Holiday ride days 5,6 & 7 - how about doing very little? — David Taylor - Master Jeweller

10th - 12th September 2026

Masked Lapwing staring at shit……not a bad idea!

By day 5 in my holiday I had decided the thing I disliked the most was packing up and setting up camp. I would head back to the Swans near Irvinebank and just sit with the birds and my books for 3 days…….staring at stuff.

Not long after I had set up camp the Swans were swimming in front of me. I was pretty sure I had made the right choice.

The two things I planned to do for the next three days was to photograph birds and read. Both the books were quite good but I really enjoyed “Where are the children?” by Mary Higgins Clark.

“Mind Games” by Christine Freehan I struggled to get into but did enjoy it in the end. Certainly the sex scenes (there are a lot of them) seem to have been written for a female audience IMO.

A very shy couple of visitors

Pale-headed Rosella checking me out on arrival to the waters edge.

Pale-headed Rosella are usually very shy birds. They mainly feed on the ground and I seem to bump into them when I scare them and they take flight. The beauty of siting at one spot for a long period of time is that the birds start to come to you.

This pair were so relaxed that they came to right in front of my tent to drink. My pattern of behaviour for the next three days would be to sit and read with the camera at my side. It has been a while since I did some serious bird photography.

The Kingfishers

At the billabong I was joined by three species of Kingfisher. The first was the three toed Azure Kingfisher, an absolutely stunning bird.

A familiar site in Australia, the Blue-winged Kookaburra.

The second of the Kingfishers to join me and by far the most frequent visitor, was the Blue-winged Kookaburra. What I consider a handsome bird.

Over the years I have been able to take some wonderful photos of Forest Kingfishers but this trip I would not be so lucky. That said I was very pleased to be joined by this bird.

An angry little bird - Comb-crested Jacana

A bird that I would have expected to be quite shy but was not is the Comb-crested Jacana. There seemed to be very few adult birds around but an abundance of immature and juvenile ones constantly fighting with each other as they fed.

Quite the stalker - White-necked Heron

White-necked Heron arriving at the billabong.

When you sit and read a book and just let things happen…..things tend to happen. One of the birds to arrive despite my presence was a White-necked Heron.

These birds are great to watch hunting. I think I spent more time watching this bird than any other during the three days…….outside the Swans of course :)

The goal was to take a photo of the bird catching and eating it’s prey. Unfortunately the only shots I got were from quite a distance and at a time when heat refraction was making the photos blurry.

On a sunny day heat waves form in the air, especially over water, making photos look blurry. Notice how strange the background is in the above photo. It really was quite hot in the middle day despite the nights being very cool.

Busy bee - Rainbow Bee-eater

Late afternoon every day I would be joined by a group of Rainbow Bee-eaters as they swooped from the trees to snatch a meal from the surface of the water or from mid-air.

These birds were certainly not worried by my presence. They came quite close and provided some lovely photos.

Returning to the launchpad to eat it’s victim.

Whenever the birds would catch something they would return to the same spot they took off to eat their prey. I am not good enough to get in flight photos of these little birds as they are way to fast. I am happy to get photos of them eating.

Late each afternoon I would enjoy the sunset with these very colourful little birds.

Billabong regulars - Little Pied Cormorant and Australasian Darter

At most billabongs of any size near where I live there are two species of bird that you find fishing. The first is the Little Pied Cormorant.

The familiar sight of drying off in the sun after a swim.

They feed for a while then take a break at the waters edge on a branch to dry off. They are as predictable as any bird can be. Regular number two at a billabong is the Australasian Darter.

Some people refer to the Darter as the Snake Bird due it’s appearance from a distance of a snake rising from the water as it fishes.

About to fly as far away from me as possible.

The Australasian Darter generally does not like humans and they take off quite readily and rarely come close even if I sit for long periods. Luckily they are a big bird so not such a problem taking photos from a distance.

But it was all really about the Black Swans

I cannot deny that my number one reason for spending my time at that Billabong was to watch the Swan cygnets who appeared to be noticeably growing each day.

Sadly it was time to head home and I had a few places that I thought I would drop into on the way.

Looking back at Irvinebank from Mt Misery.

I headed to the Ravenshoe area over the top of Mt Misery. This is a beautiful ride despite the name and at the moment with the dirt road freshly graded an easy one.

The Washing Machine - a dangerous place to swim

When I got to Ravenshoe I wanted to check out the track into the Washing Machine which is sometimes also referred to as the Military Hole/Falls due to bombing practise that was carried out there during WWII.

Last time I tried to visit, the council had closed the track due to water damage and cars getting stuck on the step decline down to the falls. On this visit however it was open so I went and sat at the edge of the waterfall. On one of my first camping trips with the motorbike two years ago was to here.

At times when the water flows at a certain volume over the falls it causes a spiral effect in the water at the base that can drag swimmers down and drown them The last person to drown here I think was less than 10 years ago. Locals usually jump in from the rock face top left of the photo.

The Tree House

After I leave Ravenshoe I usually head home via Tumoulin. Over the years I have photographed what my wife and I refer to as “the Tree House”….for obvious reasons.

The house in located on a farm and it appears the farmer decided to give it a tidy up. A quick photo and then time get home before I got rained on…….LOL I got rained on!