We took a break from paragliding and did things on Mary Beth's list.
Saturday,
April 21, 2012 Currumbin
Valley Dinner with Heike and Brett
We
left river gums very early in the morning and arrived in Currumbin Valley south
of Brisbane. We found Bret and Heike’s
house easily. They have a beautiful house in an Eco development nestled in the
hills above the ocean. They collect
rainwater and have solar cells for electricity among other things. Lots of wildlife around them. There’s at least one Koala in the
neighborhood. Heike took us on a short
walk around the area and through the woods.
Best not to wear sandals or leave too much skin uncovered when walking
out in the bush. We found out they also
have leaches and ticks in the deep grass.
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| Heike shows off her garden |
We
had a nice evening catching up with them.
Brett seems to be more interested in surfing now than flying
paragliders. That’s probably a good
thing since he is only 20 minutes from the beach. Heike not quite the free spirit paraglider I
met some years ago and now seems focused on, among other things, paying down
the mortgage on her beautiful house.
April 22-23 , 2012 Rainbow
Beach
Sunday
we had a nice breakfast at the Currumbin Valley Surf club and then headed to
Surfers Paradise. I wanted to get a Hard
Rock Café T-shirt. At $35 I think maybe
I have bought my last shirt. Surfer’s
paradise reminded me of Las Vegas by the sea.
Not the calm and peaceful resorts that Mary Beth and I like. We headed for Rainbow beach and Debbie’s
place.
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| Vew of Rainbow beach from lower than I had hoped for |
Winds
were not good for flying when we arrived but looked promising later. Unfortunately it was just a short window that
we missed when the automatic transmission on the Jackaroo hiccupped. Turned out to be nothing but by the time we
got to the parking area we met a pilot hiking down. The winds had died.
Monday
turned out to be a similar situation. I
hiked to the sand blow and met a pilot packing up. I decided to wait and see. A couple of other pilots were waiting. There was a squall out in the distance that
looked like it might provide a short window to fly down to the beach. Not really a good idea but I got the wing out
and could not get it ready in time. The
squall moved in very quickly even though the winds never got really
strong. I got soaked along with the
wing. It was no fun hiking back to the
car park. But I was lucky I didn’t make
it into the air. Not the best judgment
on my part. You get in a mode where you
want to get a flight at a site and it can cloud your judgment to the point that
you make decisions you would not make at your home site.
Tuesday
April 24, 2012 Mackay
We
left Rainbow and headed for Mackay. Just
a 6 hour drive and a rest stop before heading on to Eungella. I found a park there to kite, dry out, and
repack my wing. Mary Beth found a couple
ticks on her from the hike at Brett and Heike’s place so we headed for
Woolworths to find some tweezers to remove them. That was about it for the excitement in
Mackay.
April
25-27 Eungella
April
25th is ANZAC day in Australia.
It’s the equivalent of veteran’s and Memorial Day in the U.S. Dawn services, parades, special breakfasts
and lots of celebrating involving alcohol.
It commemorates Australia and New Zealand’s first wartime service by its
soldiers at Gallipoli in World War I. Wednesday
morning we saw the crowds forming for the parade as we headed for Eungella. Later we saw some of the ceremonies on
TV. Very moving.
There
is a national park in Eungella where you can view the Platypus and also a
flying site. There is also a campground
right next to the paraglider launch with a cabin overlooking the launch site. Unfortunately we had reservations at a resort
at the national park—otherwise we would have stayed at that campground.
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| Vew from launch |
While
we were checking out launch an Italian pilot showed up. I thought the winds were just a little too
strong and decided not to launch. He got
away safely but did not find any thermals and soon was on the ground.
We
drove to the National park just 7 k away and checked in to our room. Looking at the weather for the next few days
I decided if I didn’t fly today I probably wouldn’t fly at all so we headed
back to launch.
