It is the last day of February. In fact it is the extra day for February as it is Leap Year. (now who shall I propose to???)
This year I am joining Cardinal Guzman’s “changing seasons” challenge. He has 2 versions to choose from.
These are the rules for Version 1 (The Changing Seasons V1):
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery.
Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
These are the rules for Version 2 (The Changing Seasons V2):
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
So I’ll start with version 2….
February is the hottest month. It is humid with temperatures going into the high 30’s, sometimes reaching 40+. It is the month for sun, sea, surf and going to the beach. Cyclone Winston has created wild seas, perfect for surfers. Look carefully and you can see these beach walkers are looking at that tiny dot riding the waves.
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Version 1
Each month I’ll visit the beach and park around Burleigh Heads to show you some of the things you can see around here. It is the last Sunday of the month and the Art and Craft markets set up along the beach front park.
Music adds to the ambience and happy atmosphere.
A variety of food stalls will keep your energy levels up.
I hope you enjoyed this wander around the markets, these are only a few of the stalls that set up here every month. Did you see anything you would like to buy?
Meanwhile the beaches have been opened again to swimmers, but the life guards are keeping a sharp eye on the few that venture in.
Check here to see what the conditions were like a few days ago.
Cyclone Winston powers its way toward the East coast of Australia after devastating Fiji and causing villages to be obliterated and lives lost. Storm warnings are in place and our beaches are closed to swimmers.
Already the swell is over 3 metres, one set was reported to be almost 7 metres, and only the experienced and fittest surfers are advised to go out in these conditions. Surfers are coming from all over Australia. The world champion Taj Burroughs was on TV last night saying he just jumped on the first flight from Western Australia to ride these awesome waves and they will get bigger as Winston gets closer…
Its 4pm as I walk along watching the waves roaring in. But other things are happening all around. I notice a young woman holding blue diaphanous material as it catches the wind and floats and ripples around her. Then I see it is a photo shoot. I zoom in to catch the action.
The other couple with the 2 dogs get up to toss a ball around.
The bulldog joins in with the fun. I wonder where the other dog has gone…
Here he comes to join in…
But wait a minute just look what it is, I couldn’t believe my eyes…
I was taking these photos on a long zoom lens and it wasn’t till I downloaded the photos back home and I looked closer at the other “dog”.
Yes it is a little pig. It is the first time I have ever seen a pig on the beach. I know they can make good pets and are quite intelligent as I used to work on a pig farm.
Walking on I go up the hill to the Miami headland to take photos of the Miami beach north to Surfers.
I’m not the only person up here taking in the magnificent sweep of beach and the waves rolling in.
Notice the few locks on the wires? It seems to be a growing trend to lock your love and remembrance thoughts in scenic places. Further along there are more.
Some have inscriptions scratched on them, some have professional engravings.
As I turned to go back down I noticed 2 blokes clambering up the hard way over the rocks.
Wow, they were so fit I couldn’t resist asking them to be foreground subjects for me. (I did a minor photo shoot!!!) Just look at those abs….
Jack took a sneaky photo of us as I showed them their photos.
As they turned to go they were stopped by another group of French tourists, giggling, they asked if they could pose with them.
After all this excitement it was time to head back to the car, but I can’t stop taking more photos.
The sun is going down behind the hi-rises casting long shadows along the beach. But people still stand around watching the ocean as it crashes along the beach break that is Burleigh Heads.
I could not see any surfers out there, it is low tide and those rocks would be deadly. I will have to come back tomorrow morning on the high tide to catch the action.
Time for one last selfie. Now to go over and get some fish and chips for dinner.
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I’m walking in the late afternoon in the other direction along the beach today and I will join Jo’s enthusiastic bunch of world wide walkers. Go join them at “Restless Jo’s place”
On Saturday Fiji was hit by category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston, the most devastating in the Islands history it destroyed hundreds of homes. Strong winds and flooding from Winston have caused severe damage across the island nation.
I woke this morning at 4-30am and, even though I live one kilometre from the beach, I could hear the ocean roaring. Australia is just over 3000 kilometres away from Fiji but this cyclone will affect our tides.
Sunrise was due at 5-30am. As day was just breaking, I jumped on my bike and rode down to the beach.
The sky was still the soft grey and pink shades of dawn and at 5-15 the beach was almost deserted. I noticed this couple totally immersed in each other. They looked so in love and my guess was they are here on their honeymoon.
Just a seagull and me sharing this moment with them.
Then the sun made a dramatic appearance.
It was just past full tide and the waves surged and tumbled, foaming and frothing.
More people were arriving, walking their dogs, jogging or sauntering. Some just sitting and absorbing the beauty of the morning.
The sun highlights the hi-rise buildings of Surfers Paradise
Burleigh Heads is famous for its surfing breaks and this morning the surf was pumping.
This surfer is not a youngster he has grey hair and a middle-aged spread, but how exhilarated he must be to catch this barrel.
But, for some, all good things come to an end and work or school call. What a way to start the day though.
