4 Continents in 21 Days Part 4: Australian flora, fauna and neighborhoods

		This final section for Australia includes mostly photos of the birds and flowers, street scenes, signs, people and homes that caught our attention. Some seemed familiar, many were unique, and most were beautiful to behold. We hope you enjoy them too.
First, the Birds:

We saw some common birds, like sea gulls, and some new ones, like the Black Cockatoo in flight at the right.

Indian Myna		Willy Wagtail		Red Wattle Bird

The Australian Pelican

		Beautiful birds, such as these Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, were seen out in the wild. This group was in a tree alongside a road.

The Magpie can be seen in many places, from rooftops at dawn to lawns and gardens anytime. Young magpies are fluffy looking, like the one above, while adults are sleek. Having a bad feather day?

We enjoyed seeing the graceful flight of the Ibis.

At low tide, in the river near the home where Ann and Dom hosted us, the birds flocked to enjoy an early morning snack.

		At right, the Indian Myna bird (not a native bird), is often confused with the native Noisy Miner bird (left) which looks very similar. The Indian Myna is considered a long term threat to native birds.

The bird watching was often challenging, when colorful Lorikeets disappeared into the trees. Despite their bright red and blue tones, once they tucked into the branches it was nearly impossible to find them.

While easy to spot at a bird feeder, in a dense tree it was amazing how they were able to hide behind the leaves.

Early one morning, Dom discovered this Lorikeet feeding on a tree near the back deck of the house.

Artie thought these "impressionist" photos captured the color and movement of these pretty birds, despite the soft focus.

		At the ocean shore Ann and Dom brought us to a great place to watch and photograph many different birds in their natural habitat.

This one had lots of "attitude!"

This was a fun place to do our photography. So many willing subjects! Such beauty all around.

		Back on dry land, the local neighborhoods and zoo provided ample opportunity for lots more bird photos.

		Unique colors, beaks, and shapes for all we saw.
Now some neighborhood scenes:

We enjoyed seeing home styles, signs and people, in and around the neighborhood where Ann and Dom were living.

		Street signs, left, at the corner near their house. At the coast, this nice gentleman scooted around town.

Students headed to the neighborhood school in the early morning, dressed in their school's uniforms.

Australia is focused on "green" issues, and many of the houses are environmentally equipped with solar panels and solar water heaters. Rain water collectors are also prevalent, with down spouts feeding a large tank.

Several of the homes were quite modern, such as these two here. Notice that the one on the right has an outdoor lap-pool alongside the house (under the extended room).

		How would you like a full-view kitchen like this house?

This all-blue house, above, was quite unique. The system for advertising house sales and auctions includes big curbside signs like at right, showing interior views and features.

This elderly couple provided a pleasant example of the tranquility and comfort of the local neighborhood, relaxing with their paper while enjoying the morning sun on their porch.

The neighborhoods also exhibited some different signs. The one at the right, was saying that the home owners used well water, rather than using city water for their lawn. The "L" below demonstrates that this car is being driven by a "learner," with limits on speed.

		Although a "yield" sign written as "give way" (see below) may seem odd compared to the USA, there's nothing quite like a Kangaroo Crossing sign (left) to catch your attention!
And finally, flowers of Australia, before heading off to Chile:

		As with all we did in Australia, we stopped everywhere to "smell the roses," or in this case, to photograph the flowers. Enjoy all those which follow.

		From clusters, to a single flower, we marveled at the variety, color and beauty.

The flowers below are part of a tree. The "bottle brush" looking plant to the right we saw in several wooded areas.

		White, yellow, bees and beauty to behold.

		Whether multi-color or monotone, we were fascinated by the artistic arrangements of nature and delicate forms.

Neighborhood gardens sported strange looking cactus-like plants, as shown above, in addition to more normal looking palm trees.

		Pretty shades of color in different forms.

As you can imagine, we certainly enjoyed our flower photo opportunities in this beautiful country. Next continent: South America and our visit to Chile!