Thursday, September 15, 2011
Pavement Art in Cairns
Wednesday and Thursday, Jas, Tyler and I took part in a two day pavement art workshop with Ulla Taylor. Here are some pics of what we created during both days. We had a great time! And even earnt some busking money!!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Cairns Milkfish
Lee is most upset that i have taken the time to update the blog with amazing pics of crocs, but at the expense of taking the time to update our milkfish expedition. Milkfish are a fish that can grow up to 1.7m and live in mangroves, estuaries or swamps. Our quest to catch one focussed on a brackish swamp, at its deepest the water wouldn't be over my head ( to the chest of the average person). We walked out to the middle of the swamp where there is a snag to put the camera bag and keep the bread used for burley and bait..
The first day we went to attempt catching one we could see them tailing in various spots around the swamp, this means they are either swimming or feeding and their large and powerful forked tail breaks the surface, looking a lot like a shark cruising in the shallows.
We threw quite a lot of bread for burley and this got them feeding less then a few metres from our feet. They were clearly visible in the clean water and we could tell most of the school were of a decent size of 4 to 5 kilo.
After about an hour of burleying with bread I could feel the subtle take of the bait and the distinctive sign of the brad slowly trailing off. The slow lift of the road was all that was needed set the hook, it screamed off line for about 10 seconds before 'pop' the line broke. This scenario was quickly repeated by Tyler and Lee. Prognosis, leader to light and drag too high, these fish really have a lot of power and strength of the raped turns is just to much for light leader and braid with no stretch, the answer step up the leader by 2 pound, longer leader to accomadate for some some give and less drag pressure. The answer( I hope) stay hooked and fight time just went out to at least half hour may be more.
Armed with new hooks, heavier leader and drag adjusted we returned to try and conquer the milk fish again.Game on, 3 nil there way.
We started to burley and for a long time weren't seeing any sign of fish, which was really frustrating because we knew they were there. I was starting to get a little bored and ready to give up, slowly winding in my bread to check that it was still on and i got an almighty hit, for the next 3 or 4 minutes and all i could do was hold on while the fish tore out 70 yrds of line and took off across the swamp. Yay, finally hooked and line holding i was pretty excited. Everytime i would get a chance to wind some line back in he would take off, screaming out line again. This went on for about 20 mins, then i started to try and off balance the fish as i wound so i could tire him out a bit; everytime you unbalance him he has to right himself again and it makes them tired. This seemed to be helping a little and i was starting to gain some line, the fish was just in front of me , the large tail leving large boils on the surface and the leader clearly visiable. I was getting pretty confident of landing this fish when zzzzzzzzzz out tore 20 yrds of line again, just when I thought i had him beat and he couldnt possibly take another run, these fish have awesome stamina. I weaved him and walked him around the snags so he wouldnt cut me off. That was successful until he took another mighty 50 yd run right across the swamp, around the only other possible snag being a small sand island, and POP!!! NO!!!!!! I couldn't believe it, i wanted to spit the dummy and throw the rod in the drink! I had played him out for over half an hour, how could i lose him when he must have been getting tired enough for me to finally land. Views of the tail indicate that he could have easily been 80cm long.
As luck would have it, while i was busy lamenting, zzzzzzzzzzzzz went Lee's line, he had hooked up. He was determined not to lose his fish and straight away started working it pretty hard to tire it out, throwing it off balance and winding in line pretty hard. This didnt affect the fish, it still kept making a run for it and pulling out line as it darted all over the swamp. Heading repeatedly towards the snags Lee had to coerce him back into safe open water. Lee fought a fight of will power and strength for half an hour, finally getting the fish withn metres of our feet. Still not ready to give in the milkie started doing laps of us, I had to keep ducking under the line as we where in knee deep water he swam circle after circle around us. He would have done 8 or 9 laps as Lee slowly got in more and more line making the circle tighter and tighter. The fish was now within arms reach and swimming, clearly visible at our feet. Twice Lee attempted to grab its tail, yet before he could do that it once again tried to take off, tearing out all that retrieved line. It was hard to believe just how exciting it could be catching a fish in such a relatively small and shallow body of water. As far as exciting fishing goes, its up there with playing out a big mackeral.
