FANCY DRESS IN THE GARDENS...

Now I've retired, I no longer work in Cooroy and I must say I will miss the place, especially the Noosa Botanic Gardens. Today, after a farewell lunch, I took my daughter there. The first thing we saw was this very colourful tree snake masquerading as a garden sprinkler in the Scaevola. It was getting a tad irritated by the attention I think as it began swaying and gyrating. Dance competition perhaps?  We left it alone and returned later but it had moved on.

Down to the pond but in the searing heat I only managed one focused shot of one of the two frogs we spotted. 

We saw a couple of turtles and the place is full of white and purple water lilies and lots of dragon flies. Appreciated this red one which kindly stopped near the lily so I could get the money shot before zooming off.

Love the colour of these 2 beehive ginger flowers which were hiding in the undergrowth.

I daresay I'll be back soon...

POND LIFE...

 Another visit to the Noosa Botanic Gardens revealed a world I hadn't really noticed before. These dear little frogs were hiding out on the reeds in a pond at the Gardens.  I was thrilled because I hadn't seen so many since I was a child. 

I was standing looking at the pond and noticed the little bumps on the reeds. Some were things like reed flowers, some grasshoppers and cicada shells. But the frogs were a delight. 

What a face... 

I particularly loved the white waterlilies, although some purple ones poked their heads up.

Always something getting around in the pond.  Some prettier than others.  

This not-very-clear shot, is one of the turtles who live in the pond.  He thought I had bread.  I don't have a photo of the black snake that passed very close to my feet as I was trying to get a close up of the frogs. Ugh. He slithered into the pond without reacting to my shriek.

This very tiny, blue damselfly falls into the pretty category. Such a vibrant blue. Very hard to see let alone focus on so I can only apologise for the daggy background; had to take what I could get.  Lots of lovely green lily leaves he could have landed in front of, but didn't. 

I found a large dragonfly cunningly camouflaged against some dead flowers on a nearby shrub...

To top it all off, the glorious scent of jasmine and caper white butterflies fluttering around.  Perfect... except for the snake.

“Life is like a pond, and every decision and act we commit, good or bad, is a pebble flung into it. The ripples spread in widening circles.” 

― Francine Rivers, An Echo in the Darkness