Daintree Day 4 – Noah Beach

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, 25 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

(Some images IR).

Early in the morning, this is the view from the verandah where we were staying.

I had noticed there was a place where the road went quite close to the coast and there was also parking for a couple of cars, so we went there and came out on this beach.

The zen of sand (probably better viewed large).

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Looking round, a wider view as the sand bleeds out into the distance.

Sentinels of the coast.

Into the quiet distance.

Perhaps two faces of a split rock.

Clouds piling up.

I was fascinated by the patterns in the sand at the edge of the sea.

… as seen in a variety of different ways …

, interspersed with a colourful rock.

Normality sometimes changes.

and this is actually a full-colour image.

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Looking along the beach, with a distant person and their dog.

There is a creek flowing into the beach.

and deep reflections (better viewed full size).

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The creek and the beach.

Looking past the fiery mangroves in full autumn colours (it was actually winter).

Various items (including a coconut at the left) gathered together by the tide.

Final views of sand and sea.

… from a very low perspective.

I’ve also decided for the first time to include a JAlbum slideshow of the images. So rather than clicking on the images for a larger view, you can see them at that view, either one by one or by running a slideshow. There are no comments, just the images. Not sure whether I will continue to do this or include such links in previous posts.

Daintree Day 3 – Cape Trib Rainforest and Swamps

May28

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, 24 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

Some of the images in this post are as normal as a fish and chips shop and others, not quite as much and may include an element of infrared. I’ll leave you to work out which.

We headed north from where we were staying at Cape Trib(ulation) and hoped to get to Cowie Beach but we did get as far as Emmagen Creek where we went on a walk on a swimming hole track.

The image doesn’t give you a scale but this is a huge banyon tree in a clearing. The aerial roots (hanging down to the ground) are about 10 to 12 feet high.

Looking up under the banyon tree.

A different view of the banyon tree.

Tree roots beside a swimming hole.

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(I wonder whether you can tell which image is infrared and which is not).

A very peaceful place (well, at least when other people weren’t around).

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Emmagen Creek crossing.

This is as far as we got in our small Chinese MG hire car. It wasn’t so much that we couldn’t go across the creek but a sign said four wheel only after that and I wasn’t about to chance it in an unsuitable hire car that would become uninsured.

A bush turkey was wandering around at the side of the road.

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Tree trunk covered in vines.

After coming back and having lunch, we are now at Dubuji Boardwalk, a few hundred yards south od Madja Boardwalk that we visited previously and also backing onto Myall Beach.

Is it a forest or an anthropomorphic sculpture park?

This vine is thick-leaved raphidophora.

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This is a bush turkey nest mound. The path beside it gives a sense of how large it is. The male makes it for the female to lay eggs deep inside it between august and February each year.

It seems one could easily get lost in an untracked wilderness.

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Looking up at fan palms.

A nice little swimming spot or paddling pool, probably shallow and quite muddy but probably no crocodiles around.

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Myall Beach.

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Bark of a eucalypt, back where we were staying.

A hanging plant in flower just near our residence.

Funghi at the base of a tree.

And now, a few bonus images…

Sometimes in North Queensland you might see a rhinoceros resting on a beach and in this case he’s probably swum there from the castle on the distant island.

It’s not very common to see a large monitor lizard on the beach and a large sailing ship on the horizon but in this case I have the photograph to prove it.

Some times it may seem as though the end of the world is nearing.

And other times it may seem that it’s already happened.

The last four images are not strictly traditional photographs. It is possible that you may have guessed that.

I have been playing round with the new Generative Fill in Photoshop Beta. The images I started from are all in this post or the previous post and three of the four were infrared. In three of the four images, I extended the boundaries of the image and asked Photoshop to imagine what might lie there. In two of the images I dropped in objects and Photoshop fitted them into the lighting and tones of the image.

You can also delete parts of an image and Photoshop will reconstruct even a complex background that may have been there. So the images are no longer really photographs but they are part photographs and partly AI.

Daintree Day 2 – Myall Beach and Madja Boardwalk (IR)

May21

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, 23 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

We are now approaching the Red Sea, where many thousands of years ago people walked through from Queensland to New Caledonia.