After this run, Lee really stuck it to it and got all the line back in, after a few more desperate laps around our feet he managed to grab him by the tail and get him out of the water for a good look. He was about 90cms long and would have weighed a solid 5 kg. They are such a streamlined fish, built like a torpedo, made for speed. Unfortunately they are not a good eating fish, apparently full of bones and very strong flavoured. Asians don't mind eating them but their flesh is too strong in flavour for the average palette.
So after a few photos and a close look at him, Lee showed him the way home and gently let him go as he swam off to fight another day.
The first day we went to attempt catching one we could see them tailing in various spots around the swamp, this means they are either swimming or feeding and their large and powerful forked tail breaks the surface, looking a lot like a shark cruising in the shallows.
We threw quite a lot of bread for burley and this got them feeding less then a few metres from our feet. They were clearly visible in the clean water and we could tell most of the school were of a decent size of 4 to 5 kilo.
After about an hour of burleying with bread I could feel the subtle take of the bait and the distinctive sign of the brad slowly trailing off. The slow lift of the road was all that was needed set the hook, it screamed off line for about 10 seconds before 'pop' the line broke. This scenario was quickly repeated by Tyler and Lee. Prognosis, leader to light and drag too high, these fish really have a lot of power and strength of the raped turns is just to much for light leader and braid with no stretch, the answer step up the leader by 2 pound, longer leader to accomadate for some some give and less drag pressure. The answer( I hope) stay hooked and fight time just went out to at least half hour may be more.
Armed with new hooks, heavier leader and drag adjusted we returned to try and conquer the milk fish again.Game on, 3 nil there way.
We started to burley and for a long time weren't seeing any sign of fish, which was really frustrating because we knew they were there. I was starting to get a little bored and ready to give up, slowly winding in my bread to check that it was still on and i got an almighty hit, for the next 3 or 4 minutes and all i could do was hold on while the fish tore out 70 yrds of line and took off across the swamp. Yay, finally hooked and line holding i was pretty excited. Everytime i would get a chance to wind some line back in he would take off, screaming out line again. This went on for about 20 mins, then i started to try and off balance the fish as i wound so i could tire him out a bit; everytime you unbalance him he has to right himself again and it makes them tired. This seemed to be helping a little and i was starting to gain some line, the fish was just in front of me , the large tail leving large boils on the surface and the leader clearly visiable. I was getting pretty confident of landing this fish when zzzzzzzzzz out tore 20 yrds of line again, just when I thought i had him beat and he couldnt possibly take another run, these fish have awesome stamina. I weaved him and walked him around the snags so he wouldnt cut me off. That was successful until he took another mighty 50 yd run right across the swamp, around the only other possible snag being a small sand island, and POP!!! NO!!!!!! I couldn't believe it, i wanted to spit the dummy and throw the rod in the drink! I had played him out for over half an hour, how could i lose him when he must have been getting tired enough for me to finally land. Views of the tail indicate that he could have easily been 80cm long.
As luck would have it, while i was busy lamenting, zzzzzzzzzzzzz went Lee's line, he had hooked up. He was determined not to lose his fish and straight away started working it pretty hard to tire it out, throwing it off balance and winding in line pretty hard. This didnt affect the fish, it still kept making a run for it and pulling out line as it darted all over the swamp. Heading repeatedly towards the snags Lee had to coerce him back into safe open water. Lee fought a fight of will power and strength for half an hour, finally getting the fish withn metres of our feet. Still not ready to give in the milkie started doing laps of us, I had to keep ducking under the line as we where in knee deep water he swam circle after circle around us. He would have done 8 or 9 laps as Lee slowly got in more and more line making the circle tighter and tighter. The fish was now within arms reach and swimming, clearly visible at our feet. Twice Lee attempted to grab its tail, yet before he could do that it once again tried to take off, tearing out all that retrieved line. It was hard to believe just how exciting it could be catching a fish in such a relatively small and shallow body of water. As far as exciting fishing goes, its up there with playing out a big mackeral.
After this run, Lee really stuck it to it and got all the line back in, after a few more desperate laps around our feet he managed to grab him by the tail and get him out of the water for a good look. He was about 90cms long and would have weighed a solid 5 kg. They are such a streamlined fish, built like a torpedo, made for speed. Unfortunately they are not a good eating fish, apparently full of bones and very strong flavoured. Asians don't mind eating them but their flesh is too strong in flavour for the average palette.
