Mareeba Wetlands

July 6th 2015

I'm not really into bird photography or bird watching, but having a #200-400Canon telephoto lens in my kit, that is socially awkward and needs to get to out more, meant it had to come for the drive, and birds were its target.

My daughter and I headed for Mareeba Wetlands, with plans to stay for the night at Jabiru Safari Lodge.  The wetlands are only a short 10 minute drive north of the Far North Queensland town of Mareeba. There are quite a number of lagoons, nestled in amongst pandanus and eucalypts, and rimmed with reeds and water lillies, with the main two being Clancy's Lagoon and Pandanus Lagoon a few kilometres apart.
There are over 220 species of birds that call this place home, so it's a tad noisy!!

Our mates the magpie geese followed us around during both our shoots, you could hand feed them.

I have no idea what these birds are...

These are swans, got that one sorted!

Sunset didn't disappoint.

We checked into our room, which was a cross between a motel room and a tent, what some may call "glamping". I think if you think of it as camping, you will enjoy it more.  In the main "room" were luxuries like real beds with doonas and ample pillows, a timber floor, small bed fans and lights hard wired in, all incased in a tent enclosure that could be zippered to suit the climate. This was all elevated off the ground by a metre or two with a reasonably sized timber deck and stairs at the front of the tent.

The surprise was the bathroom, as you exited the tent from the back you stepped into a walled bathroom, complete with bath tub, hand basin, mirrors and toilet. There was no ceiling over the bathroom but the entire setup was all under another bigger tent covering the sleeping quarters as well as the timber deck out front.

There was a BBQ on the deck and power points in the bathroom, that were suitable for low voltage devices but not for charging up things, so we had to be careful we didn't churn up our camera batteries too much. However the wonderful manager offered his power points at the visitors centre so we could top up.

The "fridge' was an esky, but a huge one and full of fresh cold water for drinking.
Supplied in the "tardis" like bathroom cupboard was an assortment of cutlery, crockery, glasses, mugs, kettle, saucepans, tongs, mozzie coils and spray, sharp knives, cleaning products, dishwashing detergent, extra blankets, deckchairs, and handy cushions we carted out for our sunset shoot.

We arose to the natural alarm clock squawk of kookaburras around 30 minutes prior to sunrise, rugged up and leapt off to Clancys Lagoon waters edge.

We were certainly rewarded with early morning mist rising off the water, pastel pink skies and hazy shapes of swans feeding away.

Breakfast was included which we tucked into at the visitors centre complete with bottomless filtered coffee!!

There are a heap of bush walks to do here, of a variety of distances, but we didn't have time to check them out, next time though. There are also boat and land tour options for those wanting to check out the wildlife at a closer range.

Overall it was a very peaceful and beautiful place to visit, bird watchers or not!

#mareebawetlands #jabirusafarilodge #birdphotography
http://www.mareebawetlands.org
http://www.jabirusafarilodge.com.au