Bogged not Blogged!

Bob's first time writing on the blog:
Well! Yesterday injected some excitement in to our otherwise dull lives! We (I) decided to have a look at the barge that takes cars/cargo/people to Fraser Island from a place called Inskip Point. A 4WD track leads to the beach where the barge pulls up at the water's edge. From the end of the track the only access to the barge is a 1km stretch of powder-like beach sand, which we easily ploughed through, and got to the barge (in high range 4WD... diffs locked).

I spoke to the barge skipper who had watched us come towards him. He suggested that we do a U turn on the barge, as turning on the soft sand would invite trouble. He also suggested that I stick on the same known route on the return journey, but perhaps use low 2nd and "gun it". All went well for about the first 900m, but we started to lose momentum, due to our slow road speed, finally coming to a halt not far from the hard stuff.
 

I got out and had a look before I made any further attempts to drive out and let the tyres down to about 15psi. Alas, we had "bellied" out, with the floor pan resting on the sand and the 2 diffs pushing sand like a road grader!

I started digging, but stopped as I heard the sound of another vehicle approaching. It was a Toyota troupy ute, which became bogged right next to us! A local pro fisherman and his deckie, who use the same track every day!. Anyway, we helped him get out, and then he got us moving with a short tow, and I was able to drive with him, so we didn't tangle the rope. All worked out well, with no damage. He told me he normally drives much faster, but was going slow because of his load of fish. He also said that people often roll their vehicles from going too fast, and the lesser problem is to get bogged.Good lessons learned. Not going to Fraser Is this trip, although the sand there is apparently firmer! Numerous people stopped to help, and lots also went racing past at unstable speeds!
Shaz writing now:
It was an anxious time although we were above the high tide mark and had plenty of provisions in the car fridge. Before anyone came to help, we were scavenging in the bush to find branches, rocks, anything to provide some traction. Not easy through very soft sand with a walking stick and a crook knee with the other one complaining as well.

There are some very kind, thoughtful people in our country - we had about 8 who were willing to help. One lovely man, Ning, actually came back to help us with some grab planks.

He was very enthusiastic and confident that they would work and if we had remembered to remove the rocks from the front of the car, they would have worked first time. It was comforting to get back on to the harder surface. I don't think we should play in sand for a while. We're too old for this shit!

Old Le Fevre Students at Maryborough (inland from Hervey Bay)

An invitation for dinner was quickly taken up when Shae Kennewell and her twin sister Kodie Axelson (nee Kennewell) asked us to join them. Kodie and her husband Mark live in Maryborough and have a 15 week old daughter, Lily (who is just gorgeous). Shae lives in Maryborough too and her partner Shaun joined us as well.

We had a very relaxing night and lots of stories and memories were shared as well as new ones made. Matt and Shaun were very patient and let the conversation revolve around Le Fevre teachers and students. It's a bit easier listening to some of this, now that we're no longer teaching and the girls were tactful most of the time. These girls are very funny and always smiling.

Lily is surrounded by love. Her dad dotes on her, her mum loves her and her aunty adores her. She's a very lucky baby.

Shae and Shaun (below)

Matt's not a bad cook - my steak was done to perfection. The chocolate dipped strawberries were very nice and the salad was excellent! (I made the salad - couldn't burn it so it was OK)

Shae with Lily

Lily has a wild bedroom with palm trees (painted by Kodie) on the wall and a great swinging square box-hammock that is suspended from the ceiling.

Matt and Kodie are clearly animal lovers - they have a python in a vivarium, Pineapple the parrot that walks around the house (I even let it climb onto my shoulder - a biggie for me because I'm not partial to flapping, flying birds) and tropical fish in a huge aquarium.

Next time we come this way, we'll be back!

Whale of a Time at Hervey Bay

After our last venture on a boat, we were a tad reluctant to go on the water so we checked a few things this time (especially the distance from shore to whale spotting point and how protected the boat would be from high seas). Feeling reassured, we booked our cruise and what a great experience it was. If you haven't done this, we thoroughly recommend it.

Leaving at a civilised 8:30 a.m. we boarded the catamaran Spirit of Hervey Bay. The captain has done this trip many times and he and his crew are experts at spotting whales that appear like small dots on the horizon.




Bob on board the purpose-built whale watch vessel. Excellent viewing areas inside and out, upstairs and downstairs with views from below the surface as well.

After the first whale sighting, it wasn't long before we saw 2 more. The captain slows the boat so that he can approach as close as allowed without threatening the humpback whales. August is the best time to see humpbacks from Hervey Bay. It has a world-wide reputation and deservedly so.

