Tassie Plants & Landscapes

There were some wonderful examples of native plants which we came across during our travels in Tasmania. The flora was so varied from wet rain-forests to windswept beaches.

These were taken on the Freycinet Peninsular on the Cape Tourville Lighthouse Walk. I was able to find samples of both green and dried gumnuts.
This little shrub was in flower everywhere at Cape Tourville with masses of flowers covering each bush.
The Marlborough Rainforest Walk had the most awesome trees covered with lichens and ferns. I loved the trees with the 'windows'.
This poor little tree was struggling to grow in a crack in the rocks at "The Nut" at Stanley. The weather here was awful - windy, rainy, cold and apparently that is quite usual.
Also taken at "The Nut" showing the direction of the constant winds.
A shearwater burrow in amongst the grasses at "The Nut".
The beach at "Rocky Cape".......... very aptly named.
The pristine forest of the Gordon River Forest Walk.
The ferns growing along the Nelson Falls / Russell Falls Walk were so varied. Everywhere we looked there were different species.
All the rainforests and waterfalls were so picturesque. These are the falls at Mt Field National Park.
Mt Field National Park.
I was dwarfed by this old fallen tree. Because of the climate the fallen timber doesn't seem to rot away like in the rainforests in coastal Queensland.
Old timber on the Tahune Forest Floor.
The Air-Walk at Tahune.
Leatherwood flowers .... the honey from these flowers has such a distinctive flavour and the bees are only able to harvest the nectar for a limited time each year.
Port Arthur Historical Site ........
I just loved the lichen growing on this fence.
The green of this tree looked terrific against the terracotta coloured wall.
Banksias and Lichen from the Port Arthur Historical Coal Mine Site.

Caloundra

In January we stayed for the weekend at Graham's sister's at Caloundra and then on Sunday caught up with my sister and her family. I love Caloundra .... it's such a family friendly area with a choice of both still water and surf.

On Saturday we drove to Mooloolaba for lunch and went for a walk afterwards. The "parachute" which is visible was actually motorised. At first I thought it was a parachutist looking for a place to land until he started circling the building and going back & forth along the coastline.
In the afternoon we went for a walk along the Caloundra foreshore. This area is very popular with kite-surfers.
This is the view which my sister had from her unit. Wow - how would it be waking up to this every morning.

Beautiful Bribie Island

We had a lovely day with friends on Bribie Island. A perfect summer's day ..... clear blue skies.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this lone pelican. He stayed perched on this tree for ages just watching what we were doing. We have a lot of pelicans in this area with them perching on the light poles on the bridge to Bribie. You have to be careful that you don't get "pelicaned" whilst driving across as quite a few cars have been targeted ... lol - and what a mess it makes.

This photo is taken on the surf side of the island with the surf club and tower in the background.

Repaving the Pergola

The paving in our pergola area had become very uneven over the years so hubby decided that all the pavers needed to be lifted so he and our son started the mammoth task of repaving.

Starting to lift the old pavers.
The new pattern. Fortunately we were able to reuse the existing pavers however we purchased some grey ones to go around the edges and under the table setting.
Getting there .............
The dogs trying out the new area .......
One of my water features ...........
Our pergola area....................