_Hi all,

This week Ian Penberthy has gone to that great ‘recycle bin’ in the sky. Ian died in his beloved Innisfail of a heart attack on Wednesday. Ian’s life was a celebration of the natural world. He is best known for his Camel Tours, particularly with Sinai Guides, however his work with MATE, Man and the Environment, best explains Ian’s philosophy in life.  Thank you Ian you were an example to all of us on how we can live a simple life and be content.

Cloud cover this afternoon brought a welcome relief to the oppressive heat.  January without rain is certainly unusual and even more remarkable is the twinkling, turquoise  Johnstone River and clear blue sky. The  river at the mouth is thick with bait-fish and I found this small sting-ray swimming in the shallows off my beach, easy to see in the glass-clear water.

Hello  and Happy New Year from Coquette Point,

This week I closed my Garden Centre in Innisfail and am now operating solely from the nursery at Coquette Point. I followed the old adage ‘If you are not enjoying what you are doing then stop’. 

It is interesting times for the Coquette Point cassowaries. On Tuesday it was a thrill to see ‘Dad 4’ again, first time since August 8.  Unfortunately he did not have chicks with him.

A big new-year’s-hello from Coquette Point,

It’s that time of the year for some retrospection and in so doing I would like to congratulate the National Parks Rangers and all at DERM, including the pollies, for their response to the critical plight of the  endangered populations of Cassowaries and  Mahogany Gliders: these creatures lost their habitat and food supply from the damage done to the forest by cyclone ‘Yasi’. The work of the rangers would not  have been possible without the dedicated support of volunteers who chopped over three ton of fruit per week and also helped in so many other ways to ensure the supplementary feeding programmes were successful.    

A Merry hello from sunny Coquette Point,
How lucky we are to have perfect conditions for a tropical Christmas this year. However Darwin may not be so lucky!

I received  news from friends at El Arish this week, they received a wonderful Christmas surprise on December 19. The resident male cassowary which has been managing without  official supplementary feed since cyclone ‘Yasi’ brought in three tiny chicks to show off.  The event was reported to the Cassowary sighting web-site and within two days an official food station was established for them.  I received a report today that Dad and chicks were fine and Dad was seen scratching the ground and unearthing insects and worms which the chicks were gobbling up.