Jan 16 2010

Day 7 – O’Reilly’s (January 14)

Published by at 7:09 am under Uncategorized

Today was our last full day at O’Reilly’s so everyone was trying to squeeze in some final activities. This may have been pool time, a nature walk, laundry or the Flying Fox. I started my day with a great surprise. I went on the morning birdwalk and had the opportunity to see the Albert Lyrebird. This is the same bird that I had seen the night before watching a video. This is a fairly rare bird that is only found in a very small region that includes the Lamington National Park. One thing that makes this bird so fascinating is that it mimics the calls of many other birds and sounds. Needless to say when Glen Therlo heard its natural call he had us almost running to where it was and luckily we were able to view it for about 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately I was not able to get a good view of it due to the canopy.

Glen Therlo in the forest

Glen Therlo in the forest

I then decided to go on a tour with Glen in the morning. This was supposed to be a Eucalypt Bird Walk, but it ended up being more of a driving tour down the mountain with him showing some interesting things. I was originally the only one who was doing the walk, but I convinced a couple of students to come along knowing what a character Glen is. We did not see as much as hoped, but Glen kept us entertained. Glen has produced many documentaries that they show at O’Reilly’s and some have been viewed on the BBC. He was the one who made the documentary that Lauren and I saw the night before on the Lyrebird so needless to say he is a wealth of information having guided at O’Reilly’s for the past 30 years. One other fun fact about Glen is that he was a technical advisor for FernGully.

Meateater ants "attacking" Ted

Meateater ants "attacking" Ted

After lunch I went for a quick hike to Elbana Falls. This is always one of my favorite sites to see while at O’Reilly’s. I had a quick 4 mile hike to go take it in. One other unique thing about Lamington National Park is that they have these beautiful blue crayfish that I was able to see. I don’t have a great photo of one or I would show it.

Elbana Falls

Elbana Falls

After dinner, Tane gave our group a short little lecture about the area of Lamington National Park and where O’Reilly’s now sits. He incorporated in a little bit about the Yugambeh people who used to roam the land as well.

Tane talking to our group

Tane talking to our group

One response so far

One Response to “Day 7 – O’Reilly’s (January 14)”

  1. Andrea says:

    GLEN!! i loved Glen!! i remember when he was poking the web of the tunnel web spider talking about how far it can jump and it jumped out. DH i swear i will go back to australia with you one of these years!
    have fun everyone!

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