55) Jumped in the Jungle

There I was, minding my own business when suddenly, WHAM, out of the dark hurtled 8 grams of flying fury - a (probably venomous like everything else in OZ!) green tree frog. It just glommed onto my hand, and would not let go.
(Note: For all of you who want to say (as the tourist who came by said) 'did you get your hands wet first? Did you know that oils and bug dope can kill frogs if you touch them?" Yes I do - but this thing jumped me! and *it* didn't wash it's feet first. Who knows what deadly nerve toxins *I* was exposed to! Luckily, I didn't have any bug dope on, and the frog was safely returned to the wilderness via a rinsing swim in a pond.)

This all began as a harmless jaunt through the Natural Bridges Section of Springbrook Natl Park for a New Years Eve picnic- The river here drops into a 'cave' and emerges from under a bridge of rock.















Waterfall inside the cave.









The park is famous for its Glow worms (the larva of a large mosquito-like fly -Arachnocampa Flava Harrison) which uses webs to catch food and are bioluminescent (see http://maguires.com/glow_worms/about_worms.htm). While we were there tour buses of people showed up (about 300) and tramped through the park having the jungle trees, ecosystem, and glow worm life cycle explained in Japanese, Korean and even English! (photo = Time exposure inside the cave)

Another of the pack of deadly tree frogs - they were all around us! Up in the trees, on the railing, in the vines - we were surrounded! Only quick thinking by Nancy allowed us to escape their insidiuos stalking.....











Check it out - kissed by a frog and became..a prince!?












Back home a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo getting a drink on our back deck
















Holidays here in OZ are pretty relaxed. Apparently, by celebrating New Year on NZ time, we missed out on not one, but two full fireworks shows up on the Broadwater. (one for families at 9:30 another at midnight)

But come the 35 C temps (95 F with 64% humidity) some of us are pretty darned wiped out!)






One more pic of a loggerhead heading back to sea.... Why did we leave Mon Repo again?















Dawn over the Coral Sea