The End of Oz

On our last full day on the north Queensland coast, Kate, Helene, Terry, and I decided to do some birding up toward the Atherton Tablelands, a bench land just on the other side of the "Dividing Range," the spine of mountains that snakes all the way down to Victoria in the south that separates the Australia's east coast from the Outback.

Our destination was the Mareeba Wetlands, a human-made wetlands in the down-flow from a dam.  On the steep drive up from the coast, we kept our eyes out for a meandering Cassowary, as the road was dotted with warning signs of recent sightings.  No luck, alas.

We stopped for a cappuccino at a little shack with lots of Mexican stuff - turns out the proprietor was from Mazatlan.  Weird!

The wetlands were wet ... but we did see some interesting birds:

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Black kites - hunting in the wake of a plough

The Forest Kingfisher - which hunts bugs not fish

The very cool Pheasant Coucal

Satin Flycatcher

That Pheasant Coucal again ... it's just so COOL!

We flew the next day to Brisbane for our last night on Aussie soil.  We had arranged to stay with our friends Beryl and Al, who we rented from (AirBnB) during the first two weeks we lived in Brisbane.  It was bitter-sweet - great to see them again, to return to our beginning, to have a fun Nepali dinner with lots of laughter, to be someplace we knew.

But it was short-lived, as the next morning Al drove us and all our luggage (actually one bag lighter than when we arrived six months ago) to the airport for our last goodbye.

We both had sad eyes; we were leaving with fond and fun memories and with new friends, yet also leaving with that certain feeling one has for a place no longer foreign but familiar.

We hope to return.