Adventures with Julia

After a stressful and frustrating start getting Ugandan visas, this month long adventure has worked out very happily. We had a good time visiting with Jonathan and staying at 2 of his properties. Connecting with our goddaughter, Juliana, was a delight. We are pleased to see her pursuing a medical career. We both deepened our relationships with her. We enjoyed the bit of time we had with Anivious, the young Batwa lady we sponsor, and we enjoyed spending time with Kellermann Foundation people, especially Scott, and meeting the Dental Vision construction crew. It was a pleasure connecting with some of the other donors and especially the bishop. Although the clinic is not finished, it will be reasonably soon and we will see it in action when we return in a year.

Kenya was full of people new to us, but several are now familiar friends. Our guide, Claire; our helicopter pilot, Andy; Claire’s husband, Rod, and their friends Wendy and Rob; property managers, Amory and Karina.

We hope to spend more time with all of them….again …..sometime.

It was difficult to download videos so I have chosen the two that would transmit plus some of our favorite stills. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we have.

Happy trails,

Julia and Mark

Friday, May 16, 2025

While staying at Mogwooni Homestead with Claire and Rod Jones, we learned a lot about them over the days we had together. Besides Rod’s rose business and his interest in lawn bowling, we learned Claire has a cheese business using the milk received from some 40 goats she owns. Her staff manage the goats and make a variety of feta cheeses, which she sells to commercial enterprises. She maintains a large garden for their household use as well as chickens. She hopes to sell the cheese business this year and have more free time. She loves her safari business and plans to keep doing that.

Friends of theirs, Wendy and Rob, came for lunch one day and stayed for the afternoon to play lawn bowling with us. They were delightful company and the six of us had a grand time.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Finally, we began the helicopter portion of our Kenya trip. We lifted off from Claire’s Mogwooni home at 7:20 and flew an hour north to a clearing in the forest where a group of Pokot tribal people met us to perform a ceremonial dance. Claire had arranged the performance of a wedding ceremony and about 100 tribe members showed up.

They started with a blessing with everyone seated and shortly thereafter the dancing started and lasted for about an hour.

It was a delightful experience as we were the only observers and the dancers performed as if we were not there, which was perfect. We got many photographs. They all seemed pleased to be there and had fun dancing.

We learned that the Pokot are farmers and pastoralists. They have developed skills in pottery and metal work. Tribal elders make all the decisions for the tribe, including marriage. Women have no say in anything and circumcision is common. The Potoc clan is approximately 200 years old and clan history is handed down orally.

By 9:30 we were back in the helicopter and headed for a coffee break on the rim of the Silale crater in the Great Rift Valley. The temperature was heating up but was not yet unbearable.

After coffee, we continued up the Seguta Valley along the Seguta River and on up to Koros camp. The camp is about an hour south of Lake Turkana by car, if you are looking at the map.

Andy made a stop on a large sand dune in a dune field that was very interesting to see as it rolled on. The temperature was over 100 degrees and so hot our feet were burning through our shoes. Glad to be back in the AC in the helicopter, we flew over a Samburu village and then on to our next camp, called Koros.

The meadow was full of purple/blue flowers. After an hour we headed further north to the southern edge of Lake Turkana, where we landed on the shore next to Amory and Kaitlin’s boat. They keep it there to use with guests, primarily for fishing Nile perch, and had driven up early to provision it with lunch and drinks. We all jumped on board and Amory headed into the lake at a good clip. The water was rough and unpleasant for me, but he slowed down and Karina ran out two fishing lines. Soon Mark had one but it was too small at 4 kilo. Then he caught another one that was 25 kilo. We agreed to keep that one and have it for dinner. Amory found a pleasant lunch spot on South Island in Lake Turkana, under a shady tree next to a sandy beach. So we all went swimming, trusting there were no crocks nearby, and enjoyed individual chicken pies and drinks. While we fished, Andy relocated the helicopter to our lunch spot so we could fly away after lunch.

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

There are no bugs or mosquitos. In fact, we have seen very few bugs on the whole trip and no snakes, thankfully.

We learned that there are about 310,000 Samburu people, 826,000 Pokot, and 1 million Turkana people living on different tribal lands in northern Kenya. There are 50 million Kenyans in the country. Koros is in the Samburu region. The air is very hot, but the camp is in the trees and pleasant.

We watched birds from the dining area and chatted with the camp managers, Karina and Amory. They have managed this camp for 6 years and are happy living in the wild. They own several quad bikes and have a fishing boat on Lake Turkana, so they can provide activities for guests. There are 7 cabins, but only one party is allowed at a time. So we have the place to ourselves.

Late in the afternoon we went on a quad ride to a sundowner in the woods. Amory had us bouncing across dry mud fields at a good clip. It was a fun, but dusty ride.

Monday, May 19, 2025

We are in the helicopter at 6:40 for an early start to beat the heat. We headed for a section of rock wall that contains several ancient petroglyphs and get to see a few before the temp hits 100F.

From there we flew to the Lothagam Fault between 2 volcanic ridges. At the north Lothagam Pillar burial site, 42 human remains were found in one site. There are many burial mounds, but most have not been excavated due to cost.

We take several photos of the area and stop to look for fossils. We find several ancient fish bone fossils, but nothing human. The temp is only 98F at 10:30am.

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Off again early, we head for Lake Logipi to see the flamingos. And we find a huge number of birds casting about on the lake. The temp was 93F. Somewhat comfortable. We opened the doors on the helicopter to get good photos. (With the door shut we have great AC.) The scene was spectacular, but impossible to capture with photographs, although we tried. Andy dropped onto the dry part of the lake pan and we walked toward the water. The closer we got the wetter the mud became until we could not pull our feet out to make a step. It made for some good laughter, but we had to turn around without getting near the lake. We did see a Golden Jaeckel walking lightly across the mud.

