AUSTRALIA - HOLIDAY/RECCE TOUR - DAY 8 - OCT 4TH - WALK TO BANNISTER'S POINT AND MOLLYMOOK

BANNISTER’S POINT – MOLLYMOOK BEACH – MILTON – PORTER’S GAP VIEWING PLATFORM

 I went out early at 6am and walked down to the Narrawallee beach, surprisingly, there were many people already out with a dozen surfers out in the water and many walkers, joggers and even people on the beach.

Walking towards a headland called Bannister’s Point the pathway wound its way through a woodland so I spent some time there. Many lorikeets, rosellas and wattlebirds (both Little and Red) were flitting about but I also saw Grey Fantail, Spotted Pardalote and my first Shining Bronze Cuckoo and on the rocks below the path I saw Sooty Oystercatchers for the first time.

Red Wattlebird - you can't see the red wattle but the yellow belly is diagnostic

 

Back at the house we ate breakfast on the terrace and saw the beautiful Eastern Spinebill feeding on the bottle-brush flowers.

 

Mollymook Beach from Bannister's Point

After breakfast we took a walk together all the way out to Bannister’s Point (where Rick Stein has a restaurant in a fantastic position overlooking the sea), we sat at a picnic table enjoying the sun at the point when a huge shadow went over us, the bird that cast the shadow was a White-bellied Sea Eagle, a 2^nd year bird, what a great sighting that was.

 From there we walked round to the beach at Mollymook and took a route through the village back and arriving home in time for lunch.

 At 2pm we set off for the short drive into Ulladulla to use the internet and then we drove to Milton, a famous small town with some history, unfortunately it was late in the afternoon and everywhere was closed for the day. So we decided to drive inland to visit a viewing point up in the hills, we took a small track that led us some 10km through open pasture and into a forest on the edge of the Morton National Park. We walked the last 400 meters to the viewing platform because the road was quite bad. The view was smashing but the air was a little misty.

impressive sandstone rock formation at Porter's Gap

On the way back we stopped to look at some Common Bronzewings and a few other species, we saw a few birds which would have been new species for the list but they flew off before I could get an ID on them. It got dark as we drove back with a beautiful setting sun behind us.

 

Common Bronzewing