Sun-Tue, Sept 2-5 - Arrive in OZ

Sunday-Tuesday, 9/2 – 9/4

Said Goodbye to Jane Cat, left the house at 5:30 P.M. and drove down to LAX in 90 minutes. Checked into Quantas, had a steak sandwich and a martini and climbed aboard our 747 at 10:30 to find that Quantas had actually added about two inches to couch seat spacing and we had an empty seat between us. Comfortable trip guaranteed! They also gave us a good dinner, free drinks and “Entertainment on Demand” – a choice of about 60 movies and TV programs…what an airline! Saw a couple of good Aussie movies, popped an Ambien and woke up at 5 AM Brisbane time for breakfast and arrival at the international airport. Overcast and a cool 65 degrees. We stood outdoors for 20 minutes for a train to take us to the domestic terminal and saw our first bird: the Welcome Swallow, appropriately enough.

At the domestic terminal we boarded Quantas for the four- hour flight to Darwin.

Received another breakfast and entertained ourselves using Bob’s GPS to track our progress over unbelievably vast stretches of barren empty land with dry river beds cutting deeply into the red plains and an occasional sheep or cattle station.

We flew over the small city of Darwin situated on the very indented coastline of northeast Australia, landed, got our luggage and our Nissan X-Country, a rugged little station wagon, and set off east into the 100-degree sunshine.

We drove about 40 km through flat, arid and scrubby land, rather like parts of Florida, stopping at Howard Springs, an old WWII US army base, now a park which, with its year round water, attracts a lots of birds. We saw a Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, a beautiful gray dove with green wings, yellow and rose belly and crown, and a flock of about fifty Little Corellas, pure white parrots with blue eye rings.

We continued on to Fogg Dam, a failed rice-growing project of the 50s that now is a vast wet land park full of spoonbills, geese, ducks, egrets, etc. and found our B & B, Eden at Fogg Dam, run by Jeremy and Heather, a former engineer and nurse who bought 100 acres of scrub a few years ago and are growing mangos and limes. Their house is built in typical tropical style with an overhanging roof to fend off the rains of summer and protect against the heat of the winter, with louvered windows on all sides and ceiling fans everywhere.

Heather cooked a great dinner with local shrimp, avocados and their own mango ice cream for dessert.

We collapsed after dinner and went to bed.