Tea, Tree Kangaroo

This is nothing to do with Tea Tree Gully ( a suburb of Adelaide some 3069km SW of the Nerada Tea Estate outside Malanda).

Before getting to the arboreal macropods I will relate a bit of business from yesterday, which while a tad concerning at the time didn't seem worth reporting.  As we neared the Reddings shop in Mareeba we had to stop a couple of times at pedestrian crossings on the highway.  On each occasion people pointed at the front of the car and looked alarmed.  I assumed it was against spitting water (which I was sort of aware of) so just acknowledged them, secure in the thought that we could push the car to the shop if warning lights went off (which they didn't).  I reported the leak to the Reddings person who said they'd look at it.

I will return to this in a few sentences time.

Our first item of business today was getting all the sheets and pillow cases out of the camper as we had peered in there and discovered as a result of packing up wet at Daintree (and not airing it sufficiently back at Yungaburra) a fair amount of mould was happening.  So open up the camper and let 22^oC and a nice dose of trade winds have a go at drying out the camper  while the sheets etc were on the line.  (A pillow was completely buggered but a new one was acquired from Target in Atherton.)

While that was in progress we went for a walk down Peterson's Creek where a Platypus did its thing nicely for us as usual. At 8 o'clock the horde of Landcare guys arrived and started caring.  One of them showed us a small Coppery Brushtailed Possum curled up in an epiphyte

 and explained where to look for tree -kangaroos (which were not evident at the time).  He said that Nerada Tea was THE spot and advised us how to find them there.  (In essence ask the nice ladies at the Visitors Centre.)

We walked back past the pub - which we have done many times - and noticed this platypus logo built into the pavement outside thereof.

So after hanging out the washing we betook ourselves to Malanda and thence followed the signs to the Nerada Tea Estate.  A very picturesque route, which for some reason had several 1 lane bridges.  I can see that it would cost an appendage or two to duplicate them, but as Nerada is a major tourist attraction I'd have thought they could have found the brass somewhere.

So we got to the Estate and asked the ladies who hadn't had any reports today but showed us the likely spots.  As we moved between them we took photos of the tea bushes

  and the processing plant.

 Then a young English couple waved us over as they had found the Lumholz Tree-Kangaroos!

 Not the greatest photo ever taken but it is better than the one at night a few days back.  And most importantly Frances saw these two.

We then headed for Mareeba to regather the Pajero.  En route Frances did some shopping at a fruit stall in Tolga while I photographed the school tennis courts.

I then visited the bakery and scored a Pepper Steak pie: review below.  Frances later visited the bakery and got a pastie which she found very pleasant.

On to Mareeba.  As we approached the dealership there was the Pajero parked outside, which I took to be a good sign.  Indeed it was.  All work done and issues resolved.  Without going into detail about the sump leak it appeared to be a known problem and a long term solution applied.  It was particularly pleasing that the Mareeba lady (but not the Atherton one) told me this was a warranty job, so cost us nothing.  The brakes cost a bit, but brake pads wear out.

However the most astonishing tale was from the mechanic who worked on the car.  When he and his offsider were removing the gearbox they found a huge rat looking at them.   Apparently this caused enough commotion in the workshop that Cassia left her front counter possie to see what was going on.   It was identified as a White-tailed rat, which we have seen mentioned before as a source of mischief.   It disappeared back into the engine bay. and its current whereabouts are unknown - is it somewhere in the guts of the car or enjoying life somewhere in the workshop?  However: my guess is that the rat was poking its head out of the radiator grill as we drove through Mareeba and that is what folk were pointing at!

• Bird of the day: Royal Spoonbill gets the individual nod.  I think the flock award goes to the mass of about 6 species which scrounge food from the cattle we walk past on out way to Peterson's Creek
• Vegetation of the day:   The plantings of rainforest trees at Nerada to provide habitat for native wildlife..
• Memorable moment: Being told the sump repair was a warranty item!
• Comment of the day: "You've got a huge rodent in there."  The mechanic who saw the animal in question.
• Pie of the day:.  The offering from the Tolga Bakery was excellent.  Very tasty with a good ratio of crust to filling and meat to gravy in the filling.  The meat was chunks of steak not mince.  Not as large as the ones from Quincan Cafe but only $4.60 so excellent value.  Holbrook standard: 9/10.
• Troppo moment of the day. When filling up at Atherton some character turned up in a battered ute with the radio going at about 170dB.  He looked like a refugee from a swamp somewhere (or one of the banjo player in Deliverance's  big mates).

