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Published: August 20th 2011
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What an amazing week of encounters with wild life we have had, and all because of Quinton. When Quinton was discharged on Wednesday we were told not only that he had to be kept off his feet, but that his feet also had to stay dry and clean for at least a week. Not great news when our plans had included camping at Fraser Island, and basically beach camping all along the coast of Queensland - something we had all been looking forward to.
Quick change in plans had us driving straight through to Bundaberg, to catch up with friends of Paul’s (yes, he knows people everywhere!). We did however overnight in a small fishing town called Tin Can Bay, as we had been told that wild dolphins came in to feed every morning. The following morning we woke up very early (7am! - how we are going to ever be able to adjust to 7.30am school runs again I have no idea) and went to the boat ramp. There were quite a few people already waiting, quite a crowd in fact. I was feeling a bit disillusioned by the whole thing when a murmur rose in the crowd, and
in came two dolphins. The pair of Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins came in to the shallow waters, and there were two dolphin handlers there who said we could watch them, and then at 8.00am sharp, we could buy a fish and feed them. It was all so clinical and orderly (Australian some might say) but as I started listening to the story behind the two dolphins, I became more enthralled, and naturally was first in the queue to feed these beautiful creatures. We were meeting Mystique - the alpha male of this particular pod of dolphins and who had been nursed back to health on a couple of occasions by the community, as a result of run ins with sharks, other dolphins and a boat - and his long term partner, Patch. Even Quinton got to feed one, thanks to the gum boots given to us by Esther. I left not feeling too disappointed after all.
That morning we continued on to Bundaberg, with a lunch stop at Rainbow Beach (yet another spot we had to forego spending more time!) and arrived at Bundaberg late that afternoon. Bundaberg is home to Jo and JC Nicolle, and their children Ellen,
Paul and Rachel. While their home was very full (they also had two German exchange students staying with them) they insisted we stay, staying in the caravan, which worked actually quite well. The next day they had arranged to go on a whale watching tour, and we decided to give whale watching one more go (after all, nothing could get much worse than our Sydney experience). Wow! What an absolutely amazing day we had. Not only was the weather glorious, the sea calm, the crew wonderful (they were equally as enthusiastic about the prospect of spotting whales as we were, even though they do this for a living) and the food delicious, but we also saw whales - pods and pods of Humpback whales. We first spotted a couple, and watched them frolicking from a distance, then we followed them as they joined up with another couple of whales, and watched them from a bit closer. We then spotted one in the distance breaching, so watched him and a couple of others for a while. And then, just as we thought whale watching couldn’t get any better, we came across two more who were very inquisitive, and constantly spy hopped
(ie, they stuck their heads out of the water to check us out) and swam under and alongside our boat. Awesome. Magical. Just like the dolphins, these whales were so playful, it was as if they were watching and playing with us rather than the other way around. So carefree, unafraid. I went to bed very happy that night! And William was so impressed that he had seen 33 breaches in one afternoon.
We were at the Nicolles on Monday when Oliver turned 10 (I can’t believe my baby has reached double figures!). It turned out to be an unforgettable birthday for him. He was greeted in the morning by the girls spontaneously singing happy birthday to him (and the German girls sang to him in German as well), then Oliver and I went to the movies together (the last Harry Potter movie) and then dinner and birthday cakes. It was lovely - and thanks Nicolles for helping make this a special day for him.
Sadly, it was time to leave, and once again we piled into the Prado and headed up north. Still wary of Quinton’s foot, we made an overnight decision to visit Eungella, based on
a brochure I had randomly picked up at a tourist office which featured platypus on the cover. While this little sidetrip was clocking up more km’s, it was inland, and therefore away from the temptations of sand and surf. We parked our caravan at the showgrounds (a first for us) and gapped it to the mountains to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive platypus. Well, this was really a case of third time lucky for us, and this experience involved very few minutes of agonised silence for the boys. We watched (not just glimpsed) at least four platypus, going about their business, being very industrious darting through the water, digging up mud, and even a couple which seemed to be playing (mating?fighting?) with each other. As darkness fell, we promptly decided to stay another night to see the platypus again. Besides, there looked like some glorious hiking opportunities, plus the fields at the showground were perfect for a game of cricket or two. We did spend the next day hiking in the Finch Hatton Gorge (Paul and the older boys ended up going off the track, and hiking up along the river itself, which they said was quite
an adventure - albeit a safe one!) and then we went back to our platypus viewing spot. It appears we had been very lucky the previous night, as this night there were quite a few people also there, and we had to wait ages for the platypus to appear. Two eventually did, but they weren’t nearly as active or playful as the previous evening. Still, it was very special. And I forgot to mention, on the first evening, we also spotted a water snake which was very rare.
We find ourselves now finally by the coast. Quinton’s foot looks much better, and seems to be healing nicely. We are at Airlie Beach, at a fantastic caravan park, the weather is balmy, there are palm trees all around, and we can definitely feel we have arrived in the tropics. We are looking forward to a very relaxing couple of days before continuing our journey northwards...
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Jeanette and Tom
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Whales
I have been going to Hermanus for the last 8 years and never have i seen whales like you guys have!! You really have been sooo lucky!! I will take myself off to Hermanus once again in October, hopefully to see plenty of whales and dolphins. Hold thumbs for me!! Glad to see Quinn is on the mend, he has been a brave boy and I think his haircut is 'cool'. Boy! You guys sure have a lot of friends dotted all over Australia. Lots of love Jeanette