A Humpback Whale photographed on the Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas Australia.

A group of Southern Humpback Whales migrate approximately 10000 kilometres each year from the Antarctic waters to the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef Australia for mating and birthing. The whales give birth in the safe warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef because the baby humpback whales calves have little body fat and would not survive in the icy waters of the Antarctic. The whales tend to hang around for a couple of months before starting the journey back to Antarctic waters.

Humpback Whales Arrive at The Great Barrier Reef orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

The Cairns Airport Challenge Cairns Triathlon is offering $10000 Euro in prize money to lure athletes from all over the world and is the headline event for the Cairns Adventure Festival. Athletes will compete in the Cairns Airport Challenge Triathlon on the 5th June but the Cairns Adventure Festival starts on Sunday the 29th May. The Cairns Adventure Festival will incorporate The Coral Coast Triathlon at Port Douglas, Hekili Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge at Palm Cove and the RRR Mountain Bike Challenge at Mt Molloy. On the 2nd June swimmers will be competing in the Green Island Ocean swim and on the 3rd June runners will be lining up for the Cairns Post Run For Cairns Fun Run.

The Cairns Adventure Festival has an exciting range of events for the adventurers and athletes out there. The Cairns Adventure Festival will also be a great opportunity for sports enthusiasts to soak up the festive atmosphere and be spectators at a world class event in beautiful Tropical North Queensland. Either way Thala Beach Lodge is a great place to base yourself during the festival – whether you’re a competitor or a spectator.

Cairns Airport Challenge Cairns 2011 orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

The Valentines Day Dinner Menu

5 courses – $89 per person – including a welcome glass of bubbly

Sashimi salad of yellow-fin tuna and Tasmanian salmon with a baby cress salad & mustard dressing

Hervey Bay scallops seared with steamed asparagus and garlic chive butter

Vitello tonnato with a smoked tuna mayonnaise, crispy fried onion, capers, anchovies and crusty bread

Fish of the day OR crispy pork belly with a red wine risotto, garden peas, spinach & lemon caper butter

Chocolate truffle cake with vanilla and cassis-poached strawberries and double-cream

3 courses – $69 per person – including a welcome glass of bubbly

Hervey Bay scallops seared with steamed asparagus and garlic chive butter

OR

vitello tonnato with a smoked tuna mayonnaise, crispy fried onion, capers, anchovies & crusty bread

Fish of the day

OR

crispy pork belly with a red wine risotto, garden peas, spinach & lemon caper butter

Chocolate truffle cake with vanilla and cassis-poached strawberries and double-cream

Use the contact form on the right for bookings/enquiries or alternatively Phone 07 4098 5700.

View our Valentines Day menu 2011 (PDF)

Valentines Day Dinner 2011 orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

The Cairns event is part of a global series of full ironman distance triathlons and is the only Challenge event in Australia.

“Challenge Cairns will have the highest prizemoney of any Challenge branded triathlon in the world, making it the second-richest triathlon event in the world.” said Queensland Premier Anna Bligh.

After all that swimming, riding and running (or watching…) Thala will be the perfect place to book your accommodation and relax!

Challenge Cairns Barrier Reef Ironman Australia orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

Honeymoon

If you’re on a honeymoon why not book a helicopter flight out to a private sand cay surrounded by crystal clear coral waters.  Or take a scenic flight over The Great Barrier Reef to marvel at the world’s largest living structure and get a sense of the expansive coral waters and individual reefs.
Fly to the ‘Castaway’ location in your exclusive helicopter for a morning of complete solitude on a deserted beach accessed only by air or water.

Private Yacht Charter

For an exclusive Great Barrier Reef experience, why not charter your own luxury yacht to guarantee a personalised itinerary to take in the best reef experiences.

Scuba Diving

If diving takes your fancy why not checkout some of the world’s best known dive spots. There are many Great Barrier Reef dive locations and options located within day trip distance from Port Douglas and Cairns. One of these spots is the Cod Hole. Named after the resident Potato cod that live there The Cod Hole is located on Ribbon Reef number 10.

