After leaving Kalbarri, we drove through the National Park and met up with route 1 headed south going through Gerladton. Here are some of the highlights we encountered along the way.
Kangaroos still within the park boundaries.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoos just south of the park.
Carnaby’s Cockatoos – not sure of exact location but about 2 hours before we reached Yanchep.
In past years, it was a ritual. The hotel point packages went on sale 1pm East Coast USA time which meant I had to be up before 3am in Brisbane. One year, we were on holiday in Rarotonga and I had to traipse down to reception where the internet was at some ridiculous hour 4 or 5am. Competition was fierce and the best packages went within seconds! My target was always Wyndham points which I would quickly transfer to either United, US Airways or American depending on my needs. It was exasperating but fun to try to get the timing right to snag at least one package or maybe 2 if I was using the 2 browser method. Then I would go on the Flyertalk thread and join the other in bragging about my successes……………..or commiserating about not being fast enough.
What a difference a devaluation makes! While a few point packages have still been selling well such as Hyatt and Choice (the latter probably for Southwest Companion passes), the previously hot Wyndham packages are going begging. IHG are also not selling, probably because of the lackluster Pointbreaks (Disa-Pointbreaks as I call them). If anyone is interested, plenty of points up for grabs but unless you have worked out a good use for them, save your money and book hotels via Pointshound or Rocketmiles and earn your miles that way!
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The Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) is a species of flowerpecker native to most of Australia (though absent from Tasmania and the driest desert areas), and also to the eastern Maluku Islands of Indonesia in the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea. They also must live where there are trees and shrubs, so that they can build their nests. The bird eats a variety of different foods such as berries and assorted types of insects.
They are widespread throughout Australia so odds are you will happen upon one sooner or later. I first saw this one in the Murchison River Reserve near Kalbarri, Western Australia. Later, I saw one at Oxley Creek Common in Brisbane.
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Good mini-doco showing the relationship between Mistletoebirds and the Mistletoe plant.
Rocketmiles is a hotel booking engine much like Expedia or Travelocity except the big difference is that they give very generous bonuses of airline miles for booking a hotel. There is a limited time offer ending 4 July if you use this link to join Rocketmiles and book a hotel. Rocketmiles has a very generous referral program so if you use this link, I get 1000 miles. You will then get a link of your own to share around! Only one 3000 mile bonus per person.
These are the airlines you can choose from.
T&Cs: Qualifying Activity: To be eligible, the hotel reservation MUST BE BOOKED USING THIS PROMOTIONAL LINK (www.rocketmiles.com/bonus-3k) by 11:59PM CT on 4 July 2014. Strictly limited to first time customers of Rocketmiles. Limit one per customer. Limit one per stay. Promotional offer can not be combined with any other bonuses or offers. Rocketmiles reserves the right to retract a bonus at any time if it detects fraud, stacking of bonuses, technical errors, cancel/rebooking activity (defined by identical search criteria), or any deceptive behavior attempted to circumvent the limits expressed above, including multiple accounts. Rocketmiles reserves the right to change the terms of a promotion, or end a promotion, at any time. Rewards that can not be posted due to incorrect or incomplete information may become ineligible after 12 months of attempts with no customer response. See www.rocketmiles.com/terms for full terms, or call Rocketmiles concierges at 1-855-355-7625 with questions of eligibility or for any other assistance.
There are several possible birding areas in the Kalbarri region. The town is basically surrounded by the Kalbarri National Park except on the west coast on the Indian Ocean.
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Kalbarri is accessible by car about 8 hours north of Perth. If you are entering from the south, there is a possibility of birding in the scrub south of the Rainbow Jungle at the end of Explorer Road. We were there around 5pm but didn’t see much.
Eremaea and Frank O’Connor have bird lists.
While not birding in the wild, the local council puts on a pelican feeding on the beach. The fish being handed out attract all kinds of sea birds.
The best birding was in the Murchison River Reserve just north of town.
Port Lincoln/Australian Ringneck
Jacky Winter
Blue-breasted Fairy-wren
Mistletoebird
Singing Honeyeater
Port Lincoln/Australian Ringneck
I have news from email and social media with more news about the AA/US merger.
FROM AMERICAN: Timeline confirmed for 2015. No details about how the miles will be moved from US to AA or if it will be like the UA/CO merger where miles could be moved back and forth for a few months so you could choose which airline’s chart to use. Full details as posted on Facebook.
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FROM US AIRWAYS: Increased miles to redeem US/Canada premium cabin awards (which is probably not the priority for an eco-travel blog). There is also some news for elites, please see details on US website. US does have very attractive off-peak awards between the US and South America so if you have an award in mind it’s worth redeeming before 2015.
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Conveniently located in the town centre, the Palm Resort offers a range of comfortable styles of motel suites and apartments just walking distance from the beach. Relax in 5 acres of established gardens with heated outdoor spa, 2 swimming pools, BBQ’s, tennis court, netted cricket pitch, lawn bowls, children’s playground and green lawns.
