Cattana Wetlands

Thursday, 10 July 2014

 

It is surprising how quickly the days pass, especially when we are so busy being on holiday.  The weather this week has been superb, with clear skies and daytime temperatures around the 26-27 degrees.  Unfortunately, clear skies at night also mean much lower night time temperatures, with Cairns having its lowest minimum this week since last August – 10 degrees.  We had to recover the heater from under the bed …

We have had a fairly quiet week; Queensland school holidays are still happening so we have avoided well known tourist spots.  Apart from a walk along the Esplanade and an ice cream, of course.  Other than that, it has been walks along Freshwater Creek and feeding the fish on occasion.

Yesterday was the big bocce tournament, with us taking on Gladys and Graeme, and Zelma and Brian.  Gladys and Graeme had the Rosny high fives happening on occasion, and Brian was a bit of a dark horse with the odd well placed shot, but the overall winners were … US!  We had great fun, keeping some of the tourists amused and then adjourned to a nice afternoon tea provided by Zelma.  Happy Hour yesterday was a Tasmanian get together with most of the Tasmanians in the park getting to know one another.

This morning we became fully paid up, card carrying members of the Cazaly Club – the local AFL club.  It cost us all of $2 each and the discounts on meals are much more than the $2 fee.  As it is my birthday this month, I also received a birthday present – a free meal and a free drink!

Late this afternoon we visited the Cattana Wetlands – a reclaimed swamp not too far away.  We were probably a hour too early to see a lot of birds, but did see some darters, ducks, swallows, honeyeaters, some scrub turkeys, an egret and jacana, but no snakes or crocodiles.  There were also numerous small winged insects!  The scenery was stunning around the two lakes, with paperbarks growing in the swampy areas and waterlilies on the lake.  We went suitably attired for the conditions – the very distinct odour of eau-de-Bushmans did drift along behind us.  This place was well worth a visit, especially very, very early in the morning or just before sunset.