Whale Watching

Dwarf Minke Whales visit the Great Barrier Reef during the months May through to July. Unique tours and liveaboard experiences can be organised to view these amazing whales. Humpback Whales can also be spotted from July through to September and are regularly seen from the many day trip boats from Port Douglas.

Great Barrier Reef Islands

If you’d rather relax on a Great Barrier Reef island within close proximity to the mainland why not do a day trip to Low Isles. Trips to Low Isles depart daily from Port Douglas.

Snorkeling

Snorkeling is a very good option for checking out the Great Barrier Reef. Many tours depart Cairns and Port Douglas daily and can pickup and dropoff from your accommodation at Thala Beach Lodge. Unforgettable Great Barrier Reef holidays and recommendations can be organised by contacting our experienced local staff at Thala Beach Lodge.

Check out some of our Great Barrier Reef Pictures.

Great Barrier Reef Accommodation and Experiences Australia orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

Featuring Guest Speaker James Phelan , a literary dinner with Gretel Killeen, workshops with Angela Murphy, Sylvia Kelso, Barbara Hannay + free events + platforms for up and coming writers.

More information and programs are available on the Tropical Writers Website.

See you there!

Tropical Writers Festival Cairns 2010 orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

Male Yellow Bellied Sunbird

We originally put the nests up for display – but the sunbirds have decided it’s a nice safe place to raise their little ones!

Yellow Bellied Sunbirds are often found on the edge of the rainforest and frequently build nests around human habitation.

Yellow Bellied Sunbird at Thala orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

A newly hatched Cairns Birdwing Butterfly.

When it comes to BIG butterflies you don’t get better than the Birdwing Butterfly (Omithoptera priamus) or the Cairns Birdwing. Yes, the people of Cairns have named this spectacular butterfly their very own! It is the largest species of butterfly found in Australia. The female has a wingspan of a whopping 15cm, even if she is a little duller, black and white with a touch of yellow, than the male with his showy green, gold and black. They are a little more laid back than the more frantic Ulysses with a slower, more relaxed flight. Cairns Birdwing Butterfly can live for 4-5 weeks.

The males are pretty predatory when it comes to mating and patrol their territory in the early morning, searching for newly emerging females. It’s not all easy – he then has to cope, rather precariously, with a great deal of competition from other patrolling males who have invaded his territory. The battle is worth winning with a coupling lasting for up to 36 hours.

The females, who are often mated as soon as they emerge from the cocoons, start early setting a territory around the vigorously leafed vine of the Aristolochia where they prefer to lay their eggs. The female is able to locate the correct plant by using chemical receptors in her forelegs to taste various leaves. She also uses sense organs at the end of her abdomen to find tender leaves that would be suitable for caterpillar food. Unfortunately the one plant that can fool her is Aristolochia elegans a similar introduced species that the larvae will also feed on, which is toxic, and this leads to the death of the larvae.

The newly emerged Cairns Birdwing Butterfly in the rainforest.

The leaves of the Aristolochia vine is poisonous and though nutritious for the Birdwing caterpillar, is deadly to many other caterpillars. For the Birdwing caterpillar it is not only nutrition but by storing the toxins in fleshy orange-red spines on their backs, it is also protection. Bright colours, in nature, such as orange, red and yellow sometimes act as warnings to other animals letting them know they are dangerous or inedible.

When the caterpillars of the birdwing butterfly are almost ready to pupate they ringbark the vines on which they are feeding. The leaves then droop due to water loss, but the flow of nutrients to leaves is the same – the large caterpillar gets more nutrition with less water before pupation!

Cairns Birdwing Butterfly orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

Snorkelling on The Great Barrier Reef

The world’s biggest living structure is The Great Barrier Reef. The only living thing visible from Earth’s orbit. The Great Barrier Reef runs parallel to the Queensland coast and spans from North of Cape York to near Bundaberg in the South – a total distance of 2600 kilometres and covering an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres.

