AI processed nature art

A fantastic way to generate nature art is to get AI to modify a nature photo. A striking green and black striped jumping spider on a red flower...


... becomes an impressionist painting. An irridescent butterfly on yellow flowers...


...becomes stained glass art

Australian orchids

Orchids are usually associated with the tropics, but even in the dry parts of Australia there are a lot of orchids to see if you're paying attention.

Full album on Flickr: Australian orchids

These snake orchids have a large number of sweet smelling yellow flowers in spring, and are commonly found growing on old Eucalypt trees


These are called tongue orchids due to the shape of the leaves, and occur on rocks. They produce white whispy flowers in spring.

Sydney wild flowers and insects

There are a lot of wild flowers on the hilltops around Sydney, even in mid-winter.

Full album on Flickr: Sydney wild flowers and insects

More tropical insects and orchids

Full album on Flickr: Tropical insects and orchids
These are one of the most amazing things I've ever come across. These flying seeds look like they're made with plastic, and their flight is so nimble they look like they're alive. They actually come from a tree-climbing vine.


This is the largest leafhopper species I've ever seen. They prefer to be on the opposite side of a tree trunk to you, and they endlessly sidle around the tree as you follow them.


When threatened, they lift their upper wings to expose bright red colours.

Hiking in Fiji

An interesting fact about Fiji is that it formed via volcanic activity long after Gondwana had broken up. This means that all of it's flora and fauna somehow made it there across the ocean. Many species came from Australia, before evolving into distinct variants.

Full album on Flickr: Hiking in Fiji

Some orchids clinging to a tree branch.


I drove a long way along a very steep gravel road in a small 2WD hire car to get to these mountains of Fiji's inner highlands. I couldn't find any information about tracks up these mountains, but perhaps the locals know of some.


I knew Fiji had a species of giant stick insect before I went, but it's extremely rare to see them as they live in the tree tops. By an amazing chance, one fell from the sky while I was hiking up Mt Korobaba and landed a metre from me. Unfortunately it had a wound from something that had been trying to eat it, and died soon after.

Alpine wildflowers in Tasmania

Full album on Flickr: Tasmania

By lucky chance my last visit to Tasmania occured while the alpine wildflowers were out in force.


If you count the number of layers of dead leaves on the Pandani plants, you realise that some of them are hundreds of years old.


Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand were carved up by glaciers during the last ice age, and have countless crystal clear lakes in the mountains.

Hiking near Taipei, Taiwan

Full album on Flickr: Hiking near Taipei, Taiwan

Taiwan is a tropical hiking paradise. Unlike most tropical countries it's well developed, which means you can probably take the train to your hiking track. And despite their technological sophistication, they've left an unusual amount of the rainforest intact.

We have orb weaver species in Australia. But as you move North into more tropical climates, the species get larger. Keep in mind that my hand is fairly large.

Hiking in Borneo

Full album on Flickr: Borneo

Rainforest on the slopes of Mt Kinabalu.

New Zealand Waterfalls

I often wondered when I went hiking in the tropics why many areas had only small creeks, given the high rainfall. The answer seems to be that the soil and the trees absorb the water, which goes on a cycle of evaporation and precipatation without ever reaching a river.

New Zealand is the opposite. Rather than being incessant, the rain tends to come all at once, and the slopes are steep and non-porous. The result is spectacular waterfall displays and roaring rivers.

This video is from when I did the Rob Roy Glacier walk in the rain.