After a morning at the gas tanks, and a farewell coffee with my brother and sister-in-law, I walk along the waterfront where the Esplanade becomes the Promenade. I pass the swimming area with the woven fish and it's full of splash-shouting. It's not a shady walk, but it's a grey day and low tide and I love grey day photography. A tree festooned in pink flowers and large brown balls attracts my attention. At first I think its one of the pieces of public art I'm in search of, but it's a real tree, a cannon ball tree in fact, with the most exquisite flowers. As if cannon balls aren't enough, I encounter a crocodile warning, not the first, although I haven't seen the slightest hint of a crocodile.
And then I turn my attention to the pewter sea with a touch of muddy gold, luminous where it reflects the Turner clouds. A diaphanous rectangle marks the spot where rain falls. My grey walk is punctuated by startling flashes of colour: the information panels on mangrove mud and coral reefs, a huge shell, a bright orange representation of wind blown leaves, and (more in keeping with grey) silver cutouts of action figures.
As I turn back it begins to rain. No umbrella of course, but a good drenching doesn't matter. The air is warm and I'm dry by the time I catch the bus back into town.
Oh I know all about that night time sauna up north Meg. We had a mossie net that fitted over the back and we could leave the back door up.
I have never seen those cannon ball trees in flower, they are quite spectacular.
LikeLike
Interesting flower – looks almost as though it should be in the coral reef! I am loving the artwork in Cairns. How long have you left there?
LikeLike
It’s now 22nd and I’m on the south coast bus home. I’m about twenty posts behind. This time next week will be my last day at home before Warsaw.
LikeLike
Well you obviously survived the campervan then 😀
LikeLike
Apart from night-time sauna, it was a great way to travel.
LikeLike
What a fun beach to visit. The close up the exotic flower is really something. Do you know what kind of flower it is?
LikeLike
Couroupita guianensis! I nearly did a whole post of its flowers. Every shot seemed to show something different. And the camera loved it – not usually so successful with closeup.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a name! Your camera certainly did love the flower.
LikeLike
Lovely beach art! So you read the sign and kept walking anyway 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
If I avoided walking wherever there was a crocodile sign, I’d have walked nowhere. I was on the concourse, not down beside the water, so I was safe.
LikeLike
Love the grey photography, the tidal flats, the big whelk and of course the cannon ball tree, which is simply exquisite. I am glad you didn’t encounter a crocodile.
LikeLike
I had greater fears than crocodiles. You’ll have to wait to find out what. I had to be brutal with the photos. As you maybe imagine I took heaps.
LikeLike