FLORA, FAUNA AND OTHER STUFF

FLOWERS

We normally arrive later in the summer and miss most of the gorgeous spring flowers (Niki sends us great photos Kings Park, Perth). But we have managed to see a few remnants on our 4 coastal walks this week - getting these in whilst the temperatures are a reasonable low 20's - normally we are wilting after half an hour in the sun in January/February.

One of many jacaranda trees in Subiaco where Niki lives

Local lake in Subiaco a short walk from Niki's that is normally dried up when we are here

Selection of coastal flowering plants

 FIRST FEW WILDLIFE VIEWS 

The main ones, of course, were the whales, but we also saw this ray whilst waiting for the cruise to start and the goanna whilst having our morning drinks stop mid walk - no snakes this year, thank goodness, as most of them are deadly in this area.

OTHER STUFF

A bit of coincidence - the bed on the left was ours in the Airbnb in Pembrokeshire in September - we knew it was pretty similar to our bed in Dunsborough - so had to be saddos and take piccies to compare!

and on to our favourite theme of food - always a photo opportunity somewhere on a daily basis - first up is Graham building the new BBQ that we have bought for Niki's house - followed by its first use on the balcony.  Set to be a regular item in our daily lives.

 Followed by 2 regular stops in Dunsborough life

Simmos - two of sixty choices - only 58 to go! And these are the single scoops.

Takeaway curries by the sea - Tues, Thurs and Sat evenings
What's not to like!

And a reminder of why we love this area so much - apart from the curries and ice cream - coastal walks and views.

WHALES GALORE

BACK IN DUNSBOROUGH 

We are now living in Dunsborough,which is on the Southern edge of Geographe Bay, south of Perth.   We are again in Niki's holiday home - see past posts (here and here) and see the link for next door-but-one for a tour of the exact same layout - and most of the fittings.

Our (I mean Niki's!) house seen from the bay

WHALE WATCHING

After being hunted almost to extinction until the 1970’s, (see my previous blog about the whaling station in Albany and its history here) the whale population has recovered to such a level that an estimated 35,000 whales migrate from the Antarctic to these warmer waters every year.

Humpback, Southern Right, Minke and Blue Whales all make the epic journey. Their first port of call is Flinders Bay in Augusta, where the best time to see them is June to August. Augusta is one of the few places where you’ll see the Southern Right and Humpback whales interact. Humpbacks, renowned for their agility, gather in groups of males and engage in breaching, spy-hopping, lob-tailing and tail-slapping. Acrobatics play out during courtship. Southern Right whales will often calve in the bay and sometimes can be seen doing so in the shallows.

The Humpback whales then head directly up north, where the pregnant females who mated last year have their calves (babies). They then return to Geographe Bay near Busselton and Dunsborough where they rest and nurse their young from September to early December.

You can watch the action unfold on the horizon from the shore, along the Cape to Cape Track or from the top of a lighthouse, or get up close on a whale watching cruise departing from Augusta, Dunsborough and Busselton throughout the season.

So we did - first 2 days we walked our favourite local trails around the lighthouse (famous for our walk in 2016 when we saw deadly snake eating deadly snake - for snake lovers see the post here) and track from house - but no luck, apart from the usual greeting that drives twitchers and wildlife spotters to distraction "you just missed 3 whales close to the shore"!

So booked on cruise and had brilliant 3 hours tracking alongside female humpbacks and babies.  Saw around a dozen in total.  We have learnt that taking photos of dolphins and such like just means you miss the action, and thus the memories, and only get black blobs in a lot of water.  But Graham had a go, after an hour or two enjoying the experience, and with 5 or 6 shots got these:-

Amazing luck and amazing tail photo - puts him in pole position for photographer of the year on this trip.

And just while we were enjoying our own whales, I read this heartbreaking description from the hiker who discovered the huge pod of beached whales in New Zealand and spent the night with them on her own.

