Advertisement
Published: November 3rd 2012
Edit Blog Post
Back on the road again found us driving 500 kms to the east coast along the Dawson Highway, through the sleepy towns of Rolleston Bauhinia, Moura and Banana and hardly a coffee shop or pie shop in sight! The road was straight and dotted with road works and detours as we were taken past gas and coal mines that had scared the land with man-made hills and reservoirs. Large road trucks hauled livestock and minerals along the roads dominating the highway and created huge dust clouds in their wake. Fragile communities existed in remote townships with few resources and infra structure, certainly not an easy life when even a drive to the local school is 60 kms one-way.
The journey took all day and we found ourselves eager to arrive at our campsite before dark so that we could set up our tents before night fall. Dusk is also not the ideal time to drive along open countryside either as we discovered to our cost as Hilary encountered her first ‘road kill’, a 60kilo female kangaroo bounced out from the side of the road and collided with the Toyota, having been instructed to avoid swerving and to ‘just hit it!’
Turquoise waters and coral reefs just below the surface.
Views from the boat across the shallow water to the island. she did just that and both came to a sudden stop! It was a nasty feeling to have hit something of such size and weight as well to have killed it, fortunately a police car was not far behind us and came to our rescue and disposed of the animal on the side of the road and helped to repair our front lights!
Agnes Waters and 1770 was a welcome stop and once we had settled down for the evening the long drive and the experience with the kangaroo was soon forgotten. We even enjoyed a couple of rounds of Yahtzee.
The next day was a little cloudy but warm so we headed off to Round Hill Head and walked out to the furthest point along from 1770, so named after Captain cook landed in the bay in the same year. We enjoyed a coffee overlooking the bay and managed to walk out across the headland to look back at Agnes Water and its sandy beaches and crashing waves. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach and watching the sunset across the waters.
Up early the next day found us on a day
Even our clothes blend with the back drop!
What a great place to find a log and take a picture. cruise trip to Lady Musgrave Island a coral cay and island as part of the Capricorn National Park and reef Reserve. Despite the very rough sea and people feeling very sea sick, fortunately we were all fine, we travelled for two and half hours out to the southern tip of The Great Barrier reef. The island grew bigger on the horizon and the boat navigated itself around and then through the opening in the reef into the calm waters of the cay., where we moored the boat alongside a floating pontoon. It was a truly beautiful sight, the sun was shining and the sea was every colour of turquoise blue, emerald green and crystal clear.
Part of the day was then spent exploring the island, which was reached by a glass bottom boat that floated over the fragile reef giving us a glimpse of what lay beneath the surface. The walk into the small island took us through a central forest of Pisonia trees, the primary vegetation and home of the White-capped Noddy Terns that were nesting in the branches. The nose and smell was incredible, it was like we were experiencing a ‘BBC, Life on Earth’ episode first
hand, we just needed David Attenborough to appear to complete the scene.
As we emerged out onto the other side of the island we walked out over the beach, which comprised of crushed and broken pieces of coral which gentle sloped into the clear sea. We even spotted some Whitetip Reef sharks hunting in the shallow waters, apparently not dangerous but a sufficient deterrent not to paddle in the water!
The snorkeling was amazing and Kevin found quite addictive, he couldn’t stop once he got the hang of it! Under the surface of the water a whole different world opened up and we experienced yet another wonderland of different coloured and shaped coral and fish two many to name all swimming about right in front of us. Loggerhead Turtles and smaller turtles swam in the shallows and entertained us as we swam around the reef.
The trip even offered the opportunity to travel around the edge of the reef in a semi submersible boat where we could gaze out and see the under water world right in front of us.
It was a full action packed day and even on the return trip we were entertained
Idyllic views along the beach.
A short boat trip took us out to the island and we were able to walk along the hard sharp coral that made up the shore line. by Humpback Whales migrating south, we couldn’t have asked for more.
This is somewhere we will strongly recommend future travellers to Queensland find time to visit, next time we go we would like to camp on the island for a few days, any takers?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.201s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 65; dbt: 0.0913s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb