a beautiful place, next to the Turtle Rookery it teemed with wonderful bird and animal life. The history of the area was also fascinating.In the late 1800's, sugar cane farmers bought in many islanders known as Kanaka's to assist with the cane cutting. Next to Turtle Sands Caravan Park is a hand made stone wall known as the "Kanaka Wall". It was built by the islanders from the stones cleared from the fields. It is heritage listed now in memory of them. They were little more than slaves but treated a bit better.
Being right on the beach meant we were in and out of the water all the time. Both of u
s are brown as berries. It was also special as whilst we were there, many of our friends came to join us on a number of occasions. First there was Bill and Marie from Yeppoon, then Steve and Vicki who we first met on the Atherton tableland but met up with them again in Cooktown and Ellis Beach, then Heinz and Anita (from Switzerland) who we met in Jindabyne last year. They went back to Switzerland for their summer and returned again in October, flying into Brisbane, to continue their trip around Australia, and last but not least Mary Jane and Kim from Brisbane. MJ & Kim we first met on our 4WD trip to the Victorian High Country 4 years ago, then last year we spent 5 weeks in the outback of South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. They have now purchased their first caravan and going to lease their house from 7th January 2008 and will probably join us on the road somewhere! It was great all to be together and swap ideas and travel stories.We had some great trips and experiences whilst at Mon Repos. Walter and I travelled
to Elliot Heads for a picnic lunch, taking our books sitting on the river bank near the river mouth to the ocean. Such a pretty place although we liked our caravan park better! Whilst with Marie and Bill we went shopping in Bundaberg, met Bill’s mum who will be 90 next year, and organised tickets to attend the theatre to see "Men in Tutu’s"! This is an International Ballet Company but spoofing ballet. It was an amazing show, so much talent but hilarious. We had tears running down our faces from laughing.We found a lovely little café/restaurant over at Bundaberg Port on the Burnett River which became a favourite of us all.
We visited the Bundaberg Rum Distillery for a tour which was very interesting. Each
vat was worth $6M of which the Government taxes take 2/3’s! $4m dollars worth of duty….The tour took about an hour. All I wanted was a “Bundy Bear” but found that they don’t sell them as they would contravene their license as it is classified as a toy! So I now have a T shirt instead! With Steve and V
icki we also visited the Bundaberg Botanical Gardens and went through Bert Hinkler’s house. He is buried in Italy where he died in his crashed plane in the late 1920’s but they bought his house from England and rebuilt it, brick by brick and tile by tile until it now stands in lovely gardens just like it used to in England. Also in the gardens was the Fairymead Sugar Museum. This is a history of the sugar industry that began in the area.
We visited the Bundaberg Rum Distillery for a tour which was very interesting. Each
vat was worth $6M of which the Government taxes take 2/3’s! $4m dollars worth of duty….The tour took about an hour. All I wanted was a “Bundy Bear” but found that they don’t sell them as they would contravene their license as it is classified as a toy! So I now have a T shirt instead! With Steve and V
icki we also visited the Bundaberg Botanical Gardens and went through Bert Hinkler’s house. He is buried in Italy where he died in his crashed plane in the late 1920’s but they bought his house from England and rebuilt it, brick by brick and tile by tile until it now stands in lovely gardens just like it used to in England. Also in the gardens was the Fairymead Sugar Museum. This is a history of the sugar industry that began in the area. We spent a couple of hours there and found it really interesting.
On another day we also caught a river cruise from Bundaberg down the Burnett River to the m
outh and returned. Really peaceful way to spend a couple of hours and so very p
retty. We also drove up to the only hill around called The Hummock where the view was totally spectacular, 360 degrees over the coast, Bundaberg and the mountains and when the day was clear you could see Fraser Island.
