Fires on Fraser Island

 For the past few weeks, there has been a large bush fire raging on Fraser Island across the Bay. It was caused by some campers who did not properly extinguish their camp fire. Since the island is mostly undeveloped, there are few tracks for firefighters to get in and extinguish the fire and it has been left to burn until it is extinguished by rain.

When you look at these photos, realize that the fires are quite a distance away. I don't know exactly where the fire is located and it has travelled quite a distance, but this should give you an idea. I took most of the following photos with the zoom feature on my camera.

The island you see to the right is Big Woody Island.

Looking directly north. The photos were taken at dusk so this is the sunset reflecting from the smoke which has spread across the bay.

Looking north east along the line on the map.

Same direction as the prior photo but with no zoom. The white dot is the boat from the prior photo. 

The fire is usually at its worst in the afternoon when the sea breeze has started up. It's usually a 20 knot wind and it often changes direction so it makes fighting the fire very difficult.

One of the fires and just remember it is probably about 20 miles away. A little while later, there were several similar blazes quite close to each other. At night, you can quite easily see the red glow. We occasionally see a helicopter with a large water bucket fly over but it's obviously no match for such a large extended fire. It won't be extinguished until we get a lot of rain.

The Aviary at Maleny Gardens

 We had been told to turn up at 11:30 for our tour of the aviary.

At 11:30 a young lady came out and gave us instructions about going into the aviary. The birds can land on you and also bite on occasion. Carrying a blue brush can deter the birds and I took one.

Inside the first chamber.

I am no birdwatcher so I cannot identify the birds. Just enjoy looking at them.

I seem to remember this bird is Chinese. Many of the birds are 'rescue birds'.

This is Queensland where the virus has basically disappeared. Consequently, nobody wears masks and there is little social distancing.

Our group leader in the blue shirt at the right.

See what happens when you don't have a blue brush.

Yes, there is poo.

Our tour leader told us that this was a recent 'rescue' arrival and could not yet be placed in the next chamber where there were more of this specie.  They would attack this bird.

They look like an old married couple.

A peacock.

That tail is magnificent.

We were warned that some birds like to attack the button on the top of caps.

The tattoo on the arm matches the bird.

Yep! The bird got the button.

Just before we left, I got the treatment.

The guide said that one of the birds was over 80 years old and some of them can reach 130 years of age. So if you decide to get certain species you need to have a succession plan for when you kick the bucket.