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.