Down Under Day 20 The Blue Mountains

It was now nearing the end of my trip, but I really wanted to visit the Blue Mountains before I left for home, so Barbara and I booked for a tour and invited another of my Aussie cousins, Lee to join us.
We were picked up in the city by minibus with  7 others and then headed off to the Olympic Park where we had arranged to pick up Lee.

Calm before the storm

The park was remarkably quiet, but it would be heaving the next night when the British & Irish Lions were playing the Wallabies in the final test match of the tour, as I would find out because I had a ticket for the game.
We picked up Lee and had a bizarre family reunion in the back of the bus as Lee and I had never met before. We hit it off straight away though and both have said since that it is if we've known each other all our lives.
We now headed off to the mountains about an hours drive west of Sydney. Our driver and guide, Greg was a mine of information about Australian history and environment. We made a stop on the highway to see some Eastern Grey Kangaroo's. I had seen these smaller cousins of the reds on my birding trip to Newcastle a couple of weeks before but not had the opportunity to take photo's.
These were living wild in the compound of a military establishment.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

We now pressed on for our first stop, the bonus of being in a minibus is that we could get to view points that the larger tour buses couldn't, so it was pretty quiet when we parked up and walked up to see the view.

It was now time for some lunch so we were taken to Leura, a small town in the mountains and the three of us went off to get something to eat and have a chat

Leura

After lunch we were taken to Echo Point over to see the Three sisters, the iconic rock formation.

The Three Sisters

Whenever you see photos of this you imagine its in the middle of nowhere, not so ! and when you turn the photo around you can see this circus going on behind you.

Echo Point

We then made our way back home but were given the option of catching the ferry down the Parramatta River to Sydney which Barbara and I opted for. We said our goodbyes to Lee who we would see again on Sunday and caught the ferry. We had chosen this option because we wanted to eat in the city that night.

We arrived at circular quay at around 5pm and after making a booking for a waterfront restaurant went to the Lord Nelson for a drink.

It was filled to the brim with Lions fans who had invaded the city in the last two days from Melbourne. We had a quick drink and then went to the restaurant for our meal. This was my first taste of Sydney at night and I just had to take more pictures of the Bridge and Opera House.

After a lovely, if expensive meal Barbara and made our way home, tired but happy.

Down Under Days 18 & 19

The next morning we were up early again as we had to catch the shuttle bus to Alice Springs airport for the three hour flight back to Sydney.

As we were waiting a small flock of Galah's flew past and I just had to get a photo so leaving Barbara with the luggage I nipped around the corner and found them sat on the telephone wires.

Galah's

When we got to the airport we saw some of the other people who had been on the tour also going to Sydney. We arrived back at Kingston Smith airport around 1pm and got a cab back to Coogee Bay where I spent the rest of the day relaxing and updating my growing bird list.
The next day I was left to my own devices again and I had planned another trip to Centennial Park, this time though the weather was perfect.

Centennial Park

I went straight for the palm where I had last seen the Eastern Barn Owl and sure enough there he was.

Eastern Barn Owl

I then wandered over to the swamp to try yet again for Tawny Frogmouth, It remains my main disappointment that I never connected with this bird. I did see the Flying Foxes better this time though including some that were flying around from tree to tree.

I then looked for the Australian Darter that I had seen on my previous visit. I had much better views this time as the male was showing very well at the nest and I also caught a glimpse of the young birds peeking out from under the sitting female.

Australian Darter

I then spent the rest of the morning wandering around the rest of this huge parkland visiting areas I had missed before. I was lucky to sit on a bench when a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets decided to land in the tree above me.

Rainbow Lorikeet

I then came across a flock of around 20-30 Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo's feasting on cones in a stand of pine trees.

Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo

 On my way back to catch the bus home I walked across one of the many sports fields and saw this Nankeen Kestral sitting high on a goal post.

Nankeen Kestral

I now caught the bus back to Randwick and then after a brief stop at the flat headed down to Coogee Bay and another walk along the coastal path. There were much the same birds as I had seen on previous visits but I did get a better photograph of one of the many New Holland Honeyeaters that frequent the area.

New Holland Honeyeater

I was now starting to feel tired so I headed back to the flat for a rest and a meal.

Down Under Day 17 Kings Canyon

Another early start as Wookie roused us at around 5:30 am again. The plan was to beat the crowds to the Kings Canyon. There are three walks at the canyon and we were going on the rim walk, which at 6Kms should take us around 3-4 hours. But first we had to climb heart attack hill !

Heart Attack Hill

Half Way Point

This involved a climb of around 100 meters to get to the top of the canyon, it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated though as the path was like climbing a big staircase.It was well worth the effort though for the views from the summit.

We then proceeded to walk around the edge of the canyon enjoying the spectacular views and rock formations. There were a few birds about, mostly Grey Headed Honeyeaters but as it was quite windy it was hard to pick up much bird song.

