Day 12 Rock-wallaby search in the wet David picked me up super early morning so we'd be ready at Little Annan River Gorge at dawn. It had been raining overnight so we couldn't go into the Gorge itself but had to wade through a muddy path next to it. Of course we didn't see hide or hair of any rock-wallabies. I think looking for Godman's might make more sense in the dry because the wallabies are probably more reliant on the Gorge for water, you don't have all the green stuff on the trees which limits your view on the already limited areas you have to look for them to begin with and it will make access to the Gorge easier. On the way back we saw a couple of Dingoes bounding off the street. Because of the rain I had to go looking for a laundromat to dry my clothes that had been out overnight. The one in Cooktown didn't have any way of getting the coins needed for the machines so I put everything in the boot and went to the next one back in Mareeba. Animals seen: Dingo Agile Wallaby Leaden Flycatcher White-throated Honeyeater Yellow-spotted Honeyeater Lemon-bellied Flyrobin Australasian Figbird Australian Swiftlet Dusky Honeyeater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Pheasant Coucal Blue-winged Kookaburra Olive-backed Sunbird Hornbill Friarbird Masked Lapwing Silver Gull White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Torresian Crow Australian Magpie Animals not seen: Godman's Rock-wallaby Mareeba While the laundry was in the dryer I stocked up on groceries again. Animals seen: Magpie Lark Rainbow Lorikeet Common Myna Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Mareeba Wetlands The Wetlands were closed but I had a quick drive up the access road. Animals seen: Straw-necked Ibis White-faced Heron Nankeen Kestrel Red-backed Fairy-wren Whistling Kite Masked Lapwing Lake Eacham I had a bit of time before feeding started at Chambers so went to Lake Eacham, which is the first place where I saw some wild freshwater fish since coming to Aussie. I just couldn't identify any of them Animals seen: fish Chambers Lodge I had another go at Chambers to hopefully see a wild Striped Possum. On the way in I saw another Bandicoot rustling around in the leaf-litter. For more than an hour nothing turned up at the viewing platform. (I actually drove my car down at some point because I didn't want to be eaten up by mozzies while waiting.) Then I got lucky and got the Stripey come in for extended periods of time (three times). There was only one Sugar Glider towards the end this time. The one Pademelon I saw was very skittish again and didn't give good views. Animals seen: Sugar Glider Northern Long-nosed Bandicoot Red-legged Pademelon Striped Possum Next up: Daintree
Day 13 Because I'd gotten a voucher for the river ferry at my hostel in Port Douglas I decided to pay a visit to the Daintree (even against Chli's advice). The ferry is annoyingly expensive at $27 for a return and $15 for a one-way ticket. Daintree Discovery Centre First stop was the DDC. I was the first one there so didn't have to contend with too many people.^^ Entry is $35 ($32 concession) which includes the use of audio units for self-guiding yourself through the place and a 70 page guide book. First you step out onto a verandah with three snake enclosures and a terrarium for cane toad. On the other side of an elevated boardwalk (aerial walkway) you'll get to the interpretive centre where you'll find most of the other live-exhibits; some inside, some outside and with a newish freshwater aquarium section that I thought was nicely integrated into another verandah-style seating area. Next to that is the canopy tower from where I saw my only wild animals of the visit. Leading away from and around the interpretive centre are a couple of "bush walks", one of them with fake pre-historic animals lining the path (that one also looped back to another live-exhibit section under the centre). For the species list see here The place looked quite well maintained and upscale and if you're interested in plants I'd recommend it. If you're only in it for the animal side of things it might be a bit expensive and as far as I could tell there's not too much wildlife there (but that was my impression for the Daintree as a whole). (There's supposed to be Antechinus on the grounds but the staff couldn't be bothered to show me where exactly to look.) Animals seen (wild): White-browed Robin butterflies Daintree Entomological Museum I found this one on the map by accident while I was at DDC. Entry was $10 for what is basically a one room collection with some live Spiny Leaf Insects. It was alright for what it was but I probably spend more time talking to the couple working there than looking at the collection. They did show me some semi-wild Peppermint Stick-insects though. Animals seen (semi-wild): Peppermint Stick-insect After I left it started raining in earnest so I decided to head back because their wasn't much to do in that weather. On the ferry it turned out that my voucher was only good for a one-way trip so I had to waste some money on that two minute ride which I wasn't too happy about. Next up: Daintree Wild Zoo
To be clear, it was ten years ago and I didn't have my own transport as you do ... so I'll be interested on your thoughts on the place!
