Chapter 9 - Queensland Coast - Part 2
Day 44 – Wednesday 26 July 2017 - Lake Awoonga to Bargara
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| St Johns Community Church |
We drifted out of Lake Awoonga around 8:15 and headed south. The vegetation soon became fairly heavily wooded forests, with the occasional piece of grazing land.
We stopped for coffee at Rosedale and took a photo of a lovely little country church. St Johns Community Church. The notice out the front read "Next Service 10am August 20".
Soon we were heading in to Bundaberg, then moving closer to the coast at Bargara - a town that survives on tourism.
The caravan park was huge and we were soon set up and having lunch. Soon after I met a guy who loves a chat and who was born in northern Victoria like me. He now lives in Echuca.
We had a coffee then went for a drive to MON REPOS, which is a sanctuary for loggerhead turtles. It supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles in the south Pacific region. There was no action as it was the wrong time of year. However I got a photo of their preferred beach and a sample of what they look like. The pictured guy below is about one metre long.
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| Mon Repos Beach and Its (in season) Occupants |
On our way back we saw some smoke from a sugar cane burn off. Although this technique is used less in recent times it is still an effective way to get rid of the residue cane.
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| Sugar Cane Burn Off |
Day 45 – Thursday 27 July 2017 - Bargara
My phone indicated that sunrise was due at 6:30 am, so I was on the beach at 6:20 am. It was chilly at around 7 degrees. However the wind was behind me and I was sheltered by the sand dunes (little though they are). The following is an indication of what I saw.
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| Bargara Sunrise |
We went for a drive to Elliot Heads before stopping in Bargara for a coffee. It was a pleasant spot.
I had an early lunch and headed off to
bowls. I had hardly paid my money when a long-time friend and former
workmate said hello. We later dined with Bob and his wife Lyn and another
Montmorency couple at the bowls club. The barramundi was excellent.
The bowls was very enjoyable. We won our match and I won a 6-pack of beer in the raffle.
Day 46 – Friday 28 July 2017 - Bargara
Today was a sight-seeing day. First stop was the Cooperage where they make spirit and wine barrels. It was very interesting. I bought some wood chips for enhancing wine and/or spirits for a couple of presents. They can also be used for smoking food.
Next stop was the Macadamia farm where we enjoyed
the many samples, particularly the chocolate variety. We traded some $ for some nuts. The Macadamia tree is native to Australia.
On the way there we passed a sugar-cane train.
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| Sugar-cane train |
Next stop was the Hummock Lookout, the only hill in
or near Bundaberg. There is a view of
about 300 degrees around the district, a lot of it with water at the horizon. The hill came from a small volcano about one million years ago, give or take a month or two.
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| View from Hummock Lookout |
Shirley (as navigator) then took us off to Bundaberg
Port, which is a fair way out of Bundaberg.
There was nothing much of note there except for a coffee shop that probably
had the biggest vanilla slices ever made.
We had sausage rolls.
On the way home we bought some cheap and fresh strawberries and then stopped at the council chambers
to view a magnificent wood carving called “Denizens of the Deep".
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| Denizens of the Deep - Wood Carvings |
After some relaxation, a coffee, a Sudoku and a
walk on the beach we headed back in to Bundaberg to check out Riverfeast – a food,
drink and entertainment experience. On the way we bought three kilograms of very
fresh zucchini for $2. Dunno what we are
going to do with them all.
Then we experienced the most amazing thing of the
trip. A sugar cane fire that was maybe 30+
metres high and so close to the road that we felt the searing heat (the window
was down to take a photo). To add to the
experience the sun was setting behind the fire.
The photos tell the story.
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| Setting Sun Behind the Cane Fire |
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| My Rear Vision Mirror Showing at Bottom |
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| Looking Back - Note Relative Height of Cars and Fire and Proximity to Road |
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| Thirsty Turtle |
We headed on and dined at Riverfeast, to live
country-rock music. We tried Hungarian Langos
and they were excellent. It is a flat
bread that is deep fried, but made in such a way that the oil does not permeate
the bread. We had toppings of sour
cream, Hungarian sausage, shallots and cheese.
