I've got the whole of May off and was thinking of doing a bit of travelling. I think you've just inspired me to take a trip over to the west!
I'll be adding to this frequently, so please be patient...there's just so much to put into words...!
For the duration of 2006, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend it travelling the world. After 6 months spent in India and SE Asia, we finally left the melting pot that is Bangkok and arrived very tired and weary in Perth, Western Australia on June 1st. Now, remember that Australians (especially those here out west) are bureaucratic sticklers... so thusly we were pulled over by customs and given the usual 3rd degree and Dawn’s bag was rifled through and swabbed. No problem there we thought, until the bored-looking customs guy came back saying it had tested positive for cocaine.....eek! I could almost hear those latex gloves snapping! After consulting with a colleague he decided that the antibiotics in her bag had given the machine a false reading...hmmmmm not convinced - I think they really were that bored and wanted to give us a fright. It worked! So after being told off for not declaring a Snicker’s bar, the wooden beads I was wearing and my insulin we were finally allowed in...Happy birthday Dawn!
Despite this, I truly love Australia, and being back filled me with a huge sense of excitement at our upcoming adventure. We spent the next two weeks based at the Rainbow Inn, a friendly backpacker’s just out of the city and slowly acclimatized. The weather was gorgeous – blue skies, not too hot during the day and quite chilly at night, perfect! We walked in and out of the city most days, bought road maps, supplies, got warned for jaywalking (!) by a jobbing copper on an empty road (this was quite laughable as we’d just come from Phnom Penh where crossing the road was akin to playing Frogger..!) and spent afternoons chilling in Hyde Park, getting the birdlist up and started with the commoner birds: Willie-Wags, raucous flocks of gaudy Rainbow Lorikeets, Western Ringnecks, Little Corellas, Black Swans, Silvereyes, Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Shelducks, Silver Gulls, Australian Magpies and Ravens, Red Wattlebirds, New Holland and Singing Honeyeaters and the striking Magpie-Lark. After constant searching we finally bought ourselves a Mitsubishi Pajero 4WD for AU$4000, complete with a double-bed in the back and all the camping supplies we could need, from a great couple just finishing their trip round Oz. We had already decided that we were going to buy a car and re-sell it at the end of our travels as it meant we should be able to recoup some of the costs, whereas a hire car, although it has no repair costs, is money gone. We took it to be checked out by a recommended garage and found that it needed a new head gasket, so we had the AU$2000 of work it needed knocked off the price which left the vendor, Max, totally gutted. We were given a hire-van by the garage and used it to visit Monger and Herdsman’s Lakes and to show Dawn the splendour of King’s Park.
These visits boosted the list and gave me my first lifers on the continent – fabulously odd-looking Pink-eared Ducks, confiding Black-fronted Dotterels and Little Grassbird at Lake Monger. Also seen here were the bizarre Musk Ducks in full display, their weird submarine-like bings echoing round the lake as they dropped their heads, raised their tails, flicked their wings and kicked their legs. Australian Hobby chasing Tree Martins and Welcome Swallows, Whistling Kite and Australasian Harrier started the raptor list, whilst Australian Pelicans always seemed so out of pace in this urban setting. Western Swamphens, Dusky Moorhens, Blue-billed Ducks, Australian Shovelers, Hoary-headed and Australasian Grebes, Grey Teal, Hardheads, Australasian Darters all mingled with more familiar birds from home like Coots and Great-crested Grebes.
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An early-morning visit to Herdsman’s Lake added Nankeen Night-Heron, White and Straw-necked Ibis and Western Gerygone, whilst an evening visit gave us a huge flock of Little Corellas and our first Galahs of the trip. King’s Park was, as always, a great place to spend time. Being enjoyed by hundreds of people did nothing to deter the birds, with Mistletoebird, Rufous Whistler, White-cheeked Honeyeater, Western Thornbill, Grey Fantail, Spotted Pardalote, Weebill, gorgeous Common Bronzewings that almost glowed as the sunlight caught that iridescence on their wings, and that iconic Aussie bird, the Laughing Kookaburra all showing well. As we ate lunch, cocky Magpies and a Grey Butcherbird fed from our hands or sat on our legs waiting for another morsel. The wonderful views out across this charismatic city and the poignant war memorials really do make this park a special place.