So after a few photos and a close look at him, Lee showed him the way home and gently let him go as he swam off to fight another day.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest
Cape Tribulation and The Daintree Rainforest
Cape Tribulation was named by British navigator Lieutenant James Cook on 10 June 1770 (log date) after his ship hit a reef as it passed over it, north east of the cape, at 6pm. This made Cook pull away from the coast, looking for deeper water. At 10.30pm, the Endeavour hit a reef almost sinking Cook's ship, on what is now named Endeavour Reef. Cook recorded "...the north point [was named] Cape Tribulation because here began all our troubles".[4]
In the 1930's some European settlers started arriving in Cape Tribulation, but they found the rainforest environment a difficult place to get established. Various ventures such as fruit and vegetable farming, fishing, cattle, and timber cutting were started and abandoned over the years, and having weekly barges as only transport in and out was another handicap. In the 1960's a rough track was bulldozed and the first vehicle access created, although the road remained a four wheel drive track until the early 1990's. In 2002, the road was finally sealed all the way to Cape Tribulation and in early 2011 the last bridge was built creating year round all weather access to Cape Tribulation for the first time.
We spent the last two days exploring the Daintree and Cape Tribulation, two days was not enough. We drove straight into the Daintree Village and grabbed lunch, Lee and the kids were pretty boring, but I thought I would be adventurous and get into the feel of the environment a little, so i had a crocodile burger! It was really nice, quite flaky meat and quite sweet.
We took a one hour cruise on the Daintree River which proved to be unbelievably exciting, we got a croc show that was a once in a lifetime experience.
After spotting a few on the banks we rounded the corner and saw a huge 3.2m croc sitting in the water with his head near the bank, it was clear even from a distance that there was something in his mouth. As we got closer we could see that it was a calves hoof hanging out of its mouth. The guide said he had spoken to the nearby cow farmer that morning and he had said he may have lost a calf the night before as their was a cow calling for it in the morning.
As we sat in the boat only a few metres away he brought half his body out of the water and thrashed his head around, a huge spray of water went up around him showing the amount of force in his head, he thrashed again, snapping the leg off and throwing the remainder onto the bank. He slowly sank beneath the water to swallow that then lumbered up the bank to grasp the remainder of the calf in his huge jaws and then back back down into the water. The boat guide drove us further up the river then and spotted some really small crocs, about 18months old. When we went back past the diner, he was sitting at the bank and all that remained was the calves head. The guide said he may have had his full but would sit like that holding on to what was left because he wouldn't want another croc to take it, he may even shove it under a log for a few days then come back and finish it. If he has had enough he will hide it but wont feed again for two weeks.
After this excitement we drove to Cape Tribulation and set up camp at the camp grounds 100 metres from the beach. We headed down to the beach for a quick look but it was time for dinner so any exploring had to wait till morning.
Back at camp we cooked dinner while the kids flew the kite, then sat around the fire toasting marshmallows. There were a couple of local aboriginal guys staying at the camp ground while they work on the roads, they were telling us some chilling stories about crocs and croc attacks and agreed that what we had seen that day was pretty amazing stuff to witness, even after their entire lives around crocs, they had not witnessed anything like that. They told us a story of a group of people related to the farmer whose calf we saw demolished, who on New Years Eve about 11 years ago were stupid enough to go down to the river in that exact spot. Two of the men were swimming in the river and two women standing in 18 inches of water on the bank. One woman turned to talk to the other and she was gone, all she saw was a ripple on the water, she didn't even have time to scream. Gone! After watching the power of this big lizard demolish the calf, we all have a whole new respect for the croc!
In the morning we got up and packed up camp, after a yummy breakfast we headed down to the beach. It was low tide and we were able to walk out among the exposed coral and explore the pools of water left behind. We spotted some beautiful bright blue fish, a couple of octopus, brittle sea stars and a pristine cowry shell.
We then walked up the beach and climbed up to the tip of Cape Tribulation. What a view looking down the beach, the rainforest covered mountains reach all the way to the palm tree fringed beach, it really is where the rainforest meets the reef. Mount Sorrow which looks down on Cape Trib recieves 10 metres of rain each year!
After a look around and a few pics we headed back down the beach to a path that leads over the cape to Cape Tribulation beach, this is a sheltered cove, perfect for a cooling swim before walking back. When we did get back we were all saying our legs were a little sore and we had perhaps done alot more walking then we realised, this was true as a look at the time shocked us to realise it was almost 3pm.
