Roma to Byron Bay – 618km.
Fifi McGee is a Fox Terrier. She is 15 years old and she has been with us for about 13 of those. No, we did not choose the name. She is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other, she struggles to determine how far away things are. She is totally deaf, you could let a bomb off next to her and she wouldn’t notice. On the positive side she is no longer bothered by thunder, there is little downside – she never did take any notice of verbal commands.
She is a very widely traveled little dog and a good camper. There is one problem though. After a few days on the road she starts to fart. There is nothing more potent than a dog fart in a closed car. Shame it doesn’t kill flies.
The Roma dawn chorus this morning was dominated by the Laughing Kookaburra. There are two kookaburra species in Oz. Across the top end we have the Blue-winged Kookaburra which winds up ready for a laugh but just can’t finish the job. I feel quite sorry for it. The Laughing Kookaburra is an east coast bird, (also introduced to the Perth region of Western Australia). They overlap in coastal Queensland from Brisbane northwards. An English survivalist, Ray Mears, made a film about survival in the Top End. The soundtrack features a Laughing Kookaburra that isn’t found there. What would a pom know about survival in Australia? Loony.
The Roma Bush Gardens are mainly the work of local volunteers over a quarter of a century. They have done a magnificent job. It is a great place to find a good mix of bush and water birds. Bird of the day is awarded to Plum-headed Finch.
And we crossed another border. Byron Bay is in New South Wales. Clocks forward one hour because NSW has Daylight Saving Time through the summer.
bobmcgee 