Day 90 – Sunday 17^th October 2021 – 0 Km

It is ninety days since we started on this journey & we have decided to stay put. We have a lazy start then a slow walk over to the south side of the old bridge to look at the southern camping area & the Calliope River. We find the southern toilet blocks on a rise in a stand of hoop pines with a good view over the camp ground. We talk to James, or really to River more, they are at our house checking the mail/bills.  The little sweetheart tells us that “you are away such a long time”.  We agree with him, we miss them all so much. On the walk along the river we stop & have a nice long chat with some fellow travellers. We do meet some nice people.

The Whistling & Brahminy Kites are always gliding overhead looking for a feed as the river is so full of fish. There are lots of swallows nesting under the old bridge & the swallows are continually flying in & out as they feed the chicks. We spot some Ashy Woodswallows having a splash on the edge of the river, they are not afraid of us at all & come very close. The high level highway bridge downstream is a long way off the river & a local told us that in the last big flood the water was only a metre below the roadway. That is a lot of water as the bridge is very high.

We have lunch sitting in the shade near our van looking out over the river then Tereza reads a book & I sit & snooze, sometimes waking & looking at the huge range of bird species flitting in & out of the trees along the river bank. Not far from us is a drying branch for some cormorants & in front of us is a fig tree with lots of small berries & fig birds continually landing & feeding. This area is so rich in bird life. Later on I wander down to the bridge again & watch as some youngsters cast net for bait fish, they are surprisingly successful catching lots of small bony bream.

We decide on an ice cream & walk back up to the Heritage Village & the café in the old railway station building. As we walk up the gassy bank we disturb a small flock of Owl Finches, they are such pretty little birds. We sat at the café & ate our ice creams & chatted to the friendly volunteers who take great pride in their village. They are so nice they invite us to stay & go through the village again & camp longer even though it is a two day free stay at this beautiful place.

Back at our van we sit & have afternoon tea & this time we are entertained by a family of Grey-crowned Babblers as they demolish the dead branches on a tree in front of us while looking for insects. They do a really good job of prying the bark off with their long sharp beaks.  As the sun starts to go down we walk back down to the old bridge to watch the sun set over the river & the tide rising again. We chat again to some fellow travellers & it is nearly dark before we walk back up to our van & cook dinner. Another great day.