Next stop for a late picnic lunch was Mason's Shop, at the back of the shop is access to a beautiful crystal clear swimming hole, complete with rope swing. We had a nice swim among the jungle perch and turtles. What a great way to finish our exciting trip. Definately recommend a drive up here, try and allow 2 full days to explore at least! The scenery is spectacular, walking along the reef edge looking up the beach at palm trees and rainforest was truly beautiful, we could have been stranded on a tropical island!
Click on the link to check out all the pics!! Not suited for vegetarians.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Tinarro Atherton Tablelands FNQ pics
Click on the link here to see the rest of the pics from our trip to Tinaroo in the Atherton Tablelands.
The second link has updated photos of Palm Cove and Port Douglas.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/PalmCoveTropicalNorthQLD?authkey=Gv1sRgCJrew8DnusiJdg
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Tinaroo Dam, Atherton Tablelands
Tinaroo Dam, Atherton Tablelands
We have spent the last four days in the Atherton Tablelands, the mountains behind Cairns, at Tinaroo Dam. Absoloutly stunningly beautiful spot. Peaceful and serene, gorgeous weather. The locals warned its cold and will need jumpers, but their version of cold is very different to ours and the only time we needed a jumper was at night if we weren't near the fire. We still swam everyday, in the dam, the freshwater crater lakes and in the waterfalls.
The highlight of the trip would have to be seeing a platypus in the wild, and seeing dusky rat kangaroos, the only place in the whole world you can see these is between Innisfail and the Daintree. But all this pales in comparison to our early morning fishing trip in the dam. We got up at 4am and paddled the canoe along the bank of the dam, after about an hour and a half of fishing with no luck we decided to head back. When WHAM! I thought my lure had just hit a brick wall, it just stopped dead, then there was a giant splash as the barra launched itself out of the water. Judging by the splash it left i knew it was a decent fish. It pulled out line and bent the rod tip over until it touched the water. It fought like this for quite a while. I think Lee and I might have woken every camper on the dam with our laughing and screaming! When at last it tired and rose close enough to the surface for us to get a good look at him we were shocked. He did not give up just yet though, he took one more run before i got him to the surface again. Lee gaffed him in the lip and stood to pull him into the canoe, at this point we really realised how heavy he was because the canoe nearly tipped as lee took his weight. We got him in the canoe and he filled the floor space. We spent the entire paddle back to camp looking at her and shaking our heads, repeating, holy sh** its a big fish!
We measured her and she was 116cm, and would have weighed about 28kg. An absolute stud fish!
While in Atherton we took a drive to Yungaburra, a tiny little town. We tried two different places to try and buy a decent coffee, and tipped both out. We had a picnic down by the river and went spotting for the elusive platypus. Thinking it would be pretty unlikely to see one, we actually spotted two, both of which we sat and watched for about 15 minutes as the came to the surface then dived for fodd, and came in and out of their burrows. We were well and truly stocked to see such an amazing animal in the wild.
We then headed to Lake Eacham which is one of two fresh water crater lakes formed by a volcanic explosion 65,000 years ago. After the explosiion the hole solidified and the crater has since filled with rain water. They are both about 65 meteres deep and the water is crystal clear. The temp was a little fresh but by no means too cold for a swim. We went for a snorkle hoping to spot some freshwater turtles, we didn't see any but did spot a good size, tasty looking red claw, a local crayfish.
Next stop was Lake Barrine the second of the two crater lakes. We were advised to visit here for the scones, which have one many first place prizes in local shows. The tea house which sits right on the edge of the lake has been owned and run by the same family since the 1920's. And yes the scones were really really good.
Each night we built a fire and cooked damper and roasted marshmallows, Lee taught the kids to whittle, and they sat around the fire at night trying to whittle snakes out of branches.
The next day we drove to Milla Milla, about 35 mins away to take the waterfall tourist drive, visiting three waterfalls. They were all beautiful, my favourite probably being the first with its jagged verticle, mossy rock formations and over hanging vines, it looked like something used in a movie.
Our last day we took the drive around the top of the dam to the dam wall, we did not take a wrong turn because i was giving the directions, we did not drive down a bumpy, narrow dirt track that led to the dam with no room to turn around, and it was not then rather difficult to try to turn the caravan around in space only wide enough to do a three point turn in a car! None of which was my fault!!!
