AUSTRALIA 10/21-11/19/1998

Australia has been on my list of places to visit for many years. I primarily wanted to go in order to see the birds so I was surprised to find out how much I loved the country for many other aspects. The country and the cities are beautiful and the people are so very friendly. I think I could happily live in Australia for a while. Nancy Hay and I decided to go last year and naturally we wanted to go with Doug and Gail Cheeseman (we have gone to Venezuela and Antarctica on trips they lead). At that the time the trip was filled but fortunately they had a cancellation so last December we signed up to go. The trip was almost a month long and we decided to go one day early to see Sydney. I did not keep a journal - there just wasn’t time and my notebook got wet so many times I just gave up. The following was written up after I was home using some brief notes I wrote each evening plus the few notes I made on my birding list. I also used my photos to help me remember things although the date was wrong on most of the photos. We lost a day on the trip over because we crossed the International date line. The east coast of Australia is 18 hours ahead of San Francisco

We left San Francisco on Wednesday October 21, 1998 at 7:25 PM. We arrived in Sydney via LA at 6:30 AM Friday October 23. It is some 12,000 Km (7500 miles) from LA to Sydney. Qantas is a wonderful airline to fly on - they truly are friendly. We had to fly Reno Air from SF to LA but a Qantas person met us there in the Reno line and helped us through. Then in LA a Qantas person met us at the gate and walked us to the next gate. Our flight was packed but they did all they could to make it pleasant. The food wasn’t too bad and the service friendly. They gave us slippers, eye mask, tooth brush and paste! I even managed to sleep for 5 or 6 hours so when I arrived I wasn’t too tired - neither was Nancy. In Sydney everyone was so pleasant and we easily found a shuttle bus which took us to our hotel. Our room was not ready but they upgraded our room and still let us check in early which was nice. An hour later we were down at Circular Cay to start our tour of the city. At the information center the man suggested we buy a city bus ticket for $25 (about $16 US) which would take us around the city with some tour information. We could get off and on all we wanted as it stopped at several different points of interest. We took almost a complete loop and got off at the place called The Rocks where we asked a store clerk were to eat and found a perfect sandwich place and sat and look over the harbor. The young kids who made our sandwiches were also so friendly and asked us about our travels. The Rocks is named after the sandstone bluffs from which the first convicts cut bricks for Sydney’s gutters and public buildings. Sydney is well prepared for tourists and they act like they are glad to have us there. There is also a lot of building going on in Sydney - probably in preparation for the Olympics in the year 2000. Sydney is a beautiful and clean city. The architecture is very interesting. It looks like they hired the most inventive, creative architects they could find and said “create”! The interesting thing is that it all works well together. They have some old buildings that have been restored to modern uses but it is mainly a modern city. We walked around Circular Quay - an area on the harbour near the Opera House- it is the terminus for all harbour ferry trips. Since we couldn’t do everything we did not go into the Opera house but did climb the stairs and look around. We took the ferry to Manly and had a lovely view of the city as we went across the harbour. Then we took to the bus and went into the Victoria Building - an old restored building that is used for shops now. It was built in 1890’s and was restored in the 1980’s and is referred to as “The most beautiful shopping center in the world”. It really is elegant. Then we walked over to the Centrepoint Tower and went up to the top. You have a spectacular view of the whole city from up here. It was built from 1970-1981 and the top is 305 metres (1000 feet) above street level with the observation deck 250 metres above street level. After this we walked back to the hotel, cleaned up a bit and went out to dinner at a nearby Spanish restaurant. I noticed that during the commute hour with lots of buses and cars and crowded sidewalks and streets people seemed to be polite. I heard no horns honking or rude remarks.

October 24, Saturday. We left the hotel at 6:00 AM after breakfasting on yogurt and banana that we found in a near by store the night before. Across the street we caught an airporter bus that took us to the airport for $6 ($4US) - very efficient and quick and we flew from Sydney to Brisbane (748 km=467 mi) where we met Doug and Gail and the rest of the group. We are a total of 16: Doug and Gail, Nancy and me, Hala Araj from Oakland, Marcia McDermott from Sparks, Linda and Bruce Hale from Denver, Dan and Pat Logen from Washington with son Graham (12) and mother Margaret, Mary & Don Savant from Cupertino, and Judy & Lyall Bishop from Washington. Surprisingly not all were birders but it all worked out all right because they were able to take time to do other things once in a while. We were picked up in Brisbane by Graham who drove us to Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary where we saw our first Koala and Kookaburra (the largest Kingfisher in the world). Grahams wife had lunch prepared for us while Graham barbecued steak and sausages - all very good and very nicely served. The food through the whole trip was very good and we had plenty of fruits and vegetables but they always served more meat than we could eat - often barbecuing three different kinds. Even when they did fish they would have 2 or 3 kinds cooking. The steaks were good but not what we usually have when we have steaks. They are thin and somewhat like what we call a cube steak. The drive through this area is a growing area of Queensland. The houses are all of a similar size and look like a green central valley of California. We saw several lots with used houses for sale! We were in a dry rain forest - no ferns is one sign of it. Also there are huge plants that we call “bird’s nest fern” and grow as house plants. It was originally called crow’s nest fern because it was shaped like the crow’s nest on a sailing ship. Saw our first Wallaby. After lunch Graham drove us to O’Reilly’s Guest House which is 75 miles southeast of Brisbane in Lamington National Park which is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. O’Reilly’s is at the edge of the rainforest at 3000 feet near Canungra, Queensland. It was started by the O’Reilly’s in 1911 as a dairy farm but in 1914 after being surrounded by National Park land they turned to welcoming tourists and the third generation is still running the guest house. Through overbooking 8 of us got rooms with shared bath but it turned out just fine. Doug was the only male so we just used both the women's and the men's baths which led to some fun sharing of showers. Also Gail did our laundry for us on the day we all got soaked so we had fun with that. We were plenty comfortable. The lodge served dinner and we were glad to go to bed after a long day. The food was really good at this place - often it was buffet - they even had tea with scones which we had one day - yummy.

