Lorelei’s Sailing Adventures
Episode 59 was a good month of cruising with the best weather we’d had in ages.
We had a
great time exploring Great Keppel Island before spending almost 2 weeks in Lady
Musgrave Lagoon diving, spearing and kiting and then 10 days in the northern
Fraser Island area. Finally finishing in Hervey Bay.
We saw Manta Rays on
every dive at Lady Musgrave Island
A glass out at sunrise
in Lady Musgrave Lagoon
At the end we
gave Lorelei a well-earned break and parked her up in a marina berth at the
Great Sandy Straights Marina for a month.
So this
Episode is not about sailing as Lorelei enjoys a month of rest and maintenance.
Instead this
Episode is about a family 4WD holiday on Fraser Island and Paul spending time
with his parents on their farm in Rural Queensland while Lisa (who didn't take a camera) spent time with her
family on the NSW Central Coast.
Our Location for this
Episode
Our 4WD Route during our
stay on Fraser Island
We arrived at
the Marina at lunchtime on Monday and had less than 24 hours before Paul’s dad
George, brother Rod and his new girlfriend Kelly (who we hadn’t met yet) were
arriving for a family holiday 4WDing on Fraser Island.
It was a
frantic 24 hours with us getting settled in, hiring the marina car to do some
shopping before cleaning Lorelei, washing her from top to bottom and putting
all her long term covers on.
We finished
well after dark but did enjoy a nice sunset over the marina as we washed and
scrubbed.
The next
morning the frantic pace continued with a visit from the local refrigeration
mechanic.
Lisa defrosted
the freezer two days prior, but when she turned it back on, it wasn’t working
as it should. Additionally we had a long term issue with the fridge that 3
previous fridge tradies (over the last 2 years) weren’t able to fix.
Ross the
owner of Heat Attack turned up on time, fixed both issues in just 4 hours. He
was super friendly, very knowledgeable and well-priced so we can highly
recommend him.
During that
time George, Rod and Kelly had arrived.
They had some
wild stories about their 2 day drive from the NSW Central Coast as they drove 16
hours, 9 of those through heavy rain and minor flooding on the first day.
Fortunately
the food shopping still had to be done so Lisa took off with them to Hervey Bay
to get that done while Paul and Ross finished up.
Paul had just
enough time to get Lorelei back to normal and get all the gear for Fraser out
before the gang returned and we all lugged it up to the car.
At 2pm we
were packed and ready to head to the Barge which was departing at 4pm.
The car was
soooo overloaded with all the gear for 5 of us. We even had to pump rear shocks
up with the air compressor!
Talk about a
crazy 36 hours for everyone!!!!
And we’re all in this
together……
We arrived
well ahead of time and watched the barge cross back from Fraser Island to pick
up its next load of vehicles.
It was
interesting to watch the cars unloading off the barge backwards.
Sure enough,
we had to reverse on too so was were facing forwards when we departed at the
destination.
Because we
were first on, we were able to watch the larger buses and truck reverse on
after us.
The trip over
was great with good views sitting high upstairs.
We arrived at
5pm but because of the low tide, the barge had to land at Kingfisher Resort
rather than further south at Woongoolba Creek.
The downside
of that was that we had a 1 hour drive from Kingfisher Bay to our accommodation
at Eurong.
We departed
the barge in daylight but arrived in the dark at Eurong after a bumpy 4WD trip
with the well overloaded car.
We were all
cold, hungry and tired but fortunately the accommodation was awesome with an
amazing 3 story beach house and the girl’s smart forethought to get hot BBQ
chickens and salad whilst shopping meant for a quick and stress-free dinner.
The amazing 3 story
beach house that was our home for a week
The next
morning we took off north along the beach to explore a few areas on the east
coast shoreline.
The high
tide, strong winds and large seas were pushing water right up onto the flat
part of the beaches. That combined with fresh water runoff from the previous
rains put sheens of glassy water over the sand that made for excellent
reflection photos.
On the larger
creek crossings and runoffs, Rod had fun driving the car through the freshwater.
Rod made the
most of doing the u-turns as Paul asked him to do the crossing again for more
photos
Eli Creek was
our first stop and we were amazed to find the popular tourist spot with not a
single other person there.
We wandered
up the creek in the cool but crystal clear fresh water.
We ventured
up to Happy Valley and stopped for morning tea.