Cloud
cover had increased with a few dark ones out there but I was undeterred. I set up switched on the GoPro and
launched. Staying up was easy and I made
a few passes in front of launch to get some picture and then headed out along
the north side of the valley. It was
getting easier and easier to stay
up. WARNING, DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!! In a few minutes as I headed out into the
valley I was on full speed bar and big ears to keep from getting sucked up into
the clouds. Groundspeed had dropped to 5
kilometers per hour. Slowly I pushed my
way out to the valley and found a nice
field to land in. It took a while to get
the glider down and on the ground but I made a nice one step landing. I was happy to be on the ground. When I went to switch off the GoPro I
discovered that it had only taken a few pictures and then switched to standby
so I had no pictures from the flight.
Ugh! Probably just as well, since
the pictures showed a sky much darker when I was just off launch than what I
recalled from when I launched. This is
another instance of wanting to get a flight clouding my judgment.
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| What ws I thinking? |
The
adventure wasn’t quite over. I had to
ford a creek to get back to the road where Mary Beth was waiting with the
Jackaroo. I managed it without getting
wet.
In
the evening we went to the creek at the national park and I tried my hardest to
photograph the platypus. You have to
look for them at dawn and dusk. They
generally sleep during the day when the sun is bright. They stay submerged most
of the time just coming up for air. So
you have to look for bubbles and shoot pictures in low light with your
telephoto lens. You need a very
sensitive camera with a big lens. I did
my best but most of my pictures came out blurry. It’s hard to tell which end is which in them.
We
had dinner in the lodge. Very friendly
people there. They have an opossum
feeding station on their deck and a python living under their deck that was
busy crushing a mouse while we were there.
That was our evening’s entertainment.
The food was good but a bit expensive.
Thursday
the weather was overcast. We tried for more platypus pictures, took a hike
through the rain forest and drove a four wheel drive track. We got about two thirds along the Four wheel
track to a point where it and had a creek to ford that looked a little too
deep. We turned around and headed back
to the resort. That was our excitement
for the day.
Friday,
April 27, 2012 Hiking Finch Hatton Gorge
and a Townsville pit stop
Friday
we drove from Eungella to Townsville. Along
the way we stopped for a hike Finch Hatton Gorge. We hiked 2.8 kilometers out and back to
Araluen Cascades. The sign at the
trailhead read “moderate”. It’s a very
pretty water fall. The main reason to
mention it is that Mary Beth was able to do the hike. No complaints on the new knee. The other knee now bothers her more than the
new one. But this is a hike she would
never have considered before the knee replacement.
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| Araluen Cascades |
Now
it was on to Townsville. We
booked a room at a hostel there and did laundry in the evening before heading
on to Port Douglas. The irony of doing
laundry there at one of the Laundromats was when we got to Port Douglas the
place we were staying had a washer and dryer in our room. Oh well.
April 28-May 4, 2012 Port Douglas
Rest and Relaxation
Saturday
we headed further north top Port Douglas.
We had booked six nights in the Regal along with a tour of the Daintree
and a snorkeling tour.
Along
the way we stopped at Rex Viewpoint just south of Port Douglas. It’s a great launch for hang gliders and a
little tricky for paragliders. There is
a sharp break that the hangs like but creates a dead zone for the wind where
paragliders lay out. Not very far behind
the layout point is a stone retaining wall 6 feet high where the tourists stand
and look out. It it is too strong you
risk getting picked up and slammed into the wall or worse yet getting blown on the fairly heavily traveled highway behind the
retaining wall.
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| Rex Viewpoint launch |
The
local club asks visiting pilots to contribute $20 for site maintenance, be HGFA
members and have an orientation. I did
all three of those but chose not to fly on Saturday and while I watched the
weather the winds stayed too strong for the entire time we were there.
In
the evening we had a short walk to the main shopping street in town with all
the restaurants. Prices vary from
moderate to expensive but very good meals.
Sunday
morning we went on a snorkeling trip to the low isles on the “Sail Away”. We had a great time. Only 14 of us on the boat designed for 30 and
we had the dive spot pretty much to ourselves. It was easy snorkeling in water
around 4—5 feet deep. Lots of soft
coral. Talking to some people this trip
was probably better than some of the boats that go out to the reef. Less time getting to and from and quieter on
the sailboat than the diesel powered craft.
Link to more pictures
Monday
we had an all day tour of the Daintree area north of Port Douglas. It’s a rainforest with plenty of rivers and
creeks where you can see lots of different vegetation and of course
crocodiles. The weather was overcast so
not the best for photography. We went as
far as Cape Tribulation where Captain Cook ran aground and then back for a croc
hunting trip on a boat in the river.
