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...

Soldier Crabs and Beach Stone-curlews

While exploring Hinchinbrook Island’s east coast beaches during our backpacking adventure on the Thorsborne Trail, Vilis and I were fascinated by intriguing collections of small balls arranged i...

Thorsborne Trail Recap

If I had to choose one word to describe backpacking in the Wet Tropics, it would be sweaty. Perspiration poured off Vilis and me when we bushwalked the 32-kilometre Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Is...

Thorsborne Trail: Nina Bay to Ramsay Bay, Hinchinbrook Island

Breaking camp at Nina Bay an hour after sunrise, Vilis and I retraced the path we’d hiked yesterday to reach the trail to Nina Peak. Once again, we walked alongside mangroves bordering the creek...