October 25, Sunday We have been joined by Frances Guard - a doctor who Doug and Gail met on the Antarctica trip - she is also an excellent naturalist. Our guide at O’Reilly’s is Glen Threlfo who is an incredible naturalist and photographer - he does the Australia films for the National Geographic and BBC. Before breakfast we went for a walk that included a canopy walk. After breakfast we took a long hike on the Kerry Track - some debate about the length of the hike but it was at least 6 miles and it started raining and we got totally soaked - none of us was adequately prepared for the amount of rain we got. The walking was hard - uneven ground and narrow steep tracks. Also we were introduced to a new experience - leeches! They are very small, about half an inch and the rain brings them out in full force on the path. They crawl up on your shoes and from there to your legs. Most of us did not get them on our legs but all of the Logen family did at least once during this trip. We were constantly picking them off our shoes. For the rest of the trip the cry of “leeches” initiated an immediate shoe inspection and stomping of feet. They get huge when full of blood! - ugh! We did see some wonderful birds but we didn’t get back for lunch until 3:00. That was when Gail offered to do laundry for those of us sharing the shared bath unit - ah the simple things can lift your spirit a great deal. This rain forest is so beautiful and every one is so pleasant and the food is just great - I am glad to be here!

October 26, Monday We took another strenuous hike about 4 miles each way to the Antarctic Beech Forrest. This are the same trees as in Southern So. American and as fossils in Antarctica - from the time when they were all one continent. The trees were huge and moss covered and many hundred of years old. Saw a lovely red belly snake plus many birds. The spiders are so interesting - saw a funnel spider and a trap door spider that makes a trap door to cover his nest. Today we got lunch at 1:30! After lunch we hiked to the beautiful Morans waterfall. In the evening we saw Glen’s slide show - he is a superb photographer!

October 27, Tuesday Glen came in the morning with a leaf tailed gecko that we all enjoyed watching, signed his book, said goodbye to us and then we left for the airport. We saw Pretty-face Wallaby on the way, we had seen Red-necked Pademelon around the lodge. In a simple explanation, pademelon are small, wallaby bigger, and kangaroo the biggest. Most of the houses are on stilts because the termites are so bad. We saw lots of termite mounds in all of Australia - some as tall as 10 feet. The towns are all pleasant looking and most houses are all the same size and similar design. We didn’t see areas in Australia of extra large and elegant homes - even the aborigine villages had similar style and size homes. Everything we saw was green and clean. In the larger towns and cities we saw lots of American commercialism such as McDonald, K-Mart, Pizza Hut and so forth. We made it just in time for our flight out of Brisbane - we had to run for the plan with no guarantee our luggage would make it (which it did). We arrived two hours later in Cairns (1392 km = 870 mi) where we were met by Arthur and Elaine Westbrook our Safaris host for the next 10 days - more about them later. They took us to our hotel in Cairns where we relaxed, repacked for the next 10 days and had dinner at the hotel. There was a great deal of thunder and lightening that evening.

October 28, Wednesday A Charter bus picked us up early in the morning and took us to the pier where we boarded the Ocean Spirit a catamaran with 100 passengers. We went to Michaelmas Cay - a sand island (about 200 by 100 yards in size) surrounded by coral gardens of the Great Barrier Reef. It was a wonderful experience - we stayed on the front deck and enjoyed the trip out. When there I tried Scuba Diving which I think I would enjoy very much. It is hard work though so I chose to only try it and not do the full course. I would prefer private lessons in a stable pool before I try the ocean. Then I went snorkeling which was totally awesome. Back on board we had a very elegant lunch and then went on a sub-sea viewer which was better than any Disneyland trip because what we were seeing was real! We saw several sea turtles, and every color fish you can think of, plus giant clams, octopus, urchins, and so forth. On the way back to shore we were entertained by some delightful young people who sang and played the guitar. One song was especially appealing and we all learned it and sang it on the bus over and over.

Give me a home among the gum trees

with lots of plum trees

a sheep or two and a kangaroo

a clothes line out the back

a veranda out the front and an old rocking chair.

Then they served us champagne and we soon arrived back to the Fig Tree Lodge where we did laundry and went out to dinner with Marcia and had a good fish dinner - again served by such friendly people.

October 29 Thursday We left Cairns (pronounced Cans) at 4:00 AM and drove to Daintree Village where we would be camping for one night. The Daintree is about 100 km north of Cairns along the Coastal Highway call Captain Cook Hwy.. Half the group went on a boat trip with Chris Dahlberg for the bird life while the rest of us met Glen Holmes and his wife Jenny. He is an ornithologist and she is a botanist. We went birding along the forest edges and saw some beautiful birds. Then we can back to camp and had a real breakfast with the boaters. Our camp had been set up - the tents where stand up tents, about 9 by 9 feet with center poles - perfect for letting rain in as we eventually found out. We then drove in our safari bus to Mossman along the beach for more birding. Mossman is where Arthur and Elaine live. Along the way we saw the first of many beautiful butterflies - the Ulysses Mt. Blue Swallowtail. Elaine met us there with a picnic lunch and we did some birding. All along the beach are signs warning of crocodiles and also there are containers with bottles of vinegars to be used for stings of jelly fish as emergency first aid on the way to the hospital. None of us chose to swim. That evening we saw the flying foxes - they are also called fruit bats. They eat fruit and roost by the thousands. They were wonderful to watch flying out at night and skimming the water for a drink.

