One of my favourite monthly challenges is back. Paula has returned from a long absence ( it seems that 2019 – 20 was a year for long absences) and with her has returned 5 words. This month the words are:

ESTIVAL (belonging to or appearing in summer)

CUISINE (cause we all have to eat)

RIFT (cause it lends itself to a number of possible interpretations)

INSTRUCTIVE (cause we are being given tons of instructions lately)

and

SPAN (cause I am reaching out to you again, trying to bridge time and obstacles)

You can use one photo or five, one word or five. Today I am opting for one photo although you may have to stretch the imagine just a litte. We have just spent some time in the far north of our state at Cairns and Port Douglas. The photo was taken from a boat trip we did off Green Island. I was photographing the birds. You can imagine my delight when I saw what else I captured.

In our far north it is always estival-like. Summer activities are always available and many of them are partaken out on the Great Barrier Reef. Fish food was thrown into the water from the boat in which we were travelling to attract the myriads of fish that inhabit the reef encouraging them to congregate so we could have a good look at them. This cuisine attracted the sea gulls but even better a fish itself caused a rift in the sea surface as it jumped up either trying to catch the food or trying to escape an even bigger fish who may have wanted to eat him. It was a most instructive day as we were taken through emergency procedures (should our boat sink and like the boat visible we had life jackets and rings on board – just in case. For me though the best instruction came from the guide who pointed out what was what on our ocean floor. The wing span of the sea gulls at close range was larger than I had expected and to capture them in various flight styles filled me with delight but not as much as I experienced later when I saw that fish.

Glad you are back Paula. If you want to join in Paula can be found here.