Australia - Queensland and the Road North

Well the cold, dark North was calling us, if we were in Britain it would be freezing, but here in the land of Oz, South Queensland and its Northern part is full of shiny sun and very little rain; and its winter. The coast is where most settlements of any size are, and the coast is beautiful, and of course The Great Barrier Reef is only 2 hours away at most. 

First stop on the way north from Noosa was Hervey Bay, This really is like a subdued Blackpool, lots of souvenir and activity shops. But there are some quiet corners, like Burrum Heads

...beaches are quieter outside of Hervey Bay.

There are plenty of birds that the locals take for granted, or regard as common, but to us they are very uncommon

Noisy Miner... no! he really is...

....butcher bird, looking as pensive as a butcher bird can look...

Fraser Island

The attraction of Hervey Bay is that it gives visitors access to Fraser Island, just offshore from mainland Oz, it is the largest sand island on the planet (Have a look at this link Fraser Island Wiki Page, for facts and figures). Needless to say this is a unique environment full of interesting things...

pandanus tree roots searching for purchase in the very sandy"soil"...

The sand gets blown here from further down the coast , and is cast into waves diagonally across the island by the prevailing winds. The island is 120 kms long and occasionally a heavy fall of sand can obliterate the vegetation, and is known as a "sand blow".

...trees devastated by a recent sand blow....

Where the sand has been stabilised by vegetation it has been compacted with organic matter and....

...nicely coloured layers..."The Pinnacles"

The island also has a wreck....

the "Maheno" stranded on the beach in 1930's has been ravaged by the sea, sand and the Ozzy RAF and Navy.

...neglected but still interesting after all those years on the shore...

 You can also take a 15 minute flight over the island to try and take in the whole picture...

...yep that's the plane

...and theres our runway....which is also rated as a highway, with a 70kph speed restriction and patrolled by Police patrol cars!

...here we go..ready

...steady...

...can you lean out of the window and check for on coming traffic please...OK..

 

...see I told you that  V8 Holden was further away in the mirror... in the air and looking south along 75 mile beach...

 

...Butterfly Lake...

Safely back on Terra Firma (or was that with confirmed terror?) we headed into the forest

...where there be trees...

...a mossy tree...

...a king fern, yes its a big .king fern...

...satinay pine... 3 metres in diameter 500-750 yrs old

...this is one of the better roads...

...Raven...

treetop canopy

some leathery old tree...

The island has some fresh water lakes and saltwater lakes, but most beautiful of all is....

...Lake McKenzie....

...worm sign amongst the Dunes...

Emu Park, Rosslyn and Yepoon

Unusual name for a place, but Emu Park is a small town on the road north, just outside of Rockhampton

Here there is an interesting sculpture to commemorate Cooks Tour of the Antipodes....

The "singing ship" commemorating Cooks visit.

The mast  has some cleverly designed "pipes that sound in the wind, quite soulful. This was built by David, of David and Audrey fame, who we stayed with in Toowoomba.

magpie lark....

We drove up the coast a few Kms and there is a small seaside resort called Yepoon....

Yepoon and its sandy shelving beach...

We saw this...

...can you tell stork from Brolga

...who are these people...and what are they pointing at??

..no its not worm sign its clearly arabs!!!! see the hole on the left of centre...

...animal. mineral or vegetable...its a pandanus nut, so its a fruit silly...

Mackay

Further North we stayed in Mackay, named after George Mackay, an early settler. here there were....

...plumed whistling ducks....

...rainbow lorikeet out for an evening stroll

...straw necked ibis...

...white ibis...

...all say ahhh...

...and of course the.....Galah

Pioneer Valley - Eungella

George Mackay came over the Great Divide looking for grazing for cattle, and found what became know as Pioneer Valley. Here sugar cane is king and fills nearly every acre of the valley, apart from the difficult slopes on the hill which are left for cattle.

One of the early sugar refinery managers wife was Helen Mitchell....who is.better know as...Dame Nellie Melba

..Nellie Melba's first home...

Originally from Melbourne she married the refinery manager and moved north. She stayed here 2 years and had her only son here; and then hightailed it for a singing career that went ballistic...