Let me stop at this point and discuss some of the mechanics of this Safari. We travel is a specially built 20 seater, 4 WD Mercedes coach followed by a 4 wheel drive Toyota Land Cruiser. All travel in the Cape York Peninsula is recommended to be with two 4 WD vehicles in order to have one to pull out the other or go to get help. Arthur drives the coach and we have the two guides Glenn and Jenny in the bus. Elaine and Russell follow along in the car behind - occasionally going on ahead in order to set up camp and/or meals. The coach stores all the food for the trip plus our bags, sleeping bags, tents, etc. It has a freezer as well as coolers and tables and cooking supplies. Arthur and Elaine have been doing this for 11 years. They are both in their 50’s and have recently started hiring an extra person to help - thus Russell, a friend of theirs for several years. He is about 48. They set up all the tents, do the driving, cook the meals, wash the dishes, pack up and unpack. Every night they use a compressor on the bus to blow up air mattresses that are quite comfortable. Our meals are always served very nicely and are very good - salads, fruit, vegetable, bread, lots of meat, and dessert. After we understood the system most of us helped out in various ways depending on the circumstances, doing dishes, packing, unpacking and so forth but those three did the most work while we were out birding. What made this camping trip so special was the kind of people Arthur and Elaine were. I have never met two such loving and giving people who were so pleasant tempered under sometimes rather difficult circumstances. They have been married for 35 years and still get a thrill from each other. They are strong Christians and they truly live out their faith not by preaching but by doing. We all agreed that knowing them was a highlight of our trip to Australia. Russell was also an interesting person - I found him to be an enigma. He is highly educated - he has a masters degree and is still going to school working on another degree. He used to work in Sydney for the news media - ABC but he couldn’t stand the stress and politics. He is a published author and has another book he hopes to publish soon titled “The Man Worthwhile”. It is based on an aborigine saying that is something like: “It’s easy enough to be pleasant when life flows along like a song. But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile when everything’s going dead wrong”. He is very intellectual but was quite happy fetching water for our showers, mucking out the pit toilet, packing and unpacking and was so pleasant to be around. He was interesting to talk with and we each had various conversations with him which were most interesting. He plays the didgeridoo (or didjeridu) and it was fascinating to watch him play. He taught Graham how to play. He told us a lot about various pieces of Australia history, including the story of the song Waltzing Matilda. He is currently taking a night class in Cairns and during December he will be in Sydney negotiating for the publication of his new book. But every so often he “goes bush” - just takes off and disappears for a while. I think he spends time in Central Australia. Anyway he made for some interesting times around the campfire at night.

Back to the activities:

October 30, Friday What a night - it rained all night heavily and our tents leaked. Nancy and I opened our umbrellas inside the tent to keep the rain off of us. We weren’t cold but we were wet. When I got up in the morning Gail was already up and using the dryer at the bathroom to dry her stuff so I added some clothes and a towel to get them dry. We went on the Daintree boat trip to see the birds which we did in between heavy rain - what an experience. After a late breakfast we loaded up and headed north - first going to Julaten and then taking the Peninsula Development Road up through Laura and Lakeland Downs where there had been gold a century ago. We stopped at the Palmer River Roadhouse. We did some birding along the way and camped at the rather basic Hahn River Caravan park - just one bathroom for all of us (21 including everyone). We had dinner and worked at drying out from the previous night. Had a dry sleep this night. Cape York Peninsula has a monsoonal climate with an average annual rainfall that exceeds 40 inches in most areas. It is wettest during December to April and mostly dry in September and October but La Niña changed that for us this year!

October 31, Saturday (I started the day with David’s Halloween card which he had left in my suitcase to be opened today.)We left early in the morning in order to go see the rare Golden-shouldered Parrots. We found them in a field that was covered with termite mounds - some 10 feet tall. The termite mounds have to be seen to be believed - they were everywhere you looked. The parrots were beautiful - they looked like they had been painted with crayola crayons - they were so vivid. The landscape here was very different - much dryer and a different eucalypt. There are around 600 species of eucalyptus trees in Australia. We had a long drive with varied scenery and many bird stops. We stopped at Musgrave - now a roadhouse and formerly a telegraph station and drove through Coen , a town of about 300 aborigines and 60 whites. The aborigines are divided by language groups more than anything else. Near by was the highest point of the Great Dividing range at 250 metres (about 800 feet). We also stopped at the Archer River Roadhouse - the turning point to go west to Weipa or east to the Iron Range. We crossed the Great Dividing Range to the east side and arrived at our camp site in the Iron Range National Park. This park contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforest in Australia and has unique birds - some seen no further south. Some of the birds are from New Guinea. Our campsite is very primitive. We have one pit toilet and are camped next to a shallow river (with a crocodile warning sign posted) that is the source of all our water. Russell rigged up a shower area with buckets that he kept filled with water. They were a bother to use especially in the dark! But the camp was nicely set up and we had a great dinner with good and plenty food. We had lots of good conversation and lots of laughs. We took a night walk and saw some tawny frogmouths which was fun. It is warm and humid. I slept like a log.

November 1, Sunday We were up at 5:30 and had toast and coffee and then birded until 9:00 when we came back for a bigger breakfast. By now it was quite warm and the birds were quiet but we continued birding until lunch. We have a Magnificent Riflebird nesting near our campsite and he has a whistle just like the whistle David uses to get my attention! Erie! Then we drove to the coast and the community of Portland Roads and Chilli Beach. Portland Roads is a small community of homes and a phone and nothing else. We met two sisters who where visiting their fishermen husbands along with a parcel of small children - they live there part of the year. Chilli Beach is a beautiful unspoiled beach - no one can live or camp there because the sand fleas are so bad. We spent some time there - some swam - some walked and picked sea shells - some sat and relaxed. There were coconuts and palms around the coast there. This area was a staging post for thousands of American troops during World War II - road between the airport and Portland Roads jetty was sealed and small patches of bitumen, old bridges and fuel-drum dumps remain along the road. Somewhere nearby Capt. William Bligh’s boat landed after the Bounty Mutiny in 1789. That night Russell told us the story of Waltzing Matilda - how Banjo Patterson wrote it and how the words have changed over the years so there are many versions and many different meaning attributed to the story. It was a pleasant evening.

November 2, Monday We birded in the Lockhart River Area where we saw several New Guinea birds. We stopped at an airport to get some water. There is a rule of water in Australia that you never refuse to share drinking water but that means if you are given water you must not waste it. Many of the places catch and store rain water. Central Australia has more bores(wells). Arthur took us to an the Lockhart River Aboriginal Community which was just a pleasant small town of small uniform size homes. There was a grocery store and we did go in and some people bought ice cream and even tee shirts. The kids were so friendly and all wanted to look through our binoculars. Some let us take photos of them and some not.