Back to Index page

A much better day

After yesterdays shambles anything had to be better.  In fact today was pretty good by most standards.

We set off on our dog walk along Mather Rd and were greeted by a guy we had seen many times along the road, driving a Land Cruiser ute.  He was interested in us and we in him, as he, like the cattle guy from Sunday, told us a lot about the social and industrial structure of the area.  He solved the mystery plant on the road as being foliage for florists in Sydney.  One of our discussants jobs was making hay which he sells inter alia through the Yungaburra Pit Stop servo.  Apparently it is sold as fast as he can make it!  (It is interesting how many people up here do many interesting jobs and are keen to show how industrious they are.  Right on guys!)

He also commented that they had a poor wet season but it had been warm and damp recently.

As we proceeded down the road after this chat noise erupted from the sky.

Although I hate the noise of these things I must acknowledge the guts (or indeed things slightly below the male abdomen) to fly one.  If I was up there umbrellas would be the least punters on the ground would need.

The Bush Stone Curlews went for kissy-kissy camouflage.

 Later in the day our back yard was invaded by 3 - count them, 3 - Emerald Doves!

The day was basically getting a tad warm with the clouds definitely looking like Granny Aching's Sheep.

 So we took off to Lake Barrine, knowing it to be shady.  This was one of the better example of cauliflory we have seen.

 As we moved along a small but very active macropod was seen, and sort of photographed,  It looked like a Musky rat-kangaroo Hypsiprymnodon moschatus which I think is the smallest kangaroo around.  This one was about 25cm long in the body.

 In the rest of the 5km walk I think we saw at least another 6, smaller examples.  When spotlighting I was interested that some species had orange eye-shine while others had silver.  Judging by this flash image the rat-kangaroos shine lilac!

 A number of the Pandanus had fruit on them with this one being the ripest.

 The most interesting birds out on the Lake were Great-crested Grebes.

On land the most exciting birds were a group fossicking through the rainforest floor.  No photos - they were a fair bit back - but the jizz and general shape make me confident they were Chowchillas (a lifer and obviously Bird of the Day).

Back at the tea rooms Frances spotted an exciting butterfly.  Its a Cairns Birdwing.

 I couldn't get one to pose with the upperside of the wings visible.

Later we went to Frawleys pool for Frances to look at the pool and me to find birds (and should I be so lucky, a Tree Kangaroo).  No marsupials but we did have a very pleasant conversation with a Labrador's person about management of the area,  He opined that they'd a very poor wet season.

• Bird of the day: Chowchillas.  Flock was 3 Emerald Doves, as it was such a bonus to see >1.
• Vegetation of the day:   Rainforest generally.
• Memorable moment: Getting a reminder from Reddings about the work on the car on Thursday.  That's more like it.
• Comment of the day: "We had a very poor Wet season."  Everyone we talk to!.
• Pie of the day:.  Not tonight Josephine..
• Troppo moment of the day. Everything was pretty calm

Back to Index page

Tie me (tree) kangaroo down, sport

Yes, I know, one shouldn't do or say anything favourable about Rolf Harris.  But I'm in the State where Pauline Hanson was preferred to the Brick with Eyes so anything goes.  (In case you wonder why there isn't a link for Pauline, its because those I thought suitable would be actionable!  Use your imagination.)  Thus I will disregard political correctness and tip my cap to the song Tie me Kangaroo down even though the macropods in question were - as will be shown later - up in trees.

Having got that out of the way (and I wish I could get Pauline out of the way) let us get to today's doings.  We started with a dog walk in Northern Yungaburra.  A notable garden plant in this area is Calandria, which is usually bright red.  Today I spotted a few white forms.

When in Capri many years ago the famous "Cave canem" sign from Pompei was common, but one house added "encore il padrone" together with a photo of a large handgun.  A similar attitude seems to underlie this place.

The view was confirmed by the flag in the front yard.

The full text on the flag reads "Kill them all.  Let God sort it out."  See preamble to this post for a context!

Meanwhile back in the main street the usual Sunday gathering of motorcyclists had happened.

As most of the bikes were rice-burners rather than Harleys it is probably OK under the anti-consorting laws.  (Incidentally, if you follow the link you will be astonished to find that rice-burner is considered to be racist.  That is the sort of thinking that gives Pauline traction: how comments about a motor bike (or a crop) can be considered a racial slur bewilders me).

An ultralight aircraft, apparently burning something other than rice, flew noisily overhead.  I was thinking about going to Mulgrave for a chat with the flag-owner to seek his assistance in resolving the matter, but then the aircraft went away.

