Australia - Killarney

We arrived in Killarney and a 'storm was a-brewing'

And the temperature dropped

This fire was so last century

Thankfully the day after was better

We went to see some waterfalls in the hills.  This is Browns Falls

Daggs Falls

A mad looking trunk

On the rocks at the bottom of Queen Mary Falls, some lizards were sunbathing

There was a rainbow, but no gold.... I checked..

Didn't have look at us suspiciously

It was worth the short trek down

Further out from the falls was Carr's Lookout, where in the distance you could see Mount Warining

Australia - St Lawrence, Biggenden & Bunya Mountains

Perhaps St Lawrence was watching over us, at St Lawrence...

Whilst Freddie the Tree Frog was looking up at us, once we'd found him hiding under our tent

There were loads of birds we'd not seen before at Biggenden, in South Queensland

And some that we had, including these Rainbow Lorikeets

And a bird Alf Stewart was familiar with, 'Flamin' Galah!'

Going to the Bunya Mountains, a fire marshall stopped us and said, 'There's a bushfire crossing the road further up, so you'll have to go round', as if it were the most normal thing in the world!

The view from the top of one of the peaks was well worth the climb.  We could see the earth's curvature quite clearly

Though it had started to get a bit chilly

Sometimes these Ozzies don't half exaggerate

And sometimes they're spot on, in their simplicity

We took a longer walk to see some bigger falls

Where no water was even visible!  Maybe 'Fools' should replace 'Falls'

At the campground in the mountains were more wallabies, some with joeys in toe, or pouch, rather

This mad Blue Finch type bird danced round our feet

Awww!

Australia - Eungella National Park & Finch Hatton Gorge

Finch Hatton Gorge is part of Eungella National Park and is beautiful

Up and down the gorge are rockpools in which you can swim, if you don't mind the waters that are only just above freezing

Natures slides are definitely a match for the local swimming baths....

Paul, bravely trying to forget that he's getting icicles where icicles should never form....

Tadpoles in the crystal clear waters

And a rare photo with us both in

It's a brave man who goes into the freezing waters once, and an idiot who does it twice.  This is me further upstream

We stayed in a 'back to nature' campground at Platypus Creek. This was one of the showers

The views across the park were fabulous

And with loads of paths and walking trails, we didn't see people for hours

Another wierd tree

Australia - Arlie Beach & Great Barrier Reef

At the campground in Arlie Beach, 4pm was bird feeding time.  This cockatoo stayed around for a photo

As did this Rainbow Lorikeet

Arlie Beach is mainland, just opposite the Whitsunday Islands.  So called as it was the time of year that Captain Cook sailed through them

It's only a small town, but very picturesque.

It's also surrounded by National Parks to go walking in

This one was deserted...

Paul creating a magical feast from cheap veggies, tuna and noodles

Arlie Beach is at the bottom of the 2000km long Great Barrier Reef.  We took a 3 hour catamaran out to Hardy's Reef where we could go snorkling

The potentially life saving 'stinger suit' was a good look

A partially submarine vessel took you over the reef

As soon as we got in the water, a turtle came out to swim with us...

A helicoptor was a good way to see it from the air.  Or you could fly into Brisbane, like we did when we arrived in Australia, and you can see some of the 3000 reefs and islands that make us the largest living structure on earth