Queensland 2014/2015

For your reports/images, made outside Europe and the "Mediterranean" countries. Not to be too narrow minded and limited to our European/Mediterranean herps.

Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Pierre-Yves Vaucher » Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:16 am

bravo !! et merci ;)
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Alexandre Roux » Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:44 pm

Tonight I've been to Oxley Creek Common with my friend Elliot. I missed a snake but the night was nice. I just regret the number of mosquitoes there !!!

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Podargus strigoides

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Limnodynastes peronii

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Tropidonophis mairii

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Tropidonophis mairii
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Alexandre Roux » Thu Nov 13, 2014 2:57 am

Hellooooooooo !

Wow, it's been a long time I didn't came here, and to be honnest I really was missing you guys !
I've met a few herpers in Oz but most of the people here are only interested in reptiles and amphibians to sell it or keep it at home... Really disappointed !

Anyway, I have a lot to show, a lot to tell since April... Some great, some bad, but now my Australian trip is on its end, I'm leaving Oz on the 16th of December to spend a month and a half in New Zealand before I come back in the cold french winter.

--- Leaving Brisbane ---

Let's start my story when I stopped it, I was is Bribane but ready to leave !
The last days in Brisbane, I've been to a surround where, it was supposed to be Koalas... That was true, but I've been there on a rainy day, not the best to enjoy the colours of the pictures.

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Phascolarctos cinereus

That place is called Ormiston, Koalas are really well hidden in their trees so, when you can't find them, just look at the birds !

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Nycticorax caledonicus

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Platalea regia

--- Hervey Bay, Dolphins and Birds ---

Alright, now that I have my car, I need money to enjoy Australia, so I start my trip North to Gayndah, a very small town with absolutely nothing to do except to pick or pack fruits...
I arrived there on the 15th of April, and I just learned that I will have to wait at least for 10 days before I will hope to have a job... 10 days that I will mostly spend in the job office waiting for something, but I've also been doing a Dolphin tour, 200km from here, in Hervey Bay on the 20th of April ! The good thing there is that there are dolphins, but not only. We've been glad to see Pelicans and Ospreys that close, but also lucky to spot a Zebra shark and some turtles (sorry, no pictures...).

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Pandion haliaetus

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Pandion haliaetus

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Sula leucogaster

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Sousa sahulensis

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Sousa sahulensis

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Pelecanus conspicillatus

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Tursiops aduncus

There are a few more on my Flickr gallery but these are the greatest...

--- Gayndah, a little taste of Outback ---

Spending time in the job agency is a good way to be "friend" with the guy who provides the jobs. His name is Peter and he's a very friendly guy with funny sentences I will always remember !
After 2 weeks (yes, exactly 14 days), Peter found a job for us in a mandarin packing shed, with a very nice boss and a very nice job. It was like holidays !

As I was earning money, I was also enjoying the night life of Gayndah. Not in the bars or the clubs, on the road !
I spent most of my day offs looking for wildlife, that was the real australian discovery for me.

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Tachyglossus aculeatus

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Litoria peronii

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Furina diadema

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Furina diadema

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Tyto delicatula

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Struthidea cinerea

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Litoria latopalmata

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Taeniopygia bichenovii

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Cyclorana novaehollandiae

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Litoria dentata

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Platyplectrum ornatum

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Morelia spilota

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Aprosmictus erythropterus

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Aprosmictus erythropterus

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Antaresia maculosa

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Macropus parryi

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Macropus parryi

As we are living in a van, we have to sleep on special places called "rest areas". Sleeping there is permitted for 24 hours only, but we spend around 4 months here !
In 4 months, we enjoyed a lot of visitors such as owls...

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Tyto delicatula

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Ninox novaeseelandiae

And when you have some time to kill, just come and rest on the lookout for the sunset.

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Alisterus scapularis

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Tropidoderus childrenii

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Varanus panoptes

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Near our rest area, there was a little creek and a bush land. I really wanted to find snakes there but the "winter" weather was not really good and there were a few days I could use to try.
Patience is nice, because you always have what you want !

