Because in Australia, its actually summertime.

Our newest pair of Australian Gouldian Finches, who insist on breeding in the dead of winter, have successfully hatched two chicks, and for the first time we have a little web camera set up to watch them. We captured this video on Dec. 24th, where both parents are feeding the tiny 4 day old babies. The male parent is at the top (standing on one of the chicks!), and the female is below. The babies have a pattern of spots around their beak and in their mouth that act as a kind of target for the parents. (Put food here!) They are totally naked and their eyes won't open for another 4-5 days. They've already doubled in size.

Ross River Resort continued

We woke up early and decided to hike up the hill behind the resort before breakfast. Clicky for a bigger image.



This was our little cabin.



These are Galahs, which are charming and beautiful parrots in the Cockatoo family. The Aussies seem a little indifferent to them, perhaps because they are so common, but I never got tired of watching them clown around. Galah, by the way, is also a not-very-complementary Aussie slang term meaning 'fool' or 'idiot'.



Don't you wish this was the scene at your bird feeder? There are at least 25 Galahs there, along with some doves and a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo on the ground below.



There were also these Australian Ringnecks just behind the feeder.



Some horses wandered by; they used to be ridden by guests of the resort, but were set loose when insurance became prohibitive. They still swing by for carrots and other treats.



This is Pam and Ernie, the couple from Alice Springs that we chatted with the previous evening. Ernie had an interesting and varied history, and had been a true Aussie Cowboy, and Pam was retired after teaching for 17 years.



And this is just to show that even the smallest, most familiar things can be a little different in a foreign country.

I Sail on a Concrete Sea

We have a rich truckin' tradition here in the states, but I think Australia wins with their massive Road Trains. They go places with their 3 and 4 trailer trucks you'd never see attempted here in the states. We've seen them on horribly corrugated dirt roads and tiny single lane highways that had potholes big enough to swallow our rental car. These guys mean business, which is evident from the gigantic "roo bars" (also known as bull bars, or nudge bars) on the grill to shove any hapless animals out of the way.




This is part of the Ross Highway... one of those single laners I mentioned. Note that there is no center stripe...the asphalt here is really only one car-width, so you drive right down the center of the road until oncoming traffic appears (slightly spooky when the road is curvy or hilly). At that point you play chicken until, at the last moment (and at speed!), you both pull over with one set of wheels on the dirt shoulder, and one set of wheels on the asphalt, zipping by each other in a hail of dust and flying gravel. Road Trains, on the other hand, don't move for anyone, and intimidate other vehicles into fleeing all the way onto the gravel.



One of the many massive 4 trailer trucks we saw along the way.



This one's only got 3 trailers, but it illustrates the difficulties in passing a vehicle like this with a terribly underpowered rental car. Even with light traffic and straight stretches of road, it takes a long time just to pass a truck this big, let alone find a window of opportunity, especially since they tend to drive toward the center, and weave a lot.

Ross River Resort

We decided, on a whim, to stay the night at the Ross River Resort, some 85 km east of Alice Springs, and explore the East MacDonnell ranges a bit the following day. We drove the lonely Ross Highway as the sun was setting; ahead is one of the picturesque 'gaps' in the ranges.




The resort was built around an old homestead dating from 1898, with the original buildings forming the common rooms, and guest quarters in little cabins built much later. There were many nice old photographs showing the history of the place on the walls.



The bar area where we waited before dinner.



Dinner was hot and filling; nice for a rather frigid evening. I have a well-charred chicken parmesan and Darrin has garlic shrimp.



This was the sort of place where there are no TVs or phones in the little cabins, so everyone hangs out in the comfortable common room by the fire and chats or reads. We met an absolutely charming retired couple from Alice Springs and stayed up later than we'd intended, talking about everything from national health care to cowboy movies.

In this picture we were trying to capture the interesting construction style, where the relatively unfinished ceiling/roof floats above stucco walls that just sort of end.