Inside the
shop was a lot of memorabilia from one of Fraser Island’s most iconic
attractions – the Maheno Shipwreck, which went aground on the beach in 1935.
The shop had
lots of old photos of the wreck as well as a scale model and a replica ships
bell.
We continued
on up the beach to the Maheno and we found virtually nobody at the shipwreck
site and were able to get some great photos.
With the no
crowds, a high tide and rough seas pushing water through the wreck, Paul set up
a tripod and a dark neutral density filter so he could do some 2-4 second
exposures around the wreck. The result made the water look like fog around the
ship.
The problem
was getting the timing right so the salt water waves didn’t splash up onto the
camera and tripod and the added problem of the tripod moving by sinking into
the soft sand.
It was a fun
challenge…..
Note Rod standing on the
deck as the water rushed past underneath him
After lunch,
we went down to the beach in front of our house to see if we could find beach
worms or pipis to use as bait for fishing.
The film of
water over the beach made for more great reflections.
There were
loads of birds sitting on the shoreline and flying around.
Further up
the beach Paul spied a lone Dingo walking around up in the sand dunes.
At first it
was a bit of two and fro as Paul stalked the Dingo before the Dingo started stalking
Paul.
Eventually
they both became comfortable around each other and the Dingo followed Paul down
to the beach and even along the water’s edge.
George
brought the car up to the action and the Dingo has happy to walk around the
car.
A breakdown
tow truck zoomed past at speed and the Dingo wasn’t fazed at all.
Eventually it
was happy to sit down as Paul sat down near it.
With the big
seas and overcast conditions, we decided to head into the centre of the island
and explore the forest areas.
However we
still had to drive a little way up the beach before cutting into the islands
centre.
As we drove
north, we stopped to see 2 planes and a makeshift beach runway as they waited for
tourists eager to do a joy flight over the island.
It was pretty
cool to not only watch the plane taxi to the beach runway, but to also follow
the plane along in the car as it took off.
We took some
trails with soft sand and high banks surrounded by huge trees.
It was very
picturesque.
First stop
was the magnificent Central Station.
The area is
stunning and filled with many walks, huge pine and eucalypt forests, creeks and
lots of history about the old settlement and timber cutting era.
Paul and
George saw some huge Stag Horn Ferns on the tree trunks.
The highlight
is the board walk along Woongoolba Creek.
Rod and Lisa
found a vine that looped nearly to the ground.
A few heavy
tugs confirmed it may hold a person’s weight so it became a swing.
At first it
was a few small pushes but in the end they were both pushing out from high up
the bank and way out over the path.
Paul took his
shoes off and waded down to the shallow but cold creek to get some photos.
It was dark
with the overcast conditions and dense canopy but there were no shadows which
was perfect for some slow exposure wide angle photography.
We drove to
another place called Pile Valley which was filled with huge Hoop Pines.
As we walked
along the trail it started to rain and by the end we were all in wet weather
jackets and soaked.
Tree Hoggers – opps I
mean Tree Huggers!!!!!!
Despite a
rainy afternoon and evening (which meant “Cloudy with a chance of Drinking….”),
we were determined to go fishing the next day.
With still
big seas, we opted to drive over to the islands west coast and try the calmer
bay side.
First stop
was Woongoolba Creek where it exits to the Bay.
It is a muddy
creek but there were lots of nipper (yabby) holes so we pumped for nippers and
had a stack in the bucket in under 40 minutes.
We tried
fishing in the creek but it was muddy, raining and not very pleasant so we
didn’t last long.
So we aborted
and after consulting the map, we decided to head to Ungowa instead. It was an
area we had visited by boat before but we weren’t sure of the road access.
We gave it a
go anyway….
The road into
Ungowa was overgrown so it was evident that it had only had little use
recently.
However it
was beautiful with lots of big trees and some great little timber bridges that
we had to cross over.
With just 3km
to go all was going well but we came around a corner to find a long tree had
fallen down over the road.
It wasn’t too
big but it had 2 main trunks and went into the bush either side at least
6m/20ft so there was no chance to move it by hand.
So we cleared
away the smaller branches so we could work on the main trunks.
Soon it was
out with the 4wd recovery gear. Rod and George turned the car around and hooked
up a snatch strap to the car and around the trunks.
It took a lot
of grunt from the car in low range 4WD, but eventually the tree moved and Rod
was able to pull it straight and drag it down the road to a wider section.