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Cisticola exilis

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Rhipidura leucophrys

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Pseudechis porphyriacus

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Pseudechis porphyriacus

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Malurus lamberti

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Elanus axillaris, Entomyzon cyanotis

I'm sorry for posting that many pictures, I wasn't on the forum for so long and that's too bad because I can't tell more now as it's not as fresh as it was in my head a few months ago...
I will finish that first part with a picture that resumes what I was doing during that months when I was not looking for wildlife. I had the head in the stars.

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Milky Way
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Jürgen Gebhart » Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:25 pm

so many great pcis! Especialy the Pseudechis!

I`m still waiting for my favourite australian animal!
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Niklas Ban » Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:51 pm

I waited for a live sign in this threat! :lol: Great I hope you had fun!
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Mario Schweiger » Thu Nov 13, 2014 2:00 pm

Jürgen Gebhart wrote:so many great pcis! Especialy the Pseudechis!


nothing to add ! ;)
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Please visit also my personal Herp-site vipersgarden.at
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Rémon ter Harmsel » Fri Nov 14, 2014 2:30 pm

Stunning pictures!! I will be in the QLD area for 5 weeks in December - January, can't wait!
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Alexandre Roux » Sat Nov 15, 2014 4:29 am

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.

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Canis lupus dingo

After 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...

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Pelecanus conspicillatus

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Macropus parryi

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Philemon citreogularis

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Pomatostomus temporalis

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Chelodina longicollis

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Pseudechis porphyriacus

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Demansia vestigata

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Anomalopus verrauxii

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Pogona barbata

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Pogona barbata

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Morelia spilota

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Pseudonaja textilis

Well, 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 !

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Sousa sahulensis

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Egretta sacra

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Haematopus fuliginosus

Through 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).

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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.

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Phascolarctos cinereus

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Phascolarctos cinereus

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Phascolarctos cinereus

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Phascolarctos cinereus

Here 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.

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Tursiops truncatus

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Megaptera novaeangliae

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Megaptera novaeangliae

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Megaptera novaeangliae

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Megaptera novaeangliae

We 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).

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Tirumala hamata

Still 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 !

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Eungella National Park

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Eungella National Park

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Dendrelaphis punctulatus

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Ornithorhynchus anatinus

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Concinnia 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...

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Boiga irregularis

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Boiga irregularis

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Lialis burtonis

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Podargus strigoides

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Tropidonophis mairii

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Stegonotus cucullatus

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Strophurus williamsi

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Strophurus williamsi

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Gehyra dubia

I met an old friend ahahah

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Passer domesticus

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Butorides striata

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Tropidonophis mairii

Magnetic Island's treasures:

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Phascolarctos cinereus

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Phlogius crassipes

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Antaresia maculosa

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Antaresia maculosa

Still 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 !

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Litoria infrafrenata

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Litoria rothii

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Tyto delicatula

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Cosmophasis bitaeniata

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Omoedus orbiculatus

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Rhipidura leucophrys

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Macropus agilis

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Morelia spilota

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Acanthophis praelongus

Our 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.

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Morelia kinghorni

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Morelia kinghorni

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Morelia kinghorni

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Casuarius casuarius

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Boiga irregularis

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Casuarius casuarius

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Casuarius casuarius

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Casuarius casuarius

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Casuarius casuarius

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Casuarius casuarius

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Morelia spilota

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Morelia spilota

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Morelia kinghorni

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Cryptophis nigrescens

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Cryptophis nigrescens

Then, 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.

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Crocodylus porosus

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Boiga irregularis

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Uca coarctata

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Periophthalmus minutus

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Periophthalmus minutus

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Periophthalmus minutus

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Litoria fallax

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Litoria nasuta

West 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.

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Elseya latisternum

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Crocodylus johnsoni

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Todiramphus macleayii

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Petrogale mareeba

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Petrogale mareeba

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Geophaps scripta

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Litoria nannotis

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Litoria rheocola

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Litoria myola

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Litoria myola

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Litoria myola

Here 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 !
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Andre Schmid » Sat Nov 15, 2014 7:31 am

AWESOME ! Thanks for sharing this great pictures with us.
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Re: Queensland 2014/2015

Postby Guillaume Gomard » Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:37 pm

For sure I enjoyed this post! Big big congrats for the death adder: did you spot it on the move are was it ambushed? A really awesome Pseudechis porphyriacus too. Well, I cannot name all the species I would like to see there but there is a lot to observe beyond reptiles.
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