We got to the Japanese Gardens and the Bonsai house and then decided to have our picnic lunch. We were joined by many birds. A grey butcher bird, yellow-faced miners, Australian ravens, Sulphur-crested cockatoos and dragonflies as big as hummingbirds. We watched the birds zoom down into the pond, make a big splash and then fly up into the trees. We saw this happen a dozen times. We think that maybe they were getting a drink or maybe they were taking a bath. We wandered through the fern house, the tropical dome, the cactus garden and the native plants area. The ferns were fantastic, this is he only fern house we have seen so far. Some of the hanging ferns were six feet in diameter and some were very thin and delicate. In the tropical dome there was a cacao tree with a vanilla orchid, chocolate and vanilla together. The orchids were beautiful but placed too far away to be seen. We were ending our visit but we still had some time before the bus was due at the bus stop. We took this opportunity to go in to the little cabin that was advertising an art exhibition. The art was all original works by local artists, two of which were at the gallery to talk to us. They were delightful and we talked their ears off. As we exited the building the bus was already there and we had to run to catch it. It seemed quite early but that was because this was the bus that was headed to the summit. So luckily we got to go up to the summit for 10 minutes and then back down on the bus ride into town. A gaggle of schoolgirls got onto the bus in their uniforms. There was standing room only after they boarded. They kept us entertained with their chatter, first they were trying to get their friend to get off of the bus, "jist push the stop button, Meagan". Then a bit later they said "Look at the mature decision we just made". Verry funny.
Into the Japanese Gardens we go
Bright red and photographed in mid flight
Peek-a-boo lizard
Another nice water feature
A mystery lizard
Nicely laid out in the classical style
A carved stone feature
The back
The bees!
So many different kinds of bonsai trees
A classic juniper
This was a type of mangrove
Four kinds of plants here
Another multi species planting
My favorite
A butcher bird wanted some snacks
Video of the birds dive bombing the pond
Rainbow lorikeets
I love the yellow tip of the beak
Australian Raven
Multi level spider web
Bamboo groupies
In the fern house
These hanging ferns were huge. The one on the right is a basket fern
Part of the basket fern that was dormant over the winter
New growth
Layers of fronds
This seemed like a trunk of a fern tree but it was just roots
Everything is ready to grow
Like elephant trunks emerging from the ground
This one was two inches in diameter at the base of the new growth
Tiny dragonfly
Five kinds of ferns
A new shoot or the head of ET
Tightly packed
The tropical dome
Packed full of nectar
It is called a beehive ginger
Spot the spotted leaves
A huge bloom
A cacao tree with an orange fruit and a Vanilla Orchid with vanilla beans
The vanilla beans
Pink and pretty
Yikes Spiders everywhere
The dome from the outside
Luckily these spiders were six feet up ion the air, not in our hair
We have entered the spiny plant area
Baobabs with seed pods
Orchids
Donkey's tail
Sulphur-crested cockatoos
Noisy as can be
One of the art pieces made by Glenys Throssell, one of the artists at the shop
We are on top!
The city of Brisbane
We had 10 minutes on top while the bus driver stretched his legs
A huge mine was right along the roadway
Standing room only
Back in the city
It has been 167 days since we began out Migration
