland.  There is a Hotel and a caravan park there and a bus shuttle that takes you to the base of the mountain to take walks on different paths in the area but not advised when the weather isn't the best.  The photo below when there is not snow on Cradle Mountain.  I borrowed Cradle Mountain with snow and the photos below which we all taken in the high country. The photo without snow is mine.

The Parrots

It's a special day today, my husband has reached a milestone as in birthdays. We are going out to dinner this evening with family and friends for his OBE, = 80th. 

Rainbow Lorikeets are found in the Eastern seaboard of Australia including South Australia and Perth in Western Australia a pretty parrot.  They when in flock are rather noisy especially around dusk. They eat fruit, seeds, insects and so on.  Both male and female are the same.

These photos were taken in Bowen in Queensland.

A surprise!

On our way to look for wattle in bloom the other day we saw this Echidna walking across the road, so we stopped and waited for the other cars to pass then walked across the road to find the echidna safe, so hence the photos.

The Tasmanian short-beaked echidna is a subspecies of short-beaked echidna endemic to Tasmania.  It was first described by Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1803 as Echidna setosa.

The spines on a Tasmanian Echidna are not poisonous: they are modified hairs made of keratin that serve as a dense mechanism, and the male echidna has a non-venomous spur on its hind leg that produces a waxy secretion for communication.

The photos should have been clearer, the Echidna kept moving and I didn't have time to fix the camera as I thought it would, (the echidna) would disappear.

Autumn around the Pond.

Punchbowl Reserve which I've shown before but not these photos taken in our Autumn, I forgot to post them at the time.  A walk along the path and around a pond is rather pretty and it always changes from year to year.  

Cardwell, Queensland

Cardwell, Queensland is a town between Townsville (south) and Cairns (north).  A small population of about 1,400 people, the town itself is on the highway and in the tropics.  Cyclones appear once in a while, the area also can flood in the rainy season.  

Crocodiles can be seen laying on the beach, but we didn't see any, turtles abundant in the sea near the jetty, fascinating watching them.  I've done a few posts on Cardwell but never shown these photos.

We've stayed at Cardwell a few times over the years and this one time late in the afternoon we went to the jetty to look at the sea and see the nice view of Hinchinbrook Island and other Islands when two locals stopped and had a good chat with us.  The conversations lasted till after sunset, hence that photos below and we were bitten by these tiny little insects which we didn't notice at the time, the next day was spent itching!   

The first Europeans settled there in 1864.

 

Hinchinbrook Island and part of the jetty.

View from the Cardwell lookout. The Old Bush Telegraph Centre below.  A typical old home.

The Post Office.