Life in the Rainforest

There's never a dull moment while we're looking after Rainforest Estate.  The time is going by very quickly.

The garden is always changing with plenty of colour from foliage and flowers.

Wildlife is abundant and we've been entertained by a pair of bush stone curlews raising their chick - which is now as big as its parents.

We have a very persistent sunbird which insists on trying to build a nest attached to the flyscreen on a lounge room window.  We think it might be a "decoy nest" because there seems to be a more permanent nest in a nearby tree.
 



















We see plenty of butterflies.  Brilliant blue Ulysses; and Cairns Birdwings with their birdlike wings. We've also seen our share of snakes, lizards and frogs.

We're away for a few weeks now and will be spending Christmas in Townsville.  We'll be back in Mossman in mid-January.

Mossman's Vibrant Art Culture

Mossman is VERY lucky.  They have a community art group - Douglas Art Base  (DAB) - which is very active and is well supported in the local area.

We joined up when we arrived in June 2016, when we called in to see their Mid-Year Art Show.  DAB conducts many courses and workshops and is very supportive of anyone who wants to become involved in their art community.  The Studio also provides a venue for the display and sale of artworks.

We have both done some courses.  Robert has done a pottery course and a watercolour painting course.  Cherryl has learnt how to do glass slumping, some of which has become jewellery, and felting.

Cherryl has also run workshops on Christmas Card Making and Beaded jewellery making.

In early December the End of Year Art Show was opened and we both have items on display and for sale.

We'll be back in 2017 to create some more masterpieces.

Underwater Wonderland

At the end of October we had family visit from Melbourne for a few days and we took a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef with Wavelength, a company that does small boat tours out of Port Douglas.

We left the glassy, sheltered marina and headed out to Agincourt Reef, about an hour away.

We donned our wet-suits and snorkelled in 3 different sites  We saw some evidence of coral bleaching which is a great threat to this area of the reef.

We also saw plenty of brightly coloured reef fish and live corals and other marine animals.

A fantastic day!  The Wavelength staff were great and they took plenty of photos.

Bushtracker Owner Group Muster - Winton 2016

In September we loaded up our caravan and headed into Winton in Central Queensland for the annual Bushtracker Owner Group Muster.

We've been to Winton several times and have fond memories of this small outback town.  Winton is about 900km from Mossman so we stayed overnight at Lake Louisa, a great free-camp about 100km north of Hughenden.  We were lucky that the unsealed road was open because Central Queensland had been subject to lots of rain and floods.  After a stop the next morning at Hughenden we drove on to Winton.  The countryside was green with plenty of new growth and flowers everywhere.

We were able to visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum to renew friendships made when we worked there in May 2015 "prepping" dinosaur bones.  There are still plenty of packets waiting for intrepid volunteers to work on.

The BOG Muster was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and swap stories and experiences.  This year the theme was "Masquerade" and the colour "Maroon".  The showgrounds and racecourse turned from a dustbowl to a quagmire overnight following rain.  The race meeting planned for the day after the muster ended was cancelled.  We just had to cope with VERY muddy feet.

Far North Queensland

Our time is Far North Queensland is going quickly.  We've been kept busy looking after Rainforest Estate and also participating in the Mossman community.  There's never a dull moment, which is why I've been a bit slack in updating this blog.

 





The city of Cairns is about 70kms away and it takes about an hour to drive there along the Captain Cook Highway through the World Heritage Site "Where the Rainforest Meets the Reef".  We get to Cairns from time to time, although not too often.  The gardens next to the casino have war memorial walk with sculptures depicting branches of the Australian Defence Force.  Each branch has an etched granite pillar with bronze sculptures depicting the appropriate kit bag and hat.  Very tasteful.

The Tanks Markets are held in the Cairns Botanic Gardens each month from April to November.  We only discovered these markets in November, and they're on our list to revisit in 2017.  There are many stalls and performers.  We stayed for a few hours.  It could easily be a whole day affair.

The scenery around Mossman is everchanging with the nearby mountains and cloud formations.  Nearby Mossman Gorge is a popular tourist spot with rainforest walks, cooling swimming holes and a good cafe/coffee shop.  The Historic Church under the rain trees in Mossman has a history going back to 1899.  The current church with it beautiful stained glass windows was built in 1952.

The town of Port Douglas is our local "big smoke".  "Port" is about 15km from Mossman and is a tourist town with many resort and tourist activities.  There's more shopping than in Mossman and there are plenty  of places to eat and drink as well.  The weekly Sunday Market has plenty of variety and is always well patronised.