Sweetwater Lake

We have spent two weeks of utter bushbashing bliss in Lakefield/Rinyirru National Park on Cape York, a sublime highlight of so many amazing highlights on and off the road for 5 years in Australia.

We'd squeezed down one of our toughest, heavily eroded tracks to get to Sweetwater Lake where we set up in solitary splendour for a few days of bush bliss.

At piccaninny light this morning, all my favourite birds were tuning up and symphonising: the thudding orioles, high-pitched honeyeaters, mirthful kookaburras, cooing Torresian pigeon, and all their friends.

My early morning walk is perfect relaxation: bottle of water, hat, two eyes, two ears, and a nose. The track has not been used recently, fallen trees involve a scramble. On and on the trail tempts, skirting the water's edge. A pheasant coucal follows my progress as it leapfrogs ahead, now it is my totem bird.

Plenty of finely etched foot, claw and tailprints here from a monitor. Standing motionless in tree cover, about 20 metres from the water, I spot a croc swimming away, tail lazily swinging. He spotted me long, long time, way before I turned up.

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Lakefield National Park, Sweetwater Lagoon, FNQ, Cape York, Birds