Ostensibly a trip to see our new grand-daughter, I managed to sneak in quite a bit of birding this time around, including three nights at O'Reilly's, and the following report summarises the highlights.
We flew with Cathay Pacific, and I can thoroughly recommend them - my wife requires assistance, and this was amply provided throughout (albeit with a little prompting on the return journey, which is typical in our experience); seats were as comfortable as economy can be, and the food was of a high standard. The price was also very reasonable, at just under £700 each.
Car hire was via Red Spot. The car itself worked fine, but was clearly "well-used" and I had to notify many scratches/dents not highlighted in the initial paperwork; odometer was showing over 80k km, so not too surprising that it was not in pristine condition. Subject to any arguments about extra charges (had to do a key drop, so cost not yet finalised) this was the cheapest option, at just over AU1,000$ for 3 weeks.
Accommodation was mostly with the kids, but also stayed at O'Reilly's and Hervey Bay. O'Reilly's is rather pricey, but you can book last-minute in the two weeks prior to your stay (or just turn up) and save about 35%. When I was there, the place was practically empty, and had I known about the savings I could have delayed booking, or booked then cancelled and re-booked (no penalty if just over 2 weeks to go before your holiday). At Hervey Bay we stayed at Sanctuary Lakes, Urangan - nice setting, and reasonable price, but rather "tired" accommodation, probably due to the fact that the owner had just sold the business.
The following report covers three main "areas" - O'Reilly's, Hervey Bay and Brisbane. It may take a while to compile - jetlag on the return leg seems to be quite a problem, and despite having been back for 3 days, I still feel quite spaced-out!
We left the UK on Wed 25.8 and arrived in Brisbane just before midnight on Thu 26.8, with a 7 hour stop in Hong Kong bringing no birds, just hundreds of dragonflies around the terminal. The next few days were spent with family, just a few early morning birding forays, details in the next section. Birding "proper" started at 6am on Tue 31.8, when I headed off for Lamington NP and O'Reilly's for some time alone!
A couple of en-route stops, at Fred Bucholtz Park (Latham's Snipe, Royal Spoonbill etc) and Canungra Creek (White-headed Pigeon, but no Azure Kingfisher), and a long, winding road to the retreat, found me at O'Reilly's by about 10am. As I wasn't due to check in until early afternoon, I decided to park up in the far corner of the visitor's car park and eat my lunch. I managed one bite of my cheese roll before a Regent Bowerbird landed upon it, and within a few seconds I was under attack by them! Satin Bowerbirds were also seen in the same area, Brush-Turkeys roamed the car park, and both White-browed and Yellow-throated Scrubwren hopped around my feet, with Red-necked Pademelons (wallabys) more or less oblivious to my presence.
O'Reilly's is to all intents and purposes a hotel in the middle of a rainforest. Accommodation ranges from relatively basic to quite plush, and food is pricey, but the location is superb. There are many well-marked trails leading from the resort, and a three-night visit is nowhere near time enough to walk them all. Most walks involve steep inclines, so a basic level of fitness is helpful.
Many species are easy, and can be found with little or no effort. Logrunners are everwhere, and once I got over the initial excitement I found it a little tiresome that nearly every distant scratchy noise turned out to be one! Eastern Yellow Robin, Eastern Whipbird, Green Catbird, Topknot Pigeon, Crimson Rosella, King Parrot, Regent and Satin Bowerbirds, Eastern Spinebill, Golden Whistler, Red-browed Finch, Wonga Pigeon, Little Lorikeet etc were commonly seen.
Highlights for me included several sightings of Albert's Lyrebird, including singing/tail-fanning males, Paradise Riflebird (seen well on several occasions), Noisy Pitta (2 birds on the Border Trail), Eastern (Crested) Shrike-Tit in the lower car park, Rufous Fantail and Pale-yellow Robin along the Morans Falls track, Wompoo Fruit Dove (sadly, heard only) just south of the resort, and a pair of Tawny Frogmouth at Luke's Bluff.