I couldn’t resist showing you a couple more of this beautiful area I call home.
If you want to stay a little longer there is a small hole in the wall that serves coffee in that building in the background. If you look carefully you will see a group of people gathered around waiting to be served their shot of caffeine.
Or if you want to stay for breakfast the Surf Club serves delicious meals and you can enjoy them sitting at a table overlooking this beautiful Burleigh beach.
But for me it is time to head home for breakfast, 2 hours and 240 photos later.
Where ever you are and what ever you are doing today I hope your day goes well.
It is summer in the Land Down Under. The temperatures hover around 30c degrees and it is humid.
The place to be is the beach…
Hundreds flock here. The ocean can be dangerous and people are urged to swim between the flags, under the watchful eye of the Lifeguards. You can just see the red and yellow flags in the top left hand side of the photo. So that is why so many people crowd into this small area when there is over 40 kilometers of beach to choose from.
In the background, to the south, is Burleigh Heads National Park with the hi-rise apartments and exclusive restaurants nestled between the ocean and the bush.
Further north along the beach it is not so crowded, no lifeguards to rescue you if you swim here. In the distance the jagged, hi-rise outline of Surfers Paradise rises through the heat haze.
Being born in the UK I go into a heat hibernation through January and February. Summer is the season of sweating, I search out places with air-conditioning, library, shopping centres, cinemas or even the cool shade beneath a tree with the sea breezes to cool me down, and dream of the cooler weather to come in March.
During 2015 Cardinal Guzman hosted a monthly challenge. The challenge was to choose one place and visit it every month to record the changes. A fascinating project. But unfortunately, last year I could not visit the same place every month because of my Gypsy wanderings.
Fast forward to 2016…
I was delighted to discover that the dear Cardinal has decided to continue his challenge but to add a version 2.
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
Now this year is also a year of change for me. I plan to stay, more or less, put. After 5 years of roaming far and wide around Australia, I’ll be exploring the Southeast corner of Queensland and Northern New South Wales, the place I call home. No distant travels (to a galaxy far, far away)to far-flung parts of Australia.
So yesterday I went out to search for an image that says “January on the Gold Coast”. The bigger challenge being to do it in ONE photo…
This is Burleigh Beach, my local beach, and it is the last weekend of the school summer holidays. It is hot, it is humid and the surf is pumping. Just look at the crowds, but it is still possible to find an oasis of calm with a book, a coffee and your loved one under a tropical Pandanus palm. Room for a couple of young boys to play ball and a young woman heading for the ocean to catch a wave.
In the background, just visible through the fronds of the Pandanus, the Burleigh Heads National Park keeps a majestic watch over the scene.
Thousands of years ago this was known as a favourite meeting place for the Aboriginal tribes of the area. They would gather for ceremonies and share the bounty of the sea, leaving middens of shells to tell the tale of times long gone.
Tomorrow morning I will be going to New Zealand and it will be quite a while before I see my beach again. So this morning I made a monumental effort and biked down to see the sun rise.
The surfers also arrived to catch the early morning waves.
The seagulls preened and watched the passing parade.
Then I went up the steps, at a more sedate pace than this young woman. To walk through the bush.
Then it was time to go home, have breakfast and start packing.
Bye bye to my blogging buddies I may not be around for a while. I’ll miss you all.
Ok I did not get up at dawn to catch the sunrise, but at 6-30 it is still early and on a sunny, spring morning the beach is busy. Not much surf, but this keen surfer is still going to enjoy what swell there is. Families take their children down to play in the sand and the dog walking brigade is out in force.
Maybe not much swell for surfers but it looks perfect for this canoeist.
Looking north along the beach, Surfers Paradise, the hi-rise hubbub, looms on the horizon
The surf life saving nippers go through their morning training drill, while a tourist catches the cancer rays. Hope she has splashed on the sunscreen…
The life guards are a very necessary part of beach life as this ocean can be deadly with rips and tides changing unexpectantly. It is reassuring to see these yellow life guard huts dotted right along the beach at all the main tourist spots.
At the southern end of the beach are the cafes and restaurants and the hi-rise holiday apartments. But I am going up to the walkway, through the park, beside the beach now. It is easier walking and there is lots of activity.
It is good to see all ages taking some exercise.
But these blokes have come down for a BBQ. What a lovely way to start the day.
But look behind them…
This personal trainer has set up his boot camp. Look at all the torture treatment he is putting his troops through. While the BBQ blokes relax in the background…
These lycra lads have stopped for a quick cuppa. Wonder how far they have biked this morning.
These pretty poodles are the same ones I saw earlier on the beach. They have just had the sand washed off their hairy heads.
It’s good to see the dogs are catered for as it is hot work walking along the beach, and more so if you have to keep up with your master on his bike…
Notice the fence on the left? Well I could hear a scratching and scuffling sound in the scrub behind it, so I peeped over. Look what I found…
A Bush turkey busily scratching in the leaf litter for his breakfast. He was quite oblivious to all the passing crowds, and most of them did not even notice or hear him. I couldn’t resist taking a video of him…
At the end of the video you will see a pile of leaves he is building up. I think that may be a nest he is creating. The male bush turkey does all the house work duties and also rears the chicks on his own.
