Our daughter visited us from overseas for a few weeks in Mid-February in Year 2020. We decided to travel to Central Coast on a hot summer day. The temperature soared to 40 degrees unexpectedly. Travel by car from Hornsby to Central Coast along Pacific Highway took just over an hour. GPS guided us through various nooks and corners, and finally, we reached the Entrance Waterfront on Central Coast.
When we reached the Waterfront, at 2.00 pm, there were hardly any birds on sight. We drove through the town in search of a gluten-free meal. After enjoying a refreshing and delicious meal at an Organic restaurant, we drove to the nearby beach. The bright blue sky, the tranquil nature, and the shallow waves had a soothing effect on us. After spending about fifteen minutes at the beach, we left for the Waterfront.
My husband and I visited this place a decade ago with some friends. However, we missed the Pelican Feed time and didn’t see many Pelicans near the Waterfront after the feed. The birds converge at the Entrance Waterfront daily sharp at 3.30 pm their feed-time. Initially, the Pelican feed was started by staff at a local fish shop many years ago. As the popularity of the pelican-feed grew, the local Council built a feeding platform, known as Pelican Plaza in 1996. Many sponsors and volunteers provide their continuous support for this bird- feed project.
Birds don’t need a compass or a GPS to reach their chosen destination; neither do they need a clock. The creator has provided these enormous birds with an internal GPS and a timer. Daily for 365 days, a colony of pelicans would congregate at this Waterfront without fail at 3.30 pm. The striking feature of a Pelican is its long beak and a large throat pouch to catch its prey. Even though they looked freaky, they appeared harmless.
I should remind the readers that we visited this site just before the COVID19 outbreak. Not many people were around. Slowly the Pelican colony made their way to the Waterfront. At 3.30 pm, a volunteer started to feed the fish to the hungry Pelicans from a bucket. The birds snatched the fish thrown at random with their long bills. If a Pelican missed its turn, it waited patiently for the next round of fish from the volunteer. The beauty of this colony was that they didn’t fight among themselves to snatch the fish. A calm order prevailed on the platform. At the end of the feed, the entire colony gradually disappeared into the water or air.
It was a memorable afternoon, which made me ponder that we can learn so much from these birds. The platform would have looked like a war-zone if a group of people similarly received food.
Travel and Food with Yoga 