Bicentennial Park, Townsville

Although it’s said that familiarity breeds contempt, I’d say it more commonly breeds a lack of appreciation. This morning, I abandoned plans to cycle along the parkway because of impending downpou...

Storm Season

Until I came to Townsville, ‘steamy darkness’ was a term I’d only encountered in novels. This morning, I ran and walked in it, until the slow approach of dawn stole away darkness and rain washed...

Paluma Rainforest Encore

At 7 a.m., Vilis and I hit the road for the rainforest village of Paluma about 80 kilometres northwest of Townsville, having decided to explore the rainforest tracks that we didn’t tackle on January...

Australia: A ‘Megadiverse’ Country

By morning, the mesmerizing clouds of last evening had disintegrated into a rumpled grey roof over the Townsville sauna. Darkness still clung to the streets at 5:40 a.m., so I held my watch up close t...