A day trip to Rottnest Island was planned and didn’t disappoint. Brown Skuas, Arctic Terns and Australasian Gannets were logged on the way out, with Bottlenose Dolphins around the boat too. We leisurely walked round the island, with a gorgeous flock of 52 Banded Stilts present on the saltpans with the more common White-headeds. Other waders included Red-capped Plovers, Red-necked Stints alongside more familiar Curlew Sands and Turnstones. Noisy Greater Crested and Caspian Terns were busy sorting nesting sites here and a walk across the golf course gave Dawn her first adorable Quokkas and Blue-tongued Skinks, and me Banded Lapwings and Pheasant (!) We wandered along the coast with its crystal waters (but a bit too chilly for a dip!) and looked back towards Perth, its highrises looking so isolated on the horizon. Sacred Kingfishers, White-browed Scrubwrens, Black-faced Cuckooshrikes and the local race of Singing Honeyeater were seen in the woods and back at the café, the resident Indian Peafowl were seen as they, along with the gulls, ravens and Quokkas, kept a beady eye open for any scraps left lying around.
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During this time we outlined our basic plan: to head southwest towards Albany, then come back up through Perth to give us the chance to iron-out any problems with the car, and then head all the way around the top and down again to Melbourne. The 14th arrived all too quickly so we stocked up and packed our newly-repaired jeep – christened the Moomin due to her colouring and strange noises - and set off in our new ‘home’ on our epic journey around this awesome continent, with a mixture of apprehension and unbridled excitement at what was to come. And what a trip it was gonna be....
Great opening account BBB! I love the pic of the displaying Musk Duck and the full-on Bluetongue.
I've got the whole of May off and was thinking of doing a bit of travelling. I think you've just inspired me to take a trip over to the west!
Do it Chowchilla - it's a fab country you've got over there!
We drove south out of Perth via a quick stop at Birds WA for a birdcall cd and Bibra Lake which gave good views of Australasian Spotted Crake, Yellow-billed Spoonbills, a couple of Long-billed Corellas seemingly paired with Littles and all the usual waterbirds. We headed toward Rockingham and stopped at Penguin Island, which again was closed for the breeding season so I’m still penguin-less! We followed Hwy1 southwards stopping at a few places along the way: saw the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere at Busselton (but being a tightass didn’t pay to walk out onto it!), had lunch at Yalgorup NP where I nearly peed on an irate Blue-tongue and saw Inland Thornbill, Dusky Woodswallows and startled a couple of Emus, causing them to crash back into the bush.
Having loads of time and total freedom of travel meant we could meander off the roads whenever we felt like it, and we did just that seeing a sign for the scenic route through Australind. This was a good choice as the fields gave us Elegant Parrots, Black-faced Woodswallows, Crested Pigeons, ibises, confiding Sacred Kingfishers and dainty groups of Yellow-rumped Thornbills hopping in the grasses. Dawn also saw her first (live) Western Grey Kangaroo – bizarrely in a children’s play area! The cd’s that had come with the car were now fast becoming annoying, the radio was sporadic at best and Dawn was for some reason getting bored of listening to bird calls....
We made out way down through the Margaret River, reaching Augusta after dark and found a nice little carpark on the harbourside, complete with toilets and a covered picnic area. We’d bought a free camping atlas in Perth which was a godsend, showing all the places in the country where it’s legal to stay overnight, whether they’re free or not and the facilities each site has. We used our groovy camping gas hobs to cook up some pasta and sauce (our staple diet for the next 6 months!) and settled into the car to sleep. It was actually very snug and comfortable inside and lent the whole trip a more gritty air as this was now our home and everything we owned was inside it. The only downside to this way of travelling is that after an argument (and trust me there were lots!!) you can’t escape anywhere further than the front seats.....
The 15th found us at Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, the weather was sunny with a strong wind. Time for some seawatching! It didn’t take long to find my first albatross – a superb Yellow-nosed! Wow, fantastic! After about an hour I’d seen at least 8 of these, 10 Shy and 2 Black-broweds...not bad at all! Sooty Oystercatchers fed on the rocks below, Australian Pipits and Nankeen Kestrels were seen around the buildings and a couple of Rock Parrots flew along the coastal heath. Went up to Skippy Rock, took the obligatory photos and saw Splendid Fairywrens and White-breasted Robins in the vegetation. Tried in vain to see Southern Right Whales in Flinder’s Bay but to no avail.
