Yolanda Greg Ken and Kathy at Lake Barrine
Today was a private Wildlife and Rainforest tour. Greg, Yolanda, Ken, and I were picked up at 7:30am by Amy who is with Blue Adventures Wildlife and Rainforest tour. I HIGHLY recommend them.
Our first stop was literally 2 minutes from the apartments. There was a large roost of Flying Foxes (giant bats!) hanging in the Eucalypts.
From there we drove up the Great Divide (it’s about 750 meters tall) to a lovely farm and got to meet Emmy Lou the wild Emu. She’s fallen in love with their horses so she doesn’t stray far from the farm.
Emu feathers
Emu feet
We were served Billy tea and coffee and damper (simple bread like a scone) with butter and jam and fresh mangoes just off the tree. Linda (the proprietor) gave us a couple mangos to take with us.
They have a resident Bower Bird and showed us his nest with all his bright, stolen, trinkets. He has a thing for red, pink, silver, and white. Having only seen them on TV prior to this it was fascinating to see a nest in person.
Osprey
Moving along we went to Mareeba golf course to see some of their estimated 450 Eastern Grey Kangaroos! They are a smaller variety, but they were certainly plentiful.
Frilled-Necked Lizard
Kangaroo and Joey
We drove along the Atherton tablelands, which I learned is called that not only because it is a plateau but because that is where a large percentage of their food comes from (thus ‘table’).
Still can’t freaking believe that I actually saw a Platypus in the wild! Amy told us from the start that they hadn’t seen any for two weeks and with last week’s rains (over a meter) there was no telling what our chances were. She’d brought a group through yesterday and they didn’t see one. I had this feeling we would be blessed, but I was just starting to tell myself that at least I was at a location where they lived when we turned a bend in the river and a couple walking towards us said “there’s one just ahead” and Amy and I practically skipped over to where they’d pointed! We saw the telltale ripples in the reeds and she pointed out the Platypus’s bill! Holy smokes! It wasn’t a clear view, but I was thrilled. At this point Ken, Greg and Yolanda came up to us and we pointed to where it was. Then Yolanda spotted one swimming in the river!!! I got a blurry, 5-second, video while trying not to jump up and down in excitement!! (Have I put too many exclamation points yet?)
Too freaking amazing! I literally had goose bumps. And a face-splitting grin. And did my version of a touchdown dance. My year had been made (and I mean 365 days, not just the first 3 days of 2019!).
I don’t want the rest of the day’s adventures to seem any less exciting in comparison to the Platypus, because the whole day was amazing. But wow.
Sun Bird Nest
Snapping Turtle
Boyd’s Dragon
Greg swinging on a vine
We stopped for a walk through the rainforest then a lovely lunch overlooking Lake Barrine at the historic Tea House then a boat ride around the volcanic crater lake. The lake is all rain water and is so very clear (especially compared to the ocean and estuary after the rains). We saw Pelicans but most interesting to me were the Long-Finned Silver Belly Eels! They take 3 years to get to the ocean in New Caledonia where they spawn then take three years to come back. Amazing.
Ken and Kathy at Lake Barrine
Greg and Kathy at Lake Barrine
Pelican
Long Finned Silver Belly Eel
Our last stop was the Curtain Fig Tree National Park - an amazing Fig Tree being strangled by vines.
I can’t recommend Blue Adventures Wildlife and Rainforest tour enough! If you’re lucky enough to get Amy, tell her we said hi! Oh, and most of these pictures were taken by Amy. One of the perks of their tour is that she took lots of pictures and gave us USB sticks with all the photos, so we didn’t have to think too much about pictures of our own. So cool.
Amazing I am speechless what an adventure!
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