We had a great trip, definately a place worthy of spending at least a week at if you ever have the chance. Wildlife and scenery five stars.
The first few pics are below, stay posted as i will add more from this trip asap.
one very happy girl!!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Palm Cove, Tropical North QLD
Palm Cove, Tropical North QLD
We are currently staying in a small caravan park across the road from the beach at Palm Cove, which is about 30mins from Cairns, we are only paying $20 per night for a non powered site, while 500metres down the road, guests at Pepper's resort are paying $400 and more per night. So what if they have a fancy pool, we still got to use it, and we are all a step from the same beach.
It is really beautiful, we have been getting up each morning and going for a big walk and then spending the day laying on the beach and swimming. Finding it hard to leave because it is so pretty and so relaxing.
We went for a drive a few days ago to the Daintree National Park, Mossman Gorge. While there we swam in the fresh clear water flowing down through the rainforest. I will admit that the water was very refreshing! It looked too nice to resist a swim even though it was pretty cold. A very beautiful place in the world.
On the way to the Daintree we drove over a bridge where people were fishing, so of course Lee decided we should stop and throw a lure. There were some locals at the river, lying on the riverbank sun baking. I refer to the scaled kind. We counted 3 but after looking back at the photos we spotted a fourth poking its eyes out of the water next to a big one! They were across the river on the opposite bank, however, one got a little inquisitive when Lee was fishing, you can see it swimming up behind him while i took a photo of his catch. i was trying to quickly take the photo while screaming at him that the croc was coming!, It got within about 3 metres of us then disappeared, a few minutes later it popped its head back up then just cruised away. Pretty freaky but very cool to see our first crocs in the wild!
Today we went to Port Douglas for a look around, had a nice picnic on the water front under the palm trees. Not much else there other then shops, we had a bit of a look around but it is pretty expensive resort type stuff.
To see photos click on link
Friday, August 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Incorrect photo LInks
If you have been trying to click on the photo links they were not working, sorry, i have fixed this now and will all be working again. Make sure you check them out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/home
https://picasaweb.google.com/home
Cairns Part 2 August 2011
Great Barrier Reef
Click on the link below to see more pics
Tuesday 9th August we headed out to the Great Barrier Reef aboard Reef Magic.Well what can i say, i think our smiles say it all. The crew said we had the best day they have seen all year. The water was crystal clear, cobalt blue. On the trip out we saw dolphins and whales. As we traveled the water just got bluer and bluer the further out we went, when we began to approach Marine HQ the water was so clear, we looked over the edge and could see the bottom and the suns rays were cutting through the water, it was gorgeous.
We couldn't wait to get in the water. Even though Tyler had gotten sea sick on the way out and was coming down with a cold, he still got geared up for a snorkel, while he seemed unsure to start with once he put his head under water and looked at the reef for the first time, any fear went out the window. As i snorkeled around with him i could hear him saying wow, and look mum through his snorkel. His eyes were like saucers.
Jas and Cooper took to the reef like a fish to water (ha)! Just like Tyler they were astounded when they looked down at the coral and the trevally and wrasse swimming around underneath them. We were hardly out of the water all day. We saw heaps of beautifully coloured parrot fish, huge trevally and huge wrass as well as loads of small reef fish. We all went for a ride to the 'drop off' and the outer reef in the semi submarine. While out there we saw large schools of trevally, a white tip reef shark and a turtle.
Later in the day Lee and I went on an adventure snorkel to the drop off and outer reef, we drifted around the edge of the reef for 45 mins. The fish life and coral were different to the inner reef. We saw schools of massive red bass, trevally a metre long, barracuda and Lee and I saw a couple of cruising mackeral. We also spotted a white tip reef shark down on the sand 30 metres below us, and yes the water was that clear. On the way back in we spotted some anemone and clown fish, Lee saw some giant clams but i somehow missed them.
In the afternoon Tyler slept where ever he landed, be it on the ships seats or the deck of the marine station. While Jas, Cooper, Bailey and I snorkeled for hours. Jas and I were officially the last out of the water, hoping to grow gills and be left behind!
Jas and Cooper's eyes were like saucers all the way home, they were bursting with adrenalin.
Our day at the reef got voted number one on our list of awesomness!!! Can't wait to do it again one day.
