Lodge Review: Victoria River Roadhouse, Northern Territory

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Tara

About 200 kms west of Katherine on National Highway 1, the Victoria River Roadhouse is a welcome sight after almost 3 hours driving in the heat of the day. This was the first place we really felt the Territory’s Outback experience.

The main building houses the reception, petrol pumps, restaurant, bar and shop and the campground surrounds the main building.

The cabins are off to the left surrounded by trees which attract Corellas, Cockatoos and Red-collared Lorikeets.

The rooms are fairly typical of an outback roadhouse – simple decor but functional. The tv only has 1 channel which is controlled by reception and shows the same in all cabins. No wifi.

The restaurant is HUGE considering the location, maybe they get busloads of tourists at times. We had hamburgers for lunch as the restaurant closes at 7pm and I wasn’t sure we would be back from birding by then. We had sandwiches and noodle cups to eat for dinner.

They have some interesting souvenirs for sale and some camping supplies.

I was soooo tempted but the budget didn’t allow.

Plenty of space for caravans and tents.

The truth is they pretty much have a captive audience as there is nothing else for at least 50 kms but it’s a decent place and there are some nice birds to watch around the grounds, even out the window of the restaurant! The top bird here is the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren as we will see in another post.

They don’t have online booking or even a dedicated website so you’ll have to call. Trip Advisor has some reviews.

Victoria River Roadhouse Hotel/Motel
Victoria Hwy, Victoria River NT 0852
Telephone: (08) 8975 0744
Facsimile: (08) 8975 0819

Lodge Review: Bowra Station, Queensland

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Tara

It may be a long drive out here but Bowra Station is well worth it – it’s a birder’s paradise! Over 200 species of birds have been reported here so try to spend at least 3 days to give yourself a chance to see as many as possible. I can promise you it will be the highlight of your birding trip to Queensland!

Bowra Sanctuary is open to bird watching visitors from March to October each year. If you are coming from overseas, you will fly into Brisbane so make sure you are coming at the right time of year. You should avoid the wet season which is mostly Sept to early March anyways and if the roads flood you won’t be able to get through.

You must book in advance by ringing 07 4655 1238 or email bowravolunteers@gmail.com. They only have accommodation for 15 people in the shearers quarters and separate cabin if you aren’t prepared to camp. If Bowra is full and you can’t change your dates, ask the volunteer on duty if you can stay in Cunnamulla and make day visits. Bring cash as they don’t take credit cards. You can either prepare your own meals or drive 16 km to Cunnamulla to eat. I recommend doing your shopping in Brisbane and bringing your own food, maybe go into town for lunch and internet while the birds are resting.

They have a daily bird call around 5pm at the caretaker’s house so be sure to share your sightings for the day!

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BOWRA STATION

Birds Queensland

Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary

Australian Wildlife

Outback Australia

Detailed map of Bowra Station

This is the mail box you need to look for.

It was still light when we arrived which was nice as we could enjoy the welcoming committee while driving to the homestead.

The light didn’t last long and we soon got to enjoy the sunset.

Homestead where the caretakers live. Check in here first.

Shearers quarters which has several rooms with twin beds, a fully equipped kitchen and dining room. The toilets and showers are outside.

Sorry about the sideways pic, the WordPress photo editor isn’t working. Since your neck is already getting a work out, why not enjoy this beautiful tree refelcting in the pond just outside the shearers’ quarters!

In future posts, I will go into more detail about the birds as there are sooooo many to cover!

Cunnamulla – Gateway To Bowra Station

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Tara

Cunnamulla is a very welcome sight after a long drive from Brisbane – especially if you’ve done it all in one day! You’ll pass through here enroute to Bowra Station and possibly come here for shopping and meals during your stay.

Scenes around town

They do have accommodation although I highly recommend birders stay at Bowra Station.

Banking/ATM available

Boulders is a great place to eat and check your emails.

There wasn’t much in the way of souvenirs – a real gap in the market as they could do well selling Aboriginal art and paintings of wildlife.

The resident flock of Little Corellas can sometimes be seen at the town park and sometimes down by the river.

Security guard for the laundry!

The other welcome sign on the east-bound road.

A Drive Through Outback Queensland To Cunnamulla

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Tara

This is a trip I took back in March 2014 that I’m just getting around to blogging about. The destination was Bowra Station near Cunnamalla, but in this case getting there was half the fun! Outback Queensland has some quirky cafes, cool little towns and lots of wildlife.

