A day of peace (in Paradise)

The temperature today was mid 20s.  We got messages talking about the forecast for Canberra tomorrow of -1^oC to 6^oC with snow down to 600m.  (Our house is at 780m.)  Why did we come here??

After the relative stress of driving for 8 days and then small dog's remedial work it was very extra fine to just chill out.  Our accommodation is excellent - in a tropical area possum wars and stone curlew calls in the middle of the night are acceptable - and there is a great area to sit and watch birds.

There are also Bantams which go berserk when fed ..

 ... and provide eggs.  The eggs have very different coloured yolks!

On the subject of egg colour Adele, the owner of our accommodation, told us that she is collecting chooks that lay eggs with different coloured shells.  She currently has white brown and green.  This seemed odd until I thought about the colours of the shells of non-domesticated birds.

The best spot for bird-watching is this Poinciana.  The bird here is  Lewin's Honeyeater.

As well as nectar they are quite keen on either the juice from fallen mandarins or the bugs feeding thereon.

 A Brushturkey investigated the upper parts of a boundary tree,\

 As the small dog seemed pretty frisky we went for a bit of an explore along Peterson Creek.  This included a traverse of the suspension bridge (or as known in NZ, a swing bridge).  This had plenty of swing and it would be a bold cyclist who didn't dismount.

 Just after the bridge I noticed these flowers.  No idea what tree they were.

 We passed through the market area towards the end of the walk.  I assume that is when these bins get put out.

 A Friarbird turned up  - it is a recently split species called the Hornbill Friarbird.

After a run around the village, I went to explore a couple of sites near Yungaburra.  Unfortunately both are run by the National Parks Service and are thus canophobic.  In contrast to these idiots the Peterson Creek Track just requires that dogs are on leads.  This is what you see there:

Tonight there were a number of dogs there, with no issues whatsoever and the platypusses just swam up and down as they wished.

• Bird of the Day: Hornbill Friarbird wins the individual category.  No big flocks were seen but the 3 Australian Brush-turkeys in the platypus area get a gong in that categoty.
• Vegetation of the day:  The plantings along Peterson Creek
• Memorable moment: Everything in the area closes down - on a Tuesday!!! - for show day!
• Comment of the day: A guy with a European accent referring to the platypus "If I didn't know about these things, seeing that I'd think I was drunk!"
• Pie of the day: Whistlestop Cafe at Yungaburra offered meat or chicken!  I took meat and was initially shocked at the slug of $6.  On applying the teeth I realised it was a pretty large item so perhaps the extra $1.50 was OK.  It was also mainly mincemeat not chunks (negative).  But it was very tasty, possibly due to the high pea content - perhaps an internal floater?  Rated as 7.5!
• Troppo moment of the day.  Ringing a tourist attraction at Mareeba to be told by a message they were open 7 days a week from 9 am to 4:30 pm.  So why did I score voicemail at 3:30?  (I suspect they were shut for show day!)  I do not hold out much hope for them allowing dogs into the area.

Back to Index page