Day 11 - A Morning In The Rainforest (13/7/06)

Slept surprisingly well considering. Got up at sunrise and wandered around looking for birds – found none.

Bit later spotted a minivet – still to decide if it was scarlet, firey or otherwise. Coucal calling.

After breakfast got a blowpipe demo and a go at it. Dad’s aim is good. My first two shots were too low but once I realised that and aimed slightly higher I got the target. Then a latex tapping demo.

Blowpipe practice My first two shots were too low. So on the third I aimed a little higher.

Wander thru the jungle after that – very pleasant, but couldn’t find any birds but heard woodpeckers. Then back on the boats.

Blue/black, robin sized bird crossed the river in front of us. No idea what it was.

As we landed a flock of long-tailed parakeets flew over.

Lunch at Serian waterfall, loads of cats around, one with mange or something, poor fella. We wonder why the Chinese like to chop up the chicken, bones, gristle and all and serve it up. I’d prefer a large piece so I can easily pull off the meat and the bones aren’t shattered through it.

Serian waterfall The main waterfall and it's ornate bridge.

Dozed a lot on the bus.

Got home and out the front of the hotel was a dark, mynah sized bird with a yellow head and bill. The only thing that matches it in the guides is something it can’t have been (Golden-headed Mynah), great.

Chilled out for a bit, had a shower. Found Life of Birds on TV and watched that then headed out to James Brooke Bistro for dinner. Lucky they didn’t have a service charge because there wasn’t any service. Half the staff couldn’t speak any English – in fact we weren’t sure if they could speak at all going by their wild gesturing and lack of words in any language. We ordered relatively quickly then waited ages for our drinks and garlic bread. The bread was nice but the garlic was pretty much non-existent. The actual meals were pretty decent. Then it took about an hour to finally get the bill. We were all buggered and just wanting to go to bed, they didn’t seem to want our money. Eventually we did get home and to bed.

A heap more photos from day 11 can be seen here - http://pics.livejournal.com/gemfyre/gallery/0001b5g8?page=1

Day 11 - A Morning In The Rainforest (13/7/06)

Slept surprisingly well considering. Got up at sunrise and wandered around looking for birds – found none.

Bit later spotted a minivet – still to decide if it was scarlet, firey or otherwise. Coucal calling.

After breakfast got a blowpipe demo and a go at it. Dad’s aim is good. My first two shots were too low but once I realised that and aimed slightly higher I got the target. Then a latex tapping demo.

Blowpipe practice My first two shots were too low. So on the third I aimed a little higher.

Wander thru the jungle after that – very pleasant, but couldn’t find any birds but heard woodpeckers. Then back on the boats.

Blue/black, robin sized bird crossed the river in front of us. No idea what it was.

As we landed a flock of long-tailed parakeets flew over.

Lunch at Serian waterfall, loads of cats around, one with mange or something, poor fella. We wonder why the Chinese like to chop up the chicken, bones, gristle and all and serve it up. I’d prefer a large piece so I can easily pull off the meat and the bones aren’t shattered through it.

Serian waterfall The main waterfall and it's ornate bridge.

Dozed a lot on the bus.

Got home and out the front of the hotel was a dark, mynah sized bird with a yellow head and bill. The only thing that matches it in the guides is something it can’t have been (Golden-headed Mynah), great.

Chilled out for a bit, had a shower. Found Life of Birds on TV and watched that then headed out to James Brooke Bistro for dinner. Lucky they didn’t have a service charge because there wasn’t any service. Half the staff couldn’t speak any English – in fact we weren’t sure if they could speak at all going by their wild gesturing and lack of words in any language. We ordered relatively quickly then waited ages for our drinks and garlic bread. The bread was nice but the garlic was pretty much non-existent. The actual meals were pretty decent. Then it took about an hour to finally get the bill. We were all buggered and just wanting to go to bed, they didn’t seem to want our money. Eventually we did get home and to bed.

A heap more photos from day 11 can be seen here - http://pics.livejournal.com/gemfyre/gallery/0001b5g8?page=1