It was hard to know how much English they spoke as they didn’t speak much but they certainly understood us. Apparently it is hard to get the kids to go to school and stay in school. They are asserting themselves more but there are many problems still between the government, the aborigines and their requests for land and the farmers who have leased the land for five generations. Much of the leased land comes due in the year 2000 so much needs to be solved by then. This town is off limits to tourists but since Arthur knows most of them he is allowed to bring his tourists in there. Then we went back to camp - late as usual with a long line waiting to take a shower Nancy and I gave up and showered in the river - no crocs bothered us. Then after dinner Russell brought a friend of his to play for us. Neil Murray is a professional musician. Russell found out he was near by and invited him over - Russell has played in some of the same bands with him. Neil writes his own music and he told us the stories behind some of the songs which involved explaining some of the Aussie language as well as history. We really enjoyed the evening and most of us bought some of the CD’s and tapes he had bought with him. I am enjoying listening to the CD I bought. It was a lovely evening around the camp fire (we did not need a fire but Russell said with a fire you always have a friend and he also wanted to make us “billy tea”). But oh the night that was to come. It rained and it rained. Not only did all of our tents leak but Nancy and my tent was in a low spot and it flooded from the bottom. I woke up soaking wet. I had left some of my stuff on the bus but what I had in the tent was soaked. I tried piling up everything on the air mattress (which was about 4 inches thick) but then the water started coming up over the edge of the mattress - my side of the tent was lower than Nancy’s so I got it first. Well that was it. I chased out the frog that was drowning and gathered up my stuff and went to the bus. When I opened the door Marcia said “Welcome” - I asked if anyone else was in the bus and she said Russell was. Well neither one has taken over the back long seat so I did and spent the night there. I slept some but in the morning I was pretty unhappy being so wet with no way to dry out.

November 3 Tuesday It was interesting to see everyone up and discussing the night - no doubt about it we had it the worse. Nancy more or less slept through it because once I got out the water level lowered for her because my air mattress just floated on the top. She did find my clock floating in the water so for the rest of the trip part of the digital numbers were missing but it still worked all right. Well after I had Gail help me ring out my sleeping bag, towel, and so forth I went for a walk to regain my perspective and then the rest of the day we all were slap happy with giggles and jokes - especially on Russell - I think we embarrassed him about the night he spent with the two of us. Well we left after breakfast and I was glad because I was worried about the river flooding too much and us not getting across it but we did. We later heard from another couple of birders that by the next day our campground was completely flooded out. The rain did bring out some wonderful and beautiful birds especially the Eclectus Parrots and Bowerbirds.So we headed south and it rained off and on all day. We stopped at the Archer River Roadhouse and continued on to Musgrave, an old telegraph station, now a road house. Well as a treat they rented rooms for us in Musgrave at the caravan park. Each two people had a small room with two beds and nothing else but it was heavenly. We were inside and dry and could spread out our wet stuff on the floor to dry. We also hung clothes lines on the veranda and dried other stuff - wonderful. Russell spread out all the bags and towels to start them drying. Also in the back there were bath rooms - one each for men and women and each had two of each utility so we could have good showers and so forth without standing in line. Elaine cooked our usual delicious dinner on the lawn in front of our rooms and after showers we all were in seventh heaven. The sky was clear and we enjoyed good views of Jupiter and its moons and Saturn and its rings. Lovely evening. Good night’s sleep. Later Hala went out and asked some truck drivers (who were the rest of the clientele at the park) for matches (so she could light her mosquito coil) and their question was “What are you doing here? Why don’t you go to Cairns and have some fun?”They don’t see many travelers - especially Americans up there. Lots of people just don’t understand the fascination birds have for some people!

November 4 Wednesday We left early -as usual- and drove through Lakefield National Park - Queensland’s second largest National Park with extensive wetlands areas. There was great birding at the various billabongs. Every time we stopped Elaine and Russell had our stuff out drying. We forded one river (I think it was the Laura River and it was 3 feet on the road) that took a lot of testing to make sure we could do it. Doug walked across first, then Russell, then they came back and drove the Toyota back and forth before Arthur finally gunned the bus and made it across - it was really something. In addition to birds we also have seen plenty of Wallabies. We stopped at Old Laura Homestead - partly restored from the 1880’s. I think part of which appeals to me about the history of Australia is that aside from the prisoner aspect of the history much of the history is similar to the history of the West of our country - both of the pioneer settlers and the gold seekers. These people have always intrigued me. We arrived this evening in Cooktown on the coast where Elaine found room for us at the Paradise Caravan Park - another night under a roof. They cooked us a delicious dinner and we comfortably went to bed.

