Nature Archives - INSPIRING MAX

Kangaroos are unique Australian animals people everywhere fall in love with. They are cute particularly the young ones. Wrestling is a natural instinct to kangaroos and I have seen many an unsuspecting visitor get caught off-guard as the kangaroo they were just feeding, decides to practice their boxing skills on them. The kangaroo photos below of a friendly pet kangaroo were taken in a restaurant and animal sanctuary.

In non city areas kangaroos are sometimes in plague proportions and they can be very dangerous hopping across highways and roads. Kangaroos are the most common animal to be hit with over 7,000 accidents being caused by them each year. The most dangerous time is sunrise and sunset as they are out and about looking for food. The two video give different insights into kangaroos behaviours, habits and how they live in our big wide country.

Eclectic Corner: Edge

April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 inspiringmax

The scariest edge I have been on is in the Taihang Mountains in Central China. We were visiting the Guoliang Tunnel—hand made over 5 years by 13 men to connect the village of Guoliang to the outside world. Prior to this they were living on the edge with only a sky ladder to physically take every thing up. The tunnel itself is described as one of the scariest roads in the world and the video shows why. You can see the edge at every twist and turn.

http://eclecticoddsnsods.com/2015/04/07/eclectic-corner-9-edge/

Share Your World – 2015 Week 14

April 12, 2015 inspiringmax

What type of music relaxes you the most or do you prefer silence?

I love silence. Working in mental health I spend most of each day talking so the days I come home to no one and can control the noise even for 15 minutes are a blessing.

Show us a two of your favorites photographs? Explain why they are your favorite. If you are not a photographer, think of a two favorite scenes in your life and tell us about them.

I love this photo I took on a moving dog sled ride in Canada last year. It shows the beauty of the area and the action of the dogs as they excitedly pull our sled.

My second choice today is in contrast—it is taken on Hyam’s Beach on my birthday last year. It too was a peaceful way to spend time with nature.

What is your favorite tradition? (family tradition, church tradition, whatever)

My extended family has a colour theme for Christmas every year. It is voted in by all members of the family—there are over 30 and once the colour is chosen everyone dresses in the colour theme. No excuses. My sister who is queen of Christmas baubles, decorates her house in the colour theme matched with contrasting silver or gold. It is a great day and some of the clothing is outstanding. This years theme is berry—any colour you can find in a berry is allowed. The photos below are from our – 50 shades of red theme – a few years ago.

If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advice would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 50?

Follow your gut instincts and believe in yourself. You know what to do and your life will be a success. Accept who you are and don’t worry about if you are going to be popular or not. Your unique personality makes you popular where it counts and the rest is often fake and doesn’t matter.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful for the inspiration on ways to move my chapters around and make them flow better.

Next week I am looking for ward to remembering 100 years of the ANZACS on Saturday.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/04/06/share-your-world-2015-week-14/

G – Goanna #A-Z Challenge

April 11, 2015 inspiringmax

Last month while on a road trip around northern New South Wales I saw a goanna in the wild for the first time. My husband and I had pulled into the car park at Minyon Falls when I excitedly noticed the large goanna in the middle of the picnic area. She appeared to be pregnant and was not disturbed at all by the people keeping their distance and taking her photo. It was a great experience to see such a beautiful creature in her natural environment. We were actually doubly blessed that day as we saw a smaller goanna on the path back from the falls however this one was nervous and scurried into the bush at the sight of people.

Goannas are the common name for Australia’s monitor lizards. There are about 25 species in Australia. Ours was a Lace Monitor, the second largest species growing up to 2 metres— the size of ours.

Goannas

are predators
can run fast over short distances
have loose skin round their neck
have sharp teeth and long claws
can climb trees fast
range in size from 20 cms to 2.5 metres
are dark in colour
lay eggs
have oral venom glands
have mistaken humans as trees and run up them when under threat
are protected in Australia except indigenous people who have traditionally hunted them

The true irony of us finding—Joanna the Goanna—was only the day before friends of ours were telling us about a showdown in their back garden between a snake and a goanna. Result goanna 1 snake 0. Now we understand why. The snake wouldn’t have had a chance.

Weekly Photo Challenge:Afloat

April 11, 2015 inspiringmax

This week, show us what afloat means to you.

My inspiration for this weeks challenge comes from Lotus Square, Xuanwa Lake, Nanjing, China. Lotus Square is an entertainment area of the park covering 5000 metres and can accommodate 3,000 viewers. It has a musical fountain as well as water and lasers screens.

The centrepiece of the area is 12 metre high Lotus Fairy and 4 charming naïve Lotus Boys—surrounding her are masses of Lotus plants in various stages of life floating above the lake. As an Australian the beauty of this area was different to anything I had seen before. It was relaxing and inspirational.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/afloat/

My Places

March 17, 2015 inspiringmax

Beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely?

To me connecting with nature is healing. I attempt to do it everyday even if only for 5 minutes. It clears my head. Any form of nature will do—smelling a flower on a short walk or a day trip to the beach or mountains. I love them all. As a child I spent many hours at the beach as well as walking in the bush so both have pleasant memories attach.

The higher my intensity of stress the more I will ensure that I take time out of my day to walk barefoot on the grass for 5 minutes. My other easy to go to places are the river, Sydney harbour, local parks or wetlands—all are close to my work or home. Half an hour in the silence does the trick of dealing with my stress nicely.

Last Christmas we wanted to experience nature in a different way and left sunny Australia for the cold winters of Canada. While we enjoyed our time there, it was only our last week that allowed us to experience the force of nature in this way—snow and ice. The first 5 weeks were above average temperatures and it was the first green Christmas in over a quarter century. Our proof that mother nature is to be enjoyed not controlled—she will always win.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/places/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Orange

March 10, 2015March 9, 2015 inspiringmax

Time for another multi-photo challenge! Wow us with punchy pops of orange.

Orange isn’t a colour usually found in my photos however, most of these were taken on our recent trip to Canada. Surprising how much colour could be found intermingled with the sky’s grey. The cake and biscuits were made by my niece Laura for our family ‘Sunshine’ themed Christmas.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/orange/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reward

March 3, 2015March 2, 2015 inspiringmax

What does reward mean to you?

Last year on my birthday I was rewarded with a walk along Hyam’s Beach. Situated on the pristine Jervis Bay Marine Park, New South Wales. Hyam’s beach is recorded in the Guiness Book of Records for having the whitest sand in the world. The water is spectacular—crystal clear—with a blue-turquoise coloring. The beach boarders on Booderee National Park, which gives it a natural feel. I loved the stream.

It was an amazing winters afternoon—complete with a pod of dolphins and friendly rainbow lorikeets that we watched for an hour—a truly beautiful part of the world. The only thing missing was a my celebratory glass of champagne.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/reward/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

February 25, 2015March 14, 2015 inspiringmax

This week, compose your subject off-center, obeying the Rule of Thirds.

For this weeks photo challenge I have chosen photos taken last winter when kookaburras decided to visit our yard on separate occasions. Taking the photos was a challenge as I didn’t want to scare them off, but wanted to get up close enough to use the rule of thirds. For a beginner photographer I was happy with the results.