In this series, I share with you some of the big fish that I encountered during my dives. Some seem to be still hunting for lunch, while others have just finished eating and get their teeth cleaned by their cleaner wrasses. Must be nice to have a butler brushing you them for you!

Coral trout with cleaner wrasse, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Blue spotted stingray, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Juvenile squirrel fish, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Sea bass, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Part one of this dive trip saw us seasick, traveling three hours to the outer reef, and then starting an intense dive activity starting with several of the outer Great Barrier Reefs. I had the macro lens on and was mostly looking for the details in clams, coral and worms, but we found a sleeping turtle as well.

Mushroom coral detail, Ningaloo Reef, Cairns, Australia

Brittle sea star on coral, Ningaloo Reef, Cairns, Australia

Green sea turtle, Ningaloo Reef, Cairns, Australia

Christmas Tree Worm on Coral, Ningaloo Reef, Cairns, Australia

Actually, while the Bloomfield track has always been praised as a legendary adventure, this time both road improvements as well as conditions just at the start of the monsoon season meant that it was quite a piece of cake. The road was neither extremely rough nor were the river fordings difficult or spectacular. A nice drive up to Cooktown, one could say…

Bloomfield falls, Queensland, Australia

First river crossing, Bloomfield track, Queensland, Australia

Cooktown light, Queensland, Australia

Trying to cross of the key things to see in Cape Tribulation, the Northern part of tropical Queensland:
– Plenty of nice beaches that you can have all to yourself
– Bike ride with a cool tour guide into the rainforest, trying to find the elusive tree kangaroo (we clearly found the scratch marks on the trees they are climbing)
– Butterflies, although the blue Ulysses I am still missing to shoot
– However, so much luck in finding the rare, wild Cassowary. Apparently only some 1000 individual animals are remaining.

Biking Cape Tribulation rainforest, Queensland, Australia

Wild Cassowary (Casuarius) in Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

Orange cruiser butterfly (Vindula Arsinoe), Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia

Empty Cow Beach, Daintree, Queensland, Australia

Joined a ranger guided tour inside Mossman Gorge, located in the southern half of Daintree National Park, just a short drive outside of Port Douglas, Queensland. This was the first stop since arriving in Cairns and picking up the rental car, and it was a pleasant walk through the Rainforest of the Wet Tropics, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Rangers are indigenous people of the local tribes with plenty of ancestral as well as educational knowledge. Loved it.

Local fruit including cassowary plum, Mossman Gorge, Queensland, Australia

Mossman river and gorge, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

Ranger Rodney with local colors at the billabong, Mossman Gorge, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

Classic Sunday beach boardwalk from Bondi to Bronte. Nice colors, nice smells, nice sunny sunshine. What more to ask!

Unsuspecting crowds at Bondi Rockpool, Sydney, Australia

Tafoni and sediments, Bondi beach boardwalk, Sydney, Australia

Sunday crowd at Bronte beach, Sydney, Australia

Famous Jacaranda trees are raining their flowers in November. These are located along the main thoroughfare in Paddington, an outskirt of Sydney.

Jacaranda trees in Paddington, Sydney, Australia

Jacaranda flower closeup, Paddington, Sydney, Australia

Local street in Paddington with Jacaranda tree, Sydney, Australia

I have spent already over a week in Sydney but have not had a good chance to post pictures or share my impressions. However, a few things take a little time and this way I now have the opportunity to present a range of different harbor views with two obvious protagonists always in the picture: the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the famous Opera House. These were taken from different places all across the harbor:

From a small lookout in the Kirribilli quarter on the North Shore: Dr Mary Booth Lookout Reserve
From the Zurich office terrace, also in North Sydney: A view across Lavender Bay
From Pier One, the southwest side of the harbor: Dawes Point
And of course from Luna Park under the bridge: Milson’s Point.

Lavender Bay and harbor, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Opera House from under the bridge – Dawes Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Harbor view with bridge and opera house, Dr Mary Booth Lookout Reserve, Kirribilli, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Bridge and Opera House, Milson’s Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

What a wonderful, small National Park, Pinnacles NP between the 101 and the I-5 corridors in Central California. I am so glad that I turned off the main highway and took the time to drive and then hike up to the ‘High Peaks’ trail on this wonderful fall day where the temperatures and everything was just right. And then the Pine Tree smells in the clear air, unforgettable.

The High Peaks – steep and narrow trail, Pinnacles National Park, California, USA

Pinnacles NP from the visitor center, California, USA

High Peaks rock formation, Pinnacles National Park, California, USA