Passive Ecotravel in Australia

Normally we are loners but O'Reilly's cures you of this for the time you are there. The meal seatings introduce you to very interesting people. We met a couple who own an apple orchard, a couple who are retired from running a tea plantation in Kenya, a bar owner from Canberra, an information manager/student and her husband, a mother and her daughter and grandchildren from Brisbane, a retiree and his wife from New Zealand, a horticulturist (and better-than-amateur birdwatcher) from Sydney on his way to a new job, and many others.

O'Reilly's in July was coat-weather cold, daytime shirt-sleeve sunny, and raincoat-weather rainy depending on the day. Crimson rosella's and King parrots land on your outstretched hands filled with sunflower seeds. In July the park around the lodge is abundant with brush turkeys, Lewin's honeyeaters, satin bowerbirds, curawongs, and regent bowerbirds. We also saw a mistletoe bird, kookaburras, whip birds and log runners, among others.

Brush turkeys are interesting birds. They build rather large foot-high, four-foot to six-foot diameter leaf mound by kicking the leaves into a pile. Then they lay eggs in the mound, which heats the eggs as the leaves decay. The turkeys periodically stick their heads in the mounds to test the temperature and then they adjust the leave cover accordingly to control the temperature. We saw one proud turkey checking out a five-foot-high, 15-foot diameter mulch pile of leaves deposited by gardeners in a botanical garden. Smart bird.

Would we go again? Yes.

Come back next week for a second travel installment.

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