The rooms are simple but clean and fine for passing the night and prices are very reasonable.
If you are lucky, the local Galahs will be on hand to welcome you in!
There’s a pub and a fish & chip shop about 5 minutes walk away. Food is of the cheap and cheerful variety which is just what we like! Sorry foodies!
Bookings can be done on their website, Pointshound or several other hotel booking engines.
Gorgeous landscaped walk-in aviary with dozens of brightly coloured Aussie birds of many different species. They also have display cages for certain species. Good for getting a close up look at the birds you are hoping to see in the wild so you can identify them more easily. Also a great place to bring kids to see and appreciate the beauty of Australian birds (and a few exotics) in a family-friendly setting. More details on their website.
It’s about 10 km south of Kalbarri on Red Bluff Road. You’ll need a car as I didn’t see any sign of bus service.
By the time we got there – around 4pm, we only had an hour to look around and I could have easily stayed 2 hours or more as I like to sit back, relax and watch the birds go about their business. You can get really good photos and while the birds are not tame, they aren’t terribly skittish either. Some of the highlights were the Cockatoos, Princess Parrots, Gouldian Finches and more – see photos below!
They don’t have a conservation program. The main value in a walk-in aviary such as this is to become familiar with the various species, educate your kids and then move on to seeing them in the wild. The signs are nicely done and show the range of the birds.
There aren’t any chain hotels in Kalbarri. You can earn points by using Pointshound to book hotels such as Palm Resort where we stayed. Rocketmiles doesn’t currently serve this location but worth a try as they seem to be adding lots of new properties.
From time to time Amex runs specials for their card holders that allows them to refer friends for an extra special deal. The usual sign up bonus for this card is 25,000 points but until the end of June it has increased to 30,000 points. The card holder (me) gets a bonus of 5000 points for each referral. I do not have an affiliate marketing relationship with Amex, any card holder gets the same offer – you will too the next time around!
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Your friends must apply for the Card through the REFER NOW buttons in the email (that I will send you) and be approved in order for you to earn your Referral Bonus.
And for a limited time, each friend can earn up to 30,000 bonus Starpoints: 10,000 Starpoints after their first purchase on the Card in addition to 20,000 Starpoints after they make $5,000 in purchases within their first 6 months of Card Membership.2,3 Referrals need to occur by June 30, 2014 and your friend must be approved by June 30, 2014 to be eligible for this limited time offer.
After you have met your minimum spend (pretty easy to do since they give you 6 months to do it), you will have at least 35,000 Starpoints in your account. The best use of Starpoints for eco-tourists is to transfer them to airlines in blocks of 20,000 points as they give you a bonus of 5000 points so you end up with 25,000 miles in the airline.
If you would like a referral, please either comment here and make sure your real email is in the comment form, only I can see it. Or send me an email tara at milestothewild.com.
I recommend transferring them to American AAdvantage or US Airways and depending on your destination maybe one of the others I highlighted below. Don’t transfer them to United as they have a poor rate of exchange. Here is the full list of partners.
Frequent Flyer Program |
Exchange Ratio (Starpoints : Miles) |
|---|---|
| Aeromexico Club Premier | 1:1 |
| Aeroplan/Air Canada | 1:1 |
| Air Berlin | 1:1 |
| Air China Companion | 1:1 |
| Air New Zealand & Air Points | 65:1 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 1:1 |
| Alitalia MilleMiglia | 1:1 |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club | 1:1 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 1:1 |
| Asia Miles | 1:1 |
| Asiana Airlines | 1:1 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 |
| China Eastern Airlines | 1:1 |
| China Southern Airlines’ Sky Pearl Club | 1:1 |
| Delta Air Lines SkyMiles | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 |
| Etihad Airways | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue | 1:1 |
| Gol Smiles | 2:1 |
| Hainan Airlines | 1:1 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 1:1 |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank | 1:1 |
| LAN Airlines LANPASS Kms | 1:1.5 |
| Miles and More | 1:1 |
| Qatar Airways | 1:1 |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan | 1:1 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
| Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 |
| US Airways Dividend Miles | 1:1 |
| United Mileage Plus | 2:1 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1:1 |
| Virgin Australia | 1:1 |
Father’s Day Sale
How many pockets does YOUR Dad deserve? And at these prices, why not get some for Mom and yourself as well? Click on any of the images to go to the sale page and make sure you use the promo code DAD2014.
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If you aren’t familiar with Scottevest products, check out the video to see how versatile they are!
Our international shipping sale is back! And just in time for our huge Father’s Day Sale. So, in addition to 30% off six of our favorite men’s items, we also are offering 50% off international shipping.
Hurry up and take advantage! This limited time offer is only valid until 11:59 PM GMT June 12th.
The Fine Print…
Zebra Finch