Two months in Townsville.

[drron]

Spot the gecko.

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On I go.

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[drron]

Walking back to the lookout.

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Some people aren't afraid of the freshie.

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A lovely place.well worth a visit even if just for a picnic close to the car park.
But now one more stop before heading back to my unit.

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Mt.Stuart.Behind Lavarack barracks and the site of Townsvilles communications structures.But not everything here is native.

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But this rock wallaby certainly is.

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Unfortunately a 2 year old boy arrived and the wallaby departed.

 

[drron]

The lookout is right behind Lavarack Baracks.Here is one of the ovals.they also have a golf course.

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The hospital and JCU.

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[Bindibuys]

If you have an interest in fly fishing... the AFO Hinchinbook Challenge is on 23-25th at Lucinda. My best friend is flying into Townsville on Wednesday to participate.

 

[drron]

No point me being in a fly fishing contest as it is an art that I have failed miserably.First taught down the Snowy.Caught several trees but when I began catching other fishers it was decided the lesson was over.
Tried again with a mate in New England.Caught a brown trout all of 4 inches long.The next catch was a monster.Unfortunately about a metre long goanna.No gear left so there endeth the second and last lesson.

 

[drron]

So back to Mt.Stuart.Decided to walk around the summit.Beware several sections are on slippery rock so I proceeded gingerly.very different views.

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The Ross River dam.

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[drron]

I had done pretty well on Saturday so decided on a longer walk for Sunday.I headed off to the Town Common.Nearly didn't make it as I came across this.

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This is after I and a couple that arrived a minute or 2 later had attacked breaking off lots of small branches and throwing them back on the tree.Was able to easily get around it then.
I decided to start with the Forest walk described as easy and flat.It was but you had to be careful as often covered with small termite mounds or lots of marsupial diggings.

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Incredible numbers of butterflies but they rarely were still.

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Flowering gums.

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But a fairly typical tropical dry forest.

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Finally a butterfly decided to rest and rest and.....rest.So eventually I gave up and photographed a totally still butterfly.

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[drron]

There are a few spots on the way to the lagoon where you can stop,wander and take pics.At this spot views og the Air Force base.

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Another has a viewing tower.

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The bird flew off but a nice picture of leaves from on high.

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[JohnM]

Butterflies have to be the most frustrating things to photograph. They flutter about, looking like they will land any moment, but don’t. When they do, they have their wings vertical and the colours not visible. But it kind of gets one hooked thinking ‘this one will be different’ - but it never is .

 

[drron]

At the melaleuca viewpoint a nice waterway but no birds.

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At the pandanus viewpoint a pair of brolgas quite close but soon tiptoed away.

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Some magpie geese.

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pelicans

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And a couple of blockhouses built during WW2.

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[drron]

At the carpark for the lagoon a few doves walking around.Not as skittish as usual.

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No birds at the first bird hide but a beautiful setting.

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Approaching the second hide there were obviously going to be a few birds.

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[drron]

Lots of ducks.

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What a beautiful spot.

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And on the hill-

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RAAF radar.

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[drron]

Another butterfly being stubborn.

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And views which ever way you look.

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And a sea eagles nest with a bonus paradise bee eater.

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[drron]

More of nature.

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So now I have reached the junction of the freshwater trail and the Lagoon trail.my plan had been to walk back to the carpark for a 3.6Km walk or 5.9 for the day.however my foot felt OK so I decided to do the Lagoon trail making an 8.3KM walk for a 10.6 Km walk all up.

 

[drron]

Proceeded along the Lagoon trail.mostly a fire trail with a few little rises.A different perspective.

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The pelican seems happy.About this time one of the sea eagles also caught a nice fish.

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The second bird hide.

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A paradise bee catcher.

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And another colourful little bird.

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[drron]

A beautiful day with lovely views.

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Looking over to one of the bird hides.

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Lots of birds.

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[drron]

Great scenery.

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And up ahead the path back over the lagoon.

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[drron]

The walk back across the lagoon.

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A deceased cane toad and the possible perpetrator.

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The magpies on the Sunshine Coast have learnt to flip cane toads over then rip the abdomen open.they can then eat without the risk of getting poisoned.Have watched it happen on Royal Beerwah golf course.
So many water birds here even towards the end of the dry season.

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[drron]

A couple of brolgas as well.

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So this walk comes to an end.set out to do a 3.7Km walk but ended up being an 8.2Km walk.But still a little more to come.

 

[drron]

I now drove to Palendra on the other side of the airport.The old Quarantine station is here.It used to be a museum but now closed.

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Down to the beach and good views of Magnetical Island.

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