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TRAVEL

Wendy and Steven with Sue (right)

section of Coombabah and, while walking
along the boardwalk in the paperbark tree
forest, we had good sightings of Willie Wagtail,
Crested Pigeon, Noisy Miner, Brush Cuckoo and
Laughing Kookaburra. Koalas were often seen
dozing in tall eucalyptus trees and, in the open
grassland area, dozens of Eastern Grey Kangaroos
grazed contentedly. In a freshwater wetland we
noted Royal Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis and Purple
Swamphen. Also seen in the area was the iconic
Tawny Frogmouth, which although more closely
related to nightjars, is often mistaken for an owl
due to its nocturnal habits and colouring.

Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast
hinterland is an elevated plateau of some Laughing
28km² and is a popular tourist and birding spot. Kookaburra
The southern part of the Tamborine National
Park falls within the mountain area and, from
the high ground looking down to the slopes Rainbow
below, we saw Dollarbird, Rainbow Lorikeet, Lorikeet
Topknot Pigeon and Galah, a member of the
cockatoo family. The main road through Mount
Tamborine has many shops, restaurants and
tourist establishments including some with small
dams. Water birds seen on these dams included
Australasian Grebe, Plumed Whistling-Duck and
Maned Duck.
Our attempts to have lunch on Mount Tamborine
proved fruitless due to it being Christmas eve
and inundated with tourists like ourselves, so
Steven and Wendy drove us down the mountain
to a very English style pub where we celebrated
Sue’s birthday in style savouring fi ne Australian
beer and wine.
26 Kyalami Estates • CONNECT • Issue 1 • 2019