Note the roots of the
tree ploughing the sand on the road
We weren’t
able to get it off the road but at least now it was just wide enough to pass.
Success!!! Just……
In stark
contrast to Woongoolba Creek, Ungowa was awesome with a timber ramp and wharf
to fish off and lots of structure in the water which made some great fish
habitat.
We all caught
undersized fish and 6 or 7 different species, but the catch of the day went to
Rod who hooked a decent Flathead off the old jetty.
With finer
weather and abating seas, we packed the car for a full day trip the next day
and headed north along the east coast beach all the way up to Indian Head.
On the way we
stopped at a few place for a look.
First stop
was The Pinnacles which is a series of hard packed coloured sand pinnacles just
back from the beach.
Sadly the
National Parks have fenced it off and only built a tiny little fenced walk that
basically goes to nowhere and you can’t see anything.
Very
disappointing considering you can see the walking tracks going around the
fences to access them. You’d think with miles of the coloured and packed dunes,
they’d allow access to some of it……
The second
stop at Red Canyon was much better.
We walked up
a small but lush green valley filled with Pandanus Palms.
We found some
small but colourful red sand blazes.
Paul climbed
further up the ridge to get a view over the valley and beach.
Along the
beach were some serious wash outs from the excess runoff from the rain so we
had to be careful and not drive along too fast.
The view from
the top of Indian Head was excellent looking back south.
The other
side of Indian Head made for a great lunch stop as it was protected from the
wind.
A little way
past Indian Head is Waddy Point and the home to the popular Champagne Pools.
The walkway
to the pool goes over the headland and gives amazing views out over the ocean
and to the whales that were frolicking just off the coast.
We were
excited to find the place uncrowded.
Looking
north, the next bay looked very rough and unforgiving.
Paul had his
underwater camera with him (without the strobes) and was able to get into the
pools to photograph the waves that come over the rocks and into the pools.
Lisa and
George also came for a swim and with a mask, were able to see loads of big Whiting
and Bream.
Paul was also
able to get half and half photos in between the waves crashing in, roughing up
the surface and clouding the viz.
Finally the
weather was getting better and better.
Paul and
George were able to do a second trip up to the Maheno Wreck for a sunset photo
session.
Sadly it
wasn’t one of those super red sunsets but still the low light and varied
colours meant for some fun time exposure photos on the tripod.
Paul was able
to do some editing to one of the photos to create this mix of black and
white/colour photo.
We woke the
next morning to a beautiful day which was the type of day we were waiting for
to visit the inland lakes.
Fraser Island
has over a dozen perched lakes scattered throughout its interior but the most
popular (and accessible) is Lake McKenzie.
So we planned
to visit a few starting in the south and finishing at the famous Lake McKenzie.
The drive in
through the forest was stunning with massive trees lining the road.
There were big
gullies with narrow sides we had to drive through.
The roads
looked smooth and fast and we assumed they had been recently graded.
Sure enough,
5 minutes later we pulled up behind the grader.
It was going
very slow but the driver kindly pulled over only a few minutes later to let us
past.
When we were
driving along, Rod spied a series of trees that had the bark strip off and engraving
on the tree. They looked really old and we
wondered just how long ago the engravings were done.
The first
lake we visited was Lake Boomamjin.
It had a
fantastic foreshore but the water had a very strong tannin colour from the
surrounding tea trees.
Its claim to
fame is it’s the world’s largest perched lake.
The second
lake, Lake Birrabeen had much clearer water with no discolouration.
Around the
edge of the lake were some very unusual red plants that were growing in the wet
sand.
The last stop
was Lake McKenzie.
This lake is
famous for its crystal clear fresh water.
Looking down
from the walking trail, the water looked clear in the shallows but a dark blue
in the deeper parts.
George took a
great panoramic of the foreshore.
Whilst the
rest of the group stayed dry, we both went for a swim and took the underwater
camera. It was crystal clear but really cold.
We found a
spot in a little side bay that was out of the wind for the photos.
The lack of
wind was for 2 reasons – to keep the water surface smooth and to stop the wind
chill on our skin.
It took a bit
of coaxing to get Lisa to dive under but she did – finally…
Whilst we
were in the water doing the photos, George walked around the edge of the lake
and took some photos of us in the little bay.
While Lisa
relaxed back on the beach trying to warm up in the sun,
Paul took the
camera around the little bays foreshore and had fun in the reeds doing some
under/over and underwater photos looking up.
