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Finally my dream international trip will happen; time to visit Australia and New Zealand! This past year I have been readying myself for this adventure, but my interest in Australia actually began when I read a book in the mid 1980’s. It was Robyn Davidson’s travel memoir: Tracks: One Woman’s Journey of 1,700 Miles Across the Australian Outback. The landscape, especially Ulura, was what I wanted to see someday. As a backpacker at that time, I wanted to see that land.

Now I will have my opportunity to be in Australia, and while in that part of the world, why not visit New Zealand too. I hope in my future blog posts to share my experiences, places worth visiting and foods to try in each country. All I know right now, any trip where Australians had been on an European tour I had been on, I loved the joy and happiness they brought to the day. It’ll be fun to see them in their homeland.

I love tasting foods unique to a particular country; there will be plenty to try in Australia and New Zealand. I’ll be looking forward to some Australian sweet treats: TimTam – a chocolate biscuit, Lamingtons – a sponge cake covered with chocolate or raspberry, then covered with coconut, and Golden Gaytime – toffee and vanilla ice cream, dipped in chocolate covered in biscuit pieces. While shopping in New Zealand, I hope to buy Whittaker’s chocolate. Of course, the dessert to try in each country, Pavlova – a meringue cake with whipped cream and fruit and to wonder was it invented in Australia or New Zealand?

Will I brave tasting Vegemite in Australia or Marmite in New Zealand? I’ll keep you posted. Or how about a Witchetty grub? Apparently Aboriginal Australians have eaten these grubs for years. And why not, as they supposedly taste like chicken with as much protein as steak!

There is no doubt in my mind I will love seeing the landscape in both countries, despite more people telling me New Zealand is simply beautiful! Time will tell and I’ll post photographs for us all to see the beauty in both countries. Will look for a Tasmanian devil, a wombat, emu and kangaroos. May even taste the lean, red meat of kangaroo or barramundi, the Aboriginal name for sea bass in Australia. Rarely am I hesitant in trying something new when I travel. It’s part of the joy of travel along with learning a country’s history, such as Māori culture in New Zealand, and finally seeing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand’s Milford Sound!

I am so excited to get on with this trip. Cheers! Will I see any of these birds during my travel? You know I’ll be looking …

After the third day of watching a verdin build a nest, I decided to watch the nest and bird more closely. The nest had already survived rain, 50 mile per hour wind, and half-inch sized hail the previous couple of days. Maybe the adults would return to this nest-building. My challenge was trying to see the nest from my home. The backyard brick wall was definitely adding to my challenge. Here is the nest from my home … with a wall in the way … but I saw the verdin with nest-building material in its beak!

A couple of days later I decided to move closer, but still to remain on this side of the wall … to peer over the wall. Other birds were reluctant to visit my nearby feeders and for an hour and a half I never saw any bird by the nest. I was weeding in our backyard so the birds would be familiar with my activity. Eventually birds went to the feeders. It helped having put a new cylinder of food out for them. In the other direction and on the other side of the wall though, no verdin at the nest.

Eventually, an hour and a half later, I heard a verdin’s contact call. It was a flat hard “kit, kit, kit” repeated rapidly so I knew one was in the area. It was off to the west a good distance from me. After 10 minutes with me standing still by the wall with my camera, the verdin stopped calling. A couple of minutes later the bird flew to the nest. It had something in its beak. Once at the nest, the verdin sat outside the nest, looked around, and then went into the nest. The bird tidied up the nest before it flew off.

As issues go, water is a huge one especially after so many years of drought! Some places are working on ways to cut their water usage so more water flows to the aquifer. One such place I visited, initially for birding, was Acacia Demonstrations Gardens in Henderson, Nevada. I wish I had my bicycle since the multi-use Harry Reid Union Pacific Railroad Trail was here too.

The Acacia Demonstration Gardens had various lawns and each with informative signs that explained why they suggested, for example, to use Bermuda grass rather than turf grass. Bermuda grass uses one-third the amount of water than turf grass! That’s important. Other information included drip irrigation versus sprinklers and how and when to use which one to create a water-efficient landscape. (It does drive me crazy when water is flowing down a street from any sprinkler or irrigation bib.)

With healthy gardens, more insects are attracted to it and they do their part to continue the breakdown and add nutrients to the soil. Sure, in some places you will have a patio, but you may decide it is not necessary to cover over the entire yard with patio tiles. You may find ideas to keep the remainder of your yard green. Maybe with a pollinator garden to attract hummingbirds and insects, while using minimal water, and make your yard colorful!

I enjoyed walking the gardens and reading the informative signs. There is a dog-walk area too. Plenty of birds were hiding in the trees once I started looking, plus I spent time watching a greater roadrunner scoot around the rocks and flowers! Fun!

Have you taken a close look at your backyard or nearby green space? Is water being used efficiently? If not, what could you do to minimize the amount of water being used so we do not waste such a precious natural resource? Anything you do will help. Thanks!

Although there are five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park, I was testing out my motion-sickness pack by just taking a boat ride for an hour to the closest island to mainland California. From Oxnard, California to the smallest island, Anacapa, I was successful in enjoying the boat ride and the 4 hours on the island.

Anacapa Island is a chain of 3 islets named east, middle and west only accessible by boat. We were on East Anacapa hiking the mile-long trail and being sure not to stand close to the sea cliffs on this volcanic island. The notable natural bridge is a forty-foot Arch Rock, seen as we arrive by boat. The captain of the boat did a remarkable job docking in a small cove!

Brown pelicans and western gulls are the most numerous sea birds here; however, during our boat ride I did observe numerous black-vented shearwater just a foot above the water’s surface and a pomarine jaeger flying overhead. Thankfully another birder was on the trip so we could discuss our observations. More easily to observe were the thousands of dolphins and about 10 humpback whales!

The island is small so we walked with a guide who told us the island’s history and pointed out various plants and animals. High school students were on our boat and they were here to hike and also collect native seeds for a project helping one of the restoration plant scientists doing work on the island.

At one end of the island is a lighthouse, first erected in 1912, with the current one erected in 1932. In 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt designated the islands a national monument. In 1966 the lighthouse became automated and it is still an aid to navigation. In 1980, Congress designated 5 of the 8 islands as Channel Islands National Park.