Sad reef

My weekend at Hamilton Island was the first time I have been in the vicinity of one of the wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef.

Until then my knowledge of the Reef has been confined to gorgeous images of colourful coral and marine life balanced by worrying reports of human generated deterioration that threatens the Reef's future. When I booked for a day's cruise and visit to the Reef I was in two minds about enjoying this natural wonder on the one hand and being a contributor to the deterioration by my, and so many others', intrusion to the area.

The catamaran we travelled on probably was carrying about three hundred sightseers. It took about two hours to reach the anchored pontoon on an edge of the Reef to which the catamaran was tied for the four hours of our visit.

Passengers could explore that tiny portion of the Reef in numerous ways. There was a submersible vessel that motored from the pontoon along a stretch of, I guess, one hundred metres of the Reef's edge. The pontoon itself housed an underwater viewing area alongside the Reef's edge. Passengers could, indeed did in large numbers, snorkel and scuba dive on a tiny section of the Reef and it's edge. There were two nearby helipads from which passengers could take helicopter rides over the Reef for periods of up to twenty minutes.

One way and another that seems a lot of potential disturbance on admittedly a tiny section of what is an enormous system. However there would be other daily visitors like ourselves at many other points not to mention disturbance from passing vessels, leakages and the many other events and accidents that impact on the area.

So did I observe the colourful life of the promotional images or signs of worrying deterioration? I am no expert on marine life or science and my exposure was for four hours only and at one very tiny section of the Reef. I don't suggest that my limited exposure is definitive but sadly what I observed was not the promotional images.

Here are several images of life under water.

And some images of life from above.

The Pontoon

Snorkeling on the Reef

Pontoon sundeck with Catamaran in background

Pontoon

Dawn

Butchart Gardens

My friends know that I could kill a cactus. I have no ability to foster flowers, plants or maintain a garden. I can't tell an A from a Z (fill in names of any flower or plant of your pleasure). So a visit to a  garden display is not the first outing I would select.

The Butchart Gardens was on our tour itinerary and I went along without high expectations.

Wow! They are impressive. Even with my lack of interest in this art and hampered by a degree of colour blindness I was blown away the magnificence of the display.

Here is a small sample. (Don't ask me to name anything displayed.)

The Sunken Garden

Japanese Garden

Storm impact

This video of a house being washed away in the town of Dungog during this week's storm has received wide coverage locally but may not have been seen elsewhere.

Note the ever laconic Australian nature at around the 9 second mark. The beer can is still in hand even at a time of stress.

Chooks conquer Knights

A night at the football. Sydney Roosters hosting Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League beneath a beautiful moon one evening after the full moon.

The highly fancied Roosters struggled through the first half trailing the Knights 6-12 at half time but then storming home to a comfortable 29-12 victory. This was their final try in the closing minutes of play.

Let there be light

This morning in Sydney

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

Three Kookaburras on next door's balcony

Stormy moon

Sunset on a cold, wintery and wet evening. I reckon there is no chance we'll see the rise of tonight's 'supermoon' from Sydney.

Enjoying the view

Two Kookaburras enjoying the view from my balcony in the cool morning sunshine.........

Stormy weather

Two love birds sheltering from the rain and cold on my balcony this morning

Canoodling and back play

Save that daylight

I rather like daylight saving. When it was first introduced (re-introduced?) the balance between waking in sunlight and waking in the dark seemed quite acceptable. Of course, much of that depends on the time of day that you wake and that varies wildly from person to person.

A couple of years back our daylight saving period was extended. About three or four weeks was added at either end. As a consequence darkness has encroached considerably into the waking hours at the tail end of the period. That seemed more noticeable than ever this year which might have been a consequence of weather conditions or simply an incorrect perception. It is easy to forget precisely what the situation was in previous years.

Anyway daylight saving for this period ended during the night and for the first time in weeks I woke this morning in sunshine. How nice that felt.

The morning darkness will again encroach in the next few weeks until we reach our shortest day around June 21 so this morning's pleasure will be short felt but then it all begins again.

More colour

Bird sanctuary at Iguazu Falls

Who can too?

Another colourful Toucan at the sanctuary in Iguazu Falls

Who can?

A Toucan in the bird sanctuary at Iguazu Falls

Birds

Bird sanctuary at Iguazu Falls, Brazil.

Sunrise over the Andes

The sun rises over the Andes as we arrive at Santiago Airport (Chile) for our flight to Lima (Peru).

Iguassu Falls, Brazil

So, the next morning. Our hotel is the only one inside the National Park on the Brazil side so we are able to view the falls early before the thousands of daily visitors arrive after the National Park opens at 8.30am.

Here are some images.

The approach from in front of our hotel

That is Argentina, viewed from Brazil. Note the rainbow

Yes, we are headed for that walkway below

The rainbow connection, from here...

...to here

We are in Brazil, the water is in Argentina

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

The Iguazu (Argentine Spanish spelling) Falls are a spectacular collection of waterfalls bordered by three South American countries; Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. We visited Iguazu (Argentina) on the afternoon of 29 January after a 1 hour 45 minute flight from Buenos Aires. Later that afternoon we drove across the nearby border into Brazil.

The next morning we visited the Iguassu (Brazilian Portuguese spelling) Falls to view what he had seen in Argentina from the opposite perspective.

Sounds repetitive? It was spectacular. I do not possess the words to describe the experience but I suggest you visit, at least once in your lifetime.

This post has images from the Argentine side. The next post (the next morning) will be from Brazil.

Here are the Argentine images.

Initial travel by train to protect the National Park

Then walk along bridges to key scenic spots

First indication of Devil's Fall

Tremendous power

Widespread spray, prepare to be drenched

Further collection of falls

Another perspective, another section

These photos don't do justice to the sights in real life but the view from across the border the next morning is really something even in my images. They will be posted later today but first I need a break and a drink by the hotel pool. I'll be back.

Somewhere over the harbour

(Click to enlarge)

Eclipse

As I type, a full solar eclipse is occurring several thousand kilometres north of me over Cairns in Far North Queensland.

Here are images being beamed on television in Sydney.

In twenty four minutes time, the eclipse (partial) will occur over Sydney with 68% of the sun covered by the moon's shadow. Unfortunately there is heavy cloud cover in Sydney at the moment so the event is unlikely to be visible to us.