I needed a craft beer after the fire episode – but only one.
While we were dining alfresco we had loads of burnt sugar cane settling on and around us.
Day 47 – Saturday 29 July 2017 - Bargara
As I am the early riser the clothes were washed and on the clothes line by 7:30. I had time for breakfast and a couple of Sudoku before Shirley emerged from her slumbers.
After morning duties we went for a 3 km walk through and passed Barolin Nature Reserve. It is a great place for a stroll with a wide variety of flora and fauna. I took a photo of the bird below. My best guess is that it is a Whistling Kite, but I am open to suggestions.
We trundled into Bundaberg for a tour of the iconic "Bundaberg" distillery. It just so happens that this establishment won three international rum prizes last year - including the "best rum in the world 2016". It is an amazing place and one that has an amazing history. For instance, they did not really appear on the map until the brother of former Aussie Prime Minister, Billy McMahon, moved in and established the "bear" motto and the unique shape of the bottle. This was in the early 1960's.
Not that I am a rum drinker but I bought a bottle of the rum that in 2016 won the "best rum in the world" award.
Day 48 – Sunday 30 July 2017 - Bargara via Childers to Woodgate
We drifted out of Bargara around 8:20 and headed north west to a place called South Kolan. This is the location of a phenomena called "Mystery Craters", which is about half an acre of unexplained holes in sandstone and ochre rock. There were discovered by a farmer in 19171.
Geologists cannot explain what has occurred and neither could I explain the five photos that I took that never appeared on my camera memory chip. Shirley was my witness. I took the photos but all but one never happened. A bit spooky. So I have one photo.
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| One of the Mystery Craters - About 5 Metres Across |
Some of the holes have water, some do not. One has excellent water 16 metres below ground level.
That short drive was followed by a similar short drive as we trundled in to Childers for its annual festival. The town of 1400 people probably had that number of cars and many more people invade the town. There were at least seven simultaneous music sites. There were maybe two kilometers of stalls, selling food, clothes, leather goods, local wines and many other items.
We bought a coffee at the Paragon, the ancient cinema that was restored in 1927. It has to be seen to be believed. Deck chairs was the mode of seating. They still screen movies and know how to enjoy themselves.
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| The Paragon Cinema with Deck Chairs |
A German sausage became lunch and some magnificent local ice-cream became dessert.
After Childers we crossed one of the common Queensland one-car-wide bridges that virtually has no sides. I include the photo below for a great friend who is not keen on such bridges.
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| One-car-wide bridge - Very low sides |
We moved on to Woodgate and soon were setup in a temporary location - as we were one day early. No sooner had we relaxed (about 3pm) when we were told by two different people that we were welcome at happy hour. Around 4:10 we joined a very friendly group of people for some great chatter and good old "Aussie Carry On". They are excellent people.
One of the ladies had a mild heart attack two weeks ago, so the ambulance carted her off to Bundaberg hospital. One stent later, and two nights in hospital, and she is back in her caravan - and loving it.
Our temporary site provided an electric BBQ about five metres away so that was the mode of cooking for the night.
Day 49 – Monday 31 July 2017 - Woodgate
It was a foggy start to the day and I have to wait for a while for the sun to appear. It eventually appeared and became stronger as the fog lessened. I had a lovely walk on the beach.
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| Foggy Woodgate Beach at 6:45 am |
Around 9am we moved to our location for the next four days.
We then went for a drive and checked out the local area. Woodgate beach is a typical lovely Aussie beach that you can walk and/or drive on - so we did both.
Happy hour was even more fun than yesterday, before we BBQ'ed a couple of pork chops for dinner.
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| Being Watched? |
Day 50 – Tuesday 1 August 2017 - Woodgate
After breakfast we went for a 6 km walk around the "Banksia Track". This included melaleuca wetlands (read lots of paper bark trees & palms) and plenty of eucalypt and banksia woodlands.
In places it was hard not to think that we were being watched.
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| Melaleuca wetlands |
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| Eucalypt and banksia woodlands |
After lunch we went for a short drive to Theodolite Creek and we loved what we saw. Great beach, great sand, peace, crystal clear water.