Rod got up
early to go fishing the next morning and Paul took the car up the beach to
capture a sunrise along the beach.
The best
results were down close to the water’s edge to get the water sheen reflections
and the waves.
The problem
was the waves washing under the tripod and moving the camera around and even
the occasional splash of saltwater over the camera.
The results
were great but it took a while to break down the tripod and freshwater wash it
when he got home.
Being alone
and so early, Paul had a couple of local animals come to visit.
Two Dingos
decided to come and have a look and tried to get into the car when Paul was a
little silly and left the back door open.
When he moved
the car down closer he realised the car would make a great subject with the
reflections and the dingos followed which also created a reflection shot of
them.
On our last
full day on the Island, we took the 4WD over to Kingfisher Bay Resort.
The first
thing to do was to have a walk along the resort’s pier.
You are
allowed to fish off it and we took fishing gear, but the tide was too low.
For lunch we
had a look at the resort’s day visitor facility and brought some hot food to go
with our picnic.
The main
resort is quite luxurious and we checked out the main building and its various
restaurants.
Out the front
is one of the anchors from the Maheno Shipwreck
On the way
home we drove along a road we had travelled a few times over the course of the
week.
Paul had seen
a large felled tree that was covered in moss and had a split down the centre
and this time we were able to pull over and have a look at it.
Sadly that
night we packed up the house and loaded the car ready for an early departure
the next morning.
Fortunately with
a lot of the food eaten and drinks gone, the packing was slightly easier than
the trip across and the car a bit lighter – thankfully!!!
We arrived at
Woongoolba Creek in time to pump up the tyres and watch the ferry arrive in the
glassy protected waters of the creek.
The ferry
staff told us that in the afternoon the wind was due to exceed 50 knots (100km
per hour) so they were prepping for a long day of overtime as the barges at the
southern end of the island (Inskip Point) were closing due to the super strong wind
and many campers were recommended to leave or move into the centre of the
island.
Our trip back
to the mainland was a little windy and cold but not too bad.
When Rod and
Kelly flew home from Hervey Bay, George stayed for an extra few days with us on
board Lorelei.
We were
wondering what to do and reading a few tourist brochures when we noticed that
the town of Maryborough had markets on a Thursday and additionally the heritage
steam train operated and the time canon was fired at 1pm at the town hall.
It was perfect – the weather was great,
Thursday was the next day and of all the options of towns to visit, Maryborough
was one of the closest being only 30 minutes’ drive away.
Dad loves
steam trains and when he first visited us on board Lorelei, we did the steam
train ride at Port Douglas along with family friend Keith.
So it was
cool to be able to have another ride on another of our travel adventures
together.
It’s only a
short trip around the town edge and along past the Mary River but it is a lot
of fun on the immaculate replica of the first steam powered train in the area.
In reality it
is more like a flatbed carriage with an exposed steam engine rather than the
traditional looking train at Port Douglas but it’s very photogenic and a bit of
local history replicated.
Despite
Maryborough being over 24nm/50km from the Mary River’s mouth near Fraser
Island, there is a small marina and the area is popular for cruising yachts and
power boats that are prepared to motor the distance up the river.
The Mary
River is notorious for flooding and the old heritage listed Bond Store on the water’s
edge has a gauge on the side of the building indicating the flood water levels
for the last 150 years.
Some of the
heights are shocking and the local museum has some great photos from previous
floods.
One photo of
boats tied to the 3rd story balcony of the local pub is wild.
The old area
of town along the foreshore has some beautifully restored buildings that are
either museums, shops or still in use like the restored courthouse.
The “Street Library” is
interesting……
The entryway to the old
bond store.
The Thursday
Markets are in the main street that is closed off for the day.
At 1pm we
went and watched the firing of the time canon.
It all
started for the World Expo in 1988 and was so popular that it is still
conducted every Thursday and on other special occasions.
The staff
wear period costumes and tell the story of the canon.
Despite its
size, it’s damn loud and tends to make all the tourists jump.
Before
leaving we had a look at the Town Hall. Inside looked great with the light
coming through the old windows and reflecting off the polished timber floor.
The next day
we went separate ways for 10 days as George and Lisa drove back to the NSW
Central Coast.
Lisa was
heading home to spend time with the family.