Built by billions of coral polyps (tiny organisms) and playing host to a diverse range of species including more than 1500 species of fish and over 400 species of corals the Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage area and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Comprised of over 3000 individual reef systems and hundreds of tropical islands many vulnerable and endangered species are inhabitants of The Great Barrier Reef.

Coral Trout

Coral is ‘alive’ due to its thin coating of coral polyps which develops a chalky limestone skeleton. Coral grows from the division of these polyps. This multiplication of polyps is called budding. Reproduction of the corals of the reef occurs through coral spawning. Over one third of coral on The Great Barrier Reef reproduces this way. This event can be witnessed on the inner reefs during the week after the full moon in October and on the outer reefs in November/December. This mass spawning sees corals releasing gametes leading to slicks of spawn on the surface of the sea. Spawning always occurs at night and the slicks won’t last longer than two days. Corals are inventive reproducers and it is likely that many of the mechanisms used are still undiscovered.

For most people coral wouldn’t be considered aggressive, yet they can grow over the top of neighbours and at night some corals can attack each other in a battle for space. Some can extrude mesenteric filaments to digest the tissues of their neighbours or, in the case of some species, tentacles up to 7cm long to sting their competition.

Humpback Whale at The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is also a breeding ground for Humpback Whales, migrating from Antarctica to use the warm waters of the Coral Sea between May and September. The whales come to calve and build up strength before returning to the Antarctic in Summer. Minke whales can also be seen, mainly around the ribbon reef area.

The coral reefs exist offshore from the coast of Queensland. Coral thrives better in clean water free of nutrient and freshwater. The best corals are generally found in the clean waters of the outer reef. Thala is located in close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. With a short boat ride you can visit the crystal clear waters and stunning colour of the reef. Popular points to access The Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland are from Port Douglas and Cairns.

The Great Barrier Reef Australia orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

It isn’t as if life ever really gets boring up in our part of the world even if it’s the odd Jezebel or Big Greasy. Don’t get too excited they’re butterflies, great big flappy winged ones that bob through the air as you sit back and enjoy something long and cool beside the Thala pool.

1st Ladies at the Pacific Forum, Cairns August 2009

Then there are days when Australia’s first Lady steps nimbly up the stairs into the wow zone – That’s where you get to really see the view from here. Ms Rein is surrounded by a bevy of smiling South Pacific first ladies and I think of a Kaleidoscope of butterflies – no, really that’s what they call a gathering of butterflies…well they could also be a swarm – but not these ladies, they are colourful, vibrant and animated. I’m just glad I didn’t do the all black thing when I was dizzying into the ‘what do I wear’ phase.

The sky’s painted a blue wash, the sea’s ridiculously sparkly and the trees are shivering with birds as I put my hand out to greet Ms Rein. She softly says ‘I’m Therese’ and that sets the tone of delicious informality. What she doesn’t tell me until all the butterflies have feasted on a sumptuous lunch is that she’s just got back from climbing Mt Kilimanjaro – well now that’s just the highest free standing mountain in the world – the roof of Africa! Talk about the wow zone! She’s exuding vitality and I’m thinking I should start doing a little hiking up the mountains I see sweeping down to the ocean – well for a moment anyway. She’s no wimp this first lady.

Over coffee the chat moves to the first lady of Vanuatu who visits the school of the air studio. She doesn’t speak English but she walks into the studio just as the kids are into a French lesson and speaks to them in French! Sometimes the world is just with you and these ladies are out to make it all a better place.

These first ladies have alighted from some of the most exotic and romantic islands in the world. I look over at our lady mayor and she is fluttering effusively, loving the fact that they are loving this tropical dot on the map of our much larger island.

Back to our first lady -Therese gathers the Kaleidoscope, and with a last long look at the ocean they all shimmer down the swoop of stairs to the hum of a waiting coach. There is a feeling of loss – did they take some of the light with them? No, it’s just a fluff of cloud sailing past the sun.

1st Ladies Club – Pacific Forum , Cairns August 2009 orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge