We were very surprised by the size of Hervey Bay. We expected something like Anglesea in
Victoria but were met with Bunnings, BCF and many quilting and patchwork stores
so it is a lot larger than we expected.
Torquay is one of the suburbs right on the beach and as there is no
surf to talk of, the area seems to be very family and grey nomad orientated.
We have always wanted to have a ride on a jet ski and when we found
that they had them for hire here, we decided to give it a go. We booked it during the morning for mid
afternoon to give our lunch time to settle.
Now, I just said that there is no surf to talk of, but the wind came up
just after lunch and we were confronted with about a 1 metre swell. Not to be put off by a few waves we got a
quick briefing from the operator, donned
our life jackets, got a quick photo and off we went. Fortunately the water temperature was nice
and warm as we got a good soaking. Going
off shore into the waves had the water up over our heads but riding the waves
back into shore was a lot of fun. On the
first run we got up to a whole 10 kilometres per hour, but after doing it a few
times we got used to it and we were doing up to 30 KPH by the end of our half
hour. Going across the waves had our
heart in our throats a few times but we managed to stay upright.
Whale watching is one of the biggest things in Hervey Bay and there
seems to be an endless amount of different companies that operate tours.
Tasman Ventura had been recommended to us by
many others so we booked in for their morning tour. Fantastic service, they picked us up from the
caravan park, took us whale watching and even delivered us back to the caravan
park.
We left the marina at 8.30 and headed for Platypus Bay which is north
of Hervey Bay and about two thirds of the way up Fraser Island. It was a beautiful morning and we cruised for
a whole hour at 45 kilometres per hour.
On the way we saw many logger head turtles as well as a couple of pods
of dolphin.
The first whale we sighted
breached about a kilometre ahead of us so the captain made for that area. There was a mother with a calf along with an
"escort" whale, possibly a male.
It was such a sight to see such beautiful majestic wild animals right
beside the boat. The tour guide said
that judging by the way the calf was circling that it was feeding from the
mother. A whale calf drinks 200 litres
of milk from its mother every day. The
calf doesn't have to suckle the mother as the mother has muscles in her mammary
glands that actually excrete the milk which is more of a fatty gel than a
liquid. This floats in the water for the
calf to take. Some mothers roll on their
back to feed the baby, but most lay head up in the water. The tour guide said that there is one mother
that comes with a calf every year that always feeds with her tail sticking up
out of the water.
The whale migration up Australia's east coast from the south pole is
mostly Humpback whales which are black on top and have a white belly and are
white under their tail.
The white under
their fluke (tail) is just like a human
finger print in as much that every one if unique and whales are identified by
their fluke print. When whale hunting
stopped in 1992, it was estimated that only about 300 to 400 migrated up and
down the east coast. Today those numbers
have grown to about 1,600. Whale calf's
are born during their annual migration and in Platypus bay, as despite its
enormous size at birth whale calves are born without a protective blubber layer
so they would freeze to death if they were born in the near freezing
temperatures of the Antarctic waters.
The mother will take the calf back to the south pole for the arctic
summer and teach it to fend for itself and then it is left to join another pod
and fend for itself. Females reach
sexual maturity at about 7 years old and most will produce a calf every 2 to 3 years.
Humpback whales are known as baleen whales as they have no teeth to
forage on prey for food. They have
hundreds of rows of fibrous bristle-like baleen plates suspended from their
upper jaw instead. These plates are made
from keratin which is the same material as our finger nails. This unique structure acts like a giant sieve
that allows expelled water to pass through but traps small 4 to 8 centimetre long
shrimp like crustaceans known as krill.
This food source is found in abundance in summer months in Antarctic
waters.
As this calf was feeding, there wasn't a lot of playful activity so we
travelled a bit further north and soon cane across another pod. This little calf was having a great time
burning off some energy and learning the ways of a whale doing tail slaps and
pectoral fin flaps as it breached out of the water.
The captain of the boat did a great job of keeping the boat close to
the whales. We stopped at one stage and
the whales turned around and swam back to the boat as if to say "come on,
lets keep playing" These animals
are very inquisitive and often swim up close to the boat to get a better look.
All in all we would have seen 20 or 25 different whales for the morning
and we were all disappointed when they said we had to leave and head back to
the harbour.
Humpback adult whales grow up to between 14 and 18 metres long and
weigh up to 50 tonnes where as a calf is 4 to 5 metres long at birth and weighs
2 tonnes. They can cruise at speeds up
to 7 kilometres per hour.
The gestation period is 11 to 11.5 months and then the mother weans the
calf off after 11 months.
Migrating whales are seen every year along the east coast of Australia
during June to October while they visit our shores to give birth and mate.
What a fantastic experience to get some insight into the life of a
migrating humpback whale up so close.
Hervey Bay is also well known for its close proximity and easy access
to Fraser Island and once again there are numerous companies operating tours to
the island.
Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and an area of
remarkable natural beauty. It is 123 km long and covers an area of
166,038 ha. and was listed as a World Heritage Area in 1992 to recognise the
island's internationally significant natural features.
Growing on seemingly infertile sands are a great variety of plant
communities ranging from coastal heath, mangrove forests and swamps to
subtropical rainforest.
The many archaeological remains found on Fraser Island record thousands
of years of culture and tradition, and provide important links to their past
for the Butchulla aboriginal people.
We took the barge from River Heads which is just south of Hervey Bay to Wanggoolba Creek which is on the west side of the island. From there we were picked up by Fraser Explorer Tours in a 4 wheel drive bus and taken across the island to Eurong Beach Resort.
We took the barge from River Heads which is just south of Hervey Bay to Wanggoolba Creek which is on the west side of the island. From there we were picked up by Fraser Explorer Tours in a 4 wheel drive bus and taken across the island to Eurong Beach Resort.
What a fun bus trip which could most easily described as a mixture
between a roller coaster and a bucking bull.
The "roads" are just deep ruts in the sand and I fully respect
the drivers ability in negotiating these tracks as they are narrow with trees
close on both sides. Obviously they need
to keep the momentum of the bus going to get through the sand so its not for
the feint hearted. I think in a couple
of places the seat belt is all that keeps you in your seat. It was great fun and everyone on the bus had
a good time. Maximum speed on these
roads is 30 KPH so it took almost an hour to cross the island and Eurong was a
very welcome toilet stop.
From here we traveled north along the east coast of the island on the famous
75 mile beach.
This beach is treated
like any other highway in Queensland and all road law applies. Speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour and it
is as smooth as any bitumen highway in Australia. It is the only highway in Australia where you
can park and go fishing in the surf as many people were doing. We were there during the September school
holidays so there were many campers all along the beach.
About 20 kilometres up the beach is the Maheno shipwreck site. The Maheno was one of the fastest steam
powered ship of its time and because of its speed it was seconded to the navy
during the second world war as a supply ship.
After the war it worked the Australia New Zealand route until it was
replaced by a more efficient diesel powered ship. It was sold to the Japanese for scrap who
removed its propellers and then commenced to tow it back to Japan for
wrecking. They ran into bad weather off
the east coast of Australia which broke the tow line and without propellers
they had no control, so she ran aground on Fraser Island and that is where she
lay rusting away ever since. It is said
to be the most photographed pile of rust in the world. It is hard to imagine the size of this ship
as two thirds of it is buried in the sand.
From there we continued another 3 or 4 kilometres along the beach to
the coloured sands of The Pinnacles.
This is a part of the island that has been effected by wind and rain
erosion that has resulted in exposing different layers of sand that are said to
contain 72 different colours. One has to
use good imagination and perhaps even a spectron microscope to see all these
colours, but there is a very noticeable difference in the colours of these
sands to the sand on the beach.
From this point passengers could
take a scenic flight over the ocean and then across the island to get a birds
eye view. Two light aircraft take off
and land on the same beach highway that the vehicles and pedestrians use. We didn't fly but folk who did said that it
gave a different prospective of the island.
Eli Creek was our next stop on our way back to Eurong for lunch. As swimming in the sea along the east coast
of Fraser Island is not recommended for children because of the rips, Eli Creek
is a favourite swimming hole for visitors.
Eli Creek, like all other creeks on Fraser Island start from an aquifer
which constantly leaks beautiful fresh water.
Eli Creek carries 4.2 million litres of this water per hour to the
sea.
We were told that as it was only
knee deep we could walk up the board walk and then come back along creek or
visa versa. Whoever said it was only
knee deep must have been 8 foot tall, as Judy was over her waist in a lot of
places. Didn't matter though as the
water was nice and refreshing on a warm day.
We walked up the creek to the board walk and when we got there we found
that you needed to be an Olympic high jump champion to bet from the water level
to the first step on the board walk, so we enjoyed the walk back to the ocean
in the creek. Lucky the bus driver
didn't mind us getting back on the bus with wet cloths.
By 1.30 we were starving and the all you can eat buffet lunch in the
restaurant at Eurong was much
appreciated.
Back on the bucking bronco bus ride to Central Station helped to settle
the lunch down.
 |
| This is typical of the roads on Fraser Island |
Central Station is so
named as it was the central campsite when logging was carried out on Fraser
Island. Now days it is a camping site
and a point where various walks start.
Our tour guide took us along a board walk which follows part of the
Wanggoolba Creek that carries about 1 million litres of water per hour from the
aquifer out to the west side of the island where the barge pulls in.
The water is so clear here that you have to
actually stop and look into the creek to see the water above the white sand bed.
Rain that falls over the island takes 30
years to filter down through the sand into the aquifer and out into the creeks,
so this could be the purest natural water in the world.
This area is a lush sub-tropical rain forest and there are many different species of plants that grow here. Everyone who has a fern house at home tries
to grow stag horns and here they are growing wild everywhere that you
look.
This area was also heavily logged
for Kauri Pine which were used for ships masts as they are straight, strong and
flexible.
Satinay trees were also
heavily logged here because of their
excellent resistance to decay by sea water and were used for piers all over the
world, including the Suez Canal. A
Satinay trees age is estimated by the width at its base and logging of these
giants was stopped when it was found that a tree estimated to be over 1,000
years old had been cut down. This tree
once stood in the bush on the north end of the island and we didn't visit this
area but apparently there are photos of 20 people standing side by side on the
remaining stump to show just how big it was.
We saw Satinay trees that are estimated to be 300 and 500 years old. Fraser island is only one of the very few
places in the world where Satinay trees grow, and although there is some
regrowth, it will take a long time to recover.
The presence of King Ferns which are now unique to Fraser Island, once
had global distribution and are recognized in fossils in coal seams dating back
350 million years. There is a stand of
40 of these King Ferns growing right beside Wanggoolba Creek and this is the
only place in Australia where they are known to be growing.
Last stop on our tour was Lake McKenzie or Boorangoora as it is called
by the aboriginals. This is an inland
perched lake which is not fed by the aquifer but only gathers water from the
rain. Annual rainfall varies across the
island, from 1200 mm on the coast to 1800 mm inland and the heavy rains at the
beginning of this year has the lake at
the highest level for years. The lake
has been formed over many years with leaf litter from the surrounding forest
which has gathered on the bed of the lake to form a waterproof layer above the
sand. The lake covers about 160 hectares
and is 12 metres deep in the centre. It
is a 160 metre walk from the parking area down to the lake and the cool water
made for a very refreshing swim.
The track into and out of the lake seemed to be the most challenging
for the day, at one stage I thought we would all need to get out and push but
the driver managed to get us safely through.
