rock wallaby – IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY………..

The other day, as I was about to get into my car, I looked up into the tree nearby and found the sweetest little possum with her baby on her back. I was quite startled as she was very close and was probably as surprised as I was and maybe a little afraid. It is unusual to find these animals in the daytime and I can only think she was out looking for food and water as it has been so hot and dry of late.

They can be a real pest and we have quite a few around the house. Scampering along the roof in the middle of the night or every early in the morning they can make an awful noise and many is the time I have (not so) silently cursed them! However, I love their huge eyes and pink noses so put up with them – not that I can do much as they are protected species now and it is illegal to move them more than 200m. from the property anyway!

That got me to thinking about other wildlife we have around the house. There are wallabies on the hill around us and they too come looking for water and fresh feed – often they just sit and stare at me, almost willing me to do something to alleviate their problem.

This guy looks quite short sighted!

Then we have the scrub turkeys – and they are always around but recently one actually came onto the balcony, strutted around my pot plants and then hopped onto the garage roof. This one has a family and I have seen a few babies around from time to time.

Then, of course, there are the green frogs, which I love and which seem to come back to the same place all the time. This guy likes the colour of the shirt on the line, obviously and then retires at night to the lamp on the verandah.

When I don’t see him, I worry that the python has been around. Yes, we have a large resident python who, I think, lives under a large boulder on the hill behind the house. One day I found his skin entwined through the trellis of the back verandah…..

I have seen him a few times but was annoyed one day when I heard the birds making an awful screech and they sounded very worried. Looking up at the tree, I found a smaller python attempting to rob a nest.

The birds got together and several of them attacked him – being young I guess he didn’t know what to do in that situation, so he slithered off!

But – the family has increased as just last night, as I went to lock the gate, I found a baby python curled through the slats.

He was quite beautiful, so we just left him to his own devices and by this morning he had gone.

I love the sound of kookaburras and from time to time they are in the trees near the balcony or on the lamppost on the street. A couple of times we have had them on the balcony on the island and have fed them bacon or mince but here they just sit and sing.

We also have a resident goanna – he is quite beautiful, don’t you think?

Add to that a little echidna, lots of birds as well as the domestic dogs and cats and we have quite a little wildlife sanctuary – and they all seem to get on together! The most amazing thing is that we are only 3 km from the CBD…..this is North Queensland!

Situated just 8km off the coast of Townsville, North Queensland is my “island home”. The place where we escape on weekends, spend holidays and enjoy the company of friends and family. Where we indulge in the luxury of reading, hiking, swimming, cooking unusual dishes and where time really means not much. We can do what we like, when we like.

This beautiful island has 23 bays and beaches and much of it is National Park surrounded by Marine Parks with some beautiful fringing coral and sea life. In winter we watch whales on their migration north from Antarctica and dolphins and turtles abound.

Huge granite boulders, hoop pines, eucalypt forest and patches of rainforest are found and of course, the resident wildlife is always there …… Rosellas flock at dawn and sunset and greedily gobble up seeds thrown by residents. The curlew looks on haughtily but doesn’t dare intercede.One morning a young kookaburra hopped onto our verandah and expected his breakfast – which he got – pieces of bacon which he slapped against the railings attempting to “kill it” before devouring.

There are some beautiful walks through the National Park, including one to the “Forts” – a series of structures which were lookout forts during the Second World War. This is where you will often see koalas in the wild. Textures and colours of trees and leaves never fail to amaze me.

And finally the sunsets – always magnificent and there is nothing better than to enjoy a sundowner at the end of the day watching the sun sink into the horizon declaring the day is over and a new start awaits in the morning.

Welcome to my Island Home !