Then we had a trip on a 4wd track to a beautiful waterfall where we
could have had a swim if it had been a little warmer and we didn’t mind sharing
the water with an eel. Highlight of the
trip was probably catching a glimpse of a Cassowary crossing the road with his
chick. You don’t often see them in the
wild. And if you do you need to keep
your distance as they easily rip you to
shreds with the claws on their feet.
Tuesday
we visited the Wildlife habitat in Port Douglas. They had a good collection of
wildlife native to northern Australia.
Mary Beth really loved feeding the swamp wallabies.
Link to Wildlife Habitat pictures
Wednesday
we just relaxed at the beach and in Jacuzzi on the deck of our apartment at the
Regal. Another great, but expensive,
meal in the evening.
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| Four Mile Beach |
Thursday
we headed down towards Cairns and took a skyway ride up a mountain over the
rain forest canopy to the town of Kuranda.
Kuranda was at one time just a sleepy little hippy community but now it
is a tourist town. Lots of shops with expensive
things to buy. We escaped with just a few.
Dan now has his own kangaroo skin and a bottle opener with a handle made
from the parts that make a male Kangaroo a male. It will make a great white elephant gift come
Christmas time. From Kuranda there is a
train that runs back down the mountain to a town just outside Cairns. Coaches are restored 19th century
and the views from the train are spectacular.
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| On the Railroad... |
Friday
was another just hang out day in Port Douglas.
More beach time and a little planning for where we were going next. We packed the car Friday night for an early
departure on Saturday morning.
May 5-7
Airlie Beach and the WhitSunday Islands
Saturday
we drove to Airlie Beach. We got there
late in the afternoon. The Traveler’s
Auto Barn brochure had recommended this as a place. It was definitely a place where there were
lots of backpackers. We had a room on
the hill overlooking the harbor and Witsundy islands. The view was great and it was a short walk to
down to the main “strip” in town where all the bars and restaurants are. A short walk but very vertical. Advil and alchohol made the return trip home
up the hill bearable for Mary Beth. We
made arrangements to do the half day cruise to Whitehaven beach in the
Whitsunday Islands.
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| Whitehaven Beach |
More pictures from the Whitsundays
Sunday
was a nice sunny day and the cruise through the Whitsunday islands was
beautiful. I think the sail trip to
snorkel at Port Douglas spoiled us a bit relative to transportation on water. The diesel boat was very noisy. Whitehaven is on the top 10 beach list (don’t
recall who’s list). We had a great time
just walking down the beach and wading in the surf.
In
the evening we stopped at the hotel bar for a drink and ended staying there for
dinner. Good food but rather slow
service. Anyway we got back to the room
early enough to get plenty of sleep before heading to Rockhampton the next
morning.
May 7
Travel to Rockhampton
Monday
we drove on to Rockhampton. It was about
an hour away from Gladstone where the boat to Heron leaves from but it was the
only place we could find relatively low cost accommodation. Apparently the mining boom has put rooms in
demand and we couldn’t find anything in Gladstone for under $200 a night. We had intended to do some shopping for
snorkeling equipment and wine before heading to Heron Island. Surprise.
It was Labor Day in Queensland and everything was closed except for
restaurants and the movie theater. We
made the best of it. Mary Beth got to
see “Hunger Games”. She had read the
book and was happy to see that they had changed very little in the movie
version.
May
8-12 Heron Island
We
arrived at the Gladstone early and I spent an hour looking for some snorkeling
equipment that was cheaper than the $45 we were going to pay renting. No luck with that so we went on to the
harbor. We put the Jackaroo in covered
secure parking about an hour before the ferry left and settled in doing last
minute E-mails and (god forgive us) Facebook.
It
was a nice smooth ride on the twin hulled ferry over to the island. Sunshine and calm seas made the trip very
pleasant. Trying to photograph the birds
flying along the water looking for fish was next to impossible. Too far away and too hard to focus on
them. I spotted one lone sea turtle on
the trip but we went by him too fast for a good photograph.
