FNQ 2 – Port Douglas and Daintree Village

A subtle sunset and a lovely meal on a tropical veranda in Port Douglas ended a great day – although I later realised that maybe I was a bit too close to the water’s edge when taking the image above, having forgotten about the crocodiles. Oops!

The following morning saw us up bright and early for a boat trip to the Low Isles, an easily accessible part of the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately the weather was not kind – very choppy seas and gloomy skies are not much good for visibility when snorkelling. We did enjoy the morning trip but it wasn’t exactly a highlight.

Next stop was the quaint Daintree Village, where we camped at the Daintree Riverview Park. While Sarah napped off the effects of getting up so early, I went for walk around the village and found a few interesting birds along the way. The light wasn’t the best but at least I didn’t get myself and my camera wet.

We had another early start the next day but a much more worthwhile one – a highly recommended cruise on the awesome Daintree River with Ian”Sauce” Worcester. Being a quiet time of the year, we had the boat to ourselves which made it even more special. A few more ‘lifers’ were seen, with the most exciting being Papuan Frogmouths and a Great-billed Heron.

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Insects and flowers

Tiny fly on Callistemon flower
Tiny fly on Callistemon flower

I was practising with my new macro lens on this bottlebrush or callistemon flower in the garden when a tiny fly decided to join the party. I often don’t notice the bugs until I start focusing on the flowers with my camera – perhaps I need to wear my glasses when I want to look specifically for small insects. I am impressed with the macro lens (Nikon 105mm), although I did get good results with the 60 mm (just need to be that bit closer).


With the bigger insects, like bees and dragonflies, I usually do see them unaided – of course, getting sharp shots is still a bit of a challenge. My real bugbear is butterflies – every time I try to focus they flit away – but I did manage one decent butterfly image this year. Sometimes I think I should stick to the big slow caterpillars!

Some of these images are in one of my Redbubble calendars for 2015.