Enjoy collecting your own fresh eggs from your back garden
Keeping backyard chickens is a pastime that is growing in popularity. There is a wonderful sense of satisfaction in wandering out of the house and collecting your own golden yolk fresh and free-range eggs for your breakfast.
A small flock of chickens can also form an integral part of your…
Rainforest beaches, ice cream and cassowaries in Australia’s largest rainforest
“You missed them! The cassowaries always come at 7 am…”. I looked sleepily out of my campervan door as the couple in the van next to mine let me know I managed to miss one of the world’s largest birds walking past less than two metres away.
It was 2018…
TRAVEL. AUSTRALIA
Rainforest parrots and cream tea in Australia’s tropical north Queensland
It was time to leave the savanna and head toward the coast, before journeying north into the Daintree rainforest. It was 2018 and I was on a solo trip exploring tropical north Queensland by campervan after attending a conference in Brisbane.
After a couple of days staying at Bustard Downs…
The wildflowers are starting to bloom
The southern hemisphere spring is on its way to the Cape. Although Spring Day isn’t officially until 1 September, the plants in the fynbos, renosterveld and strandveld around Cape Town don’t know that and are starting to come into bloom for the spring flowering season.
After the cold of winter…
Exploring Queensland’s Wet Tropics World Heritage area
The spectacular Mossman Gorge sits at the heart of the southern section of the Daintree National Park in tropical north Queensland in Australia. I was lucky enough to visit this fascinating region after coming to Queensland for a conference on restoration ecology.
The Mossman Gorge section of the park comprises…
TRAVEL. AUSTRALIA
Exploring tropical north Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula
It is the sense of space that stays with me the most from my journey to tropical north Queensland. It was early summer of 2018 and I had made the long trip to Australia for the Society for Ecological Restoration conference in Brisbane.
After an extraordinary week in Brisbane, I…
Riverine wildlife of tropical north Queensland, Australia
Rising below Black Mountain in the Great Dividing Range, the mighty Daintree River meanders through the rainforest to the Coral Sea in tropical north Queensland.
The Daintree River forms part of the Queensland wet tropics World Heritage Area, placing it at similar conservation status to the Grand Canyon and the…
Travel. Cairns. Queensland. Eastern Australia.
A botanist’s journey above the world’s most ancient tropical rainforest.
It was the heat that I noticed first. As soon as I ventured from the coolness of Cairns airport terminal, the tropical heat and humidity stopped me in my tracks. I had just arrived in Cairns, the largest city in tropical north Queensland.
My airport transfer took me quickly into…
A garden that celebrates South Africa’s culinary heritage
Nestled in the Drakenstein valley at the heart of South Africa’s winelands region are the beautiful Babylonstoren gardens. Surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery, the gardens are a place that celebrates South Africa’s culinary riches, biodiversity, and natural heritage.
Still a relatively young garden, Babylonstoren was designed in 2007 by French…
Exploring South Africa’s oldest national botanical garden
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa, has just turned 108 years old. Founded in 1913, it has grown from humble beginnings to become one of Africa’s most famous botanical gardens.
Sited on the lower slopes of the iconic Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch showcases a vast and diverse collection…