It’s at least a 10 hour drive, could be more if you run into roadworks and of course you will need comfort and lunch stops so you want to leave as early as possible in the morning. The aim is to reach your destination by dusk to avoid the hazard of kangaroos on the roadside. See my other posts on planning a birding trip in SE Queensland and road trips in general.

Once you get past Toowoomba, just follow the signs to St George. There’s a town named after me along the way. OK, it’s not named after me but it should have been!

Road works can slow you down as they often close one whole lane of traffic.

In this next group, some of the photos are sideways. They are not this way on my computer, they display properly. However when I try to load them to the blog, they are being flipped sideways and WordPress won’t let me edit them. So I apologize for you having to twist your head to see them.

On the outbound, we had lunch at a small town called Moonie with a very quirky cafe, even quirkier restrooms and souvenirs!

Lunch on the return trip was this cool little place in St George.

Your chances of seeing a koala while driving along at 80-100 kph is nil but keep an eye out anyway in case they are crossing the road.

We did arrive at Bowra Station before dark. I don’t remember what time we left but it was around 5am-ish so we made pretty good time. For a future trip, I would probably break the journey somewhere like Lake Coolmunda (excellent birding!) for a night. It was a very exhausting drive!

Double-barred Finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii)

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Tara

The Double-barred Finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii) is an estrildid finch found in dry savannah, tropical (lowland) dry grassland and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. They are sometimes referred to as Bicheno’s finch; and also as owl finch, owing to the dark ring of feathers around their faces.

The name of the species commemorates James Ebenezer Bicheno, a colonial secretary of Van Diemen’s Land appointed in September 1842.

I saw these guys at the Edith Falls Campground in the Northern Territory.

And these are from Wikipedia

They have a good sized range in Australia but to date the only places I have seen them is Mosquito Creek Road near Lake Coolmunda and Edith Falls in the Northern Territory.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BIRD

Australian Bush Birds

VIDEOS

Up close and personal with Double Barred Finches, very cute little bird!

Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus)

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Tara

The Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus), also known as the quarrion and the weiro, is a member of the cockatoo family endemic to Australia. Cockatiels have a special place in my heart as they were the first bird I had as a pet and it was my love for them that led me to learn more about them and ultimately led to me being a conservationist. It will always be a magical experience for me to see them in the wild!

These photos were taken along Mosquito Creek Road which is near Lake Coolmunda, about 4 hours drive from Brisbane.

They have a large range covering most of Australia but seeing them is harder than you may think as they prefer remote grassy bushlands and they blend in well if they are on the ground foraging. Mosquito Creek Road and Bowra Station (blue dots) are 2 easy places to find them. I recommend searching on eBird since they are so widespread and there is bound to be a place within a reasonable drive from most cities in Australia.

LEARN MORE ABOUT COCKATIELS

VIDEOS

Any search through Youtube will find 1000’s of pet cockatiel videos so I had to search for the wild cockatiel clips. I found some good ones showing wild cockatiels going about their daily life in the bush.

I wish I could see this many all at once!

Mini doco with good basic info but be advised that some photos are pet mutation cockatiels, not the wild ones though they also have wild cockatiel pics.

Surprise Corellas – Small Town Between Mt Magnet & Geraldton

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Tara

This was another lucky call of nature that led to a surprise sighting of some Little Corellas in the trees in a tiny Outback town somewhere between Mt Magnet and Geraldton.

There were blue-eyed crows too.

Not far from the road was a pond with breeding dragonflies and Zebra Finches and Galahs.

That’s the magic of the Aussie Outback, you never know what you are going to find! A local told us we had missed a small flock of Cockatiels by one day! It was sad to be saying goodbye to this vast wilderness but we were hoping the western coast would bring different and interesting birds that we haven’t seen yet.

Hotel Review: Leonora White House Hotel

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Tara

This is far from a birding lodge but if you are doing a long trip through the Outback, Leonora is a pleasant place to stop over. Some people may raise an eyebrow at the idea of staying at pub accommodation but that’s pretty much all that is available in these smaller towns. That’s not a bad thing, the locals are usually pretty friendly and enjoy talking to tourists. You do want to get a room as far away from the actual pub though to avoid noise and also try to avoid staying overnight on a weekend when the pub will be open later.

The Leonora White House Hotel is a historic building built around 1902 and does have loads of character.

Rooms are small and bathrooms are shared. They do have tv and you can get meals at the bar at reasonable prices. Go there with realistic expectations and you should enjoy the overnight stay.