Our next stop was the top of Mt Nyiru, which is at about 8,500 feet and much cooler. Andy landed on a pretty green meadow at 8,100 feet and we enjoyed a very pleasant coffee break.

It was so hot, we determined to go swimming in the camp dipping pool. It felt delicious so we stayed in the water a good while.

Dinner was served at 8pm and included very tasty Nile perch as well as several side dishes. Again, we went to bed directly after dinner.

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Coffee at 7 and in the Land Cruiser by 7:30 for a long game drive. Except for a coffee and biscuit break, we did not stop until returning to camp at 3.

We headed south to the only bridge over the Galana River and then north and deeper into the park. We were looking for anything of interest we might find and we ended up finding a lot.

First we stopped for some plants I was interested in identifying: caccia, small yellow flowers on a mid sized bush; triaspie niedenzuiana, which looks a bit like a snapdragon and comes in white, lilac or pink; and japvanica, a plant used for stuffing pillows.

After crossing the bridge we walked out to see Lagards Falls, which had been named in 1888 by Captain Lagard. Brown, but beautiful.

Soon we were seeing animals and identified: a gerenuk, a black headed lapwing, an Oryx, Grants Gazelle, a very dark giraffe, a bird and a shy female lion.

We stopped to have tea under a tree that we learned the tree was housing a monitor lizard in a hole five feet up the trunk.

In the far end of the pond were a maribou stork, a few wholly-necked storks, a couple of grey heron. Finally, we left that scene and passed by another watering hole filled with female elephants and their babies. By then it was getting late so we drove back to camp for lunch and a swim in the pool.

At 5:30 we were off again for our night drive. We were determined to repeat our path of two nights earlier where we had seen approximately 20 spotted eagle owls during our drive. Rollem drove really fast for a game drive and I wondered why until we reached a pretty sandy beach on the bank of the Galana River and saw an unusual sundowner set up with chairs, pillows, blankets and cushions next to a full bar with snacks as well as drinks.

We sat there until well after sunset thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Eventually we drove slowly back to camp watching for signs of life.

We spotted a flock of guinea foul and I managed a reasonable photo of this very elusive bird.

Unlike the other evening when we saw 20 owls, we only saw 7 spotted-eagle owls, all in the beam of our car lamp. The one on the left has a small animal in its claw.

One was eating a catch and another pair were getting on together. Then we saw another lioness on the hunt, 3 African wild cats (the size of house cats), and one elephant shrew (a small mouse). No photos.

All in all, a very good day. We were all satisfied at dinner and headed for bed by 9:30.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

After Jonathan departed River Station, we hung out until 11am and departed ourselves. We boated across the channel to Katunguru and transferred to a Land Cruiser driven by Julius, our driver for the next several days. After a very bumpy 4 hour drive on rain damaged dirt roads we reached Buhoma, the town where the Bwindi Community Hospital is located. We were booked into the BCH Guest House and glad to have the driving behind us for a while.

We were no sooner moved into our room, when we met up with other people arriving for the dedication of the Dental/Vision Clinic. We visited a bit and then headed to the clinic to see how it looked. It was disappointing to me as the place is decidedly unfinished. We walked through all the rooms in spite of the muddy and sticky floors. The ceilings were done, exterior window frames and doors installed and the terrazzo floors not quite finished. There was rough plumbing and electrical, but no finishing details inside or out.

The contractor showed up and told me that he expects to be done in a month. I am not convinced, but I cannot control the outcome.

Shortly before dinner, Juliana, our 21 year old goddaughter, arrived and we happily sat together for dinner and a good visit. She has just finished her first year of University and is volunteering at BCH for her break time. Unfortunately, the dining room is very noisy when full of people so we had a hard time hearing each other.

The room we were booked into, called Blacky Shacky, is very basic. Only cold water in the sink, trickle of water in the shower, no shampoo, 2 tiny pieces of soap, thin queen size mattress, windows with no screens, a toilet that does not accept paper and a bare stone floor. We knew it would be basic when we made the arrangements, but wanted to be near the other dedication attendees. And it is only for 4 nights. We were in bed early and drifted right off to sleep.

Friday, May 9, 2025

We joined other guests for breakfast and then all walked to the D/V Clinic to give it a thorough look. Having rained heavily during the night, the walk to the clinic was exceptionally muddy, and so the clinic was very muddy too. Ugh!

This was a work day for Juliana, so it was the perfect day to visit Anivious, the Mutwa girl we sponsor. She is the same age as Juliana, but she will be a sophomore in high school. The difference between them is significant. Juliana is average size, charming and outgoing and speaks good English. Anivious is a tiny person, very shy and speaks English poorly. They are both good students, however. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of her.

At lunch time, Mark and I walked to the street vendor,Susan, who sells samosas. We buy them from her every time we are in town and she remembered us cheerfully. We enjoyed a beef and a veg samosa each. Then Scott toured Mark and me through the pediatric department to show us his plans to improve that wing of the hospital.

The afternoon was very relaxed.

At 5:30, Scott, Juliana, Julius, our driver, and I went to a place new to us for dinner, called Buhoma Lodge. I had veg lasagne and the 4 of them had pork roulad. We had a good time together, but the dinner was mediocre in my book.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Finally got my hair washed in our frugal shower and dressed for the Dedication. After breakfast everyone assembled in front of the D/V Clinic at 9:30.

The BCH choir sang How Great Thou Art and To God Be the Glory. It was lovely. Then Dr Charlotte welcomed everyone. Laura, the Kellermann Foundation ED, Rick lead Rotarian, Debbie from Isle of Man, Scott spoke about Lavonne, Stacey about vision care, and I said something, but can’t remember what.

