When I last wrote I was living and working temporarily in Brisbane. In November last year I moved to Rockhampton, which is a reasonable sized town by Queensland standards (a population of about 70,000) and is situated on the Tropic of Capricorn not too far from the sea. I am still working for the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and am based at the Tropical Beef Centre (TBC). This is a joint venture between DPI, the University of Central Queensland and the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Although based at TBC I really dont seem to have been there much since moving. I am still heavily involved in the delivery of the animal ethics training workshops around the State. In the few weeks leading up to Christmas I was at Kuranda (west of Carims in northern Queensland), Townsville (not far from where I lived in Ayr) and Bribie Island (north of Brisbane). This year Ive been to Charleville (south west QId) and will soon be going north again to Mareeba (west of Cairns) and Townsville. Ive also been involved in developing workshops on animal welfare for our staff and livestock producers. For this I went to Marcoola (north of Bribie Island) just before Christmas and this year Ive been out to Longreach (central west Qid). Ive also made other visits to Longreach, Charleville and Brisbane with other aspects of my job.
The trip to Charleville was particularly memorable as I had the opportunity to fly over what is called The Channel Country in a little aeroplane at low altitude (1000 feet). The main watercourse is the Cooper Creek, which splits into hundreds of channels covering an enormous land area – its a stunning landscape. I was particularly fortunate as at the time I flew over the Cooper was in flood, which even in a wet year, happens for just a few weeks. Sometimes the Creek dosnt run for years.
Im not living in Rockhampton itself, but am renting a “workers cottage” on a CSIRO-owned cattle research station named Belmont. The nearest township is about 15 km. away and is called The Caves. Ive yet to visit the caves from which the township takes its name. Rockhampton is about 30 km south-east of Belmont, so it is an easy drive to and from work, although there is about 8-9 km of dirt road from Belmont before the bitumen road starts. You have to take care of kangaroos, wallabies and hares on the dirt road, particularly at dawn and dusk. I am really enjoying living out in the country again and find it hard to imagine ever living in town. It is very quiet and peaceful, with just three other houses in the vicinity of the station. Our next door neighbour is 5-6 km away.
The cottage is a little dilapidated and quite small, but weve managed to fit in our belongings and make it quite comfortable. The best part of it, for me, is the verandah, which is screened against insects and which Im gradually filling with lots of plants, particularly ferns. We have also been busy in the yard, planting shrubs and creating flower beds, which we are gradually filling. Weve also put up a birdbath and a couple of bird tables. These have been a geat success in attracting a wide variety of birds. My favourites are the babblers, which are about the size of a song-thrush, but look more like a tree-creeper with long, curved bills. They are very social, vocal, active birds that can be seen running up and down trees, hopping from branch to branch and foraging under leaves and twigs. I also like the red-winged parrots, of which weve had as many as a dozen at one time. They are quite large birds (32cms) and are a vivid green colour with bright orange beaks. They get their name from a brilliant red wing-patch. We have decided to compile a list of birds that we find on the station. So far we are up to 75 species, most of which weve seen around the house. Things will be more difficult now and we shall have to go looking for others.
“Winter” seems to have arrived here very suddenly. A couple of weeks ago it was still hot and humid but recently weve had days when it has only reached the mid 202C and the other night it got down to 9C. This may not seem cold but I assure you that it is when you are living in a wooded house with a corrugated iron roof, no insulation and ill-fitting doors and louvre windows! It was just 2°C warmer inside the house than it was outside! Winter is also our dry season and the grass is rapidly drying-off and going brown. We shall need to do lots of watering to keep our plants alive. One advantage is that I suspect the birdbath will be in great demand, which may give us the opportunity to add to our list of bird species.
Carol Petherick