Late lift off on the last day due to rain at Weipa. We were going to land at AWC’s Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary to visit, but the late departure ruled that out.
We fly out of a wet Weipa over Coen, Yarraden and Piccaninny Plains all in the Cook Shire.
Then Lakefield (a really large area) and the Cape York Developmental Road until we reach Mount Carbine close to AWC’S Brooklyn Sanctuary. We land to refuel at Pennyweight Outstation, located on Brooklyn.
After refueling we headed back over Mareeba, where Bungie the Pilot lives and we fly over his helipad and then back to Port Douglas.
In 2019 The Doc went on an AWC Supporter’s Event to Mt Zero Taravale out of Townville. Supporters arrived in that fancy red helicopter, flown out of Townville Airport, known as Garbutt Airfield in WW2.
He had previously driven up the entrance of the Sanctuary.
The Doc forgot to write up a report, so he only has some pictures. Better late than never. One day he may find the notes from the visit.
The Doc does remember meeting and speaking to AWC legend Peter Stanton at the event and later sending him some AWC slides The Doc had scanned of Peter at MZT, in the very early days of AWC ownership.
Viva Cristo Rey.
The first visit was to the entrance of the MZT, in a car. The road up was a bit narrow driving the Nissan Patrol and it was a long way down. That road was narrow and had blind corners everywhere.
The road down was not as bad when The Doc left the Supporter’s Event and someone else was driving!
A few days ago The Doc and his friend Steve visited Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary at Stroud New South Wales. Our guides for the day were AWC staff Elly and Josh.
Steve’s main objective was locating live myxos in the field. We had success locating 5 or 6 species. The Doc located the first myxos, but they were of poor quality, but later he spotted a large fallen tree which turned out to be a myxo gold mine. Steve’s find on the rotting tree included a myxo that had only ever been reported in NSW twice before (one of those sightings was by Steve). It was Steve and Josh who did all the heavy myxo lifting.
We met with three other AWC staff that day on site, one of the land managers Matt and two senior staff on visit to the sanctuary.
Steve and The Doc brought along morning tea and lunch, after an early visit to the Buladelah Bakery. Small thank you gifts to the AWC staff were also given.
We stayed at the Lady Jane Motel in Buladelah for two nights as part of the trip, run by a hard working family. They are in the process of renovating the motel. The room The Doc had was great, but the newly refurbished rooms were amazing. It was a great stay.
A big thank to Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the owners for allowing us to visit. Here are some images from the visit. The Sony P&S camera struggled in the low light conditions.
The Doc gets a guided tour of Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary this week, provided the rain holds off. Mate Steve Young wil be looking for myxos in the field. Waulinbakh is privately owned but some conservation efforts are undertaken by AWC.
The Doc has drafted a page about his AWC adventures over the last 15 years. Over 30 sanctuary visits to volunteer, visit or take part in Supporter’s Events. Over 20 different sanctuaries visited all over Australia.
The Doc just mapped the images he took on Bullo River Station, as he selects some images for the forthcoming Bullo River Station Report. The very rough figure 8 was the helicopter trip. The big muddy river on the top right is the Victoria River. The Bullo River is covered by pink picture makers coming out of the Victoria River, top right also.
At the recent AWC Supporter Event at Bullo River Station we had small groups doing guided tours along the Bullo River, with a cold breakfast supplied (fresh fruit, quiche, yogurt, nuts, freshly squeezed OJ and muffins).
A few images are below. Click on an image to see a slideshow at full size. Enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.
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