Return to the Park

We are once again back at Nairana. Our cupboards are once again fully stocked with some lovely fresh veg and meat – that should be a comfort to Mrs K. who seemed concerned at the quantity of goodies on our shelves during her brief visit to the Park!! – and some new stocks of wine, cider, and Crabbies!

We thoroughly enjoyed three wonderful days at the Pera Court Hilton with our hosts Mr and Mrs P.  Gourmet meals, fine wine, and wonderful company made for a most enjoyable, if but brief, time in the ‘big smoke’.  We even celebrated the Maroons State of Origin win (seven in a row) with our hosts and an old time friend, ‘Bloody George’, with lots of laughter, reminiscing, and loud support from the comfort of the lounge chairs.

Many thanks, once again, to our hosts for welcoming us into their home and hearts – we look forward to meeting up again in 2013 (despite Mr R. cringing at the thought of the bank balance after his visit to the local dentist and the efforts of Mrs R’s, albeit limited, shopping spree!!!!).

Looks like we were away from the Park at just the right time. The thermometer that records daily min and max temps showed a minimum temp of minus four degrees – and a max of only 21 -  brrrrr, sure would have been a cold night on Tuesday!

Graham is still ‘in-situ’ but no sign of our roo family – guess there are wider pastures to explore with sunnier days. 

After four days away we thought the first thing we should do on Saturday was to drive out to Mistake Creek to check the pig trap and our red-claw net.  Pig trap feeder was completely empty and there were a lot of prints in the area, so we refilled the feeder and will need to monitor the activity over the next three days to see if the trap should actually be set.  Our red-claw net was retrieved and there were 10 very large claw inside and a penny turtle.  We set the turtle free, back into the Creek, and two very small claw were also put back.

Jabiru and Great Egret at Mistake Creek

There doesn’t seem to be as much bird-life around at the moment – although we did spot two very large wedge-tail eagles above the Homestead.  No sign of the Jabiru down at the Creek – our second sighting of this magnificent stork may be the last we see of her on this visit.  Mr R. took some magnificent photos of the bird after tracking it down along Mistake Creek last weekend.  We are certainly gathering a large number of photos of the bird-life at Nairana.  Looks like a photo book project may be needed when we return home, with contributions from Mr and Mrs R. and Mrs K.