Australia – Safari

OMG, OMG, OMG, What a day!

We got up a 0500 hours, dressed quickly, (perfume choice today was ‘Eau De Deet’) and we wandered down to Patterson creek in the dark. Dad was wobbling a bit over the roots of trees in the dark and crashed into me once but, we were on a mission!
We got onto a small suspension bridge and waited. The creek is slow moving and brown with silt, nothing was moving except the odd droplet from the trees causing ripples in the water. As it became light we saw the first sign of our prey, a small bow-wave heading away from us. We stayed for a bit longer but then moved down to the bank and then there in the stillness, a shadow in the water, moving, turning and finally surfaces…… a Platypus. It came to the surface briefly before diving down again hunting for larvae, worms and shrimp etc. We waited and then as there seemed to be no more activity we moved to the other side of the bridge (which had the sign “welcome the other side”) only to see another one further up stream. My video footage is not clear at all as by the time I got it, the Platypus was a long way off (they can motor) but, here it is and it’s the speck in the water at the top.

I was so thrilled, we saw four sightings in all before we headed back to the hotel for breakfast.

My Dad has a list of animals and birds he would like to see on this trip. He plans his itinerary meticulously and wants to see wild animals that don’t interact with humans if possible. The Platypus was on his list but, by no means a certainty so he was chuffed and I was sky high!

After breakfast we drove via the curtain fig (another strangler in our midst), to Hasty’s Swamp Hide. A beautiful shallow lake and wetland. Here we saw a row of plumed whistling ducks. They look very strange with feathers sticking up at the sides and they were quite literally sitting in a line, snoozing in the sun. We enjoyed the hide and while sat there, we started ticking off a number of species on Dad’s list, thankfully we know what a ducks and rails look like and it didn’t take us too long to make the identifications!

We moved on to Mount Hypipamee, (we never did master the pronunciation). There is a waterfall there and a very deep and long dead volcanic shaft with a mysterious pool at the bottom.
We walked down to the bottom of the waterfall. It was a strenuous walk for Dad because it was steep, strewn with rocks and roots and as he says himself he can be a bit doddery.

We made it down to the falls.

When we made it back to the carpark we sat for a while attempting to identify a few small birds. Dad took a picture of a notice board telling you what to do if approached by a Cassowary. These are big dangerous birds and we are planning to go looking for these in a few days time. Apparently you must not turn your back and run from them, the best thing to do is to get something between you and them like a tree or in desperation an aged father! (Sorry Dad). Anyway we drove towards the carpark exit and to my astonishment there at the side of the road was a Cassowary! I stopped the car and nearly dropped my phone trying to get a picture as it took off.

Two extraordinary creatures in one day!

We needed a cuppa (or something stronger) and had been recommended a tea rooms on a tea plantation. Apparently there are a number for birds there so we set off, I missed a turning and had to turn on a track that had a sign that stated ominously “There is no god beyond this point”.
The satnav on my phone took us on a mystery tour of farmland but we finally made it to the Nerada tea room. We ordered tea and scones then went outside to look at a Lumboltz tree kangaroo high up in the trees. As we watched her snoozing she woke up so we could see her face, then a head popped out of her pouch then a
long tail as the Joey inspected the world.

We hadn’t expected to see the Tree Kangaroo here so it was another lovely surprise.

If that wasn’t enough the lady at the tea room gave us a huge box of tea to take away because it was incorrectly labeled.

A brilliant day, three of Dad’s most wanted to ticked of his list!