Mon. 6th Aug., 2012 - Exploring the area around Parry Creek Farm

We had a great day out.  Bob drove us into Wyndham, which we felt vied with Coober Pedy as the dirtiest, dustiest, most unappealing town along our route, so far.  Deposits from the local nickel mine were piled up at the wharf & even the sea water was a dirty brown.  The motel & most of the houses looked shabby & run-down & the best-kept building seemed to be the Police Station.  Even the hospital appeared to be little more than a shed.  We had almost decided that the place had nothing to recommend it, when we discovered the "Five Rivers Lookout Point".  Bob negotiated a steep & winding road upwards until he reached the lookout point, from which we could see for miles in all directions.  Beneath us in the distance were hills, escarpments, salt pans & the ocean and we could actually see the mouths of five rivers emptying into the sea - a beautiful & unusual sight.

River Ord Delta

Cambridge Bay

Next, we visited the Dreamtime Statues, which represented an aboriginal father, mother & child as well as a selection of Australian animals - a kangaroo, a dingo, a snake & a goanna.

 We were impressed with the workmanship involved but disappointed, on closer inspection, to find that there had been some vandalism & quite a lot of broken glass was lying about.  It's sad when some people fail to take a pride in their town.

At midday, we discovered Wyndham's 'jewel in the crown' - "The Five Rivers Restaurant" was doing a roaring trade!  People were piling in for lunch, so we joined the hungry throng.  Bob & I had barramundi & chips, which was delicious; Judy & Charlie had barraburgers - unusual, but very tasty.

Finally, the highlight of the day - we drove along an unmade road to Parry's Lagoon, which was everything that the brochure promised.  Amongst the water lilies, we saw every kind of bird imaginable - it would be impossible to name them all but the Farm leaflet lists four pages of different species that frequent the area.  We had never seen so many birds in one place before.  It was a bird watcher's paradise, where cameras & binoculars worked overtime. 



Brolgas



Rainbow Bee Catcher



Pygmy Geese

We almost got lost following a couple ahead of us along a different unmade road home but, even the uncertainty & the copious amounts of dust, could not dim our wonderful experience at the Lagoon.  Bob has taken some fantastic photos.

I had a swim in the COLD pool to cool myself down, then Judy, Charlie & Jenny & Ken Range, from Mooloolaba, had drinks with us before dinner.  It was the end of a great day.