Life in the Tropics.

We went to the small village of Yungaburra, which is a heritage village. We took a walk around the village, checking out the old church & post office. We headed down to Peterson Creek where the (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) Platypus live. Now we had not seen these in the wild before (things don't count if its not in the wild), to our surprise and great delight within 1 minute of being at the creek, we saw our first Platypus!!! This amazing animal is semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of only five mammal species that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young (monotremes). The platypus has a multi purpose tail, a furry waterproof coat, a soft bill for sensing and webbed feet with sharp claws. The male also has a toxic spur on the hind leg. Platypus feed on aquatic insects, crustaceans & worms. They lay their eggs in a nesting burrow on the creek bank.

Platypus was there!!!

Can you see the Platypus? We saw it!!!

Fresh Water Turtle.

Steve looking for wild life.

Peterson Creek.

Yungaburra Church.

Steve with the old boiler & coal shed.

(The boiler in the past used to power a coal-fired steam pump & was used to fill the water tanks of the steam locomotives at Yungaburra railway station).

Steve on Lloyd's suspension bridge.

Gillie's Range.

Gillie's range separates far north Queensland from the tablelands. This road is 19km long, with 263 sharp corners and has an elevation of 800 metres. Named after William N Gillie's (a former premier of Queensland).