Wednesday 17th October Quandialla to east of Cowra plus we get our bogey bird

Wednesday 17^th October

Before the ride it is so wet the cats are hiding in drains.

Arriving in Grenfell

The Crested Shrike Tit - the bird we have been seeking so long.

 Starting to ride again after lunchtime birdwatching

Wet on the inside, hydrated on the inside

 I may bumble but I ain't dry at the moment.

It is still raining when we get up but it soon stops though it can bee seen heading away the way we are going later. We were going to go to the Weddin Mountains National Park but it is a long gravel road and after all the rain in the night we decide not to risk it. Well Mandy tells me we are not going to risk it and I wouldn’t dare overrule in case I get stuck!

We look around the town’s many grassy areas for parrots but not a great many about. We go to the wetland centre and find a tiny Baillons Crake showing briefly at the water’s edge, so it’s a good start to the day.

It is still spotting with rain as we head out to yesterday’s finish point and find a freight train picking up grain from the silos at Quandialla. Naturally I try to take photos and succeed before the security guard notices and politely asks me to leave for safety reasons. Companies are very concerned about liability claims even more then in the UK.

I finally start cycling after 10 am and the sky still looks threatening. I get to Grenfell, which is a well preserved brick built historic town and take time off to visit the famous Company Dam where we have lunch and look for a bird we’ve been seeking for ages in West Australian form. We dedicated several days to staring at empty trees trying to see it!  I’m just thinking we’re not seeing a lot when a bird flies into a nearby tree. At first I assume it is a Golden Whistler but no it is a Crested Shrike Tit and a pair show themselves really well in low trees. It is a curious looking bird, like a large Great Tit but with a large hooked bill. Job done but now it’s back on the bike in gloomy weather for another 55 km to Cowra.

There are hills and bends on the route and it is like cycling in the UK. Especially when the rain starts! I recall cycling in the UK thinking how different it would be in Australia! See Superb Parrots and lots of Rossellas en-route and finally after over 90% of Australia has been covered I hear and then see Rufous Songlark, a bird I’d expected to see by the roadside all the time. It is a most impressive songster and after the first I hear more along the way.

Tonight we’re staying in a nice cabin on a camp site outside of town. After a quick slump with a beer I drag myself out for another short spell in the saddle to cut down tomorrow’s route. I don’t get as far as I’ve expected and sit watching a spectacular rainbow in the last rays of sun waiting to be picked up.

A good day for birds but a short day in the saddle with much less wind than over the last three weeks. Tomorrow the wind should be low again but they are still talking about rain. This pleases the locals but not me as I’ve got to get up the Blue Mountains tomorrow.

115.81 km today in 4 hours 42 minutes – an average of 24.6 kph. Total so far 3874.92 km