Heron
Island was originally a turtle canning factory at the beginning of the
century. The owners soon figured out
that this would not be a sustainable operation and converted the island
buildings into a resort. It’s changed
over the years and now is $400 a night Eco resort. At least the meals are included. It’s a bit expensive for my taste but its
Mary Beth’s reward for all the paradriving and staying in some of the more
basic accommodations during the last three months. You can do a little rationalizing. Here you don’t have to pay $200 dollars and
spend two hours sailing out to the reef and when you consider what you would
spend at Port Douglas for a nice hotel, snorkeling trips and three great meals
a day it’s a BARGAIN. At least I keep
telling myself that.
We had
a garden view cabin with lots of birds to watch in the trees. If you wanted to see the ocean it was a short
two minute walk to the beach.
After
unpacking on the first day we took a guided reef walk. At low tide there were lots of varieties of
sea cucumbers, shell fish, and even a small shark to check out. We got a great sunset picture of the shore at
low tide with a beautiful sunset.
The
meals here are great. Amazingly on the
first night none of the main dishes were fish.
Mary Beth had kangaroo and I had Angus beef. Alcohol is not included in the rate. Mary Beth had a $16 cocktail before dinner
and we had a very nice bottle of Cab-Shiraz blend for only $35. That was the cheapest wine on the menu.
Wednesday
morning we picked up our snorkeling equipment and took a tour of the marine
center that is located on the island along with the resort. In the afternoon we headed out on the boat
with the divers for an hour of guided snorkeling. We were out on the edge of the reef where the
water was around 3-10 meters deep.
Because of the relatively strong tides of the last few days the water
was not as clear as it might have been.
We did manage to see a huge green sea turtle among other things. Mary Beth was glowing when she got out of the
water. Her knees felt great and she had
just ticked off one of the items on her bucket list.
After
snorkeling we went to the info center for an hour presentation on sea
turtles. It was interesting to see how
attitudes have changed over the years.
From the turtle cannery that started the settlement on the island to a
resort where they had turtle riding till the 60’s and now with all the
protection the green turtles on this part of the barrier reef are coming back
strong.
Thursday
morning we went on an island walk. We
saw something pretty uncommon for this time of year. There were tracks on the
sand up to the forest where a turtle had come ashore to build a nest and lay
her eggs. This turtle was about 60 days
later than the rest. The guide
explained how the island was formed and some of the specific vegetation and
birds that can only be found here and on a few other islands on the reef.
After
the tour we went snorkeling. You simply
walk down the beach a ways and jump in the water and head out. We were shooting for high tide. The water was only 3-4 feet deep with bits of
coral and sea grass spread out between larger areas where you could stand up
without damaging anything. I had the
camera and spent lots of time just pointing and shooting. It was very difficult to see what was framed
exactly in the camera. There were lots
of fish to photograph. The trick is
getting close enough to them before they hide in the sea grass or under/around
the coral.
There
was a Lemon shark (probably more than
one) out there with us. I saw him
swimming right under Mary Beth at one point and swam over to tell her but he
was gone. Then I saw him again and
managed to get a few photographs. The
theme from “Jaws” started playing in my mind and even though these sharks are
not aggressive I decided it was time to call it quits for the day. I already had taken over 100 photos. When we got to shore a lady told me that she
had seen the shark swimming behind me earlier. He must have been chasing the same fish I was.
In
the afternoon we took the bird watching walk.
It was only an hour but there were plenty of opportunities to see and
photograph the birds. We chilled out in
the bar until nearly sunset. Then we
raced to the jetty to get some pictures.
I think sunset is better from the beach.
But still pretty fantastic any way you look at it.
Friday
was our last full day. Mary Beth decided
we should head for the north tip of the island for snorkeling. We did an hour in the morning, had lunch and
then another hour in the afternoon. We
retired to the bar to relax and sort through the 169 underwater photos. No turtles but lots of small fish and coral
this time.
We
decided that snorkeling off the beach is better than the dive boat—at least for
the on trip we took. At the edge of the
reef you have to dive down to get close to anything and we didn’t see nearly as
many fish.
It
was tough to leave this place. When the
sun is shining and the water is warm there doesn’t seem to be a better place to
be on earth.
More Heron Island pictures