On another day we also caught a river cruise from Bundaberg down the Burnett River to the m
outh and returned. Really peaceful way to spend a couple of hours and so very p
retty. We also drove up to the only hill around called The Hummock where the view was totally spectacular, 360 degrees over the coast, Bundaberg and the mountains and when the day was clear you could see Fraser Island.On the first November the turtle laying season opened so we waited about 5 days before booking a tour. The Mon Repos beach is closed at night from this time and you can only go onto the beach with the rangers under very specific conditions. You cannot take any torches onto the beach as any light discourages the turtles from coming ashore. So we went down to the Ranger station at the rookery and the rangers give you heaps of info about the turtles and their laying habits. The Loggerhead turtles, that are endangered, use this beach nearly exclusively, they also get some Green and Flatback turtles too. They are very sensitive to light and they don’t get settled until after they dig their hole and lay at least about 15-20 eggs, it is at this time they let small groups onto the beach to view this special event.
The first time Walter and I went, it was a Flatback Turtle but she didn’t settle and headed back to the ocean. They had already called us down to the beach (in the dark) and we were waiting further down the beach. So when she began to head back they called us through to watch her make her way back into the sea. A week later when MJ and Kim and Bill and Marie came back again, we booked another tour and at 6.45 pm we headed back to the Rookery. There was a nice little walking track down through the caravan park to the Rookery. Needed the torch on the way back though as it was very dark.
This time we were hardly there when we were called down to the beach. This time a Loggerhead Turtle came up to lay and was already digging her hole. The rangers positioned us behind her, outside he
r field of vision and with a torch buried in the sand behind her so we could watch her dig her hole. The hole is an inverted V….very clever girl! Once she has completed the hole she begins to lay. Fascinating to watch. As soon as she had laid about 20 eggs she is committed to the task so we then could take some photos and walk to the front 
of her very slowly whilst the Rangers ensured she was tagged and measured. This girl had laid here before so was already tagged. This little lady laid 86 eggs and then spends about an hour filling the hole and bringing the sand level back up to the beach level. Then all torches are off and she makes her way back to the lowest point of light which is the horizon over the sea. This girl got it a bit wrong and had actually dug her hole below high tide mark. This means that all the eggs would be drowned. So as soon as she hit the ocean the Ranger digs them all up, counts them and we help them to relocate them to a “ranger” dug hole above the tide mark. So we saved 86 little turtle babies this night!
The hatchlings take about 6 weeks to hatch and when they make their way back down the beach into the ocean, they are magnetically imprinted with the beach and the females (after 30 years) will return here to lay. It takes that long for a female to reach laying maturity. The males never return at all. Once she leaves her eggs her job is over. She never returns to check on her eggs or young, the babies are on their own! Some parents I’m sure wish this for their teenagers!
Whilst MJ & Kim were at Mon Repos, MJ & I went on long early morning walks enjoying the incred
ible scenery and animal and birdlife. So many varieties of birds as there are so many different habitats. The bird book got a very heavy workout between us!
We received two large showers of rain whilst in Mon Repos, about 1 ½ inches in each. It was the first real rain we have experienced since beginning travelling!
We left on Sunday 18th just after Bill and Marie who were returning to Yeppoon. Just a little sad to be leaving such a unique spot. So we travelled down to Hervey Bay and to a caravan park at Urangan right near the Marina. Neat and tidy but we really don’t get any views.
The first time Walter and I went, it was a Flatback Turtle but she didn’t settle and headed back to the ocean. They had already called us down to the beach (in the dark) and we were waiting further down the beach. So when she began to head back they called us through to watch her make her way back into the sea. A week later when MJ and Kim and Bill and Marie came back again, we booked another tour and at 6.45 pm we headed back to the Rookery. There was a nice little walking track down through the caravan park to the Rookery. Needed the torch on the way back though as it was very dark.
