Petal & Pins

Sitting on Picnic Bay Beach Magnetic Island

I’m back from a Queensland holiday with lots of photos and inspiration for several blog posts and a whole new collection of tropical flower dresses for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.

I bought a new camera before I went – more sophisticated than I had previously so I am still figuring out how to use it (meaning I’m a bit bamboozled by it all!)

I stuck mostly to the auto setting since I couldn’t go wrong with that but I did discover it has an ‘art’ setting for fancy effects hence this picture.

If you’ve been following my blog you will know from my recent post Butterfly Wings & Other Things I’ve been having a bit of a butterfly moment so you can imagine I was pretty delighted when I found the butterfly adorned sandals I’m wearing in a little shop in Ingham.

And this adorned the entrance to Paronella Park at Menna Creek.

I don’t know if I’m just tuned in to seeing all things butterfly or the universe is bringing them into my orbit but on Sunday, my last day on Magnetic Island I came across a boy probably only 7 or 8 years old with a butterfly net. He had just caught the most amazing butterfly I’ve ever seen – large iridescent green.

I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo as I’d been fixated on photographing the flowers of a jade vine. He was literally jumping for joy at his discovery and I was pleased to see he let it go after he took a picture.

Back home I pulled out a Vintage Shell Project Card Album Butterflies and Moths to see if I could identify it.

It was a Cairns Birdwing.

Lucky me for a fleeting moment to share the excitement of seeing it too.