2 adult humpback whales floating on the surface. Even though the flash of the tail is exciting, it's also a sign that a whale is going to dive.
The commentary by the captain was very informative and we both learnt more than what we already knew about whales.




The catamaran stays in the protected waters of Fraser Island which is always visible. This means that the sea won't get rough. We had perfect conditions! Calm seas, little wind, excellent visibility under the surface of the water.

Several more whales were spotted and we edged closely towards them. Most of them don't seem too fussed by the whale watch boats and as this is an annual stop-over for them, it's understandable. When you see how curious they can be and how close they come to the boats, it's even more infuriating when you consider the slaughter of whales by the Japanese. One of the crew told us that many Japanese tourists are unaware of the slaughter and the controversy caused by it.

We were so lucky for almost an hour when a yearling whale (not very old but still an incredible size) swam so close to our boat. An amazing experience! It's hard to describe the feelings when one of these graceful mammals provides  up close and personal moments. Magical! The photos will be more powerful than words. Check them out.

We were on the top deck and the yellow bit poking out is the lower deck. People down there were so close but it was easier for me to walk about on the top. It's an interactive experience as the captain lets everyone know where the whale is; it swam alongside, under the boat, at the bow, the stern.

The whale almost seemed to pose for photos as it hovered in the water. Humpback whales' eyes are at the side of the head and look down so the whale came quite close many times and lifted its head sideways out of the water to check out the boat and the passengers. We were enncouraged by the captain to clap and make noise as whales are curious and will explore their surroundings. They really are a soft target for whalers.
As we reluctantly left this whale, it started to follow us. The captain told everyone that it would have jumped on board if it could.

A pod of 3 whales joined us after we left the yearling and they swam around for a while. To the left of the photo there is a flat circle shape - this is called a footprint and it is left by the whale as it dives.

The captain was very generous with his time and the boat arrived back at the dock almost 30 mins late with another cruise set to leave shortly after.

 

Rum, ginger beer and old friends

Bargara is a lovely spot on the coast about 15kms from Bundaberg. It's a place we'd probably visit again. Being close to Bundaberg meant a few trips in to check out some of the tourist spots with Bundaberg Ginger Beer and Bundaberg Rum Distillery being near the top of the list.

The Big Barrel at Bundaberg Ginger Beer Factory.
We tasted some different products that we don't see in SA. Bought some ginger beer and chocolate-coated ginger.

Bargara Beach at sunset.

Main street in Bundaberg. Stainless steel palm tree sculpture standing along side the real thing.

Public art is everywhere in Queensland and it's great to see.







Bundaberg Rum Distillery was excellent especially as neither of us are rum drinkers. We did the tour and it was so informative, interesting and entertaining. Molasses is stored in an enormous concrete shed. It looks luscious, like rich and creamy toffee.

The tour guides, Donna and Di, were great. The aromas from the vats is almost intoxicating. Jokingly, Donna offered her microphone to an Italian tourist to do a bit of kareoke and to everyone's surprise, he sang to us. He was a handsome man with a lovely voice. A bonus for eveyone!

We posed with THE BEAR and tasted some of the products on sale.  Rum drinkers were in heaven. Part of the tour entitles each person 2 drinks (and they are a normal size drink).

A friend told us about an excellent liqueur so went along with his recommendation. Fantastic!!!! It's available at cellar door so we have enough to last us for a while unless we share with Jennifer, Heafy, Lynda and Trev.

In Bargara Beach Caravan Park, I didn't expect to bump into an old friend from high school days. Pam and I went through Port Adelaide Girls' High School and we were good friends. Pam, Hartley, Robert and I used to go out socially and once we had kids, we saw each other a few times and have always exchanged Christmas cards.

Chatting for a couple of hours over a cuppa with Pam's mum and dad, we found out that Eunice was in the same class as my dad in primary school at Alberton Primary! What a small world!

We extended our stay so that we could have a really good catch-up. The only changes were our appearances - other than that, we were still the same. Listening to stories of other trips, we discovered that in March we'd missed each other by one day at Tidal River in Wilson's Promontory; in ACT in April, we missed each other by a week. Eunice said that it was bound to happen that we connect sooner or later somewhere in Australia.

Shaz and Pam

We're looking forward to catching up when we both return to Adelaide. I think this made Bargara Beach a special place.

From left: Hartley, Vern, Eunice and Pam

Rockhampton Zoo

This zoo might not be as big as Adelaide's zoo but it's free! The animal exhibits are being renovated to be more spacious and as like the natural habitat as they can be given it's a zoo.