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| Beach at Theodolite Creek |
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| Residents of Theodolite Creek |
We dined in on curry.
Day 51 – Wednesday 2 August 2017 - Woodgate
There were only a few clouds around as the sun appeared around 6:24 am.
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| Woodgate Beach at 6:24 am |
I updated the blog and checked emails while Shirley continued her slumber. We started the main part of the day with bacon & eggs as the sun gathered some momentum.
I headed off to bowls around noon and played on a magnificent green in a very pretty location - ocean views at the back. I skipped and my team won 15 ends out of 21. Prizes are drawn out of the hat (not on scores) so we missed out. But it was a great day, with great company. On our rink of 8 players, only two were local.
Day 52 – Thursday 3 August 2017 - Woodgate
By are off bush camping for three days at Inskip Point tomorrow, so washing was the first priority. Shirley had everything ready and I had it washed and on the line by 8am.
After coffee we went for a six kilometre round trip walk to a bird-hide. It was a pleasant walk though light forest of various Australian plants and some mangroves. The birds were missing and we saw more butterflies and spiders than birds.
It was a quiet afternoon.
Day 53 – Friday 4 August 2017 - Woodgate to Inskip Point
By our standard it was an early start as we were on the road before 8am. We stopped at Maryborough for shopping and coffee (and a haircut) and moved on to Inskip Point. On the way we purchased some wood.
Camp was established by soon after noon. As we were on a "point" we had water 100 metres in front and behind us - and 400 metres to the left.
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| Looking, waiting & catching |
Dolphins, pelicans and birds that were fishing was our entertainment before we lit a fire and cooked a stew. It was magnificent. Our camp HWS was very handy for an after-dark shower.
When it got cool, we relaxed indoors.
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| Relaxing with Recent Haircut |
Day 54 – Saturday 5 August 2017 - Inskip Point
Inskip Point in a peninsula around six km long, sort of a bent finger just below the bottom of Fraser Island. Bush camping is available with a permit. So we have water about 100 metres either side of us and land beyond each body of water - one being mainland Australia and the other being Fraser Island.
The water between us and Fraser Island is where I took the above photos and where I waited at 6:25 am for the sun to rise. It was late coming thanks to some low cloud. However it was worth the wait. The land mass on the right is mainland Australia, near Rainbow Beach, and Fraser Island is on the left.
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| Sunrise on Inskip Beach |
After breakfast we drove into Rainbow Beach and bought gas and bread and coffee. It was a lazy day.
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| Fraser Island Barge |
Later we went for a walk on the beach to check out the barge that ferries people and vehicle between Inskip Point and Fraser Island.
The local entertainment was watching 4WD vehicles get bogged in the sand and the antics that then followed. The many fishermen seemed to be there for relaxation, not food gathering. Fortunately, pelicans and other water birds do not have size limitations on their catch.
We lit the fire again and cooked a chicken casserole. It was superb.
Sometime after sunset I took a photo of the red clouds. It was a magnificent sight.
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| Inskip Point After Sunset |
Day 55 – Sunday 6 August 2017 - Inskip Point
The day started very overcast with a couple of showers of rain. However, it was not cold.
After a slow start we went for a drive to Poona Lake which involved a 5 km return walk though our first rain-forest of the trip.
It was a great walk through some lovely Aussie forest. The birds were noisy but hard to find.
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| Rain Forest Near Lake Poona |
We returned to base and relaxed some more before we revisited the beach. I am a fan of Pelicans and wanted to try and get a photo of one in flight. I managed the following.
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| My Favourite Water-bird - Same bird in all photos |
As I lit the fire for BBQ dinner the clouds rolled in and before we could cook we were forced inside by the tropical rain. Dinner was great inside and I am sure local farmers will be smiling. A few campers were caught unawares. We were OK - the fire was not.
The heavy rain continued for a few hours then softly for a lot of the night. Luckily we had prepared for that eventuality outside and all was OK, albeit the mats were a bit wet.
This post in complete.
Last update 6 pm Monday 7 August
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