November 5 Thursday Happy Birthday to Me! Nancy’s gift to me was to wake up enough before her shower to wish me Happy Birthday! She also gave me a cute card and a water bottle and binoc cleaner. I also opened David's card that was in the suitcase with a do not open until 11/5 note written on it. Then the group sang Happy Birthday at breakfast! - at 6:30 in the morning! - after an hour of birding!! Then we walked into Cooktown and spent an hour there until the bus came and picked us up. Cooktown is named for Capt. James Cook who “discovered” the Great Barrier Reef by running his ship Endeavour onto it on June 11, 1770. He was forced into this sheltered river mouth for repairs. Cooktown came into being 103 years later as the port city for the new Palmer gold fields and had 35,000 people in the district before the end of a decade. It is must smaller and quieter now-much like many of California’s early gold towns. We went up the highest point where there is a lighthouse and enjoyed the views of the town and surrounding hills - so green and full of trees. Then we left taking the “scenic” coastal road south often referred to as the most beautiful road in the world. The rain forest - which is a remnant of the original Australia - goes right to the coast - only place in the world where the rain forest meets the coral reef. 13 of the 19 most primitive plants in the world are in this rain forest. This road was partly illegally built and just hurried through. In some areas it was at least a 30% grade and of course it was all a dirt road - as have been all the roads in Cape York. We stopped to visit North Queensland’s largest waterfall, Broomfield Falls. Arthur says it is impressive during the wet season if you can get to it. It was quite impressive despite this being the dry season. Well it finally happened - we had a flat tire - which would not have been a problem except that two nights ago in Musgrave the tire was flat and Arthur was not able to fix it so our spare was useless. So he jacked the bus up and removed the tire while we set up lunch and had cooked hot dogs and all the rest. We also did some birding and went down to the river as well. Meanwhile the problem was to get the tire off of the rim which involved 8 guys jumping up and down on it while balanced on rocks. Finally it was off and Russell took the tire back several miles in the Toyota to the aborigine village of Wujal Wujal to get it fixed. He was gone a long time so we did lots of birding and resting and talking to the cars that went past us. Problem was the tire was slashed from the inside - something to do with the problem when it gets wet it is more vulnerable to damage from rough and rocky roads and the other tire was unrepairable. Anyway when Russell got back the tire was put on and we drove about an hour stopping to pump it up every so often until we again heard the ssssss and Arthur said well that is it folks - he kept driving on the rim to get to the bottom of the hill and a safe pull off spot. Throughout all of this Everyone remained in good spirits and we just acted like it was a party for our entertainment. Arthur and Elaine handled it all with surface calm and we had every confidence in Arthur. In that country a person in charge has to be capable of doing everything and that he certainly was. Well we unpacked stuff and had a snack as it was getting around 5:00. At first Arthur was waiting for Elaine and Russell in the Toyota to catch up with us in order to go for help but finally he realized they had passed us when we had stopped at a lookout point. So Arthur and Glenn hitched a ride with some passing people - they met up with Elaine and Russell waiting at the car ferry across the river a short distance away. Well what finally happened is that Arthur went to his son’s home - about an hour away, Glenn went to where he had left his car and we had 3 or so cars shuttle us and our luggage to our planned for spot for that night. It was about 1.5 hours to Kingfisher Lodge in Julatten from the flat tire so we were very fortunate. I rode back with Arthur and Elaine’s son Stephen and because it was my birthday I got to ride in the front seat on the first shuttle! When I told Stephen what great parents he had he said “I know I am truly blessed.” That is indicative of the type of people they are. Anyway we had a delicious dinner that Arthur’s sister had cooked for us although it was a little late - 9:30 but we were all in happy spirits to have a nice bed to sleep in and good food and then surprise!! I had a birthday cake with candles and song. This was a birthday I will not soon forget - what a way to start the last year of my sixth decade - such happy and funny memories. I think what was most memorable is the fun and good spirits everyone had. We all went to bed for a good nights sleep and awoke in the morning to our usual breakfast set up by Elaine and there was the repaired bus. Arthur had gone back with his son to his home and got two tires - put one on the bus and the other as the spare, cleaned up what he could - got some sleep and was back in good spirits ready for another adventure! Arthur and Elaine had gotten locked out of their house so they had to sleep in their church.

November 6 Friday. Up at dawn to go look for the platypus. Nancy and I had interesting accommodations - apparently they were overbooked and we were so late in arriving - we had the caretakers unit up over the office. We each had a room that was totally empty except for a bed (I had some leggos and children’s books in my closet) and then we had a bathroom in between us. A few people had to have even more spartan rooms with a shared bath but the rest had the standard housekeeping units. But of course we didn’t do much housekeeping since Arthur and Elaine did the cooking for us. Anyway we sat and waited for the platypus to put on a show but all we could see was the outline of the animal with the nose poking up occasionally. Apparently they are very shy creatures. But it was nice to hear and see all the birds coming out at dawn. Then we drove to Mt.Lewis a World Heritage area and saw the Golden Bowerbird. We then birded around the Lodge and then went to Mt.Molloy for some dry birding. This area is call the Atherton Tablelands. Had a great dinner and I then just relaxed and read instead of night birding.

November 7 Saturday Drove to Mareeba going through Crater Lake National Park, Lake Eachem, (Eachem National Park) Lake Beerhen where there were Red Cedar Trees - prized for furniture making. They are huge trees and very red. Fortunately some have been saved as artifacts and we visited the largest accessible red cedar tree in all of Australia. We stopped at a private campground to visit the rock wallabies live there. These little animals hop around the rocks like mountain goats - these were very used to humans and we enjoyed watching them. We said goodbye to Glenn and Jeannie Holmes. He turned out to be an ok guy after he got used to us and loosened up a bit. We continued on to Cairns and arrived at the Fig Tree about 6:00. We picked up our left and dry luggage, went out to dinner and started one load of laundry going to bed in luxury. We probably drove close to 1000 miles in Cape York - mostly on dirt roads.

November 8 Sunday A free day! Gail wanted us to go birding early in the morning on the Esplanade but we wanted to sleep in and shop. Sure enough she was out birding at dawn - she has more energy than anyone I know. I did wake up at 5 AM having been use to early morning arising for the past two weeks and finally at 6:30 I got up and did our laundry so we wouldn’t have to go into town to do it. I just barely beat the crowd to the one washing machine. After a leisurely breakfast we walked to the Pier passing the Esplanade on the way and seeing a few new birds out there. The Pier was a lovely place to shop and we bought all the souvenirs we were looking for. I bought David some sun glasses and a great hat plus a few books and postcards. The clerks were all so friendly - they asked us where we were going - where we had been - were we having a good time and so forth. I found a lovely little book with the poems of Banjo Patterson - they are fun to read. After lunch we came back to the hotel for a short rest. Then Arthur picked us up and drove us to the Botanical Garden which includes a boardwalk traversing a remnant patch of Lowland Swamp Rainforest which used to be common in the Cairns area. It was very interesting and enjoyable and Arthur really enjoyed showing us around. Then as we got ready to go back to the hotel - car trouble again! This time the battery wasn’t working. He had some trouble and had rewired things but now the engine wouldn’t start. So there Arthur was once again working on the engine - only this time he had clean clothes on and was dressed up for dinner. We still had time to go to the Didgeridoo shop - one where Russell use to work. Some of the group wanted to buy one and he helped them pick one out. It is amazing how different each one sounds - It is amazing watching him play them as he uses circular breathing which means he never has to stop and take a deep breath. We finally got back to the hotel were Elaine was waiting for us, washed Arthur's shirt, and then they took us to Charley’s for dinner. It was an all you can eat buffet and a lot of fun and good food. After dinner he drove us up the highest hill to show us the city at night - very pretty. Then back to the hotel where we packed and had a good nights sleep.

