2019 frontpage

Arrival in Melbourne on the cruise ship Golden Princess. Saturday challenge - manual settings. I practically always use the manual setting for F stop, etc. , although use auto focus because of poor eyesight.

in our garden, Queensland

Saturday challenge

My sad gardening boots :-) Sunday challenge - grunge

Alcohol removed Saturday challenge - New Year resolution

In our garden, Queensland. Saturday challenge... portrait orientation

On 21 Feb Cyclone Oma was creating waves and frothy water all around the Noosa National Park in Queensland. I took this photo at Noosa Headland on the Coastal track. We walked the track with a friend who was visiting from England. Saturday challenge... sharp focus

Near Noosa National Park in Queensland the surf was up, and many surfers were enjoying the action. Sunday challenge... speed Update Some of surfing's biggest names are making the most of the massive waves being caused by ex-tropical cyclone Oma, but other board riders are being warned to stay out of the water. The system, which has been downgraded from a category two to a sub-tropical low, is currently 700 kilometres east of Brisbane. A warning remains in place from Fraser Island to the New South Wales border for damaging winds, abnormally high tides, and dangerous surf. abc.net.au/news/2019-02-23

at Norman Point, the home of Barnacles Dolphin Centre, Tin Can Bay Houseboats, the Coast Guard. Taken with my new 100mm lens. Saturday challenge... Frame within frame B&W

On our travels in New South Wales, Australia. Saturday challenge... signs of Autumn. The changes of the season are not very evident here, quite tropical. The native Rainbow Lorikeets are loving the nectar in the Callistemons, which are flowering profusely.

Saturday challenge... Close up colour, in focus. Individually hand crafted from recycled metal drums and hand painted by the talented artisans from Haiti, each Gecko has it’s own personality.

Spotted this territorial pair at the Noosa Boathouse, on the Noosa River in Queensland. TSC Scavenger challenge #13 Something flying

Saturday challenge - a whole tree Of all the striking aspects of the subtropical regions of Australia’s east coast, the landforms, the climate, the exotic fauna… few offer as immediately impressive a sight as a fully mature Bunya pine. Reaching a recorded height of 45m, with trunks like a sauropod’s leg and sporting cones bigger than a bowling ball, few things say ancient like a Bunya Pine. The Bunya (bunya-bunya, bunyi, booni-booni or bonya in various aboriginal dialects), while indeed still a conifer, is not a true pine. It belongs to an ancient family of coniferous trees known as Araucariaceae. The greater Araucariaceae family, literally like something out of Jurassic Park, were distributed almost worldwide during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, becoming entirely extinct in the northern hemisphere toward the end of the Cretaceous and now found exclusively in the southern hemisphere, survived by approximately 41 species across three genera. Other members of the family include the iconic Kauri of New Zealand , the Norfolk Island Pine and Australia’s other ”living fossil” the Wollemi Pine. sgapqld.org.au/bushtucker8.html

Sunday challenge... something or things that cross over

Angus loves to sit on my recliner with a big, comfy cushion. Saturday challenge - Pet in B&W

in Queensland, Australia Little Dugald is a close relation of the Metrosideros Fiji Fire and Thomasi (New Zealand Christmas Bush). It flowers and flowers. Frequent flushes of bright red bottle brush like flowers. The little birds love them. It is a tough plant, growing to 1-2metres. Saturday challenge - backlighting

Saturday challenge - selective colour

Meterosideros Sunday challenge - look down, the world at your feet... the wonders of nature