IN August and September 2011 I went to Cairns with my Dad (pictured, in the top right-hand side photo) to escape the southern winter and also see some birds, which are his big passion. We stopped at Hann River Roadhouse, where of a waterway, which was supposed to be a good place to see finches. Two bantam kind of chooks were wandering around, one dyed yellow, the other one pink. Hann River Roadhouse the elusive palm cockatoo to come out from the trees for a drink. More majestically, a tame emu strutted around. Along with the chooks, that brought the total number of birds observed on this trip to 10?. Trespassers will be prosecuted' was a surreal experience. As I sat in the back of the 4WD, it felt like I was watching an old western film, in a cinema on wheels, and all the colours were psyched up. There was a water tank behind the remains of the house, where Chook said finches like to gather. Behind that, a huge wetland opened out, dotted with dunking terns, egrets swallowing fish, and pelicans.
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