Merry Christmas

A wonderful view at Point Cartwright. Polarising filter (sunnies) used.

Granite Block

A polished granite block near the Roma Street Parklands. A ripple of waves permanently frozen in time.

Christmas Tree

The Brisbane City Council Christmas tree. This tree is usually in King George Square but, due to construction has been moved to the top of the Queen Street mall with the big steel balls.

Storm Cloud

Near Dalby this storm was brewing as I drove into town. Visible also are some bugs on the windscreen.

Winton Clouds

The sky near Winton had light clouds blowing across as I drove through.

Fridge Poetry

Seen on a fridge in Mount Isa.

Christmas Tree

The Mount Isa Christmas Tree.

Smile

The universe smiled upon Mount Isa last night as this spectacular alignment of the crescent Moon, Venus (top) and Jupiter arranged itself above the horizon.

Rain In The Isa

We've had some rain recently, about 60mm over the past week. This is some of it.

Pizza

The first Christmas tree I've seen this season was at Frank's Pizza. The best pizza in Mount Isa.

Moonrise, Sunset

As the sun sets in the West, the Moon rises in the East. To paraphrase Leonard Nimoy on the Simpson's, "the cosmic ballet continues..."

View

A view of the Moon.

Climb

A bolted climb at Razorback.

Fresh Water Mussel

A mussel shell. Many mussels are dieing in Lake Moondarra as the water edge retreats. With any luck the coming wet season will refill the lake to capacity.

Water

On the water's edge at Lake Moondarra in the early morning.

The Aussie Outback Southern Cross

If you look closely you'll see the Southern Cross constellation here. Constructed in wallaby dung.

A Sign

A road sign directing traffic.

Telescope

A telescope belonging to the Mount Isa Astronomy Group. This is the scope I used to take a photo through from a previous post.

Mango Season

Mango season is upon us in the northern states. And there is nothing like having your own mango tree in the back yard. I'll be watching this mango with great interest.

Garden Path

The garden path showing the way home.

Sunlight

The sun sets on another magnificent day in paradise. This is behind Lake Moondarra.

Angling

One angler seeking the elusive tagged barramundi.

Fishing Competition

This weekend is the annual Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic. Held every year on the last weekend of October this event brings a large crowd out to enjoy the lake and try their luck at bagging the tagged barra worth $25000.

Razorback

A broader view of the razorback cliff face. There is plenty of space for climbing out here and plenty of rock to get your toes onto. The west side of the rockface is a rocky hill which rolls gently and conveniently to the top of the rock.

Rock climbing

Rock climbing in Mount Isa. Yes you read correctly. I went rock climbing just south of town on what is known as Razorback. It's a small cliff face on a fault line in the afternoon shade which makes it very pleasant climbing even in summer at 4pm. The climber here is making a move at the first crux of the climb. I'll be going back for more finger holding goodness in the future.

View

The amazing view from the hill.

Photovoltaic Power

Solar panels for the NextG tower on the same hill. There is so much sunshine out here the solar panels can't get enough.

Perspective

Looking up the centre of the tower. If you look closely you can see blue sky through the small triangle at the top.

Repeater Tower

A radio repeater tower north of Mount Isa. It's very tall. If I'd had a tape measure and an inclinometer with me, I would be able tell you how tall it was.

Beer Goggles Ball 2008

Last night I went to the inaugural 2008 Mount Isa Beer Goggles Ball. It was a charity ball arranged by some enterprising locals after the mayor made comments about beauty disadvantaged women being needed in Mount Isa. The comments caused a stir of course, and made the news here and around the world.
It was a good fun night and I got the T-shirt to prove I was there.

Tree

Another tree near Lake Moondarra, framed by shady leaves.

Sunset at Sunset

A view of Sunset and Sunset Hill at sunset, taken from Soldier's Hill.

Pussytail (Ptilotus exaltatus)

A walk on Soldier's Hill revealed this desert flower happily flowering away.

Paddling

An afternoon paddle for some kayakers on Lake Moondarra.

Lunar Crescent

On a recent night with the Mount Isa Astronomy Group I took this photo through the eyepiece of their 6" refractor. It turned out surprisingly well.

Train Home

Of course the time came to head home. This was on the rail line near Duchess, south of Mount Isa.

Iconic Australian

This wonderful icon of Australia (the Koala) can be found in many places on Magnetic Island.

Green Ants

These North Queensland native green ants make unusual nests in the leaves of trees.

Rocky Bay Sunrise

A sunrise glow on granite boulders at Rocky Bay.

Hoop Pine (Araucaria Cunninghamii variant Glauca)

The unique Hoop Pine on Magnetic Island is very striking against the ocean and granite.

Native Kapok (Cochlospermum gillivraei)

These flowers can be seen all over the island in spring. They are edible with a consistency like marshmallow and high in vitamin C.

Tropical Paradise II

I could post photos like this every day and not get bored. This is from the fort lookout.

Tropical Paradise

A view to savour. It was hard to keep walking when there were so many places to stop and take photos of the amazing view.

Island View

A sure sign that you're not in Mount Isa.

Ferry

The passenger ferry that brings people across the 20 minute ride to the island.

Magnetic Island Arrival

We arrived on Magnetic Island for the school camp and a few curious people inspected a strange sign. Lucky for us the cyclone sign foretold of no immediate danger.

On Route To Townsville

The train ride from Mount Isa to Townsville takes in many stations along the way. This was snapped as we left Charters Towers.

Kalkadoon Pub Library

A selection of books to read at the Kalkadoon Hotel in Kajabbi.

Melaleuca

On the banks of the Leichhardt River are the biggest Melaleuca (paperbark) trees I have ever seen.

Battle Mountain

This was the reason for my visit to Kajabbi. To see the site of the Kalkadoon resistance at Battle Mountain near Kajabbi.