Australia 2019 19/4 Friday

Much nicer day today. No wind. Luis & Jay out early to fish.
Me off birding (again!)

Australian White Ibis

Australian Pelican

Wattlebird bathing

The Wattlebirds are so funny when they bath. They literally dive into the water and emerge soaking wet (but clean).

I absolutely adore Willie Wagtail and his clownish wagging of his tail.

Fishermen return after unsuccessful morning (at least until Zac and Ben joined them, when Ben held Luis' fishing rod and had a tremendous take which fell off in the surf - guess the boys bring luck).

Jay normally baits up the kids rods for them. This has earned him the name "Master Baiter"!!!!

Great hilarity while all the others had a game of piggy in the middle using frisbee. Frisbee ended up getting well and truly stuck in a tree. More hilarity followed as they struggled for about 30 minutes to save frisbee.

Jay's solution, a long stick (Not long enough)

Two neighbours came to the rescue: Connor being the only one scoring a direct hit/slight movement of frisbee and then the ultimate saviour, Dominic who scaled the tree like a monkey!

Subsequently, and much later, the kids "lost" the frisbee again and ... once again ... Dominic to the rescue!!!  All future frisbee games to take place in large open field.

All played Uno then off to bed

Australia 2019 18/4 Thursday

Mixed sleeping results among us :) Boys slept well!
I went on a photo walk - some new critters

Crested Pigeon 

New Holland Honeyeater

Red Browed Finch

Red Wattlebird

Whitefaced Heron

Black Faced Cormorant

Black Swan

Next door neighbour was snacking on a bacon roll and a whole flock of rainbow lorikeets wanted to share

There are at least 2 types of wattlebird (Red and Little) here but they are quick and elusive,. Will persevere.

Satin Bowerbird

Had to post this Masked Lapwing as well. Such handsome fellows

Love the Magpies and their tuneful gurgly call.

Weather has turned bleak and chilly. Trip to town - bought more booze and fishing tackle. Had calamari rings and chips for lunch. Nice.

All went fishing. Zac picked up two nice salmon

Very cold evening. Off to bed after a few drinks.

Australia 2019 17/4 Wednesday

Awesome sunrise over Kellyville this morning

Pleasant drive.
1st stop at Braised Pork Cafe.  Loo break and bacon & egg roll on the go.

Vegetation constantly changing: 
Gum trees, Harrismith like flat, dry areas then, after Cooma an awesome, steep, winding, descent (10kms) with huge gum trees and giant tree ferns into a pastural village, Bemboka (in the valley).

Arrived at Eden at 2:30pm. Nice trip.
Resort quite pleasant. We have own en suite bathroom.
Rest of day spent organising site, etc.
Boys love their swag tent (actually, so do we)

Some different birds here.

A few other pics taken but reasonably sure I'll get better shots in sunlight.

A very windy and coldish evening. A few drinks and off to bed.

Australia 2019 14/4 - 16/4

14/4:  Had a lazy day. Did not even go for a walk! Did go into town - very pretty. Styled as an open air mall. Bought some clothes at BigW. Very cheap for fair quality clothing - cheaper than SA.Hungry Jack Hamburgers for sups, Jalapeno style. Mmmmm. Reasonably priced (by Oz standards) too - 6 meals - AUD48. Find food prices here quite exorbitant.

15/4:
Day started off nicely with a good sighting of the elusive whipbird (Eastern).

 Eastern Whipbird

Eastern Whipbird

Their call is distinct, like a whip crack but they are very secretive, hanging around in the underbrush and well camoflauged.

Followed by a sighting of a Nankeen Kestrel flying low

Nankeen Kestrel

Then drama, poor old Izzy stood on a bee and was stung in the pad of her paw. The wee mite couldn't walk so Luis had to carry her (13kgs) ... uphill.

We applied an ice-pack and gave her a small dose of Telfast. Will keep an eye on her.

She slept well and seems to have made a full recovery as of the evening.

Quiet evening watching, of all things, Dancing with the Stars, Oz style.

16/4:  Day spent largely cleaning and prepping for big trek to Eden tomorrow. Stocked up on grub and booze, washing up to date, etc.

Relaxing evening.

Australia 2019 13/4 Saturday

Luis and I feel surprisingly OK this morning. Dom drinks in moderation, so she is fine. Jay, on the other hand, has a hangover from hell.
Today we drove to friends, Kim and Nigel who have a beautiful place in Clontarf overlooking the harbour.

We were joined by other friends, Michelle and Paulo.
All wonderful people and so hospitable.
 Kookaburras made their appearance on Nigel's balcony

The Kooks even took food out of Nigel's hand. Lovely personal up close sighting.
This smaller feller made his appearance:

Grey Butcherbird Juvenile

They also have a resident possum who sleeps every day under their balcony awning and wakes to go foraging at night

After some delicious grub, we went a walking

Sadly, I didn't realise Kim had wandered off and therefore not included in group pics.

These dwellings are supposedly occupied by a hippie community. Wow, prime beach property.

Some of the others opted to go all the way down to the beach. I chose not to as too steep a climb for this old duck to wend her way back. Luis took the following snaps:

Bush Turkey (gave Luis a run for his money, darting around everywhere)

Flashlit scene with background sunset

A wonderful day spent with good people. Home and to bed relatively early, compliments of last night's shenanigans!