Day 187 - Fri 11th Sept: Iwatayama Monkey Park, Kyoto

Did some temple hopping around Kyoto and also visited the Iwatayama Monkey Park today (where they have over 200 macaque monkeys living there). I know that technically this is not picture of the day. But hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want.

Day 177 - Tues 1st Sept: Back to Sydney

The Oz trip is coming to an end, with an 11 hour bus ride to Sydney. Rather than show a pic of the back of the coach seat in front of me here's some pelicans that we fed back in Yamba.

Day 176 - Mon 31st Aug: Yamba Golf Club

They have a load of kangaroos milling around at the local golf club (before anyone gets in there with the question....no....they don't play golf. They just eat the grass there).

Day 157 - Weds 12th Aug: En route to Airlie Beach...

...but I didn't take any pics today. Time to dig into the recent back catalogue - here's a novelty warning sign from Magnetic Island.

Day 156 - Tues 11th Aug: Bungalow Bay Koala Park, Magnetic Island

Koala bears are all the rage on Magnetic Island. The Koala Park on the island allows you to get up close and personal with them - cliched touristy picture of me holding koala bear has been taken.

Day 155 - Mon 10th Aug: Bungalow Bay YHA, Magnetic Island

These rainbow parakeets are loud, hungry and poop. A lot.

Day 154 - Sun 9th Aug: Reef HQ, Townsville

Townsville is a bit of a dead end town, and there's not much going for it, except the aquarium. Look at all those fishes!

Day 151 - Thurs 6th Aug: The Great Barrier Reef

They should upgrade the name of this place the Awesome Barrier Reef! I went on one of those day trips from Cairns and went diving with a hired underwater camera. It's tricky to get great pics down there, but here's one of my best snaps.

Day 140 - Sun 26th July: Mary River Wetlands

What's a crocodile's favourite card game?

SNAP!

"I'll have a crocodile sandwich please....make it snappy"

Any more?

Day 135 - Tues 21st July: The Reptile Centre, Alice Springs

Popped along to the Reptile Centre today and handled some snakes and lizards. Here's a pic of a snake getting friendly with one of my bus buddies, Michael.

Day 114 - Tues 30th June: Natureworld, Tasmania

Why is it, no matter where you go, there's always a queue for the ladies room?

Also at this park I saw some Tasmania Devils. They're quite excitable at feeding time.

Day 105 - Sun 21st June: Wilsons Promontory National Park

A life of Love, Loss and Desperation for this wombat at The Prom (a reference for all the indie kids out there)

Day 102 - Thurs 18th June: Pebbly Beach, NSW

Pebbly Beach - home to loads of Kangaroos.

Day 98 - Sun 14th June: Wollongong Harbour, NSW

There's a harbour in the town of Wollongong. There's a lighthouse there, but rather than post another picture of another lighthouse (see days 28 and 30) here's a pic of a couple of pelicans. These birds are quite big and can weigh up to 13kg and have a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres. Another 'pelican' fact - no pelicans appeared in the film The Pelican Brief.

Day 85 - Mon 1st June: Kaikoura

I tried to go whale watching in Kaikoura today, but it was way too windy for the boats to go out. This is the closest I got: a mural outside the local library.

Day 80 - Weds 27th May: Underwater, Milford Sound

Rather than post up yet another pic of water with hills, here's the view from underwater at Milford Sound (via their underwater observatory). Bad note taking on my part, as I have no idea what kind of fish this is. Marine biologists love the Sound as fish seen reasonably close to the surface here would normally live in much deeper water out at sea.

Day 75 - Fri 22nd May: Ulva Island, off Stewart Island

Popped over to Ulva Island where bird life flourishes due to a lack of natural predators. As well as seeing plenty of birds, this sea elephant cruised up to the shore for a nap. It's absolutely massive and our boat driver told us that the creature is only 5 years old, so he's not even full size yet!

Day 73 - Weds 20th May: Somewhere between Dunedin and Invercargil

As you can imagine there's loads of sheep around in NZ. I've been here 1.5 months now and I'm just surprised I haven't posted any pics of them yet...here's one now.

Day 72 - Tues 19th May: Wildlife Tour, near Dunedin

Went on a wildlife tour in the Dunedin coastal area and saw some yellow-eyed penguins, seals, sea lions and albatrosses. It was REALLY windy today and here's a pic of my friends Laura (left) and Briony (right) battling the elements.

Day 69 - Sat 16th May: Queenstown

Pretty grey and miserable today in Queenstown, you could say it was good weather for ducks.