Meanwhile,
Paul with an empty boat, took advantage of the situation and did a major
service on Lorelei’s John Deere main engine.
With many
jobs going on at once, the surrounds of the engine room was a mess.
Fortunately
there were no hiccups and by 6pm the engine was once again intact, the engine
room cleaned, washed and detailed and the 20 litres of old oils and filters all
disposed of.
It was a
looooong day but he was super stoked to have it completed and ready for the
next leg of our sailing adventure.
The next day
Paul’s other parents, Diann and Ron arrived in Hervey Bay with their motorhome
so they could pick Paul up and bring him back out to their farm in rural
Queensland which is about 200km from the coast.
For the next
10 days they did a mixture of working on the farm, exploring the surrounding
region and taking photos.
Paul’s mum
Diann is also an avid photographer so armed with some new camera accessories they
spent hours each day experimenting with the new gear and taking lots of photos
from dawn to well into the night.
On the way
back to the farm from the coast, they stopped in at the Ned Kelly Roadhouse for
a look.
Paul hadn’t
been to the farm for over 18 month with the last time being around Christmas
and in the summer.
This time it
was winter and the trees looked very different.
Some had shed
the summer leaves whilst other like the fruit trees were full of flowers and
fruit.
With over 40
species of fruit trees, 35 species of vegetables and 25 species of herbs,
there’s lots of options for both summer and winter home grown food all over the
farm.
The citrus
and chilli trees were full of fruit.
The property
was full of Butterflies and Bees so hours were spent in the garden areas
photographing them.
The first few
days were overcast but it was so warm for winter and across the state,
temperatures were well above average.
We used the
warmer weather and cloud formations to get out to the surrounding rural areas and
shoot the fields and sunsets.
The Nectarine Trees were
just starting to flower and looked like Cherry Blossom.
Note Paul’s shadow on
the bail of stock feed
The closest
main town is Kingaroy – the Peanut capital of Australia.
We went in
and out of Kingaroy about 5 times over the course of the 10 days Paul was
there.
The land
between the farm and Kingaroy has amazing red soil with huge fields of Peanuts,
Debozia Trees, stock feed and Cattle crazing areas.
It was great
to see the fields in various states of growth and harvest.
We saw loads
of cattle and even got up close with a few friendly horses.
At one field
we were really excited to see a Bustard Bird.
They are a
large bird and Diann had never seen one in the area before.
Some of the
old farmhouse are very photogenic.
Close to
Kingaroy is the Wooroolin Wetlands.
On the side
of the wetland area is a bird hide for photographing and viewing the diverse
amount of birds that visit the wetlands.
With the
super glassy water and perfect reflections, Paul spent much more time using the
wide angle lenses rather than concentrating on the birds with the large zoom
lens.
The bird hide on the
side of the wetlands
The wetlands had 1000’s
of ducks both in the water and
perched on the fallen timber.
perched on the fallen timber.
There is a
small mountain overlooking Kingaroy that has great views over the town and the
surrounding fields.
We had booked
in at the Kingaroy Observatory to do a night of star viewing but unfortunately
with the overcast conditions, it was cancelled.
But we still
wanted to have a look at the observatory which was near the airport.
What we found
opposite was a large collection of old farming equipment on display that Diann
and Ron didn’t know was there.
Their house
faces west which means you can see the sunsets from the front balcony while
looking down over property and out to the Bunya Mountains.
We walked
over the road to the neighbour’s property one arvo to view the sunset light
rays which were shining through the heavy cloud.
But it wasn’t
all play and the property requires regular maintenance and work.
One job is to
repair the fences which takes time, particularly when you are looking along a
250+m stretch…..
Paul driving in star
stakes for a new piece of fencing
We did a day
trip out to the Pottique Lavender Farm as the fields were full of the purple
lavender buds and ready for harvesting.
The lavender
fields aren’t huge but produce a lot for their size.
After asking
permission, we spent ages in the fields with a variety of lenses photographing
them.
The buds were
popular with the Bees and Butterflies.
Paul was happy to score
a Bee and
a Lady-beetle on this
Lavender bud
The Farm has
a café and the largest lavender Shop in Australia.
The café and
shop surrounds are beautiful.
The next day
the skies cleared to beautiful days with not a cloud in the sky.
But it was
cold – really, really cold.
The mornings
were really foggy with visibility around 100m/330ft and the ground was wet from
the heavy frost.
Overnight it
