Sunset on Fire
Mangrove Medicine
There are only about 50 species or so, and each one is a keystone to the intertidal ecosystem they call home (Wikipedia). Despite the enormous number of animals depending on mangroves for shelter, western culture has seen mangrove forests as wastelands. “mangroves are medicinal plants… widely used… rich in resources of steroids, triterpenes, saponins, tannins, alkaloids and flavonoids” (Namazi 2013).
Mangrove metabolism is thought to be more complicated than other trees in part because of the osmotic stress of brackish water requiring extra energy from the plant. Santini et al. were able to determine thatAvicennia marinaused fresh water and saline water for different metabolic processes. Growth is strongly correlated with rainfall, yet saline water was still traced through some xylem and phloem, showing that it is used by the plant without a full understanding of how or why.
The hydraulic mechanics ofAvicenna marina
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Medicinal Uses of Mangroves
Mangroves as Medicine
Mangroves are widely used by mangrove dwellers for bush medicine e.g. A. illicifolius is used for skin disorders, boils and wounds[12]. Numerous medicines derived from mangroves (ashes or bark infusions) can be applied for skin disorders e.g. Lumnitzera racemosa and sores including leprosy.. .”it is worthwhile to screen plant species which have the above properties to synthesize new drugs]. There is a rich species composition and 4000 ha of mangroves are present in Sri Lanka[8] and extracts from different mangrove plants are reported to possess diverse medicinal properties………………………….https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2929774/#:~:text=Mangroves%20are%20widely%20used%20by,racemosa%20and%20sores%20including%20leprosy.
Mangroves are widely used by mangrove dwellers for bush medicine e.g. A. illicifolius is used for skin disorders, boils and wounds[12]. Numerous medicines derived from mangroves (ashes or bark infusions) can be applied for skin disorders e.g. Lumnitzera racemosa and sores including leprosy. They have…
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St Marys Anglican Church
St Marys Church Kangaroo Point…Special places in the world invite us to pause, draw breath and contemplate the deeper aspects of life. Such places may be natural formations, hidden nooks and crannies where few folk go, or man-made edifices which seek to express human aspirations.
I walk to the church and the evening service has just ended. I do not make the Christmas Eve midnight service but I do come to the Christmas Morning service.
St. Mary’s on the Cliffs at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, is one of the most beautiful and historic churches in Australia. It overlooks the city and Botanic Gardens and is a magnificent venue for a romantic wedding.
In 1823, explorer John Oxley described Kangaroo Point as a “jungle, fringed with mangroves with the higher land open forest, covered with grass”. During convict settlement (1825-41), Kangaroo Point was cleared and used for cultivation of crops. Subsequently, the area was opened up for free settlement, the first land sales taking place on 13th December 1843. Among the early purchasers was the Police Magistrate, Captain J.C.Wickham. Surveyor James Warner built the first house at Kangaroo Point in 1844.
http://www.saintmarys.org.au/about-us/our-history/parish-beginnings.aspx
The 50th Dedication Festival of the Parish was celebrated on 4th November 1897, with the Rector stating that “we have completed the fiftieth year of our existence as a Parish”.
Christmas Flowers 
St Mary’s is the proud custodian of Queensland’s oldest organ. The instrument arrived in Brisbane on 10th July 1876 and was first played on 31 August that year. Built (or possibly rebuilt) in 1823, it is believed to contain some of the oldest pipes in Australia.
From ‘Statement of significance, history and conservation proposal for pipe organ at St Mary-the-Virgin Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point, Queensland’, March 2003 by Graeme Rushworth:
St Mary’s pipe organ is considerably older than the Church, being the oldest in Queensland and one of only several organs of c.1800 in Australia. It is also the only example in Australia of an organ built by H C Lincoln of London. The church and its organ are registered on the National Estate, the Queensland Heritage Register, and are classified ‘A’ by The National Trust of Queensland.
Southbank to Kangaroo Point
South Bank Parklands. The park is located behind the goodwill bridge This beautiful park honours the fallen soldiers. Tucked away opposite Somerville House and overlooking South Bank is this tiny triangular park with a secluded grove of banyan trees and pink porphyry stairs leading down to wrought iron memorial gates and two cairns commemorating the two world wars.
Brisbane’s war memorial parks are dotted throughout the suburbs, paying tribute to those who lost their lives in the Great War. For it is some of the city’s best loved gracious and stately parks with their shady avenues of figs, palms and pine trees that were built not as playgrounds but as memorials to alleviate the extraordinary outpouring of grief after 1.38% of the country, or 61966 young men, lost their lives.
Somerville House
Drinking fountain 
Clock tower at Somerville House 
Childrens Hospital 
I get quite confused at the corner and a walker leads me back to the crossroads. I decide to stop for Lunch at the Bel Swiss Cafe63 attached to the Bel Swiss hotel I had stayed at before. After lunch I walk back to the riverside and start walking to Kangaroo Point.
Walking is fun, I have done this many times dressed in running gear complete with a water bottle. Today it is very hot, and I am dragging along a suitcase and camera bag that get heavier with every step. I reach the cliffs that I get to know so well, and see the cliff sign and watch a girl climbing the cliffs. I am walking to Thornton Jetty from where I hope to get to Kangaroo Point.