I am glad I am not mechanic for this bus company as although the drivers
are very skilled and the MAN buses stand up well to the challenge, I think
there would be a lot of drive line and suspension repairs required.
Back on the barge at the end of the day we sailed into a colourful
sunset back to the mainland.
I am glad that Fraser Island has been world heritage listed as it is
such a unique place and we as Australians have something to be proud of that
needs to be preserved for generations to see.
The Hervey Bay Botanical Gardens are well worth the time to visit. They have a beautiful tropical rain forest
section as well as a theater stage surrounded by a big water feature full of
lilies and turtles.
The lawns are
beautifully manicured and all the flower gardens are very well kept. We were talking to the curator and she was
telling us that she looks after the whole area with only occasional help from
other council employees. She said that
they can have up to 8 weddings each week in the various sections of the
gardens.
We really enjoyed Hervey Bay for it's good bike tracks, as we were able
to ride about 8 kilometres each morning before breakfast and take in the
different sites over the 2 weeks that we were there, but after having had enough of the beach and the lousy
neighbours that were camped in a tent beside us in the caravan park, we decided
to move on once again towards a bit of peace and tranquility beside a lake.
Boondooma Dam is about 230 kilometres south west of Hervey Bay so we
decided to give it a go. Once again, we
could not have had a better "absolute waterfront " site. Not a lot of grass but a nice sandy site just
8 metres from the waters edge. Time once
again for fishing and red claw. Not a
lot of fish being caught by anybody in the park, but we were kept busy emptying
and re-baiting opera house traps and catching nice amounts of red claw.
We originally booked in for 3 nights, but the
days were a nice warm 30+ degrees with just enough breeze to keep cool so we
extended our stay out a few more days.
Boiled red claw or red claw BBQ-ed in garlic butter, Hmmm, not sure which we like best.
Having lost my glasses at Boondooma, we headed to Kingaroy for an eye
test and wait for new glasses.
Fortunately I found a local optometrist not attached to any franchise
who was able to fit me in on the day we got there and had my new glasses back
from his supplier in 2 days. All the
franchise folk said 1 to 2 weeks to have them back. To add to the bargain, they were well priced
and the best pair of glasses I have ever had.
Thanks to Malcolm Lee See in Haley Street Kingaroy.
I am glad we stayed in Kingaroy for those few days as it gave us a
chance to clean up after our week at the dam and also gave us the chance to
have a look around.
Visitor Information Centers in Queensland are awesome. The Kingaroy centre houses the Peanut History
Museum in one end and an art gallery in the old council chambers at the other
end. We went for our usual quick look to
see what attractions there are in Kingaroy but ended up staying for almost 2
hours. We wanted to learn about growing
peanuts and the museum was the perfect place.
The peanut is native to the Andes foothills of South America and came
to Australia with the Chinese during the Gold Rushes in the 19th Century. Peanuts are not really nuts but a legume,
which means they grow underground. Planting
generally takes place from October to January as they need a minimum soil
temperature of 18 degrees (measured at 9 am) for germinating. They produce small yellow flowers which self
pollinate. The ovary elongates and grows
down into the soil on a "peg" where they then start to swell and form
a pod which takes about 5 months to mature.
The peanut pod actually develops underground but not on the root of the
plant.
Once ready for harvesting between March and May, the bush needs to be
pulled from the ground without damaging the kernels and avoiding excess soil
adhering to the roots so the go through a process called cutting. Farmers use a modified cultivator which has a
"U" or "L" shaped attached to the front which is pulled
through the soil 10 to 15 cm below the surface which loosens the soil and cuts
the tap root, just below the peanuts. In
the old days the bushes were pulled from
the ground by hand which was a long and arduous task. One man holds the record for pulling 1/3 of
an acre in 55 and 3/4 minutes.
Necessity
is the mother of invention and soon enough various types of machines were
invented to pull the bushes from the ground.