Click on the link here to see more pics.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/CairnsPart2August2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCI797MDt_-CApgECairns
Cairns August 2011
Click on the link at the bottom of page to see more pics
We spent the first day just hanging about and having a look around. We met the Butchers at the Esplanade pool and the kids all had a swim, after a coffee and a walk around we headed to Muddies playground. A really great playground with lots of water play incorporated, we were able to sit at the cafe and chat while we watched the mist roll down off the mountains and the kids played. It rained on and off through the day but in between the sun came out and we would have had a top of about 26.
Sunday; we caught the Kuranda railway up to the hippy town of Kuranda. The railway was built 130 years ago, by hand. It weaves its way up the mountains, through Barron Gorge, passing some beautiful waterfalls along the way. We spend the day in town looking at the markets and went to the butterfly farm.
At the end of the day we caught the skyrail down the mountain. Riding in cable car/gondolas above the rainforest for a total of 8kms. We had unsurpassed views of the rainforest, the falls and then as we neared the end, Cairns itself. It was a real highlight and the kids loved it.
Kuranda photos, https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/KurandaRailwaySkyrail?authkey=Gv1sRgCKimucnfz7eaPQ
Click on link to see all the pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/CairnsPart1?authkey=Gv1sRgCMnE5K_VsrWzSg
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/CairnsPart1?authkey=Gv1sRgCMnE5K_VsrWzSg
Monday, August 8, 2011
Townsville
Townsville
While staying in Bowen we took a drive to Townsville, just for a day trip as it is only 2 hours from Bowen.
When we arrived we did what any sane person does; went in search of coffee! We found a lovely little coffee shop and they made the best coffee.
After that we had a bit of a wander through the shops and then headed to Marine HQ, Townsvilles aquarium. As aquariums go it wasn't the best we've seen, however some of the reef fish were different to those we had seen before, being more tropical. They also have a marine turtle hospital and we were able to look around that and see some of the turtles being rehabilitated. They showed the kids the xrays taken from a patient that had swallowed fishing line.
At the aquarium there is an imax theatre, not quite like the one in Sydney, this one is a huge dome. The seats are reclined right back so that you are looking up at the dome and the movie is projected onto it. This means the movie is from the floor, over your head and to your right and left, you really feel like part of the movie. We watched an underwater/ ocean film. It was really quite cool.
By the time we left the aquarium it was 4.00 and we hadn't even had lunch. We headed to the shopping centre to grab a bite to eat and have a quick look around before driving back to Bowen.,
We didn't get to explore too much but will probably go back when we are back in Bowen.
Click on the link to check out the pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/TownsvilleAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJqez8TMqrXDfg
Bowen/Airlie Beach
After our trip to 1770 we headed towards Mackay, stopping overnight at Carmilla Beach. We stayed at a free rest stop right on the beach. At low tide it was a desert and at high tide the waves were lapping at the walkway. We stayed long enough to do some exploring along the beach and Lee had a go at fishing, with no results. We headed off at lunchtime towards Mackay, arriving there at 4pm we decided to keep heading onwards to Bowen. We arrived in Bowen at about 7pm and headed straight to a friend's house. Scott, Mel and their lovely kids invited us to park the van on their driveway while we are in town, which is great; thanks guys.
We arrived here on Sunday night, yesterday we had a look around town, not much here, great skatepark on the foreshores though! Kids had a ball. Went out for dinner at one of the pubs with scott and Mel and had an awesome feed. Rib steak on the bone smothered in prawns in garlic cream sauce, I had a prawn and scallop pasta and there was more seafood in it then pasta! Very yum and totally unexpected for such a small town.
Tuesday: Today we borrowed Scott's tinny and headed down to Airlie Beach, postcard beautiful. We headed out from the boatramp and wove our way along the edges of nearby islands fishing. I caught a golden trevally, parrot fish, coral trout and a flathead. Lee spent most of the day driving, untangling, desnagging and rerigging either me, the kids or himself and as a result caught bugger all!! Soon he will teach me how to rig up myself so he has more time to fish!
We saw 5 turtles throughout the day, they were everywhere. Once we got hungry we headed across the bay to Long Island and pulled up into a deserted little beach to have a picnic, then it was back in the boat throwing lures again. We worked our way along the edge of Long Island and came to the Long Island Resort. We were pretty thirsty from all that work reeling in fish so we pulled into the beach and anchored the boat and headed ashore to the resort bar on the beach. We sat back admiring the view and having a cold beer, then decided because no one seemed to care that we were there we might as well experience the resorts amenities and hopped into the spa. Of course it has ocean views so we kicked back and relaxed watching the sun dip in the distance. We finally had to drag ourselves out to avoid heading home in the dark.