Thornton Jetty 
Picnic for two 
Here the fun for me starts. I ask a walker how far it is to Thornton Jetty and he tells me its closed. I ask about how to get to the top and he says I have to climb up the steps to Joeys Restaurant, or I have to walk back to Southbank. He also says…“Looking at you, you could walk those steps quite easily…” We start walking back to the steps and he does take pity on me and offers to carry my bag to the top. I climb happily after him but a third of the way up, I realise this is not going to be easy. I puff and wheeze and groan and make my way up to the top stopping at each landing to catch my breath and hope my heart does not give out and tumble me down so I have to start again. Finally I actually get there and with a relieved grin, he leads me to my bag and climbs back down. I take a few photos and collapse on a seat to chat with another walker who uses his phone to show me where my hotel is located. It is almost straight across the road. I am there.
Low Tide Mangroves Russell Island
As soon as I look out and see that it is low tide, I know the mangroves are now exposed and I can go down to the waters edge and walk through the mangroves and down along the bottom of the Bay.
If its early morning, the area is full of midges and mosquitos and I take a photo or two and go back up to the sunshine. The evening before the sunset its always rich with flying mosquitos so I seldom go down to the mangroves. But there are the times when there are no midges or mossies, and then I wander the mangroves enjoying the quiet down there beside the water’s edge.
War Fortifications Woorim Beach
The Bribie Island Second World War Fortifications are heritage-listed fortifications at Woorim and Bribie Island North on Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia. They were built from 1939 to 1943 and were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 20 July 1993
The Bribie Island Fortifications were constructed from 1939 to 1943 as part of the systems of defence of southeast Queensland during the Second World War, and to provide artillery training for Australian soldiers for overseas service. Other fortifications were also apparent throughout Moreton Bay during the war, at Caloundra and on Moreton Island at Cowan Cowan Point and Rous, which together with the existing installations at Fort Lytton, provided a coordinated series of defensive batteries for the region
Bribie Island was a popular holiday destination from the early twentieth century. Steamers from Brisbane docked at the jetty on the southwestern side of the island, and a road led across the island to the settlement of Woorim, the surfing beach of the island. The island supported a small community, and the permanent residents of the eastern side were relocated from their homes when the Australian Army began moving in to the island in 1939
http://By Item is held by John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26072494
Two six inch guns, surplus from the First World War, were transported across Pumicestone Passage from the mainland to form the Battery at the northern end of Bribie Island (26.8540°S 153.1292°E). The guns were originally installed on cruciform mountings, consisting of two steel members forming a cross upon which the gun was sited, which were found to be inadequate, for after firing the guns the pivot tilted quite dramatically
The Bribie Island Second World War Fortifications are located along the eastern shore of Bribie Island and consist of the remains of three groups; Fort Bribie on north Bribie Island, Skirmish Point Battery to the north of Woorim at south Bribie Island, and the Royal Australian Navy Station No.4 at the north end of Woorim.[1]
These groups are located facing the northwest channel, being the entrance to Moreton Bay from the Coral Sea/Pacific Ocean, and within sight of Moreton Island to the southeast and Caloundra to the north.[1]
Bribie Island is relatively flat and the northern end is affected by shifting dune formations and tidal erosion. As a result, some remaining structures do not have the same position in relation to the shoreline as they had when constructed
Sunrise at Bribie Island
Every morning an amazing sunrise on the ocean Beach at Woorim on Bribie Island. Yet, every morning the beach is deserted and only I see the sunrise from the sands.
https://sunrise.maplogs.com/woorim_qld_australia.423402.html
Bribie Island View from the Top
I walked along the sand but it was very windy, so I walked up the steps to the reserve between the Surf Club and the restaurants. The view below of the waters was beautiful
Woorim Foreshore is a dog free beach…with a sign clearly saying no dogs…and also no nude bathing. There were many people walking their dogs on the grassed areas. I diligently searched for a nude walking their dog on the beach but did not see any. This area can be booked for functions… Interesting…I did like the sand mats designed for wheelchairs. It made walking easier too. The blue-coloured matting allows people who use wheelchairs, motor scooters, walking frames or prams to access the beach and water. It runs from Bluey Piva Park (next to the Surf Club) down onto a patrolled beach with red and yellow flags and a surf lifesaving tower.
Here, you will find a toilet block with accessible facilities, water fountains, and plenty of shaded picnic tables and bench seats with beach views at Bluey Piva Park. Two beach wheelchairs are available for free hire from the Bribie Island Surf Lifesaving Club. These help users to travel across the sand and can be immersed in water. Beach access (Access Point 12) is well-signed, with minimal gradients and clear transport routes between the various buildings and facilities. https://www.accessible.visitmoretonbayregion.com.au/woorim-beach-bribie-island
The beach is patrolled by life guards who stand near the flags showing the area safe for patrolled swimming. Surf patrols on Ocean Beach, Woorim, started in 1923 by members of the Metropolitan Swimming Club of Brisbane; with the Bribie Island Surf Life Saving Club forming in 1933. From its humble beginnings of a few rooms on top of the dunes and an observation tower made from felled tree branches, the club has seen many changes. A new lookout tower has just finished construction…
Explore the intriguing and fascinating history of Bribie Island in a beautiful, contemporary museum. The Bribie Island Seaside Museum enjoys scenic views across the glimmering waters of the Pumicestone Passage and Moreton Bay.