As the day progressed it started to get hotter and we were glad of the 3 litres of water that we were required to carry with us. You are advised to drink a litre of water per hour during these walks.

About half way into the walk we came to the Garden of Eden,  a permanent water hole. It used to be permitted to swim here in the summer months until it was realised that it was causing pollution to the water supply in the nearby settlements.

The Garden of Eden waterhole

During the walk Wookie would tell us about the Indigenous peoples customs and how they survived in this the harshest of environments. His favourite tree he told us was the Ghost Gum, from which they would use the powder on the bark as a sunscreen. 

Ghost Gum

We were now coming to the end of the walk but before we descended down to the plain again we saw evidence of how this was once a seabed, even though we were 100 meters above the ground level.

Dead Sea Ripples

This was ripples in the sand caught in time of 4 million years ago when shallow lakes dotted the windswept plains. There were spectacular cliff edges as well which some in group couldn't resist looking over edge of. I was content to try and see Fairy Martins in the gorge although the wind made this almost impossible.

Not a Chance !

We now descended back to the plain but by a less demanding slope. This would be an easier route but the park authorities prefer visitors to walk in one direction around the canyon.

I'll give this a miss if you don't mind !

 We now went back to the bus and the four hour drive to Alice Springs. When we had boarded the bus three days before we had all been asked to write our names and where we were from on the windows with marker pen. Wookie had also used the front windscreen the same way as a white board with maps and information. We were now asked to wipe it all off again using the curtains in the bus, I told you it was the budget tour !

Our last stop of the day was a camel ranch about an hour from Alice and we had the chance to stretch our legs and ride the camels if we wanted. Needless to say I was first on !

 They also had a variety of Australian mammals and birds on show including a sorry looking Dingo and a few Red Kangaroos. 

Dingo

Red Kangaroo's

Emu

We stayed here for about an hour before we pressed onto Alice Springs and when we arrived we just had to stop and take photos at the town sign.

Barbara and I were dropped off at our backpackers hostel and later that evening we walked into the town to meet up with the others at the Rock Bar for a drink and a meal. Around 10pm we said our goodbyes to the others on the tour and headed back to Toddy's.

Down Under Day 16 Northern Territories

We were woken at 5:25am by Wookie although I'm not sure that I slept much anyway. It was a quick wash and stuff, pack the swags away and on the bus to get to the view point before sunrise.
It was still dark when we arrived and we were the only bus there. Wookie started on getting breakfast ready whilst we watched for the sun to rise.

 The toast was made on this contraption with a flame burning inside a metal pyramid and it took about 8 seconds per side to do. It was also a source of warmth for some.

 As expected it was yesterday in reverse, as the sun comes up the rock goes from a steely grey colour to red. The red colour comes from the high iron content in the rock and its basically just rusty .

After the show was over we packed up and headed the 50 kms to Kata Tjuta or The Olgas. The name means many heads in the Anangu language. We were going to do the valley of the winds walk which was around 2-3 hours and were due to meet up with Wookie near the end of the walk. I was soon being left behind as I stopped to watch birds and It was here that I saw my only wild Red Kangaroo as it bounced away through the bush.

Singing Honeyeater

Budgerigar

Diamond Dove

Zebra Finch

I eventually got a move on and arrived at the meeting place at the same as everybody else. Wookie had this place marked out as the place for the group photo and we had to go through a series of stupid poses for the many photo's. 

We then made our way back to where the bus was parked and after a brief stop to take photos,

we set off on the three hour drive to our next camp site near Kings Canyon. We stopped on the way to collect logs and branches for our fire that evening. The trees on the side of the road are blackened and burnt, sometimes from lightening strikes but mostly from the heat of the summer sun. It was hot, dirty work as we all dragged large branches and stacked them to be loaded onto the trailer. We made one more stop on the way to take photos of Mount McConnell. A huge rocky outcrop that I had seen from the plane as we flew over.

We arrived at Kings Road Station, our campsite around 5pm and after unloading the trailer headed for the showers. Wookie had the fire going by the time we got back and had started on the evening meal. It was Chillie-con -carne(for the herbivores) and a bean version for me, with rice and roasted vegetables as well, all cooked in large pots on the fire.

After an excellent meal we sat around the camp fire again chatting and drinking beer until one by one everybody just grabbed a swag and turned in for the night.

It was to be another early start next morning as we wanted to be at the canyon before the crowds started arriving. I slept better tonight as I had made a pillow out of a tee shirt and all my other clothes, but I did wake around 3am and putting the flap back had one of the most amazing sights I'll ever see. The sky was filled with stars, billions of them. Its easy to see why were are part of the milky way, as that's just what it was like, milk. With no light pollution to mask all but the brightest stars the sky was spectacular, worth waking up in the middle of the night for.