This time we were hardly there when we were called down to the beach. This time a Loggerhead Turtle came up to lay and was already digging her hole. The rangers positioned us behind her, outside he
r field of vision and with a torch buried in the sand behind her so we could watch her dig her hole. The hole is an inverted V….very clever girl! Once she has completed the hole she begins to lay. Fascinating to watch. As soon as she had laid about 20 eggs she is committed to the task so we then could take some photos and walk to the front 
of her very slowly whilst the Rangers ensured she was tagged and measured. This girl had laid here before so was already tagged. This little lady laid 86 eggs and then spends about an hour filling the hole and bringing the sand level back up to the beach level. Then all torches are off and she makes her way back to the lowest point of light which is the horizon over the sea. This girl got it a bit wrong and had actually dug her hole below high tide mark. This means that all the eggs would be drowned. So as soon as she hit the ocean the Ranger digs them all up, counts them and we help them to relocate them to a “ranger” dug hole above the tide mark. So we saved 86 little turtle babies this night!The hatchlings take about 6 weeks to hatch and when they make their way back down the beach into the ocean, they are magnetically imprinted with the beach and the females (after 30 years) will return here to lay. It takes that long for a female to reach laying maturity. The males never return at all. Once she leaves her eggs her job is over. She never returns to check on her eggs or young, the babies are on their own! Some parents I’m sure wish this for their teenagers!
Whilst MJ & Kim were at Mon Repos, MJ & I went on long early morning walks enjoying the incred
ible scenery and animal and birdlife. So many varieties of birds as there are so many different habitats. The bird book got a very heavy workout between us!We received two large showers of rain whilst in Mon Repos, about 1 ½ inches in each. It was the first real rain we have experienced since beginning travelling!
We left on Sunday 18th just after Bill and Marie who were returning to Yeppoon. Just a little sad to be leaving such a unique spot. So we travelled down to Hervey Bay and to a caravan park at Urangan right near the Marina. Neat and tidy but we really don’t get any views.
We have undertaken a bus tour of Hervey Bay and surrounding area which was interesting. It is a city of 60,000 population now and expanding rapidly. So many building developments! Very pretty along the Esplanade and Urangan Pier is spectacular being nearly 1 km long. It previously was even 238 metres longer but when it ceased operations the end began to deteriorate quickly so it was demolished. Thank goodness the rest of it has been heritage protected now.
Fr
iday saw us catch the ferry from the Marina to Fraser Island. We opted for a 1 day 4WD bus tour instead of risking our own vehicle. When we saw h
ow many 1st time 4WD back packer drivers get bogged etc we were very glad of our decision. It was fantastic and this island is so very unique. We began our trip at Kingfisher Bay and travelled to Central Station and then on to Eurong Beach resort for lunch. Following a buffet lunch the bus took us onto the Fraser Island “Super Highway”. This is 75 mile beach. It is amazing hooting along this stretch of sand with vehicles and planes going in all directions! Ou
r first stop was at Eli Creek. This is a fresh water creek expelling 4,000,000 litres per hour of rain water into the ocean. We paddled up it for about 500 metres. The creek actually goes for about 5 kms up into the island. The water is so pure and clean. A very popular spot for all travellers!
Back onto the “highway” and up to the wreck of the Maheno. This ship was a luxury liner that had been purchased
by Japan and was being towed by a smaller ship when it was hit with cyclonic winds. Needless to say the smaller ship could not hold it and it was beached here in 1935. As you will now see from the photos nature in the form of sea and weather have caused its destruction. I believe given another 5 years and there will be nothing much to show, either rusted away or swallowed up by the sand.
An
other couple of km’s further on were The Pinnacles or cliffs of coloured sands. Very pretty with the sunlight on them. It was at this point we were offered the chance of a scenic flight over the island taking off from the beach where we were. What an opportunity! The young female pilot also told us that we would get an extended flight as she was just about ready to finish for the day so she would drop us off back down
the beach at Eurong Resort. The bus had to return the same way so we weren’t missing anything! So we took off along the beach and flew over the coast line and the island. It gave us a much better perspective of the sand blows, the extent of the fresh water lakes and the incredible variety of vegetation. The vegetation varies from temperate forest to rainforest, beach dunes, lakes and streams. All this on the world’s largest sand island!
Following the flight the bus picked us up and we wound our way through the sandy 4WD tracks to
Lake Mackenzie. This is the most beautiful place; the water is so blue and clear. Even though we did not see any, this area is known for the famous purebred Fraser Dingos. There is a walker’s camp area all dingo fence proofed complete with galvanised locked boxes to store yo
ur food in. We spent over a hour here swimming and walking around the edge of this pretty lake. Then it was back in the bus to Kingfisher Bay to catch the ferry home. We reached Urangan at 6 pm so it was a very full day.
