Mount Tomah Gardens - Strawflower

It's funny... when I think about colours, yellow is not on my list of favourites. Even still, I absolutely love these lovely little bright pastel yellow flowers! They just seem so content to be bright even on a cloudy day.

I am also exceptionally happy with the composition of this photo. I didn't think it would turn out this well when I snapped it, in fact I thought I was taking a shot of the flowers in the foreground. Just goes to show you that you should just keep snapping away, and do the editing on the big monitor at home.

taken May 2010 - Mount Tomah Gardens, Blue Mountains, NSW

Botanical Gardens Sydney - Mellenium Cherry

What a beautiful day to be out and about! The sun was perfectly warm matching the coolness in the air so wonderfully. The sky a perfect blue and since there had been rain earlier in the week, the grass was green and growing like the dickens. It really is hard to take bad photos on days like this.

You may remember this tree from this photo. This cherry is a hybrid developed at the University of Western Sydney.

Taken July 2010 - Botanical Gardens, Sydney, NSW

Baby Giraffe!

Again, I cannot tell you how much Micah and I adore giraffes. They are past cute hearing straight into the midst of adorable.

This lovely (almost) little one was born at the Western Plains Zoo, and has a play mate that's about 3months older. It's quite amazing that they come out over 2m tall... and since their mother's give birth standing up, they get to fall more than their own birth height upon entering the world! Fortunately for mom, their horns move from being flat against their heads to upright several days after birth.

Taken March 2010 - Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, NSW

Japanese Garden

On our trip out to Dubbo, we were fortunate enough to stumble upon this beautiful garden. Such a treat to find an oasis in the midst of a bustling country town. I also found the amount of water quite impressive as from Dubbo west is almost continually in drought.

Also I should note that March is just coming into autumn for us in the Southern Hemisphere... can you imagine anything so green in Canada at the end of October?

Taken March 2010 - Japanese Garden, Dubbo, NSW

Australia Zoo - Koala

Only in Australia would you consider an animal who sleeps 20-22 hours a day a national icon. These lovely little guys are actually nasty bits of work, with huge claws and an odour that only its mother could have a chance of loving. That said, they do look adorable and have a couple of very interesting features.

To me the most interesting bit of evolution is the following - they have a plate of cartilage across their backsides which is what they sit on in trees. This allows them both a bit more comfort and a bit more stability while sleeping.

I think they're pretty cute for something so stinky.

Taken February 2010 - Australia Zoo, Brisbane, Queensland