The wide verandah was shaded by a profusion of privet trees that brought hosts of birds feasting on the berries. It was amusing to watch the crafty sand goannas climbing the tree trunks in a bid to steal eggs from the nests belonging to the Happy Jack birds. Those goannas never had a chance against the boisterous, clamorous family group that defended their own at any cost; diving and attacking in groups of twelve or more, regrouping to attack again for as long as it took. The goannas would finally scurry back to the to the bush with no reward for their attempt to steal a feast. 

      When writing my novels, I was forever digging into my past for settings and themes. I used the setting of the old homestead with the privet trees in Valley of the Eagle novel for the homestead setting of the fictional Moorooba Downs Station in central Queensland.

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