The Lure of Aussie Birds

Before dawn’s first light, Vilis and I arose from our bed, breakfasted, and then, with the sun creeping above the horizon as a huge red ball, drove to Ross River Dam, where we joined the Townsvi...

Preparing for Alice Springs

Still pimpled with red bites in less than convenient places from our Wet Tropics backpacking trip on Hinchinbrook Island, Vilis and I cast our thoughts ahead to desert country and Alice Springs. Earli...

Cycads

Until I began exploring Australia, cycads were mysterious plants that grew only in exotic places and belonged to the age of the dinosaurs. However, here in Oz, they’re planted in gardens and gro...

Shakespeare Under Tropical Stars

To celebrate Vilis’s birthday, we packed a picnic supper and drove to Queens Gardens near downtown Townsville for an outdoor performance of William Shakespeare’s tragic two-act play Richar...