Sat 14 Sept 2013 – Bird Watching at Mornington Sanctuary

Well we decided "When in Rome etc", and set off at 6.00am to go bird watching, something neither of us have done before. There was a marked track with benches at all the key spots to sit and watch. There was so much birdsong we knew we'd have to see something , but we were amazed at all the different kinds we saw- doves, a bower bird, crimson finches, a red & green parrot, a purple crested fairy wren and a special bird nobody could identify. We recognised most of them from their pictures.

We also found 2 or 3 nests and the mystery bird was sitting in one of them.

We also saw many other creatures as well.

We were surprised how much we enjoyed this activity - maybe we should give train spotting a go too!

After a late breakfast, we set off, back to the Gibb River Road. We'd already been warned that Bell Gorge, our next destination, was closed because of a bushfire. 

Before we'd gone very far, we came across 3 guys who'd broken down. We stopped and tried to help with a jump start, but it wasn't any good, so we took one of them with us to the next roadhouse at Imitji, where they had family in the Aboriginal Community, who they said could help them.

Rodger and I filled up with diesel, bought a few groceries and had lunch there and saw the broken car being towed in by a big 4 wheel drive.

We continued on our way and were shocked to see that the fire had not only burnt out Bell Gorge but had burnt everything along the road for about 70kms , including a picnic area, and was still burning. We had no alternative but to keep going to Windjana Gorge, as there was nowhere left to stay before it.

We arrived safely at Windjana at about 4.00pm, booked in for 2 nights, set up camp and had egg and bacon for dinner.