From Tablelands to Table

Spotted Harrier

Time is flying by and good intentions of keeping this blog going must be upheld. 

The past couple of weeks has seen me resign from my job with Sunpalm so as to have a few weeks off before starting my "Dry Season" job with Oztours.  More on that later.

The time off has given me some time to do things with Ian - when he isn't working.

We've taken a couple of trips to the Tablelands.  The first was to beautiful Lake Mitchell.  Always a favourite with beautiful scenery and lots of birds.

Lake Mitchell

Driving home via the Port Douglas Road, we were treated to the rare sight of Black-necked Storks resting on the low tide sand banks.  Ian executed a swift U-turn and we were soon clambering down the steep rocky banks from the road to the beach.  We're good at this as we had some good lessons with this sort of thing from Clive (Ian's brother) in Darwin.  See Clive's Shortcuts http://winkali.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/clives-shortcuts_24.html

It's good to have a win once in a while.  Ususally Black-necked Storks fly off as soon as you're in Cooee of them.  These two hung around for quite some time and when they flew off, they went one at a time, just in case our cameras weren't focussed properly the first time.

The Black-necked Stork is Australia's only endemic stork.  They were formerly called Jabiru, however, the Jabiru is actually a South American stork.  

They stand about 1.2m high with the male slightly larger than the female and have a wingspan around 2m. Females have a yellow eye - males black.

They have a striking plumage.  The white is almost luminous.  The black isn't black at all.  It changes from black to turquoise, to violet, green, blue. . .

Back home, Winkali has been having a bit of cosmetic repair.  All her exterior timber trim was stripped back and revarnished.  We had to wait for the end of the wet season for the humidity to ease.

Another trip to the Tablelands.  This time anticlockwise.  We went through Julatten where we saw these two young Sea Eagles soaring and practising aerial acrobatics.  They seemed too young to be courting but this young fellow is certainly going to impress some lady Sea Eagle one day.

Wow.  This was food for our shutter hungry fingers.

A little further up the road we stopped in at Abattoir Swamp. We mainly like to go there because of the name.  There is a Boardwalk there that leads down to a bird hide where you never see too many birds.  Usually the obligatory duck, sometimes an Egret.  

The Egrets were more interested with interacting with the cattle in a nearby paddock today.  The cattle disturb the insects as they walk through the grass and graze.  The Egrets like this very much.

It was time to take Winkali back up to Port Douglas now.  A friend of ours, Vic, offered to let us use his mooring piles as he isn't using them at the moment.

While we were waiting for high tide to allow us out of Blue Water Marina we went to the Home and Camping show in Cairns.  I have been keen to get my hands on a thermal cooker and was hoping to buy one.  I wasn't disappointed as there were three stalls there. Joy, we had decisions to make.  We chose wisely!  The most expensive!  The price will be long forgotten while the Thermal Pot endures (we hope).

Armed with Thermal Pot and high expectations, we sail up the coast at a snappy 7-8kn.  Two nights at Low Isles - we've missed that place.   

We had a rock and rolly first night.  That wonderful 30kn wind that brought us here so swiftly, also brought swell.  Well, at least we knew we were on a boat.

The fish were abundant.  We aren't allowed to catch them as it is a green zone here.  First class snorkelling can be done here if you're not afraid of the over- friendly fish.  

But, it is a different matter for the birds.  They had a great time fishing.

An Osprey dives in and catches a fish

He carries it away

To the light house where he enjoys a meal

The Ospreys were joined by the Brown Boobies who employed slightly different fishing tactics.  

Not so graceful, but very entertaining.

A flock of happy tourists sailed in on the catamaran, Sailaway.

Some enjoyed a bit of snorkelling while others looked through glass bottom  boats.  Some snorkelled and looked at bottoms.

                                                                                   Photo by Ian

Eventually the day turned gloomy and rain set in.

Sailaway sailed away.

It was time to try out the new Thermal Pot.  The idea is you heat the food to cooking point, then place the pots into the thermal cooker.  It's very efficient at retaining the heat and food can be left in for up to 8 hours safely.  Similar principal to slow cooking in a Crock Pot, but without having to use gas or electricity.

We carefully documented the whole process with the video camera expecting magnificent results.  Our expectations weren't met.  However, with much editing, here is the result.

This clip is 8.3Mb and goes about 2 3/4mins 

Oh well, practise makes perfect.  I'm looking forward to the next time.

I'm off to Cape York this week as I'm starting my new job with Oztours.  Some interesting blogs coming up if I have time.

The down side is that I can't take Ian with me.  I'll be away for 2 week blocks for the nest 3 months.  The up side is we're getting closer to our next sea-going adventure with Winkali.