After our explorative hike on Mt. Lewis, our next destination was the Atherton Tablelands. While the above is not a part of the Tablelands, it is indicative of the kind of burning Cairns and its surrounding areas have been experiencing in the past few weeks. Sooo why are the trees still a) standing and b) green? Many of the trees in the area have actually become fire resistant, thus hindering a fire's progress. 

I found these burnt landscapes to be beautifully Darwinian and certainly worth a roadside stop. You just want to shout out, "F-I-R-E you ain't got no strategy, go trees! Go! Go! GO TREES!" (Everyone has roots, you know... haha... get it? I was a cheerleader? Trees? Roots? Ha!) Furthermore, I think fire-resistant anything is awesome.

On an loosely related note, we get Monday Night Football  in Tasmania! (My current location, which at this rate, I'll get to blogging about it in March of 2010). I also ate a hot dog. Partially because it was was running under the guise of a sausage and moreso because it was free. What can I say, I'm a woman of principle. 

Note: Compare the above photo to the below. Drastic landscape change, eh?