Aroona

After a quiet morning we took a drive into town to look for some Caloundra pins to add to the girls collection. As we arrived in the Main Street we found a market in full swing. We spent a good couple of hours walking around, looking at the stalls and shops. We found some pins for the girls and bought half a kilo of blueberries for $8 and enjoyed some really good Sushi for lunch before heading back to the van.

We all shared a quick fruit salad, gathered up a few things and set off just after 1pm on the two hour trip to a bird aviary I'd tracked down that specialises in Black Cockatoos, something we have spent a lot of time looking into in recent months. We had planned on visiting a large public aviary in Maleny Botanical Gardens but decided we would get a lot more out of the Rosewood Parrot Gardens (not a public aviary but a private collection).

What an afternoon! Barry and his wife Julie took us around the majority of their 250+ aviaries and 650+ birds. Such an amazing set up with all the subspecies of black Cockatoos we have. Nearly double the number I had learned there was. We were amazed and learned so much! After looking around the aviaries we were invited to look in their baby room. Such a professional set up with so many babies either in incubators or in cages waiting for their next feed. All in perfect health and so affectionate, and sooo loud! It was such an educational experience that we all really enjoyed including the girls. We bought a copy of Julie's Black Cockatoo book and headed back towards Caloundra, 3 hours after arriving, and we could've easily spent twice as long.

We found a Coffee Club open for dinner about half way home and got back to the van before 9pm. Got the girls into bed and had a quick look through Julie's book before we crashed too!Read more