The "Year" So Far In Maps

I began this “Couple’s Year List” on 20 August when two Gang-gang Cockatoos flew over our heads in my son’s driveway in Torquay, Victoria. It seemed as good a starting point as any. We ticked a few birds around the area, particularly at the wonderful Western Treatment Plant in Werribee. Then we began our traveling on 1 September with the list at 100.

The list is simple. We are keeping a list of birds seen together in Australia for one year. Our “Year” will run from 20 August 2015 to 19 August 2016. I would love to have done a January first start, but our situation has limits and our timeframe is what it must be. I am just ridiculously grateful that we have a year!

These blogs are in part a journal of the travels and my gratitude for life in general. This gratitude and positive attitude is not something that comes naturally to me, quite the opposite. Writing about it helps. I am grateful for it, this blog, and those who join me on this journey. It may not come naturally to me, but believe me I am grateful! I will also always be as genuine as I am capable of being. This will be me, not some f-ing new age, zen like creature who is always as happy as he looks in his selfies (although Lord knows I try).

I just restarted this blog entry. I began to delve into more detail than I want to (or can do) at this time and I mainly want to show our route. I may very well do a book about this in the future, but this is not the book. This is the blog. So I am going to try and make this work with screen captures of Google Maps. But they truly have their limits and sometimes Google is maddening. I have written in a few places that Google doesn’t know about. It has been an incredible journey so far and these maps will hopefully show that. I am so grateful.

And so we begin... 

Basically Glue Pot to Bowra, then up to Inskip to not see Black-breasted Buttonquail on the first day of school holidays. It was mad there.

Up the coast (Matilda made it up to Eungella!! And we got the Honeyeater!) to Kingfisher Lodge, one of many birding dreams come true for me.

Flew from Cairns to Lockhart and the Iron Range... another dream come true. We got everything that could reasonably be hoped for. Wondrous birds! Awesome birding!

Flew back to Cairns, did a couple of days in Daintree Village then down the coast to visit friends and Lamington NP (Albert's we got you this time) Then on to visit other friends in Ourimbah and the scary "retina adventure" that did not stop me from going to Deniliquin again!

The map that was left out! Norfolk Island! We flew from Sydney to N.I. for a week after the first stop in Ourimbah, NSW. Then we picked up the new vehicle and I had the eye issue and laser surgery when we returned to the mainland. And then as the map above this one shows, we went to Deniliquin and back.

From Deniliquin we went back to Ourimbah for the followup eye appointment. Then we went down to Portland for the Cape Gannet and across to Torquay to leave Troopy at our mechanic's for the addition of some bits and pieces that she needed. Then on to wonderful Tasmania! Wonderful, wonderful Tassie (and wonderful friends there as well!).

There you have it. The travels from 1 September 2015 to 9 December 2015 on maps (I love maps). We are up to 468 birds on the list and we still have a few to get around here. Happiest of Holiday's y'all! I am grateful for this time with family and for my extended (and internet) family as well! Huge love to all y'all!

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.