Daintree Wild Zoo As I had some time to kill and the rain had stopped I decided to have a look at the place. It's just on the side of the road coming down from the Daintree ferry. Entry was $25 I think and I was again the only one there. I don't remember the exact closing time but was allowed to stay longer. As I'd had a look at their website (which is pretty crap) back during the planning phase of the trip I hadn't expected this to be as big as it was (map) or have as much of a collection as it did (species list). It all seemed a bit run-down and some of the animals were a bit on the aggressive side though (stork tried to get me through the fence, wombat was hissing at me, one of the owls didn't like me at all, etc.). I was only there for two hours because I had to be back in Port Douglas on time, but wouldn't have stayed longer anyway as there were so many mozzies around. Having been out in the forests for most of my time I'd donated my share of blood, but at DWZ you couldn't stop moving for a sec without a cloud of them descending on you (and I'd put anti-mozzie spray on before going in). Made writing the species list or taking pictures pretty uncomfortable. Still not quite sure what to make of the place... Animals checked off my list: - Next up: Wildlife Habitat (nocturnal tour)
Lake Eacham used to have its own species of rainbowfish, however they were wiped out by introduced (but still native) fish. Fortunately the Lake Eacham rainbowfish was found to be kept in aquariums and later in some other water bodies. However the fish you saw were likely to have been barred grunters or mouth almighys, the culprits in this sad tale.
Wildlife Habitat (nocturnal tour) The nocturnal tours only run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays if minimum numbers are reached, which hadn't been the case on my last visit so I had to come back. Price for the nocturnal is $42 or $32 if you've been for a day-visit before. We started at 6pm-ish with the usual do's and don't's talk. First stop was the Savannah Habitat for some kangaroo/wallaby feeding (eastern greys/agiles were the main ones but if you can manage to befriend one of the other species those would theoretically be possible too). Then we got a talk about the wild flying-foxes that were out en masse overhead and the crocodiles. Next we went to feed the sooty owls (done by two visitors (one mouse each)) and then to the photo-booth to pet a water python and have one person feed a papuan frogmouth. After that we went to the Billabong enclosure to feed the mahogany gliders (two syringes to share between everyone). The last stop was the outside enclosures where we had a quick talk about the tree-roo and the keepers fed rufous bettong and nb bandicoot as well as the quoll. Overall I liked the tour (though Moonlit is still king of the nocturnals) but the size of the group was definitely too big that day. It was at least 15 people. I got a bit of a private tour afterwards to get some pictures of the Gliders and see the Bettongs out and about so I can't complain too much On the way out we found a snake just in front of the gate so we had a look at that. Then I made my way down towards Redden Island which is supposed to be good for nightjars, but got too tired so I scratched that and went to sleep. Animals checked off my list: - Animals seen (wild): Spectacled Flying-fox Giant White-tailed Rat Eastern Cattle Egret Magpie Goose Slaty-grey Snake Next up: Cairns Botanical Garden
Day 14 Cairns Botanical Garden: Because of some car trouble (again) I almost didn't make it on time to the guided birding tour through the gardens that's happening every Tuesday (for free). It was enjoyable although we did sometimes spend a bit too long on very common stuff. For the rest of the day I checked into my Air B'nB where Patrick picked me up at 5pm for our second go at Mt Lewis. Animals seen: Australian Swiftlet Olive-backed Sunbird Orange-footed Scrubfowl Australian Brushturkey Dusky Honeyeater Green Oriole Willie Wagtail Common Mynah Varied Triller Nutmeg Mannikin Bar-shouldered Dove Collared Kingfisher Magpie-lark Masked Lapwing Bush Stone-curlew Little Egret Papuan Frogmouth Little Bronze Cuckoo Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Australasian Figbird Pacific Baza Large Egret Welcome Swallow Osprey Pacific Black Duck Intermediate Egret Australasian Darter Pied Imperial Pigeon Black Butcherbird Next up: Eyes on Wildlife at Mt Lewis
