Home & Away.

Cait & I spent a few days up on the Sunshine Coast with my mother.  Mum's heading into her 8th decade ~ which is exciting ~ but though my family tends to be very long~lived we treasure the time we still have with her because it is running out ~ & in my family we are very aware that time may run out very suddenly & there is no more of it.

Thankfully my mother, who was a State netballer in her day, is still fit, healthy & active & though we have done most of the local walks at some time or another we never mind doing them again as there is always something new to see.

This time we walked Mary Cairncross, up in the hinterland, chosen as much for usually having fewer crowds as for its spectacular scenery.  The ranger explained there were lots of nests about & many chicks just on the point of leaving the nest so we had high expectations.

 And were not disappointed!   After a lot of deliberation & poring over a multitude of bird books we think this is a yellow throated scrub wren chick ~ which looks nothing like mum & dad!

 The nest is a pretty messy business & the parents a very brilliant yellow down their chest.  Sorry for the blurry pics but we were not supposed to leave the track & the birds were trying to keep up with bub's voracious appetite so not the most conducive of conditions for taking great snaps.  The links will give you more of an idea.

 Paddy~melons.  We also saw a mother with a joey in her pouch thanks to Cait's sharp eyes.

Everywhere we could hear the sharp crack of the whip~birds calling & the  retort of rifle~birds.  The whip birds are shy & the rifle birds like the highest canopy so we didn't see any this time.  Cat birds too.

Walking, naturally, gives you an appetite so we ate at the great cafe that overlooks the Glasshouse Mts.  The food is superb.  Ma & I opted for a sweet potato & pumpkin fritatta with a side salad ~ both wonderful.   Cait had an eggplant lasagne, which was also really nice.

 We generally manage a walk along the Mudjimba Beach.  Despite the awful weather earlier in the year there wasn't a lot of exposed rock & the sand was silky & clean.

 Craft coming into the Maroochy harbour generally stand well out to sea & swimming is dodgy as there are strong rips all the way along.  The Beach patrol usually has the best spot flagged & patrols till late afternoon.  It's not a good beach for fossicking either as most shells break under the relentless pounding surf.  However you can walk for a really, really long way...

And if you want to know how tiny my mother really is you only have to put Cait alongside her....Cait was ready to drive home ~ down to the bare minimum as the temps were up & it was a very warm trip home in a car that lacks for air conditioning.  I know my mother will be finding it a lot quieter without Cait in the house!