On our walk this morning in Kings Park, we could see something ahead in a dead tree…

It was the osprey chick that had fledged some weeks ago!

It had caught itself a fish and was eating it.

It’s parents had taught it well, and we were happy to see that this little being whose progress we had watched for some months was well towards adult-hood.

A very special wild gift to start the day:-)

Today was momentous.

Not only were getting ready to go sailing on Dusky Dolphin, but also the summer sea breeze was forecast. So for the first time since last autumn we folded away the first reef of the main sail, so that the boat wouldn’t do any nasty things when the sea breeze whipped up later.

Ahhh…summer sailing just around the corner:-)

We were approaching “Platypus Walk” in Geeveston, Tasmania. Our experience of this type of walk is that we would see anything but a platypus. But you never know…

As I walked towards the start of the walk, closely followed by Rob, I could see the Kermandie River. There was something floating in it, a small log. It was end-on to me, with small, round yellow-rimmed eyes and a small brown beak on the nearest end.

It was a platypus, and it was looking at me!

“It’s a platypus,” I called to Rob.

“It must be a rubber one,” he replied.

And the platypus disappeared beneath the water.

We hugged with joy at having seen a platypus. Further along the river we saw another platypus, nuzzling along the banks for crustaceans and water worms. Wow!

And then we saw yet another one, doing the same thing.

What an amazing gift!

The images of these precious little creatures stayed with us for a long time – we had shared time with not one but THREE platypuses:-)

Most people never see even one!

How lucky were we?

Rob and I were staying in an old cottage at EagleHawk Neck, Tasmania, just along the beach from the Tesselated Pavement (see pic). This morning as we enjoyed brekkie by the huge window looking out to sea (the Tasman Sea, to the east of us which was strange to us from the west coast), I saw a big bird fly towards the coast. It got bigger and bigger. I pointed it out to Rob.

“It’s a sea eagle!” Rob’s camera was out in a flash and we flew out of the door to watch as it elegantly flew over the beach and the trees behind us, and on across the isthmus (the Neck).

That evening, plovers flew onto the grass of our back yard, calling their piercing calls to each other as they landed. Rob remembered that Paul Scaife (his NZ mountain guide) had thought they were paradise ducks when he’d heard them in the NZ mountain valleys…a nice memory of Paul who is sadly no longer with us.