Beginning To Head South

Once again we had a lovely several days with our friends, Andrew and Carol Iles (and their wonderful, big, sweet as, goofy, puppy, Peggy) at Kingfisher Park Birdwatcher’s Lodge. I could easily stay there for weeks, or months. There is a vibe to that place not to be found anywhere else. Of course there are other awesome places with good vibes, but KP is unique and I absolutely love it. I know I have gone into this before, but I do. I am so grateful for this place and these friends. So grateful. We did have to go, but I will never completely leave it as it lives in my heart.

The road in...  Kingfisher Park Lodge is at the end... I love how I feel going down this road to that place.

Brekkie on the verandah          

The back side of the lodge

The rainforest front yard... Love...

Yes, it was time to move on. We decided to head south down the tablelands. We had never been to Ravenshoe (pronounced Ravens hoe, NOT Raven shoe as I kept referring to it). It’s the highest town in Queensland. We had a look at the town and a nibble at the bakery and then drove on to a sweet little caravan park in Mt. Garnet. It even had working wifi, which is all but unheard of in caravan parks in Oz. There were a beautiful group of Pied Currawongs that hung around the park. Lovely birds, but I did not take any photos. There were also Pied Butcherbirds and Magpies. It was a very pied place!
         

A real tourist selfie

I did grab a few photos of a Spangled Drongo earlier in the day in Mt. Molloy. It is a bird I tend to overlook. They are fairly common and if you don’t really “look” at it, it is just a “blackbird.” But through your bins in the sun, it is black-blue and red eyed gorgeousness. And that cool tail? I love me some Spangled Drongos. And it must be said that it has one of the best bird names ever.
         

Spangled Drongo amazingness

We left the mountains and drove over to the coast, then south to Crystal Creek caravan park, one of our favorites. We stopped briefly in Tully so that I could climb the Golden Gumboot in the sunshine (it almost always rains there… hence the gumboot being the symbol of the town). I also used the Gent’s room there and saw a dispenser featuring the wisdom of "Condoman!" I had not seen, nor heard, of Condoman. Which if you think about it, is really written as if it’s “Condo man.” Not a very tough sounding superhero… CONDO MAN! He can sell you an apartment faster than a speeding bullet!

I've got to climb the boot. I just do.          

"Don't be shame be game." I don't even know what that means.

And then we thought we’d grab a quick afternoon snack and ended up having insanely delicious prawns (and some chips) in Ingham. Seriously as good as I have ever had (and I have had some excellent, fresh, local shrimp). So our snack became our main meal of the day.

Fresh, local, insanely yums!

We are heading south toward more birding. I don’t like to talk a lot about exactly what we’re doing until it’s done. I reckon I feel like it’s tempting fate or something (not that I am superstitious- touch wood). For the next few days though, we are just traveling along and taking our time. I am so grateful.

Peace. Love. Birds.