On the topic of flying things a Red-banded Jezabel (Delias mysis) was in the Garden.  That makes two Jezabels for the list.

I had also seen a Ulysses Swallowtail (Papillio ulysses) float by when this huge butterfly settled.  It is a Varied Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina).

I'm pretty sure this is a Grass-dart (Taractrocera sp.) as it seemed to perch initially with hindwings down and forewings up.Trying to get the species is well beyond me

Going for a prowl down Mather Rd produced no exciting birds but a pretty bean.

Also an interesting view of a banana palm.

The pine trees were well decorated with Ibis.

Back home the palm fruit was very well decorated with Figbirds and Olive-backed Orioles.  At the peak there were 10 Figbirds and 2 Orioles at one time.

Most of the Figbirds flew away but a Metallic Starling came in.  This was Bird of the Day.

In the afternoon we went to explore Lakeside, a suburb towards the Lake (if a village can have a suburb).  The garden centre had a good letterbox, and after we had been, one sack less of scoria gravel - intended as mulch for some stuff back home!

A relative of Tinnaroo man was watering something!

The excitement of the day came after dark when I went on an extended Nocturnal outing led by Alan Gillanders.  The other e-word that applies is excellent.  As we drove to start the formal tour we saw 2 Northern Brown Bandicoots beside the road.  On getting to the meeting point there was a brief delay as one car full of clients were delayed.  That meant we found a Striped Possum in a tree.  Alan heard a Lesser Sooty Owl but it didn't call again or come closer so I can't count it.

Migrating to an area towards Herberton a Rose Gum (Eucalyptus grandis - called Flooded Gum in NSW) was host to a Sugar Glider, a tiny Feather-tailed Glider and this Yellow-bellied Glider.

, 

Alan spotted a joey sticking its head out of the pouch so it was a female.

Getting back to the road (where we spotlighted along the shoulder causing a number of vehicles to check on our well being) we found a lot of Lemurine Ringtail Possums (probably 8 animals in total).

The big score for the night - for me at least - was Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo.  The first sighting was of a mother and out of pouch joey and then this male.

I have outlined, with yellow dots, the animal in this image.  It emphasises the length of the tail.

• Bird of the day: Metallic Starling.  Australian Figbird gets the flock tick.
• Vegetation of the day:  Rose Gum, for hosting the gliders!
• Memorable moment:  Seeing the Tree-kangaroos.
• Comment of the day: "We're all good."  response to enquiries by concerned motorists.
• Pie of the day:A large item acquired at the market meat stall and eaten for evening meal.  Very tasty.  About half was left for 'ron (ie lateron).
• Troppo moment of the day. Troppo isn't restricted to humans!  A small (even smaller than Tammy) chihuahua at the Garden Centre gets an award for trotting up to her, snarling at her and then - sensibly, as she might have decided it was a bad-tempered rodent - running away.

Back to Index page

Its the journey not the destination (barf)

Frances refused to say the above words since both "journey" and "destination" have been devalued by the jargon purveyors.  While "journey" has been trashed by the heirs of the snake-oil vendors,  "destination" has been removed from polite conversation by the tourism vendors. They are approaching "experience" as chunder-inducing non-words.  That being said our outing today was to look at the countryside and towns we passed through as much as getting anywhere particular so the phrase is no too far off.

On the subject of chunder, the Palmerston Highway, which we traversed today, is nowhere near as steep and twisty as the road from Yungaburra to Gordonvale or that from Julatten to Mossman.

Before setting out we took the small dog for a walk along the creek.  There we encountered a relative of Tinnaroo Man!

 On the way back we came past an intriguing mixed business: pharmacy and fishing tackle.  Apparently the world record barramundi was nailed in Lake Tinnaroo.  (While there have been bigger fish they have been on far heavier line.)

 The shop next door offers confectionery and water pumps!

We headed off towards Mallanda and found the Wet Tropics were living up to their name despite a clean screen of dryness on the BoM radar!  So we went through Malanda and Millaa Millaa.  Our first stop was at the falls just outside the latter.

 A pretty good drop but the place was canophobic so we passed on the next two offerings on the waterfall loop, heading down the escarpment.  We stopped at a look out on to the North Johnstone River (photos didn't come out too well)  but passed on the walking track which appeared to offer a 500m vertical drop in 1600m of horizontal travel.  Perhaps one for the future.  (We did wonder whether Johnstone was a reference to Sir Terry Pratchett's garden designer "Bloody Stupid Johnstone" - perhaps celebrating his cousins North and South?)