November 9, Monday Arthur, Elaine, and Russell drove us to the airport where we said our sad goodbyes. I doubt if we will see Arthur and Elaine again although we might see Russell if his book gets published in the US and he comes on a book tour. But even if we ever see them again it will never be the same. I felt like I was saying goodbye to family. Well we got on Ansett and flew to Alice Springs, changed planes and flew to Ayers Rock (Uluru). We were picked up by our outfitter and driven to Emu Walk Apartments in Yulara, the village for the national park, 20 km from Uluru National Park and 53 km from Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). We had very nice accommodations - two bedrooms, living room, bathroom with washer and dryer, dinning room, and kitchen. We shared with Doug and Gail. We had lots more room than we needed for the time we spent indoors. We did a little shopping at the center near our apartment and had a lite lunch from the grocery store. About 3:00 two four wheel drive vehicles arrived for us - apologizing for being late because they had a flat tire! You can imagine the groans from our group. They took us on a four hour ride on the Curtin Springs Cattle Station (near Muga Park) looking for Red Kangaroos (we did not see any although some people saw an Euro - a type of Kangaroo.). But we got to see the so called outback. It was far greener than usual as they have had more rain then they have had for the past 40 years. Even though they get rain (250 mm average a year) the temperatures of 130 degrees rapidly evaporate the surface water. This station has a third rock, Conner Mountain, that is in line with Uluru and Kata Tjuta. They have some 2000 head of sheep on the station of 1.2 million acres. We had dinner - steak and etc at the station, and then got back about 10 that night.

November 10, Tuesday We got up early (4 AM) in order to go out to the Olgas and be there was sunrise. It was very impressive and nice and quiet. We were the only people there. We had box breakfasts which we ate there and just sat for a while enjoying the sights. The Olgas are the same type of rocks as Ayers Rock but have several “heads” joined together. After sunrise we walked around them enjoying the scenery and the birds. We got back to our apartment in time to have lunch together and then we had some free time for naps and shopping. Bruce went to the water department (he works for the water department in Denver) and found how they handle water. There are three pipes to the complex, one is less treated for the toilets, one is fully treated for the rest of the houses, and a third of partially treated water is for all landscape and outdoors watering. A very efficient system. At 5:00 we went out to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and walked about 1/4 of the distance around and then enjoyed the sunset view - it was really lovely. This area was deeded to local Aborigines in 1985 and they in turn leased it back as Uluru National Park. They each receive a percentage of the park admission fee but it doesn’t amount to much about $8000 per year in a lump sum. They are interested in protecting their sacred sites in the area. There are about 400,000 visitors per year to the park.

November 11, Wednesday Started my day at 4:30 by opening the card David had left for me and I laughed out loud. I had to share it with people it was so funny - a kangaroo laying on its side. Then we left for sunrise at Ayers Rock. What a joke that was. I quickly determined it was not going to be a spiritual experience with some 2000 people there - many arriving in double decker tour buses - all with identical folding stools and box breakfasts. Many tourists were mostly concerned with taking photos of themselves with Ayers Rock in the background. It really became for me just a people watching experience - not the same as yesterday’s sunrise at all. But then we left and our guide took us on another walk about Ayers Rock in a different area from the hike of last night and told us some of the dreaming time stories and some of the history of the people. We also went to the Maruku Cultural Center which explains some of the stories of the people and also has some arts and crafts of the Anangu culture. Then back to the hotel to check out at 10:30 and then we had an hour for shopping (I had more time for shopping on this trip than I ever had on any other bird trip I’ve been on!). At 11:00 we went into the grocery store and noticed the lights were off and people were quiet. They had two minutes of silence with something be said on the radio in memory of Memorial Day. I think this was nation wide. At 11:30 the bus arrived to take us to the airport where we flew to Alice Springs, then to Sydney then to Adelaide where we had to repack in order to lighten our luggage as we were limited to 25 pounds on the Emu flight to Kangaroo Island. (How about an airline named after a flightless bird!) What a surprise I had when we boarded. We were divided into two groups as we were taken over in nine passenger airplanes, a Cessna and a Piper. I have never been on such a small plane and I can’t say I liked it. We flew over in the dark and back in the day light and I can’t say which I liked least. The pilot checks in and weighs out luggage, loads it on the plane, takes our tickets, helps us aboard, stows our carryons, gives us the safety talk, flies the plane and then unloads it when we land. On the way back she even drove our luggage to the next airport while we walked over. It is really a small operation. We checked into the Ozone Hotel in Kingscote on Kangaroo Island and went to bed exhausted from our long flights.

November 12, Thursday Craig Wickham is the resident naturalist of Kangaroo Island and he also has another guide working for him, Ken Grinter who took us around the eastern half of the Island. Kangaroo Island is 90 miles by 35 miles and is the third largest island in Australia. 32% of the island is conserved and there are no introduced rabbits and foxes so much wildlife survives here that doesn’t elsewhere. We went to a Sea Lion Beach and other areas. Saw birds and kangaroos. It is cool here and very green. Lots of sheep farming on this island - something like 4000 people and 1.3 million sheep. Much of this island looks like a green Central Valley in California. We had a very elegant lunch cooked by a trained chef. We had Calamari and King George Whiting which were barbecued and served with several delicious salads and red and white wines which were excellent. We also had sheep cheese which was very good. The chef, Tony was trained in Adelaide which has an internationally famous culinary academy. He has a rather new restaurant in Kingscote and we may get to go to it tomorrow night for dinner, instead of eating at the hotel. After lunch we took a long hike down a steep hill in Lathami Conservation Park seeing lots of Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Echidnas. That evening we went down to the ocean shore (Our hotel is right on the ocean front) to see the Little Penguins (sometimes called Fairy Penguins) come ashore. They are the smallest penguins and so cute.