All up a great day. Didn't get too many photos of the area but will be heading back down again in a few days.
Check out the photos by clicking on this link.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/OnTheRoadAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCIeK_JH3r_GZqwE
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/AirlieBeachAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOb4u-Mk-a3Bg
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Central QLD adventures
Gladstone/ 1770
Today we went for a drive to the town of 1770, (so named because that was the year Captain Cook landed there). It is about an hour and 15 mins drive from Gladstone, through dry empty paddocks, i was beginning to wonder where the hell we were going. When we finally caught a glimpse of water we were all blown away, absolutely beautiful!! We walked up to the headland and were once again blown away. From the point 180 degree views of crystal clear sapphire blue water. We climbed down onto the rocks and had a picnic lunch. After a look around we were sold, so we dropped by the caravan park and booked a site for 2 nights, drove back to Gladstone and will head back tomorrow with the van.
We have now been in 1770 for the last two days, it has been just beautiful. We have been fishing loads, and have caught some great flathead, cod, barracuda. It is such a gorgeous spot to relax. Every afternoon the entire park congregates on the beach, because it is situated in a bay the sun sets over the mountains in the distance which actually looks like it is setting over the water.
leaving here tomorrow to head to the Whitsundays.
Click the link below to see all the photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/1770July2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-Um4WMz_rC9wE
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Gladstone Central QLD
Our current adventure finds us in Gladstone, Central QLD, catching fish like this one everyday bar one! Have been eating barra for lunch and dinner everyday. I caught this metre plus barra on the second cast, followed by six small ones. Tyler even caught a small one last night. They taste so great!!
Today we explored the little town of Tannum Sands, not a lot there, very nice little beach and estuary area with real shells all over the beach. It is so cool to walk along a beach covered in shells and help the kids pick out the best ones to keep. Planning to stay here another day as lee really wants to go spearfishing for a barra. One of his brothers friends speared a small one out of a school at the river mouth today and it was over a metre long!!
The kids have been cooking batches of brownies and cup cakes and selling them at the local caravan park and rest stop, Jas has made $72 and Tyler $40 in two trips selling. They sold out in 20 mins today and are both really keen to get up in the morning and start baking!!
For more pics of our time in Gladstone follow the link.
Friday, July 22, 2011
June Travels to Yeppoon
In June we did a short trip up to Yeppoon. We stayed at the Causeway Caravan park for four days. So many adventures were to be had during this trip!! We were true survivors!
Three times we underestimated just how much water disappears when the tide goes out up here, a huge area of water can turn into a sandy dessert it an hour or two.
Our major adventure occurred when we decided to explore a bay. We spent the day fishing and having a lovely lunch on a deserted beach. We then found a great fishing spot and sat for too long catching queen fish and flat head. We started to think that the sand atoll next to us was getting rather large, by the time we pulled ourselves away from the fish we discovered that the great expanse of water we traversed to get to this fishing spot was now nothing but sand and puddles.
Tide not due to come in for another 6 hours, we are all dressed in shorts and singlets and it is about to get dark and cold, what to do?
I decided to walk back across the sand to see if i can find any jumpers in the car or at least the picnic blanket to keep us warm, lee and kids are waiting behind to gather wood for a fire. I walk for 40 mins only to get to the only amount of water left which is too deep and wide to walk across to get to the car. I manage to wave down some guys in a boat further up the river who very kindly run me to the other side to get to the car and back again, they also offered me some blankets and a torch.
I trudge 40 mins back across the sand. Lee is very happy that while i was in the car i happened to find the lighter he thought he had with him to light a fire! He was beginning to worry that if we couldn't light a fire to keep mozzies away and keep warm he might have to bury the kids up to their necks in sand!!!
We light a fire and cuddle up under the blankets and wait for the water to start coming in. It is freezing and the mosquitoes could carry us away. Of course we dont have any bug repellant, i do however have some conditioner i had used that day to treat jas hair for lice! So, i rubbed that all over my legs which amazingly kept the mosquitos at bay!
We sit and wait, finally we detect some water movement, it is time to go back to the boat.
