June 2003. We emigrated from the Philippines to North Queensland, Australia. Now based near Cairns: the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree National Park (the world’s oldest rainforest), we concentrate on Australian subjects as well as Asia and the Pacific Island region.
Stella & Yogi’s first years in Far North Queensland
First visit to Nandroya Falls
The first quarter of 2004 was our first Australian wet season experience. We spent quite some time photographing the Tropical Rainforests of North Queensland especially after having a few cyclones passing through, leaving lots of rain behind causing raging rivers and waterfalls.
Millaa Millaa Falls
One of the many waterfalls in Tropical North Queensland
Forests remained a big subject throughout the second quarter of the year. We traveled to the very south of Queensland, to the subtropical forests of Lamington National Park.
Stella & Yogi in the Great Barrier Reef
June and July were spent on the Undersea Explorer visiting the Great Barrier Reef to swim with dwarf minke whales.
Colonial tunicates and featherstars in fan coral in underwater Papua New Guinea
Pygmy seahorse with Stella’s eye behind the fan coral
In August and September we traveled to the neighboring country Papua New Guinea to photograph the world’s best coral reefs for Tauchen and Action Asia magazines. For 2 months, we dived all the major & best dive sites of PNG such as Rabaul, Kavieng, Kimbe Bay, Tufi, Milne Bay and Loloata Island. Thanks to liveaboards Mike Ball, Febrina & Telita we were able to reach remote places, and dive as much as our lungs could take.
Guests and crew on board the Undersea Explorer put their heads into the water to check out underwater shark activity.
Grey Reef shark at North Horn with fish head bait in mouth
November and December, Yogi was back on the Undersea Explorer to experience two Shark Research trips.
Richard Fitzpatrick guides the drousy tiger shark down to the deep with John Rumney filming him
In November, scientist and documentary maker Richard Fitzpatrick caught and satellite tagged tiger shark “Lola” in the Far North Great Barrier Reef’s Raine Island. Richard revives his sleepy subject while John Rumney dares to photograph the freed tiger from below.
Richard Fitzpatrick of the Undersea
Explorer holds grey reef shark to attach a temperature/depth recorder tag on the tail – split level image
Ron and Valerie Taylor gives a talk on board the Undersea Explorer’s Shark Expedition sponsored by the Australian Geographic Society.
In December, again with Richard Fitzpatrick, an Australian Geographic Magazine sponsored shark expedition trip was organized with Ron and Valery Taylor, the famous Australian documentary producers and shark legends, as the expedition’s guest speakers. 2004 was one busy year. And as it is fondly said in Australia, “There’s no rest for the wicked!”