November 13, Friday Some of us got up early for birding before breakfast. Craig took us to some shoreline places plus another spot on private land where he is working with the college in Adelaide to do some study and research. We saw some great birds including good looks at the Yellow-tailed Back Cockatoo which I had missed yesterday.Then back to breakfast and then a tour of the west side of the island to Flinders Chase National Park and Kelly Hill Conservation Park with again lots of Kangaroos and Koalas. The Koalas were actually introduced to this island in the 1920’s and they have become a pest because they are killing the trees. The island can only support about 2000 and there are currently 5000. Because shooting the surplus would not be politically well received there is an effort to sterilize as many as possible and so far they have done about 2000. But all of this is just a drop in the bucket and they don’t know if they can save the trees and if they don’t they will loose the Koalas also. We went to one place where there were lots of Koalas and they are so cute. There were babies of all sizes, some still in the pouch, some climbing in and out, some of the back of mom, some sleeping and some climbing and eating. It was fun to watch them and to hear them. After another hike in Flinders Chase National Park we had a picnic lunch and then went to see the fur seals out at the lighthouse at Cape du Couedic. Fortunately they were way below where we were as I remember well being chased by fur seals in Antarctica. The rocks along the shoreline where stupendous and we enjoyed looking at them even though by now it was cold. The trail to see the fur seals led to a vantage point for Admiral’s Arch - a huge natural arch under the cape. We were also at a place called Remarkable Rocks Park which are huge granite boulders sitting up on a vista over the southern oceans that had been carved by water and sand over the eons into remarkable shapes. On the way back the radiator was too hot so we had to stop to check out the situation. “This isn’t funny anymore!” We were too far out for Ken’s radio to work but eventually someone came by and drove him to the light house where there was a phone and water. He phoned Craig who planned to send a bus out for us but after Ken came back with water he found that the radiator hose was clogged with grass and dirt and after cleaning it out we were on our way to dinner - only an hour late! We ate at The Cafe, Tony’s restaurant and had the most wonderful meal. They kept bring out huge platters full of, crab, lobster, fish, chicken, salad, vegetables - all of it excellent - certainly the best meal of the trip. It was a lot of fun and very good. Another late night but well worth it.

November 14, Saturday. Left Kangaroo Island at 8 AM in the nine passenger plane on Emu airlines - picked up our left luggage in Adelaide - flew to Melbourne on Ansett and then to Tasmania via Kendall airlines. The agent laughed when I told him I wanted a window seat - most seats are window seats. We were on a 30 passenger plane that was really cramped. It was like the early pictures of flying single seats and some with two seats. There was one attendant and she served us all a boxed lunch of sandwiches and drinks. 6 hours after leaving Kangaroo island we were on Tasmania at Wynyard Airport near Burnie on the North/west side of the island. Nick Mooney was our guide and Ray our bus driver. Nick has been a wildlife officer in Tasmania for many years and is responsible for answering reports of the Thylacine (Tasmania Wolf) - it is assumed to be extinct for the last 62 years. He only leads a few tours a year and does it to raise money to help with his raptor research. We headed west and stopped at a farmers home. Andrew Nichols has been here from England for about 15-20 years and is a keen birder. He has been buying up Eucalypt forests around his farm to preserve them for the birds. On his farm he raises poppies - for medical opium purposes- a highly controlled crop, he also grows eucalypts for paper, grain, and raises chickens. He took us on a long a muddy hike through various habitats and we saw lots of birds and a variety of trees. Tasmania is a remnant of what Australia was like during the early days of Gondwana. It is in the southern oceans and latitude of the the “roaring 40’s” with appropriate climate. It was cool, and very green. Then we drove to Stanley - on the tip of the Peninsula on the coast. We had a nice room looking out on the ocean - excellent dinner in the lodge and then made a quick dash to go to the top of the “Nut” before dark. The nut is a rock that is on the tip of the peninsula, 152 metres (about 500 feet) high. It is formed from solidified lava and estimated to be 13 million years old. We took a chair lift up to the top (I’ve never been on one of those before so that was an experience.) We were up there to watch the shearwaters come in to their burrow nests but they didn’t arrive. It was too still for them - they need wind for a lift. So we had a walk down the trail - in the dark - not my favorite time to be out hiking. We then went to see the Little Penguins coming in for the night.

November 15, Sunday. Slept in today until 8:00 for breakfast. Then we had a quick shopping trip in Stanley, a small English village. Most of the homes on Tasmania look like an English cottage and all have beautiful gardens. Then on to a swamp where we tramped through muddy fields in order to see a Sea Eagle (Australia’s largest raptor -6 feet wing span, 3 feet body length) on a nest. It was very impressive. We drove to the west coast crossing the Arthur river where we had lunch then on to a Sheep Ranch for dinner and the Tasmanian Devils. On the way we saw a Mother Wombat with her baby cross the road - good looks. We eventually arrived at Woolnorth. This land is at the most northwest corner of Tasmania. The ranch is part of the Van Diemen’s Land Company which was founded in 1825 as a land grant from the King of England. This is mostly a sheep farm but they do some barbecues for tourists. The farm manager’s home has been converted for tourists like us who come for dinner and the wildlife. We had the usual barbecued dinner, steak, hamburgers, sausage, and a selection of good salads with wine and coffee, and canned fruit for dessert. We wandered around the home - some interesting artifacts from the early sheep raising days. About dark - 9:00 we set up ourselves in a dark room behind the windows and sat quietly waiting for the devils. They had put out a dead wallaby near the house for a lure but they are incredibly skittish. First we had two Spotted-tail Quoll arrive. They are beautiful and were very nervous. Finally the first Devil arrived. It was fun to watch him for a while - but it gets pretty gruesome. Eventually other devils arrived for a total of 4 or so. They make lots of noise while eating and they become noticeably fat at they feed. They often eat only every couple of days. They mostly scavenge but they will hunt also, especially weak or dying animals. They are Tasmania’s dominant native predator and survive because there are no dingoes or foxes on the island. The authorities have to work very hard to keep out foxes which can and have arrived via ships. Eventually we left and drove the hour back to Stanley where we were staying. We saw possums along the road on the way back so it was a good mammal night.