The 16th found us at the impressive Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk. This was a bit different to the treetop walk in Taman Negara we’d down a couple of months previous I can tell ya! Amazing views from the 40m high-point and a great, informative walk through (literally in some cases!) the karri trees below. Red-winged Fairywrens bounded under our car back in the carpark, looking like little balls with legs! Unfortunately the males all seemed to be in eclipse down here. We continued eastwards stopping at Conspicuous Cliffs and the gorgeous similarly-named beach below, but conspicuous by their absence were those whales again...
We finally reached Albany, found a Woolworth’s to buy more food and headed down into Torndurrup NP and walked out to ‘the Gap’ and the ‘Natural Bridge’ which overlook the roiling waters of the southern oceans. Apparently, the rocks on this part of the coast have their exact matches down on the Antarctic one!
The next couple of days were spent visiting Little Beach at Two People’s Bay. We arrived very early in the morning and after parking up had heard all 3 of the target birds. Funnily enough, the Noisy Scrub-birds (no misnomer there!) were the easiest to see – we had great views of a pair dashing across the path ahead of us. They were calling either side of the path to each other so we hunkered down and waited for them to cross. Excellent but brief views, but that call is astounding. The Western Bristlebird was seen twice in short flights and called so close near to the toilets but never did show properly. Western Whipbird was actually the hardest to see, but we managed great views on the last day. Other goodies here included a great Southern Emu-wren, Shy Hylacolas, Spotted Harrier, Western Spinebills and a fine Wedgie. The beach itself is gorgeous, white sands lapped by the turquoise waters and not a person about.
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We also visited Cheyne’s Beach where we heard more scrub-birds and saw a couple of Red-eared Firetails, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Brown Falcon, Western Wattlebirds and Red-crowned Parrot. I definitely preferred Little Beach as this place was a lot busier. Stops at the bridge on the Lower Kalgan River gave us Chestnut Teal and Crested Bellbird.
We headed back northwards and stopped for a night at the Stirling Ranges Retreat as our cameras and batteries needed recharging. This place was great, the owner Ayleen made us feel most welcome and the huge kitchen was a change from our cooking stoves. The kookaburras made sure of not sleeping in too! It also has the added bonus of Einstein – its resident Owlet-Nightjar! He sat out on the front of his hole in the tree next to the kitchen watching the world go by and was the only one I saw all trip.
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A walk round the grounds gave the list a boost: Regent Parrot, Restless Fly, Yellow-plumed Honeys, Grey Shrike-Thrushes, busy flocks of Purple-crowned Lorikeets, Grey Currawongs, Southern Boobook and the following morning, best of all, 3 Western Shrike-Tits watched foraging in the gums.
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We left and drove through the Stirling Ranges along the Red Gum Trail, which was dusty and a little corrugated at times but it felt like the real Oz, all red dirt and gum trees. The wind was pretty strong, but a few stops gave us a couple of ticks: Yellow-throated Miner and Tawny-crowned Honeyeater. Fought against an ever-increasing wind that had dust swirling across the road along with a few tumbleweeds and a few fires started to burn back crops caused swathes of blinding smoke to billow across the road too. Stopped in Narrogin to buy a new cd (yeay!) and we finally ended up in Dryandra NP and spent a couple of days exploring. We stayed at the Congelin campground where cooking was fun with the added help from the local Possums that would actually climb up your leg to see if there was anything going spare, and then just walk over everything to make sure! At night the little buggers would climb up on the roof and go through everything on the rack too...!
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We did a few of the walks and a couple of night-drives and picked up Spotted Nightjar, Bush Thick-knee, White-browed Babbler, an excellent Varied Sitella, understated Jacky-Winters, Blue-breasted Fairywrens, Golden Whistler, Scarlet, Red-capped and Western Yellow Robins, Rufous Treecreepers and a Painted Buttonquail. On the mammal front we saw the amazing Short-beaked Echidna, a Numbat and a Banded Hare-Wallaby.
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We left on the 21st and headed back into Perth, stocked up on food from Woolworths (dammit they were right about how good Vegemite tastes!), refuelled, had a last lunch at Hyde Park then bade a fond farewell to Perth as we got onto the Brand Hwy and began our trip northwards...