There are several small settlements in the valley, one which is called Finch-Hatton, named after Henry Finch-Hatton, 13th earl of Winchelsea, who was a notable and very english cattle farmer, gold prospector and climber of Mount Dalrymple in the area (he was the father of Denys Finch Hatton, lover of Karen Blixen; think Meryl Streep - Out of Africa).

Finch-Hatton Gorge

...photograph two Kookoobaras in Finch Hatton Gorge, thats us just snap and go...

...the river is quiet now but the "carved" boulders illustrate that there are raging torrents here in the "wet season"

At the head of the valley, on the Eungella Range overlooking Pioneer valley

At Eungella you can stand quietly on a platform beside the river to look for Platypuses....

...no its a turtle, not a platypus, but interesting enough to take a photo...

three hours later at dusk, you can tell its dusk because the mosquitoes come out especially to remind you....

...first sighting of the platypus...

...look there he is again...

...you'd never know would you....

Have a look at this link on Wikipedia if you want to find out more; the platypus is one crazy animal....Platypus

Of course we mentioned that Pioneer Valley is famous for...

...mile after mile of sugar cane...

Lucy looking sweeter next to the cane...

..and of course we had to take a photo of a cockatoo....easy tiger...you did read that correctly.

As well as...

...the very tranquil peaceful dove...tiny too at just 4 - 5 inches long...take it easy

Airlie Beach

Further along the Bruce Highway you'll come to Airlie Beach, which ironically does not have a beach. Nevertheless this doesn't prevent it from being one of the activity and party centres of the east coast. It is also famous as an access point for the Whitsunday Islands, where you can do all sorts of water based activities, including snorkeling and scuba..


We took a trip on 2 separate days, one on a racing catamaran

The good Catamaran Camira...setting off around the Whitsundays...

We did some snorkeling so here are some misty underwater photos to entrance you...think of "Stingray" and whistle the theme tune "Marina"...

some sort of Coral

Some sort of fish

...some sort of soft coral

...more of the same sort of fish

whoa...turn the camera round ...how'd that photo get in here...

...some sort of something 'orrible in the lagoon...

some sort of different fish....

...does my snorkel look big in this?

...Camira at anchor...fellow passenger stuck in quicksand...with rescue boat approaching :0)

Whitehaven beach...very white

...the sand here is super fine...specially ground down by itinerant Britsh backpackers looking for menial work...

guess who?

... some of the 72 Whitsundays seen from the boat...

...Whitsundays sunset, from Camira...

The following day we were up early again to catch a high speed cat to the inner reef. From a permanently moored pontoon you can snorkel, Scuba or just take a glass bottomed boat to view the reef.

Here's a few more underwater photos of fishes and corals...

...Paul underwater, as usual

Scuba the best way to see the reef...

...Maori Wrasse...

Townsville
Moving ever northward we arrive in one of the major cities, Townsville, which is set right beside a huge rock outcrop called The castle which provides a great lookout point...

Looking east towards the sea from The Castle

...Townsville centre and the port.

Townsville looking west..

 Just 40 minutes by ferry is...

...Magnetic Island...in every sense of the name.

We took the ferry and Lucy over to Maggie island...

Lucy enjoying a rest....leaving Townsville Port...

...not often you see a boat hitching a ride on another boat...

We camped at Bungalow bay, on Maggie Island, where of course we bumped into the local wildlife...

Bush Stone Curlew

..two more...

...but despite seeing the "signs", we didn't see any koalas or kangaroos...

 Siobhan also did her PADI Open water dive course, and passed with flying colours...

 

...Alma beach, scene of Siobhans' confirmation as a true PADI...

 The PADI course took 3 days to complete and has practical as well as study lessons; Unfortunately Paul could not take part in these studies, the ability to sink effectively was not as important as being able to swim 200m and tread water, neither of which he can do just yet. This does not exclude him from "introductory" dives though.

So certified and more experienced we headed further North, for Cairns, Daintree and ultimately Cooktown, where the tar roads ends in dirt. But this journey is for the next blog...