Davidson Woods

28 August - Arrived New Britain, Papua New Guinea
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
Long travel day. Rose early for a ride to airport and then flight to Port Moresby. We had been briefed on procedures there and did well. The terminal is new and the international terminal is best. We stayed there and violated several dietary rules for travelers buying our lunch. Then, when it was time we exited and entered the more earthy domestic terminal. We made it through the unusual security procedures and waited for our flight to be announced. Finally walked across the tarmac to a jet. The flight crossed the forested mountains of PNG and then the Solomon Sea.
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27 August - Frogmouths In the Botanical Garden
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
We visited the botanical garden. How do they get the orchids to grow so well? Enjoyed the palms and the rainforest trail. Having been told where to look for frogmouths we searched for broken off branches that weren’t and finally found two. Aptly named, looks as if they could swallow your hand. During the day they simply sleep. Took dinner a last time on the Esplanade watching brilliant Rainbow Lorrikeets going to roost at the end of a Main Street. We had stopped in the restaurant for snacks earlier in the stay and the waitress recognized our return. I said, “we are regulars.”
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26 August - Last Evening in Cairns
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
Visited Botanical Garden this morning. Lovely and no fee. We made a small contribution and also patronized the gift shop. Found strange looking Friarbird and a pair of Tawny Frogmouths. While in a conservatory we heard the laughing of a Kookabura and went outside to find these giant terrestrial (and arboreal) kingfishers. Sunny today and warm after a cool night. We prepare for much warmer weather in Papua New Guinea. Tomorrow we fly to Port Moresby and then on to Hoskins on the island of New Britain. We trust the resort will have a car for us there.
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August 29 - Cairns is Batty
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
Anne and I returned to the Esplanade at four p.m. to look for birds and birders. We had heard that the four o’clockers might be there. In any case we knew that the tide would be in and the sun behind us making for good birding. We became optomistic finding a sign saying “Welcome the Winter Migrants” at the waterfront. Seems the local birding club added an event to the Cairns Festival. It’s members were great help to us identifying the shore birds and suggesting places to find birds.
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25 August - Cairns Festival
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
We celebrate with Cairns, we know not what, this weekend. Yesterday morning we walked to the Esplanade stopping for most every bird to identify it as a new one for us. Was a kilometer to the beach. There we were greeted by a great mud flat at low tide. There we found north Asian migrants already arrived, both birds and primates. Rainbow lorrekeets cackled in the trees along the Esplanade, a walkway and park that extends along the shoreline in this tourist town.
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24 August - Have Arrived Cairns
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
It is a laid-back rustic touristy town a little rough around the edges. Our B&B is just at the edge. It is in a small apartment house. An argument woke us up at midnight but stopped when one party threatened to call police. At three a.m. we woke and could not go to sleep because it was mid-day U.S. time. Bummer. We rested and rose early to observe our first flying cockatoos. Yes, believe that. Mountains to the west. Town is jammed in on flat ground along the sea.
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Arrived Sydney; On Way to Cairns
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
After the 15 hour flight we are zombies but continue our travel now north to Cairns in the Australian tropics. We arrive during the Cairns Festival and will try to join in, if we can stay awake. It is 3 p.m. and we are still in the air. In San Francisco it is 10 p.m. and my body seems to think something is amiss. Oh well. The question is, can we stay up tonight and wake early in the morning? Perhaps, but we will still be zombies.
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First Little Crisis
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
We fly tonight and received notice this afternoon that our flight had been cancelled and that we had been rescheduled on another airline. Seemed no problem,but it looked like our new seats were on coach. We had splurged for economy plus seats and were sorely disappointed. We called Air New Zealand who said they could do noting about that. My sister called Qantas, the airline to which we had been sent to see about an upgrade.
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Our Visit to San Francisco
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
I had some problem in completing last blog and will continue here. To cool the apartment, I open a window. It is like an air conditioner. Open a little is the low setting. Open a lot is super max. You freeze. The mornings begin calm, but by afternoon when it may be warm there is always wind. It rustles the trees and shapes them over time.
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This Last White Man in San Francisco
woodstrehl submitted on January 19, 1970
Ten days with our son have gone far to quickly. We took him out last evening to a fine restaurant, Gary Danko, near the Aquatic Park and Fishermen’s Row. There was still light when we finished and Laurie’s flight had been delayed in Denver, so we walked along the shore and then up the very, very steep Hyde Street for a few blocks. The colorful tourist cable cars were running half full. If we were not expecting a text announcing Laurie’s arrival, we would have taken a ride. Instead we enjoyed watching the transits and the tourists aboard.
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