We got up close and personal with a 36 year old chimpanzee that looked lonely. He and another male (38 years old) had a large enclosure with sections of glass windows. The chimp didn't seem to bother about people; he ambled from one end to squat where we were waiting. I took a lot of photos but the reflection from the glass can be seen.

Look at those eyes!











The Zoo is situated in The Botanical Gardens with a golf club as part of the complex. The fern garden is great. With the Fitzroy River running on one side, this is a very peaceful place (until the dingos start howling). The koalas sleep, move a limb and continue sleeping; Snappy, the small crocodile, sits in some water watching; it looks like its in training for its adult life. Another highlight was watching a wombat waddling in its large enclosure in the middle of the afternoon. We've only seen them at night. A lone cassowary was spotted after a long search - they hide themselves very well - no wonder they're hard to find in their habitat.

Checking out the fern garden is a must if you visit Rockhampton. There are some very different ferns from Australia and other countries growing here.

Finch Hatton Gorge

Finch Hatton Gorge isn't far from Mackay and it's just as stunning as most national parks. There's always a feeling of calmness and peace in these places.

With Queensland being such a large state in terms of square kilometres, there's an abundance of national parks and people flock to them. Our national parks don't have the water that Queensland has so water falls and running rivers and creeks make them interesting in different ways.

I didn't get to the waterfall - it was too far and too steep. I could certainly hear it so it must have been a reasonable size. Robert didn't get to the top either.

Mackay and Sarina

I think I'll remember Mackay's Orchid House for a long time. Stunning blooms of so many different varieties; some so delicate and others so robust. We were both calling to each other, "Look at this one!" Luckily, we were the only 2 in the house at the time. We've tried to grow orchids a few times but not successfully. Maybe now that I'm retired, I can have a better go.

Photos are taking too long to upload from Rockhampton (net is very slow) so I'm only going to post one at the moment.

Mackay is also at the centre for sugar cane production; cane fields border the main highway for kilometres and go back as far as the eye can see. It seems that almost every spare space is used to grow this cane. Some houses are surrounded by it with a narrow path hewn to allow access to the property.

We've both wanted to see how sugar is produced so we took the opportunity to visit the only miniature cane mill in Australia at Sarina (not far south from Mackay). Our guide was experienced and informative - we didn't know how involved the process was and we learnt about sugar cane from the planting to the final product. Watching freshly cut cane being milled, tasting the greenish sugar juice and seeing some of the machinery in operation helped us to understand what is involved.

This mill produces different products for sale and tastings after the tour helped the sales along. We haven't tried the lime chilli sauce yet but the ginger beer was a treat!

Most of the towns in Queensland ar having their shows and the big one in Brisbane, The Ekka, is featured on the local TV news every night. It is Queensland's largest annual event. Don't know why it's called Ekka. Sarina's show was on when we were in Mackay so we thought we'd see what a country show was like in Queensland. Same as country shows in SA - smaller than the Royal Show but just as noisy and smelly. We wandered around for a couple of hours looking at the blacksmith working his hammers, the angler hawking his lures (he was really funny), the bull judging, Punch and Judy, camels and checking out the crafts and baking.

Robert was really keen to show me some roosters and hens that his family kept when he was a little kid. Chooks and I just don't get on; bad experience as a child when I used an outside loo at a friend's house only to have a hen fly down from the over head water cistern on to my head and flap and flutter making such a  fuss. Quickly, I followed him to the cage, commented on its size and took off out the door.

One of the cutest animals on show was a very tiny, pink piglet. It was the star attraction of the animal nursery.

2010 July 6th Barron Gorge near Lake Placid

2010 July 7th Kuranda train skyrail

2010 July 30th Magnetic Island

2010 August 3rd Airlie Beach and Reef

white knuckle reef

I couldn't write up the blog last night - I was just thankful to be back on land. Yesterday we were up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready for our day at The Reef. After being dropped off at the marina by shuttle bus, we waited with a lot of other excited people. The forecast was for fresh, windy conditions but this was the only day we could do this cruise.

The vessel, a 37 metre catamaran named Sea Flight, looked ship-shape. The very friendly crew greeted everyone as we boarded the boat. Settling in to "our spot" next to a large window, the crew suggested to all passengers to take sea-sickness medication (they had this on board for sale) as the crossing was going to be rough. We both looked at each other - neither of us are good sailors and because of the medication we both take, strong medication is not OK for us. We had to settle for ginger.

