Davidson Woods

12 September - Raintree Lodge - Diving at Walindi Resort
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 22:07:18 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Arrived before the birding tour and dove for two days. Small boats took us to fringe reefs at the endge of Kimbe Bay. Equipment was well used but adequate. Reefs were lovely but showing stress. The anemones, basket stars, and small reef fish were spectacular. Adjusted to the warmth surprisingly easily and woke to the cries of the friarbirds that began their hoarse gurgling at dawn. We more often heard than saw these large bare-faced birds that haunt the trees of New Britain.
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12 September - Raintree Lodge, Port Moresby, PNG - Back from the Bush
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 22:06:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Wonder why there have been no posts during this exciting phase of our touring? Well, posting requires a means of communication, and we have had little over the past days, and while there has been occasional Internet, it has been very, very slow. It is slow here, but should work for this message. A second reason for the silence is that bird touring can be very intense, and our was a serious tour in one of the most difficult places in the world to bird. And so, when we were not birding or eating, we were resting. On most days we birdied for some 12 hours, rising at 5 a.m.
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September 1 - Touring in a Third World Country
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 22:00:36 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
We are weathering our visit to PNG well, but it is not easy touring here. The temperature falls to 74 at night. The humidity is 80% at best. The electricity turns off at 11 p.m. One of the fans operates by battery. The highway is paved except where it has broken to pieces. The side roads are simply cuts through the trees. Our resort has creature comforts. The people outside of the fence have scarcely that. Most houses are about 8x15 feet rectangles on stilts with windowless and screenless openings. Many along the highway have feeble lights. I don’t know how they power them.
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September 1 - Walindi Resort, Kimbe, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:59:35 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
So good to see so much activity on this web site. France seems so wonderful, but we are enjoying our jungle adventures.
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21 September - Kingfisher Park - Cassuaries and Crocodiles
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:58:21 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Yesterday, we took a boat ride on the DAintree River and then took the ferry across so we could tour to Cape Tribulation. All good fun. On the river we were overjoyed to see a Jabaroo and Spotted Whistling Ducks, but most of the dozen passengers were there to see the “salties.” We did not see these at first, but they were on the bank during our return after the sun had come up. Very toothy. No swimming in the DAintree.
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August 30 (this day really) - R&R in the Jungle
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:57:10 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
We are no longer spring chickens and needed a slow day today between two days of scuba diving and a couple of weeks of intense birding. As do many visitors to a rain forest we woke up to a shower. But, it was a warm shower and after breakfast we walked about with an umbrella to catch views of fabulous sqwacking Eclectus Parrots. Unusual for birds it is the female of this species who wears the fancy clothing. He is a fabulous lime green with crimson underwings. She wears a green suit as well but has a bright red head and neck and a golden tail.
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August 30 - Second Day on New Britain
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:56:09 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Almost dinner time. We are exhausted after two days of diving and snorkeling. Tropical fish and corals below the surface; scattered ocean clouds and volcanoes above. At least a half dozen varieties of both angel fish and butterfly fish entertained us. No idea how many damselfish we saw. All a blur. I distinctly remember the two sharks we encountered. A matching pair but not together, a white-tip and a black-tip. The white-tip followed us around a bit; mostly, I believe, to see if we stirred up any food for it. It was not much longer than we were, but still it was a toothy shark.
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28 August - Arrived New Britain, Papua New Guinea
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:55:05 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Long travel day. Rose early for a ride to airport and then flight to Port Moresby. We had been briefed on procedures there and did well. The terminal is new and the international terminal is best. We stayed there and violated several dietary rules for travelers buying our lunch. Then, when it was time we exited and entered the more earthy domestic terminal. We made it through the unusual security procedures and waited for our flight to be announced. Finally walked across the tarmac to a jet. The flight crossed the forested mountains of PNG and then the Solomon Sea.
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27 August - Frogmouths In the Botanical Garden
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:53:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
We visited the botanical garden. How do they get the orchids to grow so well? Enjoyed the palms and the rainforest trail. Having been told where to look for frogmouths we searched for broken off branches that weren’t and finally found two. Aptly named, looks as if they could swallow your hand. During the day they simply sleep. Took dinner a last time on the Esplanade watching brilliant Rainbow Lorrikeets going to roost at the end of a Main Street. We had stopped in the restaurant for snacks earlier in the stay and the waitress recognized our return. I said, “we are regulars.”
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26 August - Last Evening in Cairns
woodstrehl submitted on Tue Dec 07 2021 21:52:43 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Visited Botanical Garden this morning. Lovely and no fee. We made a small contribution and also patronized the gift shop. Found strange looking Friarbird and a pair of Tawny Frogmouths. While in a conservatory we heard the laughing of a Kookabura and went outside to find these giant terrestrial (and arboreal) kingfishers. Sunny today and warm after a cool night. We prepare for much warmer weather in Papua New Guinea. Tomorrow we fly to Port Moresby and then on to Hoskins on the island of New Britain. We trust the resort will have a car for us there.
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