All Megapodes, (mound builders)including the brush turkey, incubate their eggs in a large mound built and maintained by the male.
Mound generally 4m diameter and 1–1.5m high
Females dig a hole in the mound to deposit eggs that the male then covers over.
About 18–24 eggs are laid in a single mound by a variety of females.
Mound temperature affects the sex of the unhatched chicks. A normal temperature of 34 degrees produces equal ratio of sexes: lower temperatures produce more male chicks; higher temperatures more females.
The male uses heat sensors in his beak and test digs to check the temperature of the mound and maintain the temperature at 34 degrees.
The chicks hatch deep in the mound and take 40 hours to dig themselves out before they quickly find cover in the undergrowth.
Chicks fend for themselves and many are eaten by predators including raptors, kookaburras, goannas and cats.
Chicks hatch with well-developed flight feathers and roost at night high in trees for safety.
Normally they build their nests in the Burleigh Heads National Park. I have never seen one nesting in this area before. I will come back when I come back home from New Zealand to check him out.
You may like to stop for a coffee or even breakfast at this coffee shop right on the beach. It is always popular. There are plenty more places to choose from across the road in James Street, the main shopping, café culture place in Burleigh.
I have come on my bike so I am going home for breakfast now, it is only a 10 minute bike ride.
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Restless Jo has a dedicated band of keen walkers from all around the world. To join them is a lovely relaxing, cyber way of seeing local places. Pop over to join them
Storm warnings are in place for this coast line as Tropical Cyclone Marcia bears down on us. She is due to land later today approx. 600 to 700 kilometres north of here. Then over the next 24 hours she will head our way.
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Cyclone Marcia has formed off Queensland’s coast and is expected to intensify to make landfall as a category two cyclone early on Friday.
Between 200 millimetres and 500 millimetres of rain is expected to be dumped between Thursday and Saturday on a massive stretch of Queensland’s coast, from St Lawrence to the southern border.
Some areas could get more than 300 millimetres in 24 hours and a flood watch is current for the Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, Southeast Coast, and the Darling Downs and Granite Belt District forecast districts.
About 200 swift-water staff have been prepositioned for the event.
Gusts of up to 125 kilometres an hour, flash floods, high tides, beach erosion, possible tornadoes and powerful surf are expected from tomorrow to Saturday. (ABC News report)
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When I woke this morning I could hear the ocean pounding and roaring. It was just past high tide and it is another 24 hours before the cyclone reaches here. I grabbed my raincoat and camera and went down to Burleigh Beach
It was grey and overcast, the wind was whipping up the ocean into a maelström of angry waves.
Not 3 metre high yet, the storm front is still approx. 600 to 700 kilometres north. But this is just the forerunner of what is to come. It is forecast to reach 3 metre+ swells tomorrow.
The life guards are already here to close the beaches
This surf is far too dangerous for swimmers or surfers. The rips will drag out to sea any one silly enough to venture in.
I think this family may be here for their holiday and they are determined to give their son a beach sand castle building experience. (I wonder if they have seen the sand sculptures at Surfers Paradise)
Other beach walkers, like me, capture the churning ocean. Most I notice are using their phones as their camera.
Every time these “weather events” (as the media now call them) strike, the surging ocean washes away the sand. This man is looking at the start of the beach erosion. Previous storms have created 6 to 10 foot drops were the sand has been washed out to sea. (see them here)
A favourite pastime for many locals is coming down to the beach for a run or walk and followed by a reviving cup of coffee.
Of course it is also a favourite place to walk the dog. I think this little fellow is telling them to hurry up…
This is a lovely part of Queensland and that hill is Burleigh Heads National Park, but it is starting to spit with rain so I won’t go along the headland track today. (If you would like to see what it is like on a sunny day click here)
As I write this post it is raining and the wind is getting stronger. I have tucked all my pot plants away in a protected corner. Now will just wait to see what tomorrow brings…
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G’day Jo I would like to join your cyber walking group this week and show you the angry side of my home turf. Click here and come over with me to visit the other walkers from around the world.
“I welcome this new day.
It is a gift to me, a new creation, a promise of resurrection.
Greetings to the Four Realms, the Goddesses and Gods, and the Kindred of Yore.
I salute the Sun, the Earth, the Seas, and the Sky.
I am thankful for being alive this morning.
Thankful for the sleep that has refreshed me.
May my hands do the good work.
May my eyes see the truth.
May I speak compassionately.
May I make the world a better place this day.
Awen.” – Ceisiwr Serith, Book of Pagan Prayer
60 something female, ( now 70 I have been doing this blog 3 years) fit and active, loves travel, reading, walking. Born in Yorkshire, UK. Moved to New Zealand, love the country. Became a "Kiwi" lived there 37 years, son and daughter still live there. Moved to Australia because I now live with and love an Australian that I met in NZ and am now an Aussie citizen.
gypsy life 