Conditions can change rapidly though and a few minutes later, the Red Sea was no longer there.

Before long everything seemed quite normal.

… for a while at least.

Then, in the swamp, we look through the fan palms toward the Red Sky where decades ago people walked through to the moon.

All is quiet with a seeming absence of crocodiles.

… though the mangroves are poking up everywhere to find air and nutrition.

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The mighty river flowing through the swamp.

Later, setting off along Cape Kimberly Beach into the distance….

Daintree Day 1 – Cape Tribulation (IR)

Apr24

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, 22 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

In the last three (non-music) posts, we arrived at Daintree Village, explored some of the valley along the Daintree River and then had an early morning photographic cruise along the Daintree River. After that we crossed the river in a ferry and spent most of the next four days in the Daintree Rainforest, the area most people refer to as “the Daintree”. (Confusingly, the Daintree National Park is further inland to the south-west).

We’ve crossed the river in the ferry and this is the view from Mount Alexandra Lookout.

Of course the aim of photography is to be as realistic as possible. In a wild place like the Daintree, it’s surprising how completely the light can change, and the whole feel can transform from one moment to the next.

We were staying at the northern end of the Daintree, at Cape Tribulation (“Cape Trib”). The room we were staying in is at the end of the path.

These two and the next fifteen images are at Rainforest Hideaway. It was set up by a sculptor, Rob Lapaer, some years ago but became run down and the new owners are restoring it. While you can stay there, it used to also be open to the public for a small fee but this is no longer the case.

Our host Gaye gave us a guided tour of the Sculpture Trail and I also walked around later and took more photographs.

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Gaye arranged for us to visit the Jungle House while the current resident was not in.

View from bedroom at the Jungle House.

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The guest in the next room was driving around in a Citroen Deux Chevaux. We had seen more of them around Cooktown where there must have been some kind of rally.

In the late afternoon, we drove a short distance to Cape Tribulation Beach and the Kulki Boardwalk, where I found the mangroves of interest at lowish tide.

The light was changing quite rapidly….

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Getting close to dusk, brooding views looking along Cape Tribulation Beach.

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Daintree River Views (IR)

Mar15

Daintree River, Queensland, 22 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

The last post was of wildlife on the Daintree River and there were a few river views as well, in normal colour. At the same time I took river views in infrared, which is what you see here. Usually I process each one differently, sometimes in different editors. I was short of time on this occasion, so I quickly processed one in Lightroom, copied to the others, and made a few individual adjustments. So while some of them may have been more dramatic processed differently, they do form a coherent group.

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Rorschach river views anyone?.

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Daintree Valley

Feb26

Daintree, Queensland, 21 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

It was only half an hour’s drive from our accommodation near Mossman Gorge to the accomodation for our next night at Daintree Village. We needed to be there for a wildlife cruise the next morning. So we had most of a day to fill and we decided to drive up the valley beside the Daintree River and also explore some of the side roads.

Daintree river.

A stream down a side road.

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We got to a sign on the main road down the valley that said four wheel drive only beyond there. We only had a tiny Chinese MG hire car so we turned around. At this place there was a massive broad-leafed rainforest plant beside the road. I asked Jools to stand beside it to show you how large it was.

Daintree River.

Daintree River, suddenly showing autumn colours.

Autumn can be quite brief, especially in Queensland in July.

At the end of a side road we got to a point where we couldn’t drive further. Based on the colour of that water, perhaps it was just as well.

Appearances can change quite rapidly though.

On the way back from that bridge….

“Red sky in the morning, Shepherd’s warning”. This was mid-afternoon though.

Some cattle perhaps interested in gaining our acquaintance.

The last two images show a glimpse of the coast. We drove there through a motor camp that may have been private no access but no-one stopped us.

You might perhaps have noticed that some of these images are infrared. Eight are infrared and six are normal. One is perhaps less obvious than the others.

Cooktown Monochromes

Feb12

Cooktown, Northern Queensland, 17 to 19 July 2022.

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Links go to colour posts (with information). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

Mouth of the Endeavour River from Grassy Hill Lookout.

Laura and Cooktown Infrareds.

Grassy Hill Lighthouse from 1886.

Cooktown and Rock Art.

Rock Art.

