{"id":6087,"date":"2019-06-29T08:35:29","date_gmt":"2019-06-29T15:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=6087"},"modified":"2019-07-03T10:50:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T17:50:28","slug":"on-alert-at-thala-beach-nature-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=6087","title":{"rendered":"On Alert at Thala Beach Nature Preserve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A giant Golden Orb Spider with a strong and elaborate web hanging out on our porch&#8230;.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/coraSpider_AU-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/coraSpider_AU-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/coraSpider_AU-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/coraSpider_AU-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A hairy tarantula molting near the path to the lodge&#8230;.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"755\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1552_AU-1024x755.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1552_AU-1024x755.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1552_AU-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1552_AU-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1552_AU.jpg 1898w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A pair of Tawny Frogmouth birds roosting quietly and camouflaged during the day, but noisily in the dark near our treehouse-style cabin in the forest at night&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_2002_AU-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6090\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_2002_AU-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_2002_AU-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_2002_AU-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_2002_AU.jpg 1866w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Avoiding two cane toads on the trail at dusk&#8230;\u00a0 Sampling a tiny, green-bottomed ant (note its leaf-nest in photo below) for its lemon sherbet flavor on a wildlife walk&#8230;.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1855_AU-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6098\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1855_AU-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1855_AU-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1855_AU-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These were unexpected excitements during our five day stay south of Port Douglas at the end of our Australian trip.\u00a0 <br><br>     We splurged on this rather posh eco-retreat, named after the Aboriginal name for the White-Breasted Sea Eagle, and we were not disappointed.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1578_AU-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6091\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1578_AU-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1578_AU-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1578_AU-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We went on gratis nature walks with competent and friendly guides, celebrated Val on Father&#8217;s Day with a gourmet picnic on the beach at sunset, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1834_AU-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1834_AU-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1834_AU-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1834_AU-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>swam in the well-appointed but chilly natural pool, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1574_AU-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1574_AU-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1574_AU-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1574_AU-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>and enjoyed several meals at the upscale restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"822\" height=\"572\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/thala_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6094\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/thala_2.jpg 822w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/thala_2-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/thala_2-768x534.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 822px) 100vw, 822px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0 Thala was also a convenient location for taking day trips to two World Heritage sites:\u00a0 Daintree National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.\u00a0 Far from our usual <em>Lonely Planet<\/em> stays, this was an example of low-key luxury lodging with an eco-friendly philosophy and most gracious staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1354_AU-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6096\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1354_AU-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1354_AU-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leslieval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1354_AU-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A giant Golden Orb Spider with a strong and elaborate web hanging out on our porch&#8230;.\u00a0 A hairy tarantula molting near the path to the lodge&#8230;.\u00a0 A pair of Tawny Frogmouth birds roosting quietly and camouflaged during the day, but noisily in the dark near our treehouse-style cabin in the forest at night&#8230;. Avoiding two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6099,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6087\/revisions\/6099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}