After the simple dedication at the clinic, everyone walked to the graduation grounds for the 4th UNSB (Uganda Nursing School Bwindi) ceremony. 220 students were graduating and there was much falderal.

Many speeches by the bishop, ministers, professors and politicians. Scott gave a humorous talk. There was also a lot of singing and dancing and way too much rain. By the time we left, mud was everywhere and the graduates had not yet received their diplomas.

Everyone was served a boxed lunch of rice, matoke and chicken. I could eat only a part of it.

Spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the guest house porch typing and chatting with other dedication attendees.

Scott, Juliana, Julius and I went back to the Buhoma Lodge for cocktails and visited with many other Kellermann folks who had the same idea. Finally we returned to the Guest House for a light dinner and bed.

Sunday, My 11, 2025

The church service began at 8am with the choir singing hymns. The minister arrived and began making comments while people filed into the BCH chapel. There were several speeches by different KF members including me. I chose to have Juliana join me and share the reading. It went very well and I learned that Juliana has a good public speaking voice.

The service went on for over 3 hours, but Mark, Juliana and I slipped away after 2.5 hours. Enough was more than enough.

Around 11am we joined a group of fellow muzungus, ie white people, on a Batwa Experience walk through the woods with periodic stops to learn aspects of Batwa life before they were expelled from the forest.

We learned about the different plants they used for medical problems and about the foods they ate, which included mostly small animals. We learned how they used traps and snares as well as bows and arrows to catch animals. They did not hunt gorillas, but sometimes a gorilla got caught in one of their snares.This was part of why they were expelled from the forest. They did not cook their food, but ate it raw and fresh. At one point we were invited to try out a bow and arrows to see if we could hit a target they wet. We all tried, but only 2 of us succeeded. By then it was raining again and Mark and I hiked back to camp at a good clip. We missed the musical part of the Experience.

At 12:30 we departed Buhoma with Julius and Juliana and followed Scott with the Lipperts. They were headed for the Kihiihi airport and we were headed for the Savannah Lodge next to the airport. After dropping the Lipperts at the airport, Scott joined us at the Savannah and we drove on to the Congo refugee camp near Kihihi, called the United Nations for High Commission Refugees UNHCR. Scott wanted us to see what a refugee camp looked like.

The people did not look much different than the Ugandans we had been around. They looked a bit lost, especially with nothing to do, but were not starving as they receive a modest meal. They did not feel safe to return home and said they would not go back. We were thronged, but not pushed or grabbed. Many smiled when we did and answered questions that Julius asked in Swahili, which he speaks fluently.

Finally, Scott signaled for us to leave and we piled into the Land Cruiser and drove away with many people looking as us forlornly. Very sad prospects for the thousands of refugees currently in Uganda.

Back at the lodge, we had dinner, talked awhile and went to bed.

Monday, May 12, 2025

At breakfast at 7am, the 5 of us enjoyed our last visit together and drove to the airstrip. The plane was on time and Mark and I flew to Nairobi at 9am.

Saturday, May 3, 2025

We arrived in Entebbe on Thursday, May 1 and were met by our friend and long time Ugandan guide, Jonathan Wright. After some hassle getting through immigration with our new visas, we sat at the airport another hour waiting for our rented Cessna 210 to be readied for our 1 1/2 hour flight to Bungugu airstrip in North Central Uganda. The pilot flew us over miles and miles of forested landscape, finally depositing us in the middle of the Murchison Falls National Park. A car was waiting for us and took us the last hour and a half to Pappa’s Camp on the White Nile River at an elevation of 2025 feet. Finally, after 3 days of delays, we are at our first destination on this adventure, a real tented safari camp, complete with a bucket shower.

The river is only a few steps from our tent and rages as it makes a bend just in front of our tent flap. Mark and I are in heaven with the rushing river drowning our tinnitus. A lovely hand made ravioli dinner was a satisfying meal after a long day even if we did not finish until 10pm.

Friday, May 2, Mark and I slept in, missing our first game drive opportunity. For once neither of us minded. It felt good to slow down. After breakfast, we watched about 16 hippo’s cavorting in the eddy next to the community tent. Late in the afternoon, Jonathon took us on a game drive in the park.

The park is populated with Ungulates called Uganda Kob, water buffalo, and several lions, which must be in heaven, their prey is so readily available. In addition to the large herds, we saw Rothschild giraffe, wart hog, hyena, side-striped jackal, and a variety of birds, including a favorite of mine, the night jar.

These are 2 of 4, month old cubs. Below are a boy and girl about 3 years old, who have been named Phil and Mimi.

The cats were most notable because we saw them in several small family groups—a mother with 2 one year olds, a mother with 4 babies, a brother and sister pair about 4 years old, and several single females.

But the dominant male was not to be found. During the drive we stopped for a sundowner drink and managed to get back to camp well after dark. The hope for a cat hunt did not materialized. The Kob here isn’t concerned about the sleepy lion.

A nice curry dinner was again served late, but we managed to get to bed by 10pm.

Good thing, because we were up at 5:15 for the morning game drive on Saturday, May 3. We saw all the same animals we had seen the day before, and we heard the male rumble, but could not find it. By 9am we arrived at a preset outdoor breakfast and were treated to wrapped omelettes full of goodies and called a Rolex. We learned that the Rolex is a very popular breakfast dish in Uganda.

As breakfast was served beside the Nile, it seemed like a good opportunity to do some fishing. I watched while Mark cast his line into the river many times before giving up. Finally we were back in our tent and had delightful bucket showers. Mark’s was cold, so I waited for hot water to be delivered and luxuriated under the warm spray while listening to birds singing in the tree above. We relaxed until a late lunch was served—tilapia for me and Jonathon and pasta for Mark. At 5pm we gathered for another game drive. The same lions and more were scattered about the countryside. They all looked very healthy and content in a world of thousands of easy to capture Kob.