Cruising through the islands and stopping at Daydream and Hayman to collect more passengers was fine. The sea was that picture postcard aquamarine turquoise colour. Neither of us did enough research into how far out we would have to travel to Knuckle Reef but it was a 3 hour trip (50 MILES into the open sea). As we travelled further out to sea, the captain told everyone that we would be crossing shipping lanes for about 45 minutes. It was rough but not too bad - Robert didn't look flash but he was OK. I'm a tad better sailor than he is.

Knuckle Reef surrounds a lagoon and one of the reasons we chose this cruise was because of the pontoon that had been erected out there. The pontoon allowed for dry activities e.g. glass-bottomed boat trips, submersible boat explorations and just sitting around on the sun deck. For those wanting to get wet, there was snorkelling and diving as well as an enormous, winding slippery dip.

The water did look inviting but it was a little choppy and the wind was cool so we both decided to stick with staying dry. I'm getting really good at going backwards down stairs so descending into the submersible wasn't too difficult and most people are very patient.

We were lucky that it was such a fine day because the visibility was good (photos don't show it well). Shuffling along and looking out of the side windows, the marine biologist kept us informed about the different coral formations and any fish we saw (not many but enough for us to OOH and AH over).

The size of some of the coral is mind-boggling and so is its age. The protection of this reef is even more important to me after seeing it. Tony Abbott and other non-believers about climate change need to consider the consequences of inaction and not just to the reef but the global environment!!!!

I remarked about the lack of brilliant colours and the marine biologist explained that the photographers use a bright light and are quite close when photos are taken. The depth of the water also has an effect as does the amount of sun.

We both enjoyed this experience but I don't think I'd manage a submarine trip. In the back of my mind, I thought how I'd get up the steps quickly if I had to.

The cat moored next to the pontoon (on the left) with the blue-green slide on the left as well. The clear shaded area next to the slide is where the masseuse gives paying customers a massage. Don't think she had many customers yesterday.

The glass-bottomed boat was my next ride - Robert decided it would be too bumpy for him so he stayed on the pontoon.
I loved this mystery tour! We listened to another marine biologist explain different things about the reef, the coral and the creatures that lived there. The boat was skillfully manouvoured sideways, backwards and forwards over different sections of coral within the lagoon. Once again, the photos don't do it justice. Great experience!

Branch coral

On board the glass-bottomed boat

A delish lunch was served and after almost 4 hours at the reef, we left for home. The wind had picked up while we were at the lagoon so we knew we'd be in for a rocky ride back. Once we began to cross the shipping lanes, the sick bags came out, ice was distributed and everyone was asked to stay seated (or hold onto something if moving about).

An optional extra was a ride in a helicopter that has its own landing pad in the lagoon. A few people took up the option to fly back to the mainland.

The crew were marvellous - so caring and thoughtful. Robert had to get outside for some fresh air but I stayed inside but not for much longer. Using the walking stick gave me another support so that was good! I wedged myself into a corner outside and not long after a very lovely young member of the crew joined me to talk about anything to take my mind off of the size of the waves and how I was feeling. Sadly, he's a Crows supporter and  even worse, he barracks for Norwood. Dave grew up in Rose Park. Dave stayed with me for almost 10 minutes - reassuring me and saying we were almost out of it.

The total crossing in the rough part was almost one hour. I've never felt as seasick or scared in a boat like that. The waves were between 5 and 6 metres and they were coming from the side. The captain did an excellent job too. All of the crew were great and they paid special attention to little kids (one little Japanese boy looked dreadful and his mum sat on the deck holding a baby who was suffering as well; all of them looked fine when we disembarked). I'm more in awe of those mad men and women who sail in high seas - must have strong stomachs!

Once we returned the protected waters of the islands, it didn't take long for people to recover - Robert lined up for afternoon tea but I really didn't feel like eating (that's got to be a rare occasion). The sunset was special over The Whitsundays and it wasn't long before we docked (and almost kissed the ground).

Many memorable experiences on that trip!

2010 August 3rd Airlie Beach and Reef

2010 August 3rd Airlie Beach and Reef

Hopping Hitchhiker!

Robert discovered an unexpected hitchhiker yesterday in the Prado; a green tree frog had found a place nestled in a groove at the rear of the car. It hopped to just above the bumper bar and seemed quite content to sit there while Robert slowly dripped water onto its body.

After a bit of a nudge to get the frog to move, it settled down again. We decided to place it in a tree near the van as we didn't want to see it get squished on the grass (it was so hard to see against the green blades).