.
Is South America on your mind? Have a look at these really cheap fares to various cities from the USA. While you are there, might as well enter the sweepstakes to win 2 free tickets to Lima. If you are the lucky winner you would be only 9000 Avios away from Puerto Maldonado and Tambopata!
If anyone is planning to be in Brisbane in early July, you may be interested in the presentation on the Norfolk Island Green Parrot Recovery Program.
.
A trip here is on my to-do list but Air New Zealand doesn’t seem to release award space for Star Alliance members. Hopefully that will change but in the meanwhile, a paid seat is the only way to get here. For more info see the Norfolk Island website.
Abi Smith will be doing a presentation on the Recovery Program at the Parrot Society of Australia’s bi-annual conservation dinner. For more details and registration, please visit their website.
As much as I would like to, I can’t get to every eco-tourism lodge in the world so I am very happy to see a fellow blogger, Becky from The Girl and Globe visiting Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas. She was lucky enough to see the beautiful Scarlet Macaw and lots of mammals!
I don’t want to steal Becky’s photos so here is one I took in Costa Rica.
Becky has just made an in-depth visit around Guatemala and has some great advice for anyone who is planning a trip there.
Use your miles for an award to Central America to visit Guatemala.
.
Along with optional excursions to Xcaret and the Belize Bird Rescue, this year’s 6th annual Parrot Lover’s Cruise has a fantastic line up of guest speakers.
Joining us on the cruise will be the charismatic
Dr. Sam Williams from Echo, an organization dedicated to helping protect Bonaire’s Yellow-shouldered Amazon Parrot (Amazona barbadensis).
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon is considered Vulnerable to extinction, with just a few thousand remaining world-wide – and of those an estimated 800 are found on Bonaire.
I personally recommend going one day early and spending the night in Galveston to avoid any problems with flight delays.
The Parrot Lover’s Cruise has been adding more activities and speakers which are exclusive to those who book the cruise via the official travel agency.
This is far from a birding lodge but if you are doing a long trip through the Outback, Leonora is a pleasant place to stop over. Some people may raise an eyebrow at the idea of staying at pub accommodation but that’s pretty much all that is available in these smaller towns. That’s not a bad thing, the locals are usually pretty friendly and enjoy talking to tourists. You do want to get a room as far away from the actual pub though to avoid noise and also try to avoid staying overnight on a weekend when the pub will be open later.
The Leonora White House Hotel is a historic building built around 1902 and does have loads of character.
Rooms are small and bathrooms are shared. They do have tv and you can get meals at the bar at reasonable prices. Go there with realistic expectations and you should enjoy the overnight stay.
More information on this place and other Leonora accommodation.
While you are here, why not visit the old Goldfields “ghost town” of Gwalia? It’s only a few minutes drive and a great look back at history!
The Bourke’s Parrot (Neopsephotus bourkii, formerly known as Neophema bourkii), also known as the Bourke’s Parakeet, Bourke or “Bourkie”, is a small parrot originating in Australia and the only species in its genus Neopsephotus. It is a grass parrot approximately 19 cm long and weighing around 45 grams. It is named after General Sir Richard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837.
Use your miles to get to Australia as these little beauties are Aussie endemics. Bourke’s Parrot is widespread across arid and semi-arid areas of the inland, from north-western New South Wales and south-western Queensland to the mid-coast of Western Australia, and from the Devil’s Marbles in Northern Territory south to Port Augusta, South Australia. I found them easily at Nallan Station in WA and Bowra Station in Queensland.
Sorry, I couldn’t find much on this gorgeous little bird in the wild, plenty of captive bird videos. Here’s one bird in the wild followed by a captive bird so you can hear what they sound like.
You never really appreciate the vastness of Australia until you drive it. After birding the forests, mountains and southern coast of Western Australia, the next destination after Esperance was Nallan Station outside Cue. This involved an epic journey of 1150 kilometers which seemed like forever but is really nothing compared to the whole of Australia.
.
There was no way I could drive that in one day so I decided to break the trip a little more than halfway at the mining town and former Gold Rush centre of Leonora. This meant the first day would be 390 km (4 hours) to Kalgoorlie for a lunch stop, then a further 235 km (3:25) to Leonora. The second day would be 512 km to Cue with a lunch stop at Mount Magnet.
