That's Queensland's tagline, also proudly boasting of itself as the Sunshine State! That was certainly the impression waking up on my first full day in Australia and on Bribie Island. A lovely sunny morning, bright light and a feeling of airiness, after the skyscrapers of KL!
This past week has been a total contrast from the rushing around of the previous week, just chilling out, taking it easy, going for strolls, doing the day-to-day shopping and photographing the birds, just the feathered kind, LOL.
Jubbly lives in a detached bungalow on a seniors' resort (not an "estate" as I previously called it, LOL!). Apparently Bribie Island is called "God's Waiting Room", well, "don't come a knockin'" on my door, just yet! Palm trees line her row and although the houses look a little bit squashed in from the front, it's totally different round the back of the house which has a verandah/patio, then a small lawned area and beyond the fence is the "great outdoors", the bush.
A simply marvellous location to observe the bird life that's so abundant round this neck of the woods. During her time here, she's obviously made her place a bird friendly location for our feathered friends to drop in for a quick snack! And they're so tame, they'll take food from her hand and happily be just a foot or so away from you! Probably the two species that have endeared themselves most to me are the Kookaburras and the Lorikeets.
When I was in secondary school, around 1962, I became a keen shortwave radio listener and was just fascinated by this wonderful window on the world. In spring and autumn, conditions were perfect to hear Radio Australia, the overseas service of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was then known). I would pick up the station on the 25 and 31 metre bands in the morning before I went to school and it was so exciting in those pre-satellite, pre-internet days to be listening to live radio from the other side of the globe. Shortwave stations identify themselves with a signature tune, known as an interval signal - this is played before the commencement of a broadcast so that you can find the station on the dial and not miss the actual programme itself. Radio Australia's interval signal was a tape loop of a laughing Kookaburra and just before they launched into the broadcast they would play "Waltzing Matilda". So the sound of a Kookie is one of those wonderfully evocative blasts from the past for me, it's such a happy sound, always brings a smile to my face.
Imagine my surprise to find a whole load of Kookies regularly visit Jubbly! Just wonderful. There's one who sits on the fence separating her place from her neighbour's, he regularly comes down to the table on her verandah where she places food for him. A gorgeous sight.
The other bird that's caught my imagination is the Lorikeet - here we have a number of Rainbow Lorikeets, just spectacularly beautiful - blue head, bright red bill, yellow-green collar and deep violet-blue abdomen. Never ever seen a bird "in the wild" that's so beautifully coloured!
The other birds around that seem to be plentiful in this location include the galahs (pink and white cockatoos), sulphur-crested cockatoos and the ibis.
It's just been wonderful sitting out on the patio with my new long lens snapping away to my heart's content and Jubbly's amusement ("this morning in an hour and a half, did you know he took 400 photos of a kookaburra?", LOL).
Our cultural attaché insisted that the first tourist sight that should greet me was the "willie trees" (Pandanus to the horticultural types), so off we went to Sylvan Beach on the Tuesday. After some rude posing, we carried on walking along the beach front with a great view of the Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook. Hopefully, I'll be getting closer to them at some stage. Then we went down the road to Bongaree Beach where we had an ice cream at Scoopies.
The following day, my 61st birthday, included a trip to Banksia Beach, followed by birthday butties at Woorim looking out to sea, with the ibis around us, sheer bliss.
Thursday morning started with some great bird photography on the patio, taking piccies of kookaburras, galahs and magpies, before going out to Bongaree Beach. They have an interesting Sea Museum there where I had a good look around before having a pastry at Scoopies. Jubbs had gone to the hairdressers' but joined me later to have her breakfast.
It was computer catch-up time on Friday during the day - Jubbs got her new laptop and I set it up for her, actually tidying up her cables! In the evening we went out for dinner to the Hog's Breath Café on the mainland at Morayfield where we met up with her daughter, Cassie and her partner, Dave. We were joined soon after by her son, Brad and his friend, Katrina. Really nice to meet them all after hearing about "Search and Destroy" all these years.
Café is a real misnomer for this establishment, it's what I would have called a friendly steak house way back. It has the feel of an American diner, doing steaks, sea food, chicken, burgers etc. At the entrance is a 1952 (or was it 1953) Mercury, well the front half of it anyway, in stunning purple, a gorgeous gleaming sight. I had rib of beef, that was the most delicious and tender steak I've had in, well, I don’t know how long.
Saturday was an easy day at home in preparation for the following day's ping at Brisbane Southbank Parklands.
The past week has been a gentle time, allowing me the opportunity to catch up on things. I've been surprised at how cold the place gets at night, but I suppose I've been conditioned by the heat of Malaysia and we are that much further away from the equator. But, as with all these things, it's a matter of getting used to the new surroundings. One thing's for sure and that's Bribie's wonderful bird life makes it a real gem of a place for all nature lovers. And, boy, have Jubbly and I had some great laughs. That's what it's all about!
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