Mt Lewis This time we didn't have any trees blocking the way so we could drive all the way up to "the clearing". First mammal we found three trees up the road was a Daintree ringtail, so main goal achieved in minutes (Mt Lewis is pretty much the only place to see one.) We headed further up the road where we saw lots of leaf-tails and melomys as well as 4 green ringtails and the occasional frogs. We then checked out another side-path but didn't get much (except a sleeping Fantail we had to duck under). We were ready to call it a night when we stumbled upon a pair of Pygmy-possums (my first wild ones) feeding in a tree close to our car (They did decide that freezing in white light (as they are known to do) is more of an optional thing so we didn't get a photo.) A very successful night and thanks to Patrick and all the overtime he put in! Animals seen: Daintree River Ringtail Possum Green Ringtail Possum Northern Leaf-tail Gecko Fawn-footed Melomys Green-eyed Treefrog Carbine Barred Frog Long-tailed Pygmy-possum Rufous Fantail unidentified rodents and bats On the way back to Cairns we saw another Bandicoot and Rat. Animals seen: Northern Brown Bandicoot Giant White-tailed Rat Next up: Mt Claro
Day 15 As I'd mentioned in my first post I had a bit of a change of plans and had booked a relocation car to drive down to Brisbane from where I'd fly back to Victoria. I exchanged my Atlas rental for a Spaceships campervan and checked out of my Air B'n'B. My first stop was Mt Claro (almost 5h drive) to look for Sharman's Rock-wallaby but everything took a bit longer than expected and I only arrived when it was already almost getting dark so I postponed my search to the next morning (google maps will take you further than you need to go so there was a bit of confusion with that too). Animals Seen: Black-necked Stork Animals not seen: Sharman's Rock-wallaby Next up: Mt Claro in the morning
Day 16 Mt Claro At first light I was up and headed for the Mount. About 8km after you pass the sign on your left saying "Crater" and before the road dips there's a sandy open area, where you can park your car and then a couple meters back up the road behind the warning sign about speeding there's an overgrown track that leads close enough to the Mount to look at it through binos (a spotting scope would be even better). After an hour of waiting (around 7:30am) I saw three rock-wallabies at the top of the mount. Then onwards for a 3h drive to Townsville. (Watch out for cows on the road again.) Animals seen: Sharman's Rock-wallaby Whiptail Wallaby Eastern Grey Kangaroo Pied Currawong Noisy Miner Rainbow Bee-eater Hornbill Friarbird Squatter Pigeon Pheasant Coucal Animals seen (on the road to Townsville): Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Plumed Whistling Duck Crimson Finch White-bellied Sea-eagle Black-faced Woodswallow Next up: Reef HQ Aquarium, Townsville
Reef HQ Aquarium Entry for the aquarium was $28 ($22 concession). It's another nice aquarium that doesn't stand out from the rest. The pics I uploaded to the gallery pretty much show every tank in the place. Animals checked off my list: - Museum of Tropical Queensland I had a quick visit to the museum next door. Entry is $15 (concession: $11) and you get 10% off if you've been to Reef HQ before. It's a nice middle-sized museum. The life-insect stuff wasn't on yet, neither was the Torres Strait mask section but I was allowed a quick look anyways. Next up: Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island The ferry ride over to Magnetic Island was $33 for a return fare on Sealink. Fantasea is a bit cheaper but doesn't do any late runs. The rock-wallabies come out to be fed at Bremner Point, which is about a half hour walk from Nelly Bay where the ferry arrives. You can also take a bus but I didn't have coins... The wallabies aren't as forward as the ones at Granite Gorge but you can still get very close. Animals seen: Allied Rock-wallaby White-bellied Sea-eagle Stout Barsided Skink Next up: Peter Faust Dam
Day 17 Peter Faust Dam 3,5 hours drive took me to Peter Faust Dam where I saw six Unadorned Rock-wallabies (and maybe a Proserpine) on the Dam wall in the morning (spotting scope would have been nice as you can't get super close). Animals seen: Unadorned Rock-wallaby Osprey Australian Pelican Australasian Darter Wedge-tailed Eagle White-necked Heron Little Egret White Ibis Straw-necked Ibis Australasian Swamphen Next up:Capricorn Caves
Capricorn Caves Another 5h+ drive took me to Capricorn Caves, where I of course missed the last tour by about twenty minutes. I'd read a report that Unadorned Rock-wallabies come out in the evening there and was hoping to get some closer views (which I did) and pictures (which I did not). I did see two or three and while it was closer views it was also very short views as they basically ran off straight away. There was also a lot of bats flying around that were too fast to ID and enough mozzies to make it a bit uncomfortable. Animals seen: Unadorned Rock-wallaby Spangled Drongo bats Next up: another wasted day