Unfortunately it is still not enough to go any where but we need to wait in the boat because the tide comes in very fast. As the water gets a little deeper we start trying to row the boat because it is just too cold to sit and wait any longer. While doing this the water begins to really move and we can finally start the motor. We are still not in the clear though, the way back is wrought with further danger posed by all the dead trees and logs that stick out of the water everywhere. The torch we were lent is on its last legs of battery life so can only be used sparingly. So we motored along painfully slowly switching the torch on every few minutes to scan ahead for trees.
When we finally reach the bank we are so relieved to be back, stiff from the cold we welcome the warmth of the car. However, the night is not over yet.
With the boat loaded on the trailer and a joyous kirkman family finally ready to head to a warm shower we start to pull the trailer out of the shallows, unfortunately the sand is very soft and the wheels just spin and dig into the sand! Not to be beaten we gather leaves and branches from nearby trees and place them under the wheels to help gain some traction, two attempts later and success!!!!!
At 11.30 pm the kids eat mac and cheese in bed and we finally get to snuggle up in a warm bed and go to sleep. What a day!!!! What an adventure!!!
Three times we underestimated just how much water disappears when the tide goes out up here, a huge area of water can turn into a sandy dessert it an hour or two.
Our major adventure occurred when we decided to explore a bay. We spent the day fishing and having a lovely lunch on a deserted beach. We then found a great fishing spot and sat for too long catching queen fish and flat head. We started to think that the sand atoll next to us was getting rather large, by the time we pulled ourselves away from the fish we discovered that the great expanse of water we traversed to get to this fishing spot was now nothing but sand and puddles.
Tide not due to come in for another 6 hours, we are all dressed in shorts and singlets and it is about to get dark and cold, what to do?
I decided to walk back across the sand to see if i can find any jumpers in the car or at least the picnic blanket to keep us warm, lee and kids are waiting behind to gather wood for a fire. I walk for 40 mins only to get to the only amount of water left which is too deep and wide to walk across to get to the car. I manage to wave down some guys in a boat further up the river who very kindly run me to the other side to get to the car and back again, they also offered me some blankets and a torch.
I trudge 40 mins back across the sand. Lee is very happy that while i was in the car i happened to find the lighter he thought he had with him to light a fire! He was beginning to worry that if we couldn't light a fire to keep mozzies away and keep warm he might have to bury the kids up to their necks in sand!!!
We light a fire and cuddle up under the blankets and wait for the water to start coming in. It is freezing and the mosquitoes could carry us away. Of course we dont have any bug repellant, i do however have some conditioner i had used that day to treat jas hair for lice! So, i rubbed that all over my legs which amazingly kept the mosquitos at bay!
We sit and wait, finally we detect some water movement, it is time to go back to the boat.
Unfortunately it is still not enough to go any where but we need to wait in the boat because the tide comes in very fast. As the water gets a little deeper we start trying to row the boat because it is just too cold to sit and wait any longer. While doing this the water begins to really move and we can finally start the motor. We are still not in the clear though, the way back is wrought with further danger posed by all the dead trees and logs that stick out of the water everywhere. The torch we were lent is on its last legs of battery life so can only be used sparingly. So we motored along painfully slowly switching the torch on every few minutes to scan ahead for trees.
When we finally reach the bank we are so relieved to be back, stiff from the cold we welcome the warmth of the car. However, the night is not over yet.
With the boat loaded on the trailer and a joyous kirkman family finally ready to head to a warm shower we start to pull the trailer out of the shallows, unfortunately the sand is very soft and the wheels just spin and dig into the sand! Not to be beaten we gather leaves and branches from nearby trees and place them under the wheels to help gain some traction, two attempts later and success!!!!!
At 11.30 pm the kids eat mac and cheese in bed and we finally get to snuggle up in a warm bed and go to sleep. What a day!!!! What an adventure!!!
Update
For the past few months we have been staying with some awesome friends, The Ruth Family. We have been working, doing yoga, stand up paddle boarding, african drumming, cubby house building! Been having a ball but the time has come to hit the road.
Thanks Ruths for your awesome hospitality!
Thanks Ruths for your awesome hospitality!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Fraser island pics
wildlife on fraser
champagne pools
cane toad cull, filled a garbage bag and an esky!!!!
We camped on tghis beach with no one else in sight, we had it all to ourselves and no chance of anyone else coming near us untill the next low tide. Paradise!
It was tough, very tough
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