THE BEACH FILES - CARLTON

One thing Tasmania has in abundance is gorgeous beaches. It's true that the water temperature is less than ideal for most of the year if you're a cold water coward such as I, but for meandering, dog walking and salt air sniffing there's definitely a generous selection to choose from.

DRIPPY DAZE

It's been a wet few days, and most of today's live coverage weather coverage came from the vantage point of my home office (aka the dining table) where I watched the rain fall steadily through the last of the autumn leaves - in between my own steady tappings on the keyboard.

LOCAL TOURISM

It's a pretty common experience for many of us - but playing tourist closer to home is something a lot of people don't always get around to doing. For people who like travelling, the allure of the unfamiliar is often far more tempting than poking around the corners of our own back yard.

SOUTHERN SHORES

Happy 2015!

I saw in this new year in proper holiday mode. As expected, by the time Christmas rolled around I'd had about as much of the endless buildup heat as I could take, so I gave myself a little break and headed down to Melbourne to tick another experience off my personal bucket-list - driving the Great Ocean Road.

BEACH STILLS

Another image series from some recent beach walks. Gorgeous as it is, I've started some different circuits recently as a break from routine is always welcome, so my next walkabout image series should be a little different.

DOWN THE TRACK

I don't come down here nearly often enough.

Litchfield National Park is about 100km south of the city, just past the small township of Batchelor. I've been coming here for about as long as I've had a car (and once even came close to a nasty accident during the freewheeling days of my youth when I decided my tiny tinny car and lack of driving experience could totally handle a bit of off-road adventuring). It's a prime spot for a little weekend getaway or daytrip.

30 MINUTES

I'm taking a look at one of my daily activities with a new lens (haha) and have put together a little photo essay on one of my most common dog walk routes  that I often do of an evening. Rapid Creek is a gorgeous little natural oasis in the middle of Darwin's northern suburbs an is an area that's certainly a semi-regular feature in my photographic pursuits. It still amazes me how much variety there is to see in 30 short minutes; suburbs, parklands, a river, horses, cattle, playgrounds...not to mention some of the regular dog walkers I stop and chat with on the way.

LEADER ON A LEASH

This is my average spaniel walking experience for the first 20 minutes or so of our daily wanders (or at least until I can let him off lead somewhere).

Believe it or not though, this is progress (aka he's finally hit middle age in dog years and is finally giving me and my shoulder a bit of a break), I've even been able to dispense with the 'anti-tug' harness (yeah, that's in air-quotes for a reason).

Anyway, this isn't a post about trying to walk a headstrong spaniel, but rather the lovely nature walk I finally got around to exploring this week, tucked in behind the beach and running through pockets of very lush coastal vine habitat and mangrove thickets...

(whatever, they can call it whatever fancy name habitat assemblage they like, it's jungle as far as I'm concerned. Pure coastal jungle. All that's missing is some monkeys. And some sexy Indiana Jones type).  

Although the (very likely outdated) online map from Parks and Wildlife appear to have this track listed as not allowing dogs, the signposts in the area specify that dogs on a leash are permitted. 

Walkers can either follow this path back out to Casuarina beach - exiting near to the nudist beach area (we have one of those, apparently) or keep going the full 5.5km up to Lee Point and Buffalo Creek (where dogs definitely aren't allowed)

PARK LIFE

Snapshots from the Jingili Water Gardens, a meandering and semi landscaped park space that runs alongside Rapid Creek between the suburbs of Jingili and Millner. It's a grass, tree and freshwater alternative to the sun, sea and sand of my habitual beach walks.

A RAINY EVENING AT THE BEACH

Highlights from an evening wander at Casuarina Beach.
I've been on many lovely beaches around the world, but this sandy strip of coast has a very unusual energy about it. Wandering with my hound in the evening, I often feel like I'm caught between two worlds - between this realm and the next. It's a relaxing way to finish off the day, floating between realities.

COCKATOO SUNSET

Red tailed black cockatoos at dusk. Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin

BITTER SWEET

A couple of weekends ago I finally got around to heading down the track for a Territory-style minibreak. Though some may wonder why people living in the tropics would crave the experience of immersing ourselves in thermal pools, rather than say, waterfalls, the numerous thermal pools in the region are quite popular with both locals and tourists alike.

HERMIT PARTY

Last week I participated in the Darwin Harbour Clean Up Day, and headed out on the early ferry to Mandorah, a small community that is a short 15 minute ferry ride from the Darwin CBD, though by car it's closer to 2 hours! There is a pretty amazing assortment of shells on some of the more remote beaches around the Top End, so I tried to squeeze in a little shell collecting on the side too.

FROG BLOG

Frog visitation highlights from this past wet season

DOWN BY THE CREEK

I'm continually stunned that there is such a beautiful freshwater river system running through what is mostly a suburban area. I often see kids swimming and playing in Rapid Creek while I'm walking or cycling through the surrounding parks. My hound also has his own favourite plunge pool along the way;

POTTED FROG

Best served alfresco*. Adapts to a variety of different pot types.
*Serving suggestion only

MAGNETISM

While termite mounds are a pretty common sight across the Territory, there are only a few spots where you can see the more unusual magnetic termite mounds. These occur only in open treeless plains and are aligned on a north-south axis to minimise their exposure to the harsh Australian sun. I've seen a few on private properties around Fogg Dam but the best place to get a viewing of these architectural marvels is in the very popular Litchfield National Park (about 100km south of Darwin, a popular recreational spot for locals and tourists alike).

CEDAR MANGROVE

A somewhat unremarkable tree that can be found in estuarine regions of northern Australia.
I was quite taken by the fact that the flowers smell like a mixture of red wine and ciabatta bread.

Honest.

SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIES - THE APOSTLEBIRD

One of the great things about camping in the Australian bush is the general tendency for local wildlife to crash join your party. Well, I think that's what often happens...maybe it's just me. While this 'hi, what you doing?' habit is less welcome if it's say, something that can kill you (and as every enlightened tourist knows, Everything in Australia Can Kill You), sometimes your nature bonding companions are nothing more than a charming mob of very precocious birds wearing prepare-to-die expressions.

TURKISH DELIGHT

One of nature's main signposts that heralds the onset of cool clear dry season days is the abundant and vivid florescence of Calytrix shrubs, colloquially referred to as Turkey Bush (after the bird, versus the country - despite the somewhat misleading title of this post). There are several Calytrix species across the Top End, with the larger, pink-hued flowers of Calytrix extipulata (pictured above) being the most visible. Common along roadsides in the less horticulturally manicured areas in and around Darwin, their scraggly overall appearance belies an exquisitely delicate spray of feathery blooms.