Australian Nature

This collection of poems reflects on the local wildlife I have had the pleasure of interacting with over the last fifteen years. I live in a small far northern Nsw Australian coastal village, where my home backs onto an estuarine creek and fronts onto the Pacific Ocean with just a strip of bushland separating them. I go to sleep to the sound of the ocean and wake to the sounds of the creatures that feature in my poems. I do not claim to be an expert on wildlife, and my poems are based on my observations over time and the subjects traits with which I have become most familiar. All the places I mention are real and are within a ten-minute walk except for Mt. Warning and the Tweed River, which are within a twenty-minute drive. Any of the facts I provide have been carefully researched or provided to me by a highly respected local marine biologist, whose love of nature far exceeds my own. I think adults will find them informative and children educational. He has also generously assisted me with many of my illustrations, and I am extremely grateful for this and his well-informed input. It is hoped my poems may be enjoyed by people of all ages and have included a little touch of humour in some that I think might appeal to the younger generation in particular.