November 16, Monday Drove to the east coast town of Bicheno some 400 km (250 miles). It took all day as we made lots of stops for animals and birds along the way. We saw a platypus very well - I was on a bridge looking down so I could really see the oddly made animal well. We also saw echidna up close as well as another sea eagle. We drove through eucalypt forests much that looked very like driving around the areas of California where we have eucalypt growing in the coastal mountains. We were in the Liffey Valley and went to the Liffey Valley Fernery which was closed but Nick’s friend gave him the key so we could have lunch there and enjoy the flowers and the birds. It was a lovely place. Tasmania continues to look very English in the farms and small villages. We drove east, then south, via Quonby, Launceston, Campbell Towns then east again along the Great Oyster Bay on the way to Bicheno where we have very luxurious apartments again right on the coast across from Diamond Island.

November 17, Tuesday This place too has a penguin rookery and we could hear them loudly braying during the night. I got up at 4:00 in the morning to watch them go back to the sea. Linda and Bruce also were out at that hour. We saw a few go back to the ocean and we heard lots more. Then we saw the sun rise - although I have seen it rise on other mornings over the ocean - it was always from the hotel window and there is something special about being outside with a beautiful sunrise. After a short beach walk I went back to bed until 7:30 or so. We had our usual breakfast of cereal and toast and then loaded up and headed for Hobart.driving south along the great oyster bay and then west. At noon we had hail - Tasmania is know for having four seasons of weather each day and it certainly has lived up to that reputation. Later on this day we had snow! We had a one hour stop for shopping in Hobart. As usual I bought another book . Then we drove up to Mt. Wellington - the highest point in the area at about 1300 metres (about 4200 feet). It was extremely windy up there but a great view. Then we headed back through Hobart towards the Tasman Peninsula stopping at Nick’s house so we could see the Peregrine Falcons nesting there. Then on to Eaglehawk Neck and the Luffra Hotel- again on the coast. We were right next to the Tessellated Pavement which is a very interesting natural rock formation. I wouldn’t believe it was natural if I wasn’t told so - it looks like a stone mason cut squares of rock and carefully laid them to make a flat road. This is along the coast. The food at this hotel was not very good - too greasy but we have had really good food most places on this trip.

November 18, Wednesday About half of us went on a pelagic trip this morning. We were on a 41 foot Steber built fishing boat (named Pauletta). It was smaller than any other boat I’ve been on for a pelagic trip. I was the only one who didn’t take anything and Gail and I were the only ones who weren’t sick at all and enjoyed lunch. We went out 28 miles to the continental reef and had great birds, albatrosses, shearwaters, and petrels, and prions very close to us. Doug was going crazy with the photos. It was a beautiful day and clear and reasonably calm. The trip near shore was also beautiful as the cliffs are shear and high with lots of caves - I could just imagine pirates hiding out in them. We later went in the bus to the tops of the cliffs for a view from there. Then we had our farewell dinner with out much fanfare. I think we are ready to go home. Packing was a joke. I threw away so much stuff I thought I’d have lots of room but with all the books and hats and so forth I bought I was packed to the gills - sure was glad of my suitcase on wheels.

November 19, Thursday Time to go home but we don’t leave until afternoon so first we drop off some shoppers in Hobart and seven of us true birders go looking for the Forty-spotted Pardalote which we found. Then to the airport where we checked in and then went out and found two more species of parrots before we said our goodbyes and went to the boarding gate. We flew from Hobart to Melbourne (one hour) then another hour and another plane to Sydney where we said good bye to Hala and Don and Mary who were staying a few extra days. Then on the way to the boarding gate for the flight to LA we felt since we had no bus/transportation troubles in Tasmania we thought our jinx was over but it was not to be. Our flight was delayed due to mechanical problems. Our flight that was supposed to leave Sydney at 7:00 ended up leaving at 10:00 PM. They did give us a voucher for dinner so we had greasy airport food but at least got a glass of wine and had a nice visit with a native Australian who was going to LA also. Also I discovered that the agent in Tasmania had accidentally pulled my LA to SF ticket so the Qantas agent made arrangements about that. She promised me an agent would meet me in LA with a voucher for the lost ticket. Well finally we boarded and one piece of luck - there were only 200 passengers on a 400 passenger plan so we each had plenty of room. I had three seats to myself so I laid down and went to sleep. Also I could drink as much water as I wanted since I didn’t have to climb over people, so by the time we arrived in LA (14 hours later) I felt pretty good. Nancy and I were also lucky in that our LA to SF flight on Reno Air had been changed previously so the four hour layover we originally had meant we didn’t miss our flight like everyone else did. Someone from Qantas was waiting for me and gave me a ticket voucher - we got through customs - hauled our suitcases up the ramp (thank goodness for the wheels) loaded them onto the conveyor belt and went and got our boarding passes for Reno Air. They had a little trouble with my voucher but finally figured it out until I tried to board and then that agent said I needed a ticket and I patiently told him my ticket was in Hobart and finally they let me on. Sure is a difference in personal for different companies. Every Qantas person I have dealt with in the past six months has been pleasant, efficient and knowledgeable. But I have had several difficult dealings with Reno air personal - on the phone and otherwise. Interesting if nothing else. Finally at 7:00 PM I arrived in SF (3 hours before I left Sydney!) feeling like a movie as I run down the ramp and David runs up to greet each other. Great to travel - great to be home. Ah the best of both worlds. It is hard to figure how many miles we traveled - probably about 2000 slow miles by bus and or car. LA to Sydney is about 7200 miles and Sydney to Alice Springs some 1000 miles so I estimate we flew some 18000 miles all total. Great trip.