More rain saw us spend a quiet day yesterday but today we headed up to Burrum Heads and then to River Heads to check out the scenery. Burrum is on the mouth of the Burrum River and it is obviously a very popular holiday spot. River Heads is the mouth of the Mary River that flows through Maryborough. Low tide when we were there so there was lots of sand! There is a 3 metre tide fall here.
Thursday this week will see us on another bus trip to Maryborough, including the markets and a cruise on the Mary River. Sunday we will pack up again from here and head to Rainbow Beach for the next 3 weeks. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.
For any wanting to send us anything by mail, it has to be AT LANDBASE before 14th December as this is our Posties last day of posting before the Christmas break.
We both send you much good cheer and hope life is treating you all gently.
Cheers Rob & Walter
Fr
iday saw us catch the ferry from the Marina to Fraser Island. We opted for a 1 day 4WD bus tour instead of risking our own vehicle. When we saw h
ow many 1st time 4WD back packer drivers get bogged etc we were very glad of our decision. It was fantastic and this island is so very unique. We began our trip at Kingfisher Bay and travelled to Central Station and then on to Eurong Beach resort for lunch. Following a buffet lunch the bus took us onto the Fraser Island “Super Highway”. This is 75 mile beach. It is amazing hooting along this stretch of sand with vehicles and planes going in all directions! Ou
r first stop was at Eli Creek. This is a fresh water creek expelling 4,000,000 litres per hour of rain water into the ocean. We paddled up it for about 500 metres. The creek actually goes for about 5 kms up into the island. The water is so pure and clean. A very popular spot for all travellers!Back onto the “highway” and up to the wreck of the Maheno. This ship was a luxury liner that had been purchased
by Japan and was being towed by a smaller ship when it was hit with cyclonic winds. Needless to say the smaller ship could not hold it and it was beached here in 1935. As you will now see from the photos nature in the form of sea and weather have caused its destruction. I believe given another 5 years and there will be nothing much to show, either rusted away or swallowed up by the sand.An
other couple of km’s further on were The Pinnacles or cliffs of coloured sands. Very pretty with the sunlight on them. It was at this point we were offered the chance of a scenic flight over the island taking off from the beach where we were. What an opportunity! The young female pilot also told us that we would get an extended flight as she was just about ready to finish for the day so she would drop us off back down
the beach at Eurong Resort. The bus had to return the same way so we weren’t missing anything! So we took off along the beach and flew over the coast line and the island. It gave us a much better perspective of the sand blows, the extent of the fresh water lakes and the incredible variety of vegetation. The vegetation varies from temperate forest to rainforest, beach dunes, lakes and streams. All this on the world’s largest sand island!Following the flight the bus picked us up and we wound our way through the sandy 4WD tracks to
Lake Mackenzie. This is the most beautiful place; the water is so blue and clear. Even though we did not see any, this area is known for the famous purebred Fraser Dingos. There is a walker’s camp area all dingo fence proofed complete with galvanised locked boxes to store yo
ur food in. We spent over a hour here swimming and walking around the edge of this pretty lake. Then it was back in the bus to Kingfisher Bay to catch the ferry home. We reached Urangan at 6 pm so it was a very full day.More rain saw us spend a quiet day yesterday but today we headed up to Burrum Heads and then to River Heads to check out the scenery. Burrum is on the mouth of the Burrum River and it is obviously a very popular holiday spot. River Heads is the mouth of the Mary River that flows through Maryborough. Low tide when we were there so there was lots of sand! There is a 3 metre tide fall here.
Thursday this week will see us on another bus trip to Maryborough, including the markets and a cruise on the Mary River. Sunday we will pack up again from here and head to Rainbow Beach for the next 3 weeks. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.
For any wanting to send us anything by mail, it has to be AT LANDBASE before 14th December as this is our Posties last day of posting before the Christmas break.
We both send you much good cheer and hope life is treating you all gently.
Cheers Rob & Walter
