Snakes and the Atherton Tableland

Thursday, 17 August 2017

 

Snakes are probably a bigger worry!

Paperbarks

Twitching

Jacana

Going, going

Gone

 The weather continues to be dry and hot, with cool nights (well, 16 degrees that is!).

The weekend just seemed to disappear and Monday afternoon we decided to have a walk around the Cattana Wetlands.  We were the only people there and it was much cooler in the shade of the trees and beside the water.  There were a few different birds about, including a few jacanas walking on the water lily pads and a couple of darters, with their snake like heads poking out of the water.  It was as we were returning to the car after stopping for a final photo opportunity that we scared a snake only a few feet in front of us on the edge of the path.  We both stopped suddenly, Himself immediately implemented a rear guard action in case of attack from behind (there may have been another snake following us!!!), the snake sat up and looked at us, then moved hurriedly away for a few feet then stopped and looked back again, with much wider eyes.  He quickly decided it would be safer well away from us, who had the same thoughts.  We stopped at the snake information board at the entrance and decided it was most likely a slatey grey – “venomous and likely to bite.”  This made three snake sightings in about ten days.

Beautiful moth on the green

Staying cool

More water than mud!

Avenue of Honour

Preparing for a Lion Dance

Times have changed

Temple entrance

Painted tin panel

Wooden carving of a bat

Inside temple

Cute dragon

Cheeky little carving

Probably not much call for ski fittings ...

Pig oven

Temple and meeting house

Sculpture depicting the banking profession

Orange blossum

On Tuesday, we decided it was much safer to have a foot massage, ice cream and walk along the Esplanade boardwalk – the tide was nearly in, too, a real bonus.  Tuesday night was our usual bowls night and my team were very unlucky not to win a prize, losing on a countback.  It was a lovely warm night and no dew, with lots of bugs, moths and micro bats flying about.

Wednesday we headed inland to the Atherton Tableland, with a stop at the Termite shop for some chutney and a visit to Maria for some coffee, spotting a recently dead snake near her driveway.  We wandered our way to Yungaburra, stopping for a stroll around the village before heading to the Avenue of Honour and Lake Tinaroo.  The lake is well down and it is easy to understand why the farmers are angry at not being allowed to irrigate when water is being released daily.  We had a lunch stop at the Malanda Dairy, another stop at Gallo Dairy for some chocolate purchases (also a piece of cheese) and fortunately we were too early for the afternoon milking of the cows.  We used the back roads to travel to Atherton, visiting the Hou Wang Temple.  This is the only remaining wood and tin temple in Australia and the only building remaining of the Atherton Chinatown.  The museum was very interesting, with stories of the local Chinese community and artefacts from the site.  A guide took us to the temple, explaining about the village as well.  This lady was so good, she really brought the place to life.  We were able to look closely at the interior of the temple and its contents, with explanations provided, before moving to the meeting house next door and then having a look at the reconstructed ramped pig roasting pit and the sculptures along the main street depicting the life and professions of the people who lived here.  We were so glad we visited.

Lots of photos today!