Shortly before dark we encountered a group of giraffe, called a “tower”. We counted 15 animals of different sizes. They too looked very healthy. After dark, we passed a large porcupine lumbering along the road. Lightening and thunder threatened us most of the way back to camp, but we managed to get almost through an outdoor BBQ dinner before the storm drenched everyone. We grabbed our plates and drinks and finished eating indoors. Shortly after dinner, we grabbed a large umbrella and headed for our room and bed. I’m not sure which I like better, the sound of the river or the rain.

While at Pappa’s Camp, Mark and I met Marcia McIntosh and Nick Okeyo, seasoned safari builders who usually work their magic across Kenya. They’ve been in Uganda for a short stint working for Jonathon on a new game lodge next to Papa’s Camp and have joined us on game drives and kept us company at meal times.

Sunday, May 4, 2025.

Breakfast was served outdoors beside a fire pit on the bank of the Nile. We shared our last meal with Marcia and Nick, climbed into the land cruiser with Jonathon and headed for the Bungugu airstrip.

Monday, October 21, 2024

Left Newcastle for Sydney at 11am and arrive at our hotel parking garage about 1pm. The garage is at least 8 floors underground and we drove down to level 6 before finding a spot. Finally reached the Lobby at 1:30 and were in our room at 1:40. Catherine booked the Sebel Quay West Hotel for us months ago and it certainly lived up to expectations. Our room has a spectacular view of both the bridge and the Opera House and is very close to everything we are interested in visiting.

We hung out in the room a short while and then took an Uber to the Bondi Icebergs Restaurant overlooking the famous Bondi Beach, which Catherine had also booked months in advance and where we had a late lunch with the plan of skipping dinner.

Everyone had a delicious meal including my cuttlefish entree and Mark’s Whiting fish main dish. After lunch we admired the Beach view awhile and headed back to the Sebel Quay West where we hung out until we all got sleepy. Catherine and Martin have a similar room on a different floor.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Our plans for the day were action packed. Mark and I went on a 90 minute helicopter ride over the Sydney area and out to the Blue Mountains to see the scenery, especially the Three Sisters rock formation. We took lots of photos and enjoyed the ride.

After that we went for a walk in the Botanical Gardens and had a light lunch in a cafe in the gardens. We walked back to the hotel for a brief rest and then headed for our second big event of the day, the BridgeClimb, on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

We arrived at the Bridge climb check in and gift shop at 4pm and began the process of getting prepared for the walk. There was still some concern about my health, but after talking a few minutes, the staff was satisfied. The lecture about do’s and don’ts, the process of getting prepared, putting on all the clothing and gadgets required for a safe walk and double checking each person before heading out took almost 60 minutes. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to have our cameras so I have no photos of the experience except the ones the bridge crew took.

Our clothing included a full jumpsuit and harness, hat, headset to hear the crew while on the walk, a cable attachment for the entire walk, a scarf to use if your eyes or nose need whipping, croakies to attach my glasses, headset and hat. Nothing could be unattached in case something should fall onto a vehicle on the bridge. We were assigned to a group of 14 walkers and one leader. After dressing, we assembled and went through an orientation including saying our name and where we were from and being assigned a position in the group lineup. Being the weakest person, because I admitted to being terrified of falling, I was put in the first position with Mark behind me. Our leader, Jesse, instructed us on how and where and when to walk and off we went. To make us take our mind off the walk, he talked about the history of the bridge and told a few funny stories. It did help, but at first I had a hard time taking more than baby steps, but Mark kept nudging me on and eventually I walked faster, though I was not able to look around, only down at the walk way. Jesse had us stop at a few designated photo stops where the crew took photos of each couple and group. We arrived at the top of the bridge just a few minutes before sunset. The crew took several photos there and we continued across and down the other side. I began to feel more comfortable on the way down and walked faster. But I could look around only when we were not walking. It was a huge relief when we finally reached the bottom and were back in the changing room.

I certainly felt like celebrating and couldn’t wait for my first scotch. We went directly back to our room where drinks were waiting. I ordered some hot pasta from room service while drinking my first scotch. The rest of the group drank Champaign and wine and ate cheese and crackers Catherine had brought from home. I proceeded to polish off the pasta and 2 more scotches and it wasn’t long before I was ready to crash. Soon Catherine and Martin left and Mark joined me in bed. It had been quite a day.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

The 26th Exhibition of Sculpture by the Sea.

This was a much more relaxing day for all of us. A leisurely breakfast was followed by an Uber ride to Bandi Beach, where Mark, Catherine and I walked the 26th Exhibition of the Sculpture By The Sea. There were 100 pieces and we managed to take in almost all of them. Most were not of much interest to us, but a few were very good. The walk followed the shoreline and ended at another beach called Tamarama. Here are a few of the pieces I liked.

I took a short walk on Tamarama Beach, and then the three of us took an Uber to a fish restaurant called Doyle’s, where we met up with Martin and feasted on a delicious lunch of fish and chips and mussels.

Then we hopped on a Hop on-Hop off boat and rode it to our hotel stop. By then it was late afternoon and we were all ready to have some down time and call it a day. We did meet up later in the evening for a light dinner and beer at a nearby pub.

Thursday, October 24, 2024

This was our Sydney Opera House day. We were up and at the opera house at 7am for our first tour, the inside of the house, back stage tour.We got to see all 5 of the theaters in the building and learned a few details. Building the facility took 16 years, somewhat longer to build than the original timeframe of three years, from 1956-1973. There were many architectural problems that took years to be resolved, including firing the design architect, Jorn Utzon. Renovations and adjustments were completed in mid 2023 at the cost of 255 million. The original cost of the building was estimated at 7 million but the final cost was 102 million. There are 12 floors below street level as well as several above. The largest hall, the Symphony Hall, has 2700 seats, all made with white birch as it is a soft, absorbent wood. The Opera Hall, named for Joan Sutherland, whom I heard sing in the San Francisco Opera House in the 70’s, has 1500 seats. The building occupies 4.4 acres of land, is 600 ft long and 394 ft wide. It is as tall as a 22 story building. The interior is substantially covered in white ash plywood from northern Australia.

