Thanks for your comments. I'll be happy to exchange with you Remon before you come, if you want to know some places to spot wildlife.
I'll have to go on the next step, here we go !
--- Gayndah, second part ---Mandarine season in Gayndah has a break of 2 weeks. So I spent that time visiting Fraser Island in a 4wd with friends.
A very pretty place I really need to speak about in another topic, maybe on a blog. Whales, Dolphins, Sharks and Dingos...
Sharks are pretty common and I saw a few in the very first waves and some where really big ! So I decided to go in the water with my mask and my fins, but they where too shy and I wasn't lucky enough to see them...
As I will not speak of the island that much because I will on a blog, I just post this picture of a Dingo.
Canis lupus dingoAfter that, I've been a few days in Noosa, charming town on the coast where dolphins are there every time !
Nobody goes in the water, they all fear the sharks but there's none... So I've been swimming in a pretty cold water, where I saw my first Sea turtle and I had an encounter with a Dolphin, 300 meters from the beach near the shark net, I'll never forget !
We had our first mechanical problem, A water leak we didn't really worry about for weeks, but in the end we were a little bit in the Head gasket fear... And unfortunately, we were true... We changed the head and the head gasket for 1500$ (and I'm not counting the 3 test I've made before in 3 different mechanics, none of them was able to localize this leak), too much for me but in the prices for that kind of repairs...
So we were happy to know that mandarine season was back because that was a good help for my account ahah !
Back in Gayndah, where nothing really happened during these 2 weeks of work. So I just share the pictures as it was still the same routine...
Pelecanus conspicillatusMacropus parryiPhilemon citreogularisPomatostomus temporalisChelodina longicollisPseudechis porphyriacusDemansia vestigataAnomalopus verrauxiiPogona barbataPogona barbataMorelia spilotaPseudonaja textilisWell, this is the end of the Gayndah stay. Not the best place you'll like to live for 4 months, but full of surprises and, at least, we've been living a real Australian experience far from the cities.
--- Going down to the Kingdom of dolphins ---Leaving Gayndah, we've been South, Our aim was to reach Byron Bay and after, heading North to Cairns.
We stopped in a few places like Mooloolaba, a very windy place where we enjoyed dolphins again ! Surfers and full moon !
Sousa sahulensisEgretta sacraHaematopus fuliginosusThrough Brisbane and after a clutch problem (this is again 600$...), we arrived in Byron Bay. I have to be honnest, everything is expensive there, but the lights, the wind, the sun, the sea and the wildlife are so nice there that I can affirm that's one of the few places in the world I would like to call "home". But that's not.
You see Whales almost everytime, and dolphins are everywhere !!! You can't miss them.
That day, we were on a beach, surfers were doing a real show, and dolphins were playing in the waves... I just said "I want to go in !", so I took my mask, my fins and a camera, and I've been in that not very clear water, where everybody told me there are dangerous sharks (3 weeks later, a Great White killed a swimmer right there). Maybe that was stupid, but I will never forget this moment when, I was swimming and I saw dolphins under, behind, before, on the right and on the left !!! That was the best experience in my life, and I did it for free ! (I'll try to update the video on youtube but for people who have my facebook, you can find it there).
Tursiops truncatus--- Heading North, Koalas, Overheat and Tropics ---Yes, we finished in the South so, we went North. Sun, Tropics, Crocodiles and Rainforest, my paradise !!!
We came back to this small town near Brisbane where we saw Koalas a few months before, and we met a very friendly one.
Phascolarctos cinereusPhascolarctos cinereusPhascolarctos cinereusPhascolarctos cinereusHere is the very bad part of the trip...
We arrived in Hervey Bay, it was the Whale season so we were waiting for a sunny day to do a Whale watching.
We've been on a beach, doing some snorkeling... and we had a bad surprise when we came back to the car. The glass of the slide door was broken, my computer has been stolen... As we just went to a library, we mixed all of our electronics in the computer bag, including a water camera, storages... So I've lost 3 years of pictures and documents... I'm bad thinking about this.
Anyway, you can't do anything about this, we've been to the Whale watching on the very next day, to change our minds, and that was a very good idea to me, I was really better after that as I posted most of my pictures on my Flickr gallery and facebook.
