A to Z Challenge: Q

Q is for Quoll, Queensland and Quokka

Quolls are a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia and New Guinea. The Eastern Quoll is extinct on mainland Australia and is now found only in Tasmania.

Queensland, my home state, is the north-eastern state of Australia. Known as the 'Sunshine State' it is the second largest state in the country, and ranges from a tropical to subtropical climate.



The Quokka is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like the kangaroo it is herbivorous. It has a very limited distribution with its most well known location Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth (the capital of Western Australia).

Eerie Weather

A combination of a strong cold front moving north, strong gusty winds and a heavy silt load at Lake Eyre from Queensland's flooding rains earlier this year, have together created one of the countries biggest dust storms.

Hitting Sydney early yesterday morning, it reached here (Brisbane, Queensland) later in the morning. Within 30 minutes we went from blue skies, to a dark eerie glow... car lights needed to be switched on, as did lights within the house.

The air was strong with the scent of red bull dust, evoking memories of when I worked in the outback. Even though I closed the house up, a thick orange layer of dust has still managed to coat everything.

The photos are taken from the same spot on my deck.