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...

Birding Notes from Bicentennial Park, Townsville

In the fresh air past dawn I strode the parkway path into Bicentennial Park, chasing birds and fitness while the sun washed away grey light with its golden, cloud-sieved rays. Figbirds plucked berries...

Birding Notes from Idalia, Townsville

  After breakfast, I cyled to the nearby suburb of Idalia in Townsville’s east end, my intention to visit the Fairfield Waters wetland. In late May and June, the wetland had been rich with ...