Tursiops truncatusMegaptera novaeangliaeMegaptera novaeangliaeMegaptera novaeangliaeMegaptera novaeangliaeWe came back to the city of Bundaberg where we spent 2 days a few months before, we've been snorkelling in a cold sea where we met a too friendly Olive Sea Snake, it came too close to take its breathe passing through the legs of my friend (same, the video is not updated on another place than facebook).
Tirumala hamataStill heading North, we stopped in a few places before we took the road to Rockhampton. There, the drama happened... Another one...
Overheat, smoke under my seat, I really don't like it.
A few days and test after, we identified the problem, that was dust in the radiator, We washed it but this story cost again a lot, like 1200$.
My family and my friends are, for sure, the best I can have. They offered us, as a surprise, a lot of money to help us finishing our trip. Thanks to them, I'm still in Australia now and I see all these problems as the past and the part of the trip I will not keep in mind. But I'll never forget what they did for me.
Anyway, the real trip started there to me because we were in the Tropics.
Near the town of Mackay, there's a very pretty park called Eungella, one of the best places in the worls to spot a platypus !
Eungella National Park
Eungella National ParkDendrelaphis punctulatusOrnithorhynchus anatinusConcinnia amplus--- The end of the Trip, Cairns ---We reached the city of Bowen, where I repaired some leaks on the car and worked in Tomato picking for 2 weeks before I spent a few days in a sailing boat, visiting the Whitsundays (I have a video I will try to share but it's too heavy). After that, I reached Townsville where I stayed for 2 weeks waiting for friends. I've met local wildlife and been to Magnetic island where I was looking for Death adders but didn't find one alive, only DOR...
Boiga irregularisBoiga irregularisLialis burtonisPodargus strigoidesTropidonophis mairiiStegonotus cucullatusStrophurus williamsiStrophurus williamsiGehyra dubiaI met an old friend ahahah
Passer domesticusButorides striataTropidonophis mairiiMagnetic Island's treasures:
Phascolarctos cinereusPhlogius crassipesAntaresia maculosaAntaresia maculosaStill heading North, you find the town of Ingham and the wonderful Wallaman falls. That area is really full of life. I even spot a Croc in a Wetland.
I spend 2 days and 3 nights looking for Death adders on Magnetic island, I was thinking that my last chance to see one was far away from me now... I was wrong, that's when you don't expect that things that they happen !
Litoria infrafrenataLitoria rothiiTyto delicatulaCosmophasis bitaeniataOmoedus orbiculatusRhipidura leucophrysMacropus agilisMorelia spilotaAcanthophis praelongusOur next step was the Cassowary country ! Tully and Mission Beach.
I must admit that Tully is my snake paradise. There's a road I took twice, it's full of snakes !
And of course, I met the great Cassowary, the jewel of the area. At this time, you feel really lucky and you really don't want to leave.
Morelia kinghorniMorelia kinghorniMorelia kinghorniCasuarius casuariusBoiga irregularisCasuarius casuariusCasuarius casuariusCasuarius casuariusCasuarius casuariusCasuarius casuariusMorelia spilotaMorelia spilotaMorelia kinghorniCryptophis nigrescensCryptophis nigrescensThen, we finally arrived in Cairns. Now er are still there, waiting for our flight to New Zealand in december.
--- Rainforest, the Cairns area ---Of course, we're not static, still moving and we took a few days to visit the Daintree area and all around Cairns.
The Wet Tropics is hot spot for biodiversity, I am still there right now, and I can tell you that mosquitoes and sand flies are nothing when you are in such a place.
Crocodylus porosusBoiga irregularisUca coarctataPeriophthalmus minutusPeriophthalmus minutusPeriophthalmus minutusLitoria fallaxLitoria nasutaWest of Cairns, the Mareeba and Kuranda place are interesting because you can meet animals you'll never see elsewhere as the endemic Mareeba rock wallaby or the Kuranda (or Myola) Tree Frog. The range area of this frog is really small, it only lives in an area of 13 km² !!! You can also meet the Freshwater crocodile, but its not native from this regions. Anyway, that's still an Australian reptile.
Elseya latisternumCrocodylus johnsoniTodiramphus macleayiiPetrogale mareebaPetrogale mareebaGeophaps scriptaLitoria nannotisLitoria rheocolaLitoria myolaLitoria myolaLitoria myolaHere is the end of my current trip. I'm still in Oz for a month so I may have some more to share.
Sorry for posting that so long post, I have a lot to show ahah.
I hope you enjoyed !