.
There isn’t much to look at while on the road but it was worthwhile to keep an eye out for nomadic parrot species such as Major Mitchell Cockatoos, Budgerigars & Cockatiels. Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky enough to spot any parrots other than these guys in an aviary at a petrol station.
There are a few waterholes along the way, might be worth a look. You are more likely to see water birds and raptors.
Lunch stops are few and far between. We ate at KFC in Kalgoorlie on the first leg (first cheap place I saw after buying fuel) and on the 2nd leg we got sandwiches at Mt Magnet which is an interesting little Outback town. Fuel is really expensive, figure on $1.70 – $1.85 a litre and always top up the car before leaving a town.
.
In the past, Daily Getaways were one of my favourite ways to buy airline miles at very cheap prices. Back in the day, you could acquire United, American, US Airways & other miles for around $7-8 per block of 1000 miles by purchasing Wyndham miles at Daily Getaways and then transferring them.
Last year the price was raised to around $13 per block of 1000 miles which still wasn’t bad if you live outside the USA and can’t manufacture spend. Earlier this year, Wyndham cut the transfer rate to airlines in half without warning which basically kills this deal as no one is going to pay $27 for 1000 miles unless they are desperate for a top up. And most people can do a helluva lot better than a Super 8 if they have a budget of $84!
This year there isn’t much to interest eco-tourists. I wouldn’t buy points for a hotel, I would rather use a portal such as Pointshound and have a wider choice. Here are the first 2 weeks in case anyone is interested. The only possible bargain I can see is Choice ONLY if you are going to use them in Europe. Don’t bother using them in Australia, the rates are too high. The program also has an annoying 60 window for booking hotel rewards which cramps the style of those who like to book early.
IHG Rewards are a good deal if you are planning to use them at an expensive place like Bora Bora, Paris or any of the 50,000 point properties which would cost $292.50 a night if you have an Amex. Hilton is way too expensive, at that level I would be Pricelining for a 4 or 5* hotel. Don’t bother!
.
.
In past years I used to get up at 3am in Brisbane to buy these and they sold out in seconds. This year, I’ll probably wake up at my normal time to see packages going begging.
It’s that time, 9 1/2 years of travel have whizzed by and it’s time to renew our passports. Remember most countries require you have 6 months left on validity. That means taking the dreaded photo that usually makes us look like wanted criminals. But no more! You can save a bundle and have much more control over your passport photos with Make Passport Photos.
STEP 1
Find out the requirements for your country.
Here are a few for English speaking countries.
If your country isn’t in the drop down menu (such as New Zealand), then use a country which has the same size. Kiwis can use the Australian photo sizer. You may also be able to upload your photo to the passport application online.
STEP 2
Take your own photo using the required white/light background. This is where you can take your time, take lots of slightly different poses and hairstyles. Get it right, you will have to look at it for the next 10 years!
STEP 3
Upload it to the program and use their cropping tool in conjunction with your country’s photo requirement example page to get the right size.
STEP 4
Download it to your computer, copy it to a flash drive and print anywhere you like for just a few cents! Print a few copies so you have some on hand the next time you need a visa for someplace.
.
Congratulations, you have the best possible passport photo at the lowest possible cost!
I chose the Comfort Inn Bay of Isles Motel Esperance mostly for its location, right smack dab in the middle of Epserance and walking distance to a reputed Rock Parrot habitat on the beach near the pier. It was also easy driving distance to other birding hotspots.
.
While rooms are available for 20,000 Choice Rewards points, I don’t recommend it as the rates are very high for redemptions in Australia. If one must collect Choice points, you would be better off using them in Europe where decent hotels can be had for 8000-10,000 points.
The best way to maximize a booking here is to earn airline miles by booking through Pointshound.
.
The rooms are fine, exactly what you would expect of a budget chain hotel – clean, free wifi, cable tv and a swimming pool.
Choose this place for the location and convenience, you’ll be fine with it as long as you aren’t expecting a wow factor.