Then we had breakfast in the employee cafeteria and dashed to our second tour of the exterior of the building. There are 1,056,006 tiles covering the opera house. There are two colors,polished white and matte cream.

Back at the hotel by noon, there were no plans and we all felt like taking a break so we stayed in our rooms until 5:30 when we assembled in Martin and Catherine’s room for Champagne and pizza.

By 6:30 there was a light sprinkle so we wore our rain coats to the opera house for the 7:30 performance of Sunset Boulevard, a production by Andrew Loyd Webber. We had excellent seats in the third row center, but neither the music nor the performances were very exciting. Apparently even the newspaper had unflattering reviews about Sarah Brightman, the elderly actress who played the lead. Mark and I smiled at each other during her bad opening song. I was embarrassed for her, but the audience seemed to support her with enthusiasm and gave her a standing ovation at the end. We did not stand.

There were still a few light sprinkles on the walk back to the hotel so we wore our raincoats again. As it was 10:45 when we returned to our hotel. We all went directly to bed.

Friday, October 25, 2024

At breakfast we were still talking about Sarah Brightman and getting a good laugh. Then the subject moved to Trump and we stopped laughing.

At 11am we checked out of the Sebel Quay West Hotel, which we had enjoyed so much for its perfect location and stunning view. Martin, meanwhile, rescued his car from the 6th underground floor and off we went to the Toranga Zoo for our last adventure with the Whites.

It was a 45 minute drive through the city to the outskirts where the Tarango Zoo was located. We checked into our rooms in the Wildlife Retreat at Toranga, and headed into the zoo.

Our map was comprehensive. We circled the animals we most wanted to see and started walking.

First we went through the Aviary, which was full of birds even Mark could not identify. Then we covered Kangaroos and Wallabys, Koalas, Lions, Zebras, Elephants, Gorillas, Echidnas, other animals and finally Nocturnal creatures, trying hard to see the platypus, to no avail.

Enough animal watching for one day. Back in the Retreat, we cleaned up and had one last dinner together right at the hotel. A “feast” of a meal we enjoyed along with several glasses of wine and much good conversation. We have already made plans to get together when they come to Nevada City next week, a few days after we get home.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

After breakfast and saying good bye to Catherine and Martin, we headed back into the zoo to see the animals we had missed. Here they are.

Mark and I had a reasonable viewing of them all this time, especially the platypus, named Matilda. I added another hour with the reptiles, but they were not very photogenic.

We packed up and left the Wildlife Retreat at about 12:30 and Uber’d back into the city for our final hotel stay, the Park Hyatt, which is located on the Harbor looking directly at the Sydney Opera House.

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon until time to go to our second performance at the Opera House. It was a risqué program being held in the Studio, the smallest of the 5 Opera House halls. It was set up as a theater in the round. There is a photo of it taken during the tour earlier. Here is the only photo I captured just before the show. And yes there was a bathtub in the opening act and lots of people in the front rows got wet.

The place was packed and the entertainment baudy to say the least. There were 8 performers, each doing separate acts one right after another. Three acts were performed in the nude. What impressed me most was the muscular shape their bodies were in. Three other performances were done with silks and they were excellent. One lady did a performance with 4 umbrellas that was delightful. That and the last silk performance even impressed Mark. The show lasted about 1.5 hours and once out of the theater, we had diner at an outdoor cafe between the Opera House and our hotel. Mark had oysters again and I had scallops. We figure he has eaten about 6 dozen oysters on this trip.

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Another leisurely morning followed by a long walk through the part of the city called The Rocks. Bought a few souvenirs, including a new purse for me. Apparently Mark did not like the purse I have carried through this entire trip. Now I have a nice new one.

We had an early dinner on the street overlooking the Opera House. I ordered lobster and ate almost all of it. Mark had pork belly and ate the pasta in my lobster dish along with some of my lobster.

It was very tender and tasty. After dinner we walked back to the room and ordered dessert delivered. Nice finishing touch to our meal. Tomorrow morning, October 28, 2024, we get picked up at 9:30 and begin our return to Nevada City. After 24 hours of traveling, it will still be October 28 when we get home, a 41 hour day.

Monday, October 14, 2024

The flight from Port Lincoln to Kangaroo Island was itself interesting. Shortly after take off, we flew over the large rings where Blue fin Tuna are being fattened and Kingfish are being raised along with mussles, abalone, prawns, crabs and flounder. Port Lincoln, I learned, is the seafood capital of Australia. We also got a good shot of the grain loading conveyor belts in Boston Bay. The biggest problem for the small city of 14.500 people is lack of water. The town is considering building a desalination plant. After 40 minutes over the Southern Ocean we were over Kangaraoo Island with green fields and many rain water catchment basins.

We landed near Kingscote on Kangaroo Island and were met by our next driver guide, Lee. He wasted no time getting our program started by driving us to a place called Duck Lagoon, where we had tea and coffee and saw lots of birds including: black swans with several cygnet (baby swans), ibis, pied cormorant, galah, crimson rosella and several koala asleep in the trees. Lee told us there are 273 endemic birds in all of Australia, but too many koalas on Kangaroo Island. Meanwhile, there are only 4,500 people. The island is approximately 100 miles long and 50 miles wide and has 335 miles of coastline with a lot of it being white sand and wild seas.

