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Friday, 18 October, 2013

 

A short report, for a change.  Today was mostly a travel day, the first of three.

 

I didn’t haul myself out of bed until almost 5:45 this morning.  I finished my report for yesterday, the one about the island trip, and sent it off.  I made my brekkie and my lunch, packed everything up, loaded the car, and was on the road by about 8:45.  I had 4 or 5 hours of driving time ahead of me, and I had two places to stop, with some hope of seeing a trip bird, to avoid being skunked.  I didn’t like my chances, though.

 

I programmed my GPS app on my cell phone, and I set out.  It was boring, but I cruised along, clicking off the kilometers.  I had about 400 km to go today, which is only about 240 miles, but it seemed a whole lot longer.  There was lots of road work, and I kept having to slow down, and often had to wait as it was one-way traffic only.  I had made myself some iced coffee last night, using two packs of instant coffee, a pack of sugar, and about 5 or 6 ounces of milk.  I disciplined myself and didn’t start drinking it until 10:30, but then I downed it, and I wasn’t sleepy after that.

 

I was approaching Rockhampton (Rocky) as it approached noon, and I had two places to stop in Rocky or near it.  The first one was in the little town of Gracemere, just south of Rocky.  I found the Gracemere Lagoon with the help of Google Maps – my GPS program didn’t know the road that accessed it – and I got there about 11:45 or so.

 

I had read a report that said that Squatter Pigeons were abundant there last October, and the same woman posted another report on the second of October this year, saying they were still there.  I guess I saw that species on my first trip, in 2002, but I don’t remember where it was.  I thought it very unlikely they would be at Gracemere Lagoon, but she mentioned two other species that would add to my trip list as well, so I gave it a go.

 

It was hot, in the 90’s F, and muggy, but I got out and looked around.  I didn’t see anything around the parking area, where the woman said she had seen them, except a Blue-faced Honeyeater and some Magpie-Larks.  At one point, a pigeon-like bird did fly up into a tree, but it was only a Crested Pigeon, a very common species.  Here it is.

 

I decided to walk to the lagoon, and set off in the heat.  It was noon, remember, and hot and humid.  I got to where I could see the lagoon, but didn’t see anything I needed.  Here is a picture of the lagoon.

 

I got a little closer to the water and spooked some ducks, but nothing I could use.  About then, some cattle came trotting over, to check me out.  I didn’t really want to get involved with them, but there they were.

 

They approached to about fifteen or twenty feet of me, which was just a bit close for my comfort.  One of them had horns that I didn’t like the look of.  I started back toward my car, and they followed along, getting a bit closer maybe.  I couldn’t really look for birds, as I was keeping an eye on the damn cattle.  As I made my way toward my car, some of them adopted a new strategy and went off to my right and ran ahead of me.  By the time I was getting back to my car, they had all outflanked me and stood between me and my car.

 

You can see my white car behind them.  I didn’t like the looks of that, they seemed awfully damn big and not too smart.  Not a good combination.  But, as I approached them, they broke again and trotted around behind me.  I made it out of the gate and didn’t go back in with them.  Oh, the adventures the Old Rambler has in good old Australia.

 

I looked around some more for the three species the woman had reported there, but came up empty.  I ended up spending almost an hour on that stop.

 

It was time for lunch by then, approaching one o’clock, so I drove on up into Rocky to my other stop.  Ken had told me about seeing an uncommon honeyeater at the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens, so I went there.  I found the place he described, by the lake, and before I even got out of the car, I scanned the lake and found a bunch of PLUMED WHISTLING-DUCKS on a little island.  Ken and Steve had seen them on Saturday, our Big Day, I think, but I didn’t see them and I didn’t ask them to go back so I could see them, because I was sure I would see lots of them up north.  Well, today I did, and I avoided the skunk.  Here are a couple of pictures of Plumed Whistling-Ducks.

 

They have that upright stance and long legs, and that gives them a very distinctive look.  They actually do whistle, too, and it is kind of eerie when a whole flock of them starts whistling.  Here is another picture of the species that kept me from getting skunked today.

 

I had my lunch by the lake at a table, in the hot and humid weather, and then tried for the honeyeater.  No joy there, of course.  By the time I finished there, it was getting on for two o’clock, so I headed north again.  I only had about 60 miles to go, but again there was lots of road work and lots of delays.

 

I should have filled up with fuel in Rocky, but I was out of town before I knew it, so I figured there would be a gas station or roadhouse on the road somewhere.  After all, this was the main highway up and down the east coast of Australia.  Well, there were no towns, no gas stations, no roadhouses, no nothing.  My car indicates how much range I have left, and as I got to the point where I wouldn’t have enough fuel to get back to Rocky, I planned to call ahead to my motel (If I could get a phone signal, a very big if) and see if there was petrol available at the tiny town of Marlborough, where I was staying tonight.  Just as I was about to do that, there was a roadside stand selling fruit or something, so I pulled over and asked a guy out front how far it was to the next petrol station.  He told me it was at Marlborough, so I was fine.  I am sure there is no place at all on either coast of the US, on a main highway, where it would be 60 miles between gas stations.  No gas stations, no motels, no food.  As I said, this is the main highway on the east coast.  It always amazes me how empty this country is.

 

So, when I got to Marlborough, the petrol was 10 cents a liter more than in Rocky (about 40 cents a US gallon), and I got 40 liters, which didn’t quite fill me up, but will easily get me back to a town with cheaper petrol.

 

I found my way to the only motel (and caravan park) in town and checked in.  My motel room has a microwave, little refrigerator, and a decent air conditioner, which is all I really need.  It is a dump, though, an older place that smells rather musty, like tropical places usually do.  I’m sure it will be the worst place I stay on the trip, and it costs exactly what Debbie’s Place, which was maybe the best place, cost - $99.  It was the only place to stay within an hour north or south of here, though, and I wanted to break up the driving.  Fortunately, I have a good enough mobile signal from Telstra to be able to connect to the internet via my phone.  That scheme has worked out great and has saved my bacon several times now.  There are several more places where I plan to use it, too.  I spent 30 bucks so far, and will spend another 20, and for that I will have internet in my room for about 20 nights total, and will have a phone number while I am here as well.  A bargain, to me.

 

The other problem with this room is that there is no electrical outlet on the side of the room where the head of the bed it.  The bedside lamp is hardwired into the bedside table, which is attached to the wall.  To connect my CPAP machine, I am going to have to turn the bed around, roll it out into the middle of the room, and plug in on the other side of the room.  Not convenient, but it will work.  The bed is on wheels, anyway, which will make it easier.  This same thing happened to me once before, on my very first trip in 2002, and it was in a cheap motel in Rockhampton, funnily enough.  I did the same thing that time, plugged in across the room and slept with my feet toward the wall.  That time I had to remake the bed, and this time I can just turn it around, I think.

 

So, with the ducks today, I am now at 276 species, of which 23 are lifers.  Tomorrow I have another 3 or 4 hours to drive, and I’m going up into some rainforest in the mountains, to try for a lifer honeyeater that has a very limited range.  I figure my chances are about 50-50, but there are a few other species I could see up there, to add to my trip list.  I plan to try tomorrow afternoon when I get there, and if I miss it, try again the next morning.  The trouble is, the place to look for them is about a half hour drive from where I am staying.  Oh well, one day at a time.  Today I avoided the skunk.  Tomorrow I move farther north.  I don’t know if I am going to have internet access tomorrow night or not, so it could be a couple of days before I show up again, but I am always hopeful.  There are a couple of options for access, and one might very well work out.