Woodleigh Station is a working cattle ranch in Australia’s Out Back (Ravenshoe). We spent two delightful days there learning to use a bullwhip, visiting their history cabin and soaking in the history, wading in a stream, telling stories around the campfire and eatting wonderful food! http://woodleighstation.com.au/
The wallaby pictured above is named Pepsi and while she is wild, she often comes to visit and mooch.
The Skyrail Rainforest Cable Way is an almost five mile one way trip. At both ends there are shops and services and in the middle there is an interpretative trail to explore. The highest station is 1,788 feet above sea level and the lowest point is 5 feet above sea level. It is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. I found, but did not purchase, this jaunty fellow in a near by store. (see below) More information can be found here.
Our first full day in Australia we set off to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, which is a World Heritage Site as of 1981. We went on a catamaran to a large pontoon and the boat ride was very choppy! I’m guessing that about 70% of my fellow adventurers were sea sick and it was not a pretty sight! I has on my wrist bands and had taken ginger tables and a Dramamine and came out without an problems — surprising myself. Our adventure included:
It was my first time snorkeling and, again, it was pretty choppy. But despite that it was very wonderful! I don’t have photos because my camera is not waterproof.
This begins a 20+ day blog catchup and recap of my time in Australia. No doubt the recap will have more photos than words. 🙂
The first day we went to the Rain Forestation Nature Park in Kuranda. Link is here. There were kangaroos and koalas (I got to hold one!) and crocodiles (oh my!). There was a WWII amphibious duck (DUKW) boat which toured the tropical rainforest and the plunged into a lake. It seems like everything the guides pointed out could kill you, including the plants!
LAX is the jump off point to my 14 hour flight to Australia. It is the 6th busies airport in the world. My flight was Quantas 108.
I made a quick trip to the airport to drop off a friend at the airport and found this display in the Alaska terminal.
It was very hot the other day and dear daughter, our two pups and I decided to visit the 373 acre Swan Creek Park. The creek itself was delightfully cool and the dogs walked right into it. There is also a pond at one end that had a couple of kids floating around. The link for the park is here.
Dear husband and I were on our way to a movie in Puyallup’s South Hill area when we passed this delightful display! Fireworks are illegal in Tacoma (not that that seems to stop folks), but there are stands surrounding the city and this is one of the larger ones.
In the 4300 block of Pacific Avenue, there is a private house with an outside table and two chairs in the front yard. One of the chairs is always occupied by a manikin and that manikin is always dressed for the season or holiday. Yesterday, July 4th, he was wearing his northwest summer gardening outfit (overalls, flannel shirt, hat) and on the table was a patriotic bucket with red, white and blue flowers and a flag. It reminds me of the Holiday house on South 9th, near Sprague, only its more subdued.
I stumbled upon this tree spirit at a private home in Tacoma’s Lincoln District. It is delightful!