A fire in 2020 wiped out half the island. The 60K koala were reduced to 30K. Eucalyptus oil is made on the island and exported for use as cleaning products. While Lee waxed long about eucalyptus, we were more interested in the birds, especially the three below.

From there we went to Seal Bay where we saw many sea lions warming up on the beach and a flock of Great Crested Terns.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, the Southern Ocean Lodge. We were glad to stop moving and settle into our rooms with a Southern Ocean view.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Lee picked us up at 9:30 and off we went to the nearby Hansons Bay to get a look. Then we continued to a rendezvous place to meet Heidi Griffey, a Dutch conservator whose goal is to eradicate feral cats on the island. She owns 200 acres of her own and works with other small land owners to capture and eradicate the unwanted animals.

After we left Heidi, we checked into Flinders Chase National Park Headquarters to get permission to enter.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Meet Lee at 9:30 for a day of exploring beaches. But first, Mark fortified himself with an Eggs Benedict that had smashed peas in it.

As we headed north for the Western River Cove, we stopped along the way to see some fencing to get a good look at what they call varmit fencing that we refer to as hog wire. All the fencing is new due to the huge fire that wiped out so very much in 2019-20. The landscape is a beautiful green where the trees have been cut. The sheep have just been sheered and they look very happy. The hog style fencing is installed so the bottom foot is folded out away from the protected area. There is no barbed wire on the top. A lot of trees still need to be removed, but much has been done and both people and animals are slowly recovering.

At the convergence of the Western RIver with the Beach, we walked across a foot bridge and had a close encounter with a Willie Wagtail, who danced around for a long time, before flying away.

After a pleasant hour on the lovely and nearly deserted beach, we drove on to our next Beach experience, Snelling Beach. Along the way we saw a few koala in the trees. This was our lunch stop and Lee served a delicious spread of meats and salad. This beach was almost as nice as Western River Cove.

Our last beach of the day was Stokes Bay and Lee was looking forward to showing us a special tunnel. When we arrived we were not impressed with what we saw as the beach was full of rocks, dried kelp, pebbles and trash. Then he told us to follow him and soon we were navigating a narrow passage among large boulders.

Eventually we passed the last boulder and stepped into the sunshine on another beautiful beach. What a pleasant surprise. After a pleasant walk on this beach, we headed back to the hotel.

It turns out Kangaroo Island is full of lovely beaches and the locals are very spoiled. The water is pretty cold, but not uncomfortable in late spring and summer.

On the way back to the lodge from the north coast beaches, Lee spotted several wallabys and Mark was able to snap this one. Really good of him as Tammer is the only wallaby on Kangaroo Island.

Thursday, October 17, 2024

It is Thursday morning and we are sitting at the airport terminal waiting for our Quanta’s flight to Adelaide followed by another wait for an onward flight to Newcastle. So I end this most southerly part of our trip.

Friday, October 4, 2024

We arrive in Hobart from Melbourne at 10am. Our driver, Andrew, was delightfully charming and informative. Much more than a transport driver. Soon I was taking notes. The population of the state of Tasmania is 565,000 and is approximately the size of West Virginia. It is the least populated state in the country. The half of the population lives in Hobart, the capital. About 100K has some aboriginal heritage. Tasmania claims to have 4 distinct seasons as they are 40 degrees south of the equator. As Grass Valley is about 39 degrees north of the equator, our climates must be similar. The temperature was 63F in Hobart.

The first European to land on the island was Abel Janzoon Tasman in 1642. The state was named for him in 1856. Originally a prison colony, 190,000 prisoners were sent to Tasmania from England. Roughly half came to Tasmania and half went to Sydney. The first successful European settlers came in 1804 and settled in what became Hobart. It has the 2nd deepest port in the world. Money-making products were fish and organic foods. Whiskey was also a moneymaker.

Then Andrew dropped us off at the Museum of Natural Art (MONA) and we began our 11am tour, which was a self guided computer app. It was the most unusual museum I have ever experienced. The art is all over the globe in terms of subject and translation. There is no map of the layout to follow or any organization to understand. After wandering around for almost 2 hours, we were tired and confused and wanting the experience to be finished. We left the building, knowing there must be a lot we missed. We had lunch in the museum, but found it somewhat confusing too.

When we left the museum, the sky was raining lightly and Andrew quickly took us to the heliport for our 50 minute flight to our Hotel, the Saffire Freycinet on the east side of the island. (The Freycinet Peninsula is marked on the map). The pilot was happy to get airborne and off we went.

After 40 minutes the fog had descended below minimums and he decided to put the chopper down in a winery vineyard, short of our hotel destination. Very shortly a friend of the pilot’s drove up and agreed to take us the rest of the way to the hotel. It is so nice in a small country, where everyone knows everyone and is willing to lend a hand. We were on our way by car in just a few minutes and reached the hotel about 30 minutes later. Everyone was so very nice. Soon we were in our hotel room and able to relax.

Apparently the Freycinet brothers arrived in the area in 1802 and mapped the area, but did not live here.

We had a light simple dinner and were happy to relax in our room. The building is designed to look like a Southern Eagle Sting Ray.

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Up and out for a reasonably sunny day, with a light breeze and a few clouds. Simple breakfast followed by a ride then walk hike with the hotel guide, Nicole. We walked on a very easy trail that was most pleasant. Nicole identified many plants and lichen, with a limerick: “Freddy fungi and Alice algae met and took a lichen to each other”.

On our drive with Nicole, we saw three different Echidna along the roadside and were thrilled to see them and get these photos. Echidna is a Greek word for “spiny ant eater”. They live only in Australia, and are very smart, having the largest frontal cortex in relation to their size of all mammals including humans. Along with the platypus, they are the only living mammals that lay eggs. About 30 days after mating the female deposits a single, soft shelled, leathery egg in her pouch. The egg hatches after 10 days and the baby lives in the pouch for 7 weeks. The mother gives pink milk due to high iron content of her diet, which includes termites, ants, earth worms, beetles and moth larvae.

