Exploring Australia's outdoor gems.

For us, checking out the parks and Botanical Gardens is always a "must do" no matter the locale we are visiting.  We enjoy being outdoors more than touring a museum and are always on the lookout for birds.  Of course in Australia, EVERY bird is a new bird for us so imagine our delight as we strolled through the many green spaces of Sydney.  We checked out Hyde Park, The Domain, Barangaroo Reserve and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Queensland Bottle Tree used by the Aboriginals for water during times of drought.

By day two, we had seen 30 new bird species with our favorite being the Rainbow Lorikeet.  They are relatively common in Australia but we haven't tired of spotting them yet!  Many of the birds we've identified to date would be considered exotic in the US.  (cockatoos, parrots, bee-eaters, kookaburras & sun birds)

Rainbow Lorikeet

Our most productive bird watching day occurred on day 3 as we visited Centennial Park and happened to meet a local birding expert, Steve Howard.  Steve knows all of the birds/animals in this park. He is retired and volunteers for the New South Wales Parks to do bird counts, monitor nesting sites and do educational tours.  Steve lived in Canada for 30 years where he ran a bird refuge center so this guy knows his birds.  We are so very grateful for the time he spent with us.  Because of his expertise, we identified at least another 25 new species and also saw the Grey Headed Flying Fox, a type of large fruit bat hanging from the trees in the hundreds.

Steve Howard, a birding legend in Sydney

Day four in Sydney brought rainy cold weather so we were glad to be heading north to the tropics of Australia.  Palm Cove is a small coastal town just north of Cairns.  We will be staying here for two weeks.  Our front yard is the Coral Sea while our back yard is filled with mountains and a rain forest.  Here the day time temps reach the 80's but breezes off the ocean keep our apartment cool enough to forgo air conditioning.  We are enjoying having the windows and doors being open all of the time.  

Palm Cove Beach

This area is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest which is said to be the oldest rainforest in the world.  The area is very tropical and feels much wilder than Hawaii.  Perhaps it feels that way because our morning wake up calls are from Laughing Kookaburras instead of the ever present roosters in Kauai!😀

Stay Curious!

Dan & Cheryl








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