Turtles and Rum!

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Next, it was time to hop on a bus, to a place called Bundaberg. Bundaberg is actually a hotspot for working backpackers (man am I glad I am not one of them - the season's current 'fruit' is the sweet potato - oh the joy of spud picking hey?!) however we were there for entirely different reasons! Turtles and Rum! Not at the same time though! A beach near Bundaberg called Mon Repos is the breeding ground for 90% of the World's Loggerhead Turtle population. We were booked on to a night tour to see hatchlings, egg laying and nest building. And we were not to be disappointed!!!! We were staying in the hostel of the guy who ran the tour, who, although charging us a little more, managed to skip us to the front of the queue meaning we were the first to see any activity on the beach.

Less than 15 mins after our arrival (time enough for a rather good fish and chips!!) we were summoned to the beach. A hatching nest had been discovered!!! A quick yomp along the beach got us there and woooowwwweeeeee how todally awesome (I blame the canadians for that line!!) As we sat and watched, frantic flipper activity saw teeny weeny hatchlings surfacing out of the sand - after a short talk about them and their lives, we were lined up on the beach to let them head for the water - with odds of 1 in a 1000 surviving (depressing or what!) Such a privelege to see though! They were so sweet, but the reality that so few of them would survive was a little upsetting! Good luck to 'em I say!!!

Then it was back to the Information Centre to wait for the next beach activity......less than 30 minutes later we were off again! There was a nesting loggerhead on the beach and so, off we yomped again. Only to be halted about 5 metres from her, and told we couldn't go any further, as there were in fact 2 turtles nesting, facing one another. This meant that we couldn't get any closer given that in the initial stages of nesting the turtles are easily disturbed and if frightened may return to the water without laying. So we had to wait it out, until the rangers could be sure that both had reached a point where they would not be disturbed. This point occurs after 20 eggs have been layed and the turtle starts crying, seeming to be in a sort of trance. This only happens once they have dug a hole 60 cms deep and are satisfied with it. However given the time difference between the 2 landing on the beach there was a bit of juggling to be done. Turtle number 1 was a bit quicker which meant that we could actually creep up behind the 2nd turtle while she was still digging without risking disturbing her. From there we were able to watch her dig and commence laying, once past 20 we were able to encircle her completely and get very close to her. We were apparently very fortunate to see 2 at the same time. On the downside (for them anyway) they had nested too far down the beach and with the next high tide the nests would be flooded, drowning the pourous eggs and rendering their efforts void!!! Thus we had to do our 'bit' for conservation and relocate the nest further up the beach. The ranger dug a nest further up the beach and we were lucky enough to be able to help move the eggs up to her! Quite enchanting really - here's hoping it works though! 8 weeks time will tell!

By now all that could be seen had been seen and it was time to head off - Jen and I were still a little on the exhausted side from our traumatic camping experiences!!

The next day was reserved for a trip to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery, also found in Bundy! There a $10 entry fee got you an hours tour around the site, sampling molasses, smelling 75% proof alcohol, watching the bottling process and best of all 2 free samples of the rum of your choice! We opted for a rum liquor and a premix called dark and stormy which was Rum and Ginger - yum!!! Once again though, we demonstrated how small the world is - bumping into Bec - the other British Girl from Fraser Island as well as a Dutch Guy we had partied with on Fraser!!!!!

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Photos

Egg Moving!
My bit for conservation!