Back at the lodge, we had lunch and relaxed until 4pm, when we had our next planned activity—a visit to the Tasmanian Devil enclosure. It is on site at the lodge and a big part of its conservation efforts. The enclosure is 2.5 acres in size and currently contains 5 aging female devils. The only male had died a couple of weeks ago.

Tasmanian Devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials in the world and have the strongest bite for their size of any mammal. They only live on Tasmania as they became extinct everywhere else 3500 years ago. They eat up to 40% of their body weight in a day. Here at Saffire Freycinet, the devils are fed wallaby or possum every other day. They scream and shout and act like they are about to fight with each other, but they are displaying dominance and generally don’t fight.

These ladies don’t mate anymore, but those that do will have a litter of 20-40 Joeys, each the size of a grain of rice. As the mother has only 4 teats, that is all that will survive. They leave the pouch after 105 days and become independent after 9 months. Devils are very timid and quiet as a rule. They would rather run than fight. There are only 7-12,000 left in the wild. They are dying due to a very contagious cancer. A vaccine has been developed to eradicate the cancer, but inoculation is slow in happening.

Back inside the dining room, we found the place packed. Turns out to be a long holiday weekend for locals and we got the last table in the house. Mark enjoyed a bunch of very fresh oysters, while I ate a raw scallop. Excellent start. Next course was venison for Mark and a nice flaky fish for me. We even had room for dessert. Then early to bed.

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Coffee and Fresh OJ arrived at 7am, so we enjoyed the early morning in our room. There was almost no one in the dining room for breakfast. On the way we encountered this Kangaroo and her Joey.

We had no plans until 2pm, so we enjoyed our private space.

Lunch was a casual buffet in the lounge.

Then we were off on a helicopter ride to see more animals. The copter is a brand new airbus helicopter with only 20 hours of flight time. It holds 7 people and we both got to sit in the front with the pilot Ben.

We flew about 45 minutes over densely wooded hills and lush green valleys to a prearranged open place where our guide, Bushy, met us. Off the copter went and we joined Bushy in his vehicle. He drove us to Ben Lomond, the second highest mountain in Tazmania and the peak of a Jurassic Dolomite mountain. We saw some very interesting rock formations that were similar to the Devil’s Post Pile near Mammoth Lakes.

While there we saw the back end of a Wombat and its cube shaped poop.

We saw another echidna and I got to pet both its soft and spiny fur.

From the mountain we drove to Bushy’s bush camp. (On the map it is about where the “n” is in the town called Launceston.) He did not tell us any details about the camp, wanting us to be surprised, and surprised we were. We no sooner drove into the property when we were surrounded by a “Mob” of Kangaroo, and three pademelon, which we had not seen before. We got a kick out of his very rustic cabin, outhouse, wood stove and fire pit. Bushy served us a drinks and then fed the animals a large quantity of pellets.

The name Pademelon means “small kangaroo from the forest’. They are small marsupials with dark brown to grey brown fur. They are killed for their meat and soft fur and are now endangered due to loss of habitat. They have a life span of 4-9 years.

Finally, the elusive spot tailed Quoll made its appearance. It was high on my list of animals to see and I was glad to see one, but here we saw 4. They are carnivorous marsupials, primarily nocturnal and spend most of their days in a den. They are highly mobile and travel several miles each night. They have litters of 6 every year, live 4-5 years in the wild and can get to 1 meter long.

After a tasty meal of fresh salmon and salad, that Bushy prepared himself, he drove us back to the Saffire lodge. It was a 2.5 hour drive and we were ready for bed by the time he dropped us off at 10pm.

Monday, October 7, 2024

This morning we had a 9:30 hike scheduled to see the Wineglass Bay. Our guide, Chris, drove us to the “You are here” sign about 5 miles from our hotel, and we hiked 1.7 miles in a loop up and back. It was a pleasant walk with lots of people on the trail. Chris was very entertaining and introduced us to plants and trees we had not known.

It rained pretty heavily on us during the end of our hike and we were all cold. Back at the lodge, we warmed up and had lunch.

We had one last activity planned and Mark decided to pass. At 2pm I met Mick Quilliam, a full aboriginal, who shared some of his culture with me. He belongs to the tribe called Minapelaver, which means “Lagoon people”. They arrived in Tasmania 42,000 years ago. Today there are 25,000 indigenous people in 9 different tribes on Tasmania. The tribes gather together about 3 times a year and live by their own tribal rules. Mick showed me how to make tough string from bull rushes; how to use seal fat to make soft skins and pelts; how to mix egg white and ocher and use it for painting. We had a nice conversation for about an hour and a half.

On the wall next to our suite was a very pretty moth. We learned it was an Emperor Gum Moth. It looks like it is covered in fur like I was with Mick. For dinner Mark had more oysters and short ribs. I had wallaby back strap and spaghetti with olives. A meal we both enjoyed.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

During breakfast I captured a kookaburra on a nearby tree.

We said good bye to the Saffire staff and began our 3 hour drive to the Hobart airport. Our transport driver, Gil, was quite chatty and gave me lots of information.

We talked about convicts. The first ones arrived in 1804 along with free settlers and military. The last of them to arrive in Tasmania, came in the 1870s. Their sentences were all 7 years, during which time they built roads and bridges, worked on farms, built structures, etc. When their term was over, they usually stayed in the country and continued to work for hire.

Gil talked about products produced in Tasmania. Vegetables are prolific in the North West of the state, which we did not get to see. In the dryer parts of the country we saw sheep, cattle, dairy cows, berries, cherries, and many vineyards. Seafood and oysters are also big crops.

