Beasts of burden

Snapped these rare pics of shopping trolleys in their natural habitat. This one is a grazer (very hard to catch).

This is an ocean-going species, often found stranded on beaches all over Australia. It bolted when it saw me, but it must have had an injured foot, because it kept veering off to the right. Aint nature grand?

Attack of the killer figs

When we visited the Tablelands near Cairns, we saw this strange sight. It's called a curtain fig and it's not something you want to make friends with. The sign in the attached picture explains how a fig seed lands in the crown of a tree and then puts down aerial roots all the way to the ground. These roots then encircle and eventually strangle the host tree. The dead tree then falls onto a nearby tree, where it leans and the fig's roots develop into this curtain-like arrangement. Eventually the host tree rots away and the fig tree is left standing by itself. Does it feel remorse for its actions? No, it doesn't give a fig. It's curtains for anything that gets in its way. (sorry, no more puns).

A tree in the sea

Snapped this at Saunders Beach, where we used to go walking occasionally. It's not a very good quality pic, but you get the general idea. This tree was actually growing in the ocean. Guess it was a mangrove or some such variety that was highly resistant to salt water. Mother Nature never ceases to amaze.