On getting to South Johnstone we found the outflow beds from the sugar and quickly nailed the promised Radjah Shelducks.

I also saw a Crimson Finch - bird of the day! - but it didn't hang around for either a photo or for Frances to see it.  White-breasted Woodswallows were much more obliging.

Here is the sugar mill in the town!

We then tried to get to Etty Bay following a basic map.  Unfortunately most of the roads weren't on it so we ended up further South than expected and thus turned right instead of left.  Eventually we found another map and sorted this out.  We got to Mourilyan and found the bakery for pie.  See review below.

Then on to Etty Bay (noting an empty Plodmobile parked beside the road, presumably gathering speed camera infringements while  the operator was indoors having a 'cup of tea') hoping for Cassowary.  None seen, but in keeping with looking for record numbers of this and that we came across this amazing collection of prohibitions.  I'd love to see the voting preferences of the residents - I suspect Our Pauline gets a big show.

 They did have some great mangroves on the beach.

 Retreating from these lictors we ended up at the sugar loading port of Mourilyan Harbour.  This was quite a surprise as I had never heard of it, but it seems huge.  Of course there is an awful lot of sugar grown in the area. This conveyor made a nice industrial sculpture.

A very colourful Coral Tree was near the boat ramp.

There were also a few commercial fishing boats around, with this one puttering in.  To my disappointment it wasn't followed in by a horde of seabirds.

Tough luck if you're a Francophone!

Obviously the Welcome Swallows reckon Spring - or whatever they call the breeding season up here - is on the way as it was gathering beakfulls of mud.

The first 'roo I have photographed on this trip.  I'm pretty sure it is an Agile Wallaby - the white stripe on the leg is a definitive field mark.

We then headed back to Innisfail, noting that the Plodmobile was still there.  Presumably the hossifer was having a second 'cuppa'.  After a very convivial chat with the guys in the VIC (a caravan in the main park) we went for a walk around the historic bit of the town.  The Shire Hall was quite impressive ...

... as was the Catholic Church.  Although it looks rather like the confections seen in Mexico the stained glass inside looked quite modern.

Good posters on the outside of a khazi on the banks of the North Johnstone River.

A pair of attractive old buildings.  From the Dividers at the top of the blue stripe, the one on the right was at some stage a Freemasons Hall.  It's now a martial arts centre.

The walk along the banks of the North Johnstone River was very well done.

As well as the fishing boats giving an air of reality they provided the raw material for some fish cakes which Frances acquired.  She mentioned to the serving person that we weren't sure if she could keep them cool for the trip home and a back of ice was duly provided.  They tasted very nice indeed!

A couple of memorials were above the walkway.  The usual War Memorial   ...

.. and this one to the Cane Cutters.  The Italian community of the area was greatly involved in the establishment and maintenance of this memorial.

As we walked back to the car we found ourselves passing the electorate office of Bob Katter (which may explain a few things about Etty Bay).  The front door was well covered with posters about the North Queensland Cowboys!

As we rumbled back up the Palmerstone Highway we stopped at a fruit stall for some produce: the bananas were excellent, but the papaya was sold out, as it was at a second stall we paused by.

Our final stop was at Blomfield's Swamp to check for Cranes.  A good flock were grazing below the lookout and on close inspection through my telescope, and a call by Frances, about half of them turned out to be Sarus Cranes rather than Brolgas.  A small amount of dancing was happening.

• Bird of the day: Crimson Finch.  Sarus Cranes were a contender for the individual award but in the end settled for the flock award.
• Vegetation of the day:  Mangroves at Etty Bay (much as I hate to give that prohibitory place an award).
• Memorable moment:  
• Comment of the day: I mentioned to a guy in the VIC that I drove a Pajero and a friend drove a Prado.  He replied "I forgive you both.  I drive a Patrol."  A contender was a guy at Mourilyan who say me tread on a $5 note I'd let fall and immediately called out "I just dropped that
• Pie of the day: Mourilyan Bakery Pepper Steak.  Very nice indeed with obvious chunks of steak and a good serve of pepper.  Crust crisp and strong.  The Queensland champion thus far,9/10.  Frances had an Egg and Bacon open top which she also rated very highly.  The owner said that the next batch were due in 10 minutes so obviously done on tyhe premises which also gets a tick!
• Troppo moment of the day. The lack of signs to Etty Bay when we got the to the Bruce Highway was both an indication that the Roads folk had been out in the sun too long, and caused me to become a bit troppo!

Back to Index page