The most valuable products are minerals, especially zinc.

The average age of the population is 43. There are not enough workers and more of the oldest and least educated people. Tasmania, like other parts of the world, is shrinking.

We arrived at the Hobart Airport at noon, said good bye to Gil, and found the Saffire lounge. No food, but snacks and a comfortable resting place. We had about half an hour before boarding a Virgin Australian aircraft for a flight to Melbourne, followed by another flight to Adelaide, where we will spend the night. We are slightly more than half way through our Australian adventure.

Friday, September 27, 2024

By 10:30 the Aroona crew had left us behind on Lizard Island and taken the tender back to the boat.

I watched until the boat motored out of sight. Been a long time since I had been so sorry to see something end. We had had such a good time with everyone and with the boat itself.

Anyway, we are now on a new adventure. The day is clear and sunny and our room faces across the lawn and to the sandy beach. The water is pleasantly cool, but the sand and air are very hot. We went for a dip to cool off and settled into our Air conditioned room to read. We had a light lunch and relaxed the rest of the afternoon.

I finished my book about Australia, called “Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson. He travels all over the country and provides a good and humorous read. He did touch on nearly all the places we have or will visit and confirmed our experiences so far. The north is very hot in September and sparsely populated. The locals we have met have all been friendly, welcoming and inquisitive. The Barrier Reef is equally hot at this time. When we started on the boat trip, the air was breezy and the water was choppy. Gradually the wind died down and the water grew calmer, especially our last day on the boat.

When we were not in the water, we played the card game of Uno, ate and told stories. We learned a lot about the adventures of the crew before they signed on to the Aroona. They each had unique and interesting lives. Their ages ranged from 19 for Fletcher to 37 for Lorenzo with experiences to match. Mark and I shared some of our history too. The last night everyone shared an experience no one else in the group knew. Th evening got a little emotional. The next morning, we had breakfast, went for an early walk on the public beach, grabbed ours bags and motored in the tender to the shore in front of the resort.

That night we walked the beach to the Marlin Bar for pizza and beer. The bar is filling up with people who are here to fish for marlin. The Island will be visited by passionate marlin fishermen for the next month. Fortunately, we will leave the Island before the crush.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

At 7am we went for a bird walk with a naturalist named Lauren, originally from Weatherford, Connecticut but we saw only a few birds and got fewer photos. Particularly the Olive-backed Sunbird, which had a lovely sound and was pretty to look at. All I captured was its interesting, but abandoned, nest.

The Pheasant Coucal, which makes a loud whoop whoop sound; the Silver Gull, or Australian seagull;

A Grey Heron with a wounded leg

and a monitor Lizard but we enjoyed the walk. Then we had breakfast and went walking on the beach.

Now we are sitting on the beach at Lizard Island and I am reminiscing about the boat trip rather than being on the beach. We are, however, sitting on the beach and I am hot so about to go swimming. We walked into the water up to our necks, enjoying the coolness and calmness of the water. We had lunch

and then went for a snorkel with a guide named Ella, who provided us with sea darts, which are machines that pull you along in the water as you look at fish and coral. I had a very difficult time getting used to the thing, but eventually got some control of it. It does pull you through the water at a good clip.

Mark got into it right away and was going at full speed. As we made a beach start, the water was a bit murky, the coral was not at its best and there were few fish, compared with our diving and snorkeling off the Aroona. Being away from the shore has its advantages.

That experience did me in for the day. After a hot shower to get rid of the sand and salt, we settled in with our reading, dinner and bed.

The food is good at each meal, although we liked it better at Silky Oaks. There was a short menu at each meal, from which there was always something appealing to choose.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

We got up in time for a walk before the heat of the day set in.

We walked up to a lookout point overlooking Watson and Anchor Bays. Then walked back down the hill and along the airport runway. We made it back to the lodge in time for breakfast at 9am.

We had two planned activities this day. The first was a 1:30 snorkel dive to see turtles and the second was a 5pm walk to see bats.

The snorkel was in Watson Bay. There were three of us and the guide, Ella. It was a bust for turtles, but we saw lots of fish and coral and clams and more. I did not want to quit, but, after 45 minutes we were all getting cold.

Clean and dry, we were ready for the 5 pm bat walk with Lauren. These are Flying Foxes or Fruit Bats. They are the second largest bats in the world, next to bats in the Philippines.

In addition to bats Lauren shared a lot about the history of Lizard Island. The island is approximately 2146 acres in size, was occupied by an aboriginal tribe called Dingaal, who used it three months of the year for male initiation ceremonies and called the island Jiigurru. Women were not allowed on the island. Today the remaining tribe members live on nearby Cape Flattery. In 1879, a Robert Watson arrived on the island with his wife, Mary, and 2 chinese male employees and started a business of harvesting sea slugs for export to China. Sometime in 1881, when he was out fishing with one of the Chinese, a band of Dingaal arrived on the island and were about to kill the woman interloper, Mary Watson, her 5 month old baby and the other Chinese man. They escaped in a large water tub and floated to another island but within a few days all three died of dehydration. The beach is named Watson Bay.

Much later, in 1973, a small resort was opened with 4 rooms. Over time it has grown and been remodeled more than once. Today there are 40 suites and the current leaseholder, Delaware North Corporation, has the lease until 2035. The majority of the island is a national park owned by the Australian government. The resort is in reasonable condition, the menu has interesting choices and the food is good. There are many activities to keep people busy. Although very nice, I think the place is slightly overrated.

September 30th at 10:30 we flew from Lizard Island to Cairns in a Cessna 404.

In Cairns, we switched to a Virgin Airlines flight to Melbourne. This was the end of our Great Barrier Reef Adventure. It was not nearly enough reef time for me and I would love to come again.