Byron Bay and surrounds

As promised , here is the second half of our family trip,  We stayed in a very comfortable abode near Byron Bay , Suffolk Park., in northern New South Wales. We were actually closer in proximity to Broken Heads. but most people know Byron Bay as a landmark. I must say I much prefer the area we stayed in. as it is less pedestrian / commercial than Byron Bay. Byron Bay is definitely for the hipsters , the hippies and the youthful overseas visitors ...looking for the bronzed Aussie lifestyle with a twist of country and hippy. 

I love it anyway but am grateful for a little distance , allowing me to relax. I am good at that!

Below is Broken Heads - a reserve region.

Our first day was just a little drizzly but not overbearingly wet...it was actually the day of the first downpours in Sydney that caused massive flooding (some 830km away) a natural disaster of phenomenal proportions that caused a call for help to Victoria and South Australia emergency services for assistance
So not a bad day at all when you consider what it could have been. I still was walking around  in tee shirt and shorts , only an umbrella in hand.

Dont you love the effect of mist on the hills?

I like nosing around in small crevices and rock pools. the raindrops caused a splattering effect in the photos

Somehow I dont think this is native flora, but has crept into the native shrubbery from the residential areas??

Mangrove along the river (north of Byron Bay)

A trip inland to Killen Falls somewhere between Ballina and Bangalow.
It is a lovely drive up through winding roads. Lots of roadside stalls selling produce. I was most impressed by the macadamia plantations.

Plenty to see on the walk to the falls.

And back to the beach again. Jordy has a new (secondhand) surfboard to try out. I am sure a few guys will let them drop in on a wave???,maybe.

Sandcrab spectacular.

I love the evening light to take photographs...long shadows ...perfect light....great reflection;.

The sun sets over the mountains yet throws great light on the ocean and a pink haze over the hills and beach.

Sometimes you remember to take your camera and you get lucky to spy great birds.

This sea eagle swooped down and caught a fish and then landed up the hill in the tree you see and proceeded to devour it. One of the locals told me that if the bird catches too big a fish they will ultimately drown. They are unable to release their prey from their talons and if too big will be unable to fly, the weight dragging them down, ultimately causing their demise.

A slow day in the water. Just a few surfers even though the waves weren't good.

A series of reflections taken from one of the inland lakes. Sometimes it is hard to tell where the reflection ends,

My two bedraggled boys emerge from the surf

Perfect.

Gold Coast .

We've just returned from holidaying on the Gold Coast Queensland, Australia.

Our main purpose of the visit was so that Ben our middle '"child"could compete at the Australian Titles for Surf Life Saving. An annual event open to all competitors around Australia who participate in surf lifesaving events on their home turf.

With a few days free prior to his competition the eldest son, Caleb, was keen for a fishing trip.

We booked a half day expedition of the coast and were lucky to have relatively calm seas for the day.

This is view looking back to Surfers Paradise and the many highrise holiday apartments occupying what was once swamp land.

If you are not keen on fish then I apologise for the fish photo, but we were fortunate enough to have Caleb and Georgia bring in  fish that fed the family for quite a few meals. I can say that the tuna was the freshest sushi/sashimi I am ever likely to taste. The mackerel was a yummy fish to eat. Both large fish we carried home on the bus in large plastic bags!

Back on dry land I would often walk for a bit of exercise. I lived on the Gold Coast in my twenties and never bothered to visit the gardens I visited this time round. (Too busy partying my youth away).

These photos are from Cascade Gardens which runs along a small length of the Gold Coast Highway next to the Nerang River. The  small strip of land is preserved because it  is home to two species bats and other small animals - amazing what survives in suburbia.

A small dragon lizard and plenty of butterflies floating around

A Kookaburra eyeing me off high in the trees

And some bats hanging around. Lucky it wasn't mating season otherwise the area would have smelt rather musky and manky from their glands.

The day before we left the Gold Coast I caught a bus to Burleigh Head to walk the actual headlands. Once again I lived in this suburb for over a year and never ventured into the headland reserve where the suburb  gets its name from.
This area was very popular with tourists and runners alike.
And it was very popular with spiders....urggh...spider webs are enough to keep me out of any place. Luckily the path is so well trod that spiders dont get a chance to sling a web across

Even though I dont like spider webs I am amazed by their beauty. When I took this photo I thought this was a skeleton of a leaf and not a spider web encapsulating the leaf.

Strangler vines wrapping themselves around host trees and eventually kill the host tree.

Bush turkeys normally forage around on the ground but will hop up into the trees is disturbed

A view to the ocean below

Black rocks surround the base of the headland. I decided I wanted to walk around the base of the headland - I did about half of it before climbing back up to the walking path somewhere in the middle of the hill.

On the open ocean side there was plenty of driftwood,  some of it is really large pylons which is eventually tossed up to the rocks with heavy seas.

These birds were on the open ocean side foraging for food - only easy to spot because of the bright orange beaks and legs.

This guy I almost totally missed except that he was near the other two birds. My camera really didn't want to focus on him and would correct itself to give a clear image of the rock. I really didn't have time to muck around with manual focusing as the bird was soon on the move- away from me.

Well thats the first half of the holiday (except for the surf life saving bit, which I have hundreds of photos of pretty much the same thing - and a little eye candy...anyway I will have to troll through them first to see if it is worth showing)

See you soon with photos from Byron Bay...I found Byron Bay to be way more interesting than the Gold Coast but that is because the surrounding regions are less commercial (out of town) and therefore more enjoyable to me
Cheers x Monique