Brisbane.

["michael hunter" <>]

Thanks for your comments,
                                           I know and love Brisbane, and have 
birded its outskirts a few rewarding times, last time picked up Oriental Cuckoo 
and, thanks to you Tom, saw Painted Snipe and ticked White-throated Nightjar. 
Usually we hire a car but our plane was late and I wasn't up to navigating 
Brisbane at midnight, which is why we walked around the Uni and CBD rather than 
exploring the hinterland over the following three days once the Conference was 
over.
                                            We actually caught a taxi from the 
Airport, the Aussie driver, a local, had never heard of our hotel, but punched 
the street name into his in-car navigation  computer, followed the verbal 
instructions and took us straight there. Next time we'll hire something with 
onboard navigation built-in.
                                             The drought certainly had 
something to do with the birding, trees were drooping and dying as was 
shrubbery. What was striking was the absence of House Sparrows.
                                                  Cheers
                                                      Michael