Day 18 Capricorn Caves I had another look for Rock-wallabies in the early morning but didn't see any. So I drove on to Westwood to look for the last of the plain rock-wallabies: Herbert's Rock-wallaby. Animals not seen: Unadorned Rock-wallaby Westwood The hill on the right hand side just out of Westwood is another site mentioned in a couple of travel reports I'd read before but I have to say that it's an absolute sh*** site. Don't go. It's private property (all fenced off) so you can't get close and I didn't see any movement anywhere on that hill (and that's about all you'd see because you're so far away). Even if you'd get permission to get closer/on there it would be way too much work. Animals seen: Squatter Pigeon Animals not seen: Herbert's Rock-wallaby Bouldercombe Gorge I tried this location next but google maps basically send me to someones backyard and that whole thing just didn't go anywhere. Animals seen: Eastern Grey Kangaroo Rockhampton Zoo As I had to refuel I headed into Rockhampton where I saw a couple groups of Apostlebirds hoppin about. Made a quick stop to the zoo which is free, but doesn't hold anything of interest. It's a nice way to kill an hour though. Animals checked off my list: - Animals seen (wild): Apostlebird Westwood I went back for another stake-out as I didn't have any other locations in reachable distance to look for the rock-wallabies. Nothing again in the evening. I took a bit of time to research some more online and found a place (Tolderodden CP) 3h away that looked promising. Animals not seen: Herbert's Rock-wallaby The drive that was supposed to take 3h of course turned into 4h+ because one of the streets just turned into a gravel road for more than 30kms Animals seen: Common Brushtail Possum Australian Owlet-nightjar Next up: Tolderodden CP
Day 19 Tolderodden CP There's only one road leading into the park on the right hand side of the campground/parking area. I followed that for a couple of meters (not the walking track) to a couple of boulders on the right hand side. I saw three rock-wallabies straight away around 6:30am and then another one at the same site around 9:15am shortly before moving on (these guys are overall noticeably darker than their more beige Unadorned neighbors). Animals seen: Herbert's Rock-wallaby Swamp Wallaby Double-barred Finch Striated Pardalote Hardhead Pacific Black Duck JC Slaughter Falls This one was another waste of time, but to an extend that was also due to me just being tired and not in the best mood after a lot of driving again (strike one). The falls are in Brisbane and supposed to be good for nightjars. I arrived around 6pm and it turned out the parking area closes at 7pm (strike two). Then the information I had just didn't line up with what was there (like: go 500m up a path that's only 370m long, etc) (strike three) and not seeing or hearing anything other than a couple of cane toads and some flying-foxes I called it a day early and got me a nice Dominos pizza for dinner. I should have just stayed up at the Sunshine Coast. Animals seen: flying-foxes Animals not seen: Nightjar Next up: Tin Can Bay
Day 20 Tin Can Bay l had been a bit on the fence whether or not I wanted to squeeze this in on my last day because it made for a very tight schedule but in the end I decided to go for it. Barnacles Dolphin Centre opens at 7am (entry $5, feeding another $5) at which time I was there.One dolphin was already in so people got herded down into the water in groups where one of the volunteers gave some information on the dolphins and you could take some pictures. Then rotate to the next group. Feeding (one fish per person) commenced at 8am and was way too rushed. Get in, feed, get out. Couldn't even get a close-up. Just entry would have probably been enough for me. Animals seen: Australian Humpback Dolphin Little Black Cormorant Blue-faced Honeyeater Noisy Friarbird nudibranch And that's it. I returned the camper, got an uber to the airport (spaceships doesn't do airport transfers (not my favourite rental company that one)) and had an uneventful flight home with Virgin.
Updated target list: Marsupials: Quenda - Barna Mia Nocturnal Wildlife Experience, (?) Western Barred Bandicoot - Barna Mia Nocturnal Wildlife Experience (Cape York Brown Bandicoot) Long-nosed Echymipera Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat Southern Common Cuscus Common Spotted Cuscus Scaly-tailed Possum Mountain Brush-tail Possum/Southern Bobuck - (?) Little Pygmy-possum Burrowing Bettong - Alice Springs Desert Park, Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Barna Mia Nocturnal Wildlife Experience Gilbert's Potoroo Long-footed Potoroo Banded Hare-wallaby Mala - Alice Springs Desert Park, Barna Mia Nocturnal Wildlife Experience Bennett's Tree-kangaroo Monjon Rothschild's Rock-wallaby Short-eared Rock-wallaby - Perth Zoo Purple-necked Rock-wallaby Cape York Rock-wallaby Godman's Rock-wallaby ----------- Mulgara Kaluta Kultarr False Antechinus Ningaui Planigale (Stripe-faced Dunnart - Alice Springs Desert Park) Marsupial Mole