Once the bushes are pulled from the ground, they need to cure so they
are piled into "stooks" which were stacks built in a manner to keep
the weather out so the peanuts could cure over a 4 to 6 week period. Once dried, the peanuts are then taken to a
threshing machine to separate the nuts from the dried out bush.
Like all industries, equipment has been developed over the years to
make the job easier and there are a lot of good examples of the older peanut
farming equipment on display in the museum.
Peanuts grow well in the Kingaroy district because of the rich, loose
volcanic soil, and about 90% of the 60,000 tonnes of peanuts grown annually in
Australia are produced in Queensland.
The peanut silos in Kingaroy which were built between 1928 and 1948 are
40 metres tall and can hold up to 15,000 tonnes of peanuts.
Of course the other thing that Kingaroy is famous for is that it is
home to Sir Joh and Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen. Sir Joh of course was the premier of Queensland for 19 years and was the
local MP for over 40 years.
Sir Joh's
son John and daughter in law Karen now live on and run the family farm which is
about 5 kilometres south of Kingaroy.
Their farm is called Bethany which means "place of rest". As farming is a tough way to make a living
anywhere in Australia, John and Karen have built holiday cottages on their
property and also run farm tours 2 days a week.
We took the tour to learn a bit more about farming in this area and also
to learn more about the man who coined the phrase "don't you worry about
that" along with many other comical sayings.
John took us up to the highest point on their farm where he told us the
history of the family and the farm. He
told us that the reason they have a hyphenated surname was that in Copenhagen
where his grandfather came from there were too many people with the Petersen
family name, so as they lived in Bjelke Crescent, they became known as the
Bjelke-Petersen family.
Sir Joh was a hard worker and earned the respect of the people in this
part of Queensland when he purchased 4 tanks (without turrets) from the army
after the war and started a business clearing the land around the area with his
tanks. He found that the tanks weren't
so good for felling big trees so he dumped the tanks and bought
bulldozers. He was also an accomplished
pilot and operated an aerial spraying business before moving full time into
politics.
John grows cattle, avocado, plantation trees and peanuts on the farm
but said that all these crops put together still don't give then the same
income as the holiday cottages and the farm tours. He said that farmers must diversify to
survive and keep their land in the family.
The afternoon finished with pumpkin scones and a coffee under their
memorial tree which was planted in 1929 in memory of Christian which I think
was Sir Joh's fathers brother.
The highlight of the afternoon was meeting Lady Flo who still lives on
the farm. Judy was beside herself as
Lady Flo had her recipe book for sale and she signed a copy of it for Judy.
An International Glider competition was on during the time we were in
Kingaroy. It was interesting to watch
the gliders being towed into the air by the aeroplanes. I always thought the gliders were only
airborne for a short period after being released from the tow plane, but one of
the glider pilots told us that on the previous day they covered 500 kilometres
in about a 7 hour period which is standard for an international competition
like this one.
For the last week before we fly back to Melbourne we based ourselves at
Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast which give us a short run into Brisbane to get
the caravan into storage and then get to the airport.
No visit to the Sunshine Coast area would be complete without a visit
to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. This is
a beautiful place and the gardens have developed into a real paradise and
giving shade all around the zoo.
Lots of
big crocodiles on display as well as other animals from around the world. They have recently had 2 male tiger cubs born
at the zoo but we just missed out by 3 days from seeing them as they were still
too young to let them out to the public.
They do an informative tiger show and we were surprised just how agile
these animals can be.
The show in the" Crocoseum" with the crocodiles as well as
the Jabiru and Condor was fantastic.
The
birds are well trained as they free flight in from their enclosures within the
zoo.
Of course their biggest 16 foot
crocodile called Acco was the star attraction.
Steve built an animal hospital in memory of his mum who was an animal
welfare pioneer. The work they do at the
hospital with injured wild animals helps you to understand why the entrance fee
into the zoo is so high.
After visiting the zoo, I pondered just what more Steve Irwin would
have done for animal welfare and conservation should he still be alive today.