AND BIRDS TOO

Also on the same trip we saw a big bird flying in - a wandering albatross!  And he/she very kindly posed for us.

And we had a motor home for 2 Welcome Swallows on board - the nest was near the toilets and the pair flew all around the boat and in and out whilst at anchor near the boat ramp - then they had to wait on the tender until the boat and nest returned 2-4 hrs later.  Not sure how that will affect any young!

Nest above the white box parallel to Toilet sign

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

UP AND RUNNING

Due to popular demand (just 4 dedicated people, so far), it's back yet again.  The Honeybone Oz blog, 2018 version.  Only this time you get more bang for your bucks, as we're here for 2.5 months rather than 6 weeks.  Sorry folks.

Regular readers will see that I have combined the last 2 Australia trips into this current blog - rather than repeat stuff about current visits, I may link to previous posts or you might find it useful to use the label function on the right hand side for other posts such as wildlife or places.  Food and Drink may feature more than birds!!!

There is also an email follow gadget on the right that you can use if you want an email every time there is a new post.  May or may not work, but might save you looking at the blog when I've been too busy (lazy) to post for a few days.

NEW FOR 2018 - HOUSESITTERS!

After the previous traumas of floods in December 2015, forecasts of a freezing winter (but who knows) and the long time away, we decided to take on some housesitters - much to the horror of some acquaintances, bewilderment of others and "that sounds a good idea, where do I get some myself".  We found Mark and Nate on a Housesitters website and despite only having the birds to feed and no animals to look after, they have agreed to grace Beck Head with their presence until next February (we hope!).  See their website for more info on their nomadic way of housesitting life.

For more info on the website we used, see House Sitters UK - mostly for people wanting their pets looked after at home, rather than using kennels or catteries.  There are plenty of other sites and the more we read, the more we realise there is a huge house/pet sitting community of retireds, youngsters with no permanent home, travelling nomads and people working online, who can work anywhere.

Mark and Nate have thrown themselves into work - meeting Charlie and going on his steam bending workshop, chatting with neighbours Joan and Phil, possibly running a stall at the Witherslack Xmas fair on the 8th and generally enjoying the local walks.  With the whole Lake District to go at and Silverdale/Arnside area of outstanding natural beauty, I'm not sure they are going to have time for painting, online English teaching or setting up new online businesses.

So, on with the show in Oz.

PERTH FOR 4 DAYS - NO BIRDS

After a great flight and plenty of sleep, we arrived at Niki's and spent the first few days swapping health stories and commiserating on numb feet (Graham, remnants of chemo), wonky legs (Niki, after new hip just 6 weeks ago) and ?? (me - couldn't really compete, so went shopping).

We organised a hire car - just so easy compared to others we have had with endless hassles in Vegas and Tenerife - using Bayswater Car Rental or No Birds Car rental.

What Does ‘No Birds' Mean?

Many people know Bayswater Car Rental as No Birds Car Rental because ‘no birds' has been a feature of our advertising for over 30 years. No Birds was a simple, fun way to say...

Bayswater Car Rental saves you money by providing great cars at a great price without extra costly services like using young women to deliver cars to customers.

These days having hire cars delivered may seem excessive. But when Bayswater Car Rental started, having ‘delivery girls' was a standard extra service in Australia. And of course, extra services means extra cost to go with all the extra fees car hire companies were typically charging.

Just looked that up - so answered our question on why No Birds logo appears on all the car doors.  Anyway, great new car and will save Niki handing over her keys and way of life, as she has done previously.  Forever grateful.

We took a day to go down to Freo (Fremantle to you and me) and went to a great 360 degree movie experience about Antarctica - amazing filming and we wore the headsets that give you the all round experience - yes, we did look stupid bending down to stroke the penguins or looking around behind you to check out the views - but you can't see each other so who cares!  

Then we had lunch in a favourite courtyard spot

and toured the art gallery there where this guy was making a pencil drawing on the wall - will take up to Xmas to complete - true talent and patience.