Enroute to Rock Art.

Rock Art.

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Keating’s Lagoon.

Keating’s Lagoon (Mulbabidgee).

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(Still Keating’s lagoon).

Laura and Cooktown Infrareds.

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Keating’s Lagoon (Mulbabidgee).

Laura and Cooktown Infrareds.

Keating’s Lagoon (Mulbabidgee).

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Black Mountain or Kalkajaka.

Laura and Cooktown Infrareds.

View from Rex Range Lookout, looking north towards the Daintree.

Keating’s Lagoon (Mulbabidgee).

Laura Monochromes

Feb5

Laura, Northern Queensland, 12 to 15 July 2022.

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Links go to colour posts (with information). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

Views from the road between Yungaburra and Laura.

Yungaburra to Laura.

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Galahs in Laura.

Laura General Store and Pub.

Kookaburra.

Galahs.

Helmeted guineafowl.

Driving into the bush camp.

Laura Bush Camp Day 1.

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Ants’ nest in tree.

Johnny explaining rock art.

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A cave for special female ceremonies.

Laura Bush Camp Day 2.

Swimming hole with waterfall.

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Anthills. On the road again.

Back to the main rock art site.

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Back at camp. Ground cover, bush and miniature tree.

Rock art (Art by the rock).

Night skies.

Laura and Cooktown Infrareds

Jan22

Far North Queensland, 13-19 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least). It makes a big difference for most images.

Links go to ordinary colour posts at the same location (for more information and context). Only three images have normal colour versions. If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies..

The road into the Laura Bush Camp.

Laura Bush Camp Day 1.

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Cooktown fishermen (Endeavour River).

Cooktown and Rock Art.

Mouth of the Endeavour River from Grassy Hill Lookout.

Bunya Pine, Botanic Gardens.

Swamp views, Mulbabidgee.

Keating’s Lagoon (Mulbabidgee).

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Black Mountain or Kalkajaka.

View from Rex Range Lookout, looking north towards the Daintree.

Yungaburra to Laura

Dec11

Yungaburra to Laura, Queensland, 12 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

View with typical Queensland blood-red sky.

On this day we travelled north from Yungaburra to Laura. Along the way we stopped at a viewpoint for this view.

Somewhat later, the weather was quite different and so was the view.

A rather dreamy vista furher along the road.

This one is quite close by though looking in the opposite direction, which explains why the colours are quite different.

We have now reached Laura, and there are many galahs on the telegraph lines.

Laura is a massive metropolis in Northern Queensland, just like Brisbane in Southern Queensland, although the population of Laura is 228, as compared to 2.28 million for Brisbane. There are not a lot of other differences though. Here are two of the major buildings in Laura. There is the general store on the left and the pub on the right.

Across the road is the Town Hall. To the left of that is a roofed field and basketball court, so schoolchildren can play sports in the rainy season.

It is not hard to find modern technology in Laura.

So this is why the galahs have gathered. It’s feeding time.

Across the road is the motel where we stayed the night.

Later we decided to choose the pub for a meal. Some kookaburra were eating there too. Like Brisbane, there is a great choice of eating establishments in Laura. Specifically, there is the pub and the roadhouse. We’re not in Brisbane so I won’t list the eating establishments in Brisbane for comparison.

The kookaburra were joined by a blue-faced honeyeater (entomyzon cyanotis). Whether the honeyeater had made a reservation for dinner is not clear.

A kookaburra on a branch in the late afternoon sun.

I set out to capture galahs landing on or setting out from the power lines in the late afternoon light.

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This is a helmeted guineafowl (numida meleagris). Not native to Australia, it is from Africa. They are kept in farmyards to kick up a lot of noise when a fox or feral cat comes in.

And yes, there were three infrared images at the start of the post.

Murray Foote

Tag Archives: Infrared

Daintree Day 4 – Noah Beach

Daintree Day 3 – Cape Trib Rainforest and Swamps

Daintree Day 2 – Myall Beach and Madja Boardwalk (IR)

Daintree Day 1 – Cape Tribulation (IR)

Daintree River Views (IR)

Daintree Valley

Cooktown Monochromes

Laura Monochromes

Laura and Cooktown Infrareds

Yungaburra to Laura