Bats, Bugs and Boardwalks

As we walked back to the hotel last night, the chatter of Starlings gathering before roosting for the night was intense. We had witnessed a murmuration of Starlings in Gretna last November, but these guys were different, doing loops of Port Douglas before settling down in some Palm trees for the night. As the Starlings settled down, a flock of black crow like birds appeared in the sky. Mrs B was the first to notice they weren't birds but massive big bats! She suggested they were more like Rats with wings than the winged mice we have back in the UK. Truth be told, they were more like Rabbits with jumbo wings! We later established they were in fact Fox Bats that feed on fruit trees. Whatever, they gave us the hebee jebees!

Back at the hotel we settled down for the night, but were aware of a pitter patter sound from the door and windows. I went to investigate and found literally hundreds of flying beetles on the floor outside the door. Well, for the next hour or so these little blighters tried to invade the privacy of our apartment. I thought I had resolved the matter when I heard a shriek from the bedroom. One of the flying beetle things had landed on the bed, much to Mrs B's consternation. I quickly dealt with it and returned to my blipping (totally frustrated by the internet connection!). A few minutes later there was another shriek and another little bug(ger) had appeared in the bedroom. This went on for quite a while until I sussed they were managing to get under the front door. A few pages of the Cairns News stuffed under the door and we were sealed against a bug invasion (later established that Port Douglas has been invaded by swarms of these wee beasties!).

I had just sat down again when there was yet another scream from the bedroom. This time it wasn't a flying beetle type thing but a wee lizard, which Mrs B had spotted having a wander across the bedroom wall. Once again, Mr Pest Control was to the rescue armed with a brush and sanitary bucket. Has anyone ever tried catching a 2" lizard in a bedroom? Well, I'll tell you it isn't easy! It was hiding behind the top of the door and every time I chased it with the brush it found a new place of concealment. I was getting quite frustrated, especially when I nearly took the top of the brush off on the ceiling fan. Luckily it was just the brush head! By this time the lizard had sought refuge behind a wall light and refused to come out. A kitchen knife and bookmark were used to winkle it from its hiding space, but then it fell from the wall and landed on top of Mrs B. Another shriek rang out (well more like a demented yell actually!) as Mrs B thought it had disappeared under her top. As she took off in panic trying to get rid it it she banged her head off the kitchen wall and the shriek turned to a yelp (OK a big double expletive!). The situation probably wasn't helped by me bursting into laughter! For a while the wee lizard eluded us, before I lifted one of Mrs B's slippers and there it was trying to make its escape! Lets just say it was escorted from the premises!

In the morning we went tocollect the hire car and found the veranda outside our room covered in the beetle like bugs. Everywhere we looked there were more of them, which had even found there way into some of the fancy designer type shop windows. Every shopkeeper seemed to be out with a brush or hoover sweeping up the little blighters.

Anyway, today we headed up to the Daintree National Park which has the oldest remaining rain forest in the World.. After the Great Barrier Reef, its probably the next thing you must visit in Northern Queensland. The weather was stunning and we had a great day exploring the various boardwalks that take you deep into woods or to lovely beaches. Today's' blip is of Thornton Beach, which was simply a deserted tropical paradise. A paddle in the sea, which was as warm as bathwater, was quite simply bliss after all our bug adventures.

As we returned to the car Mrs B spied a huge huge spider on its web attached to a building. It was dutifully blipped and may be linked to this blip if the internet connection allows!

Heading off early tomorrow on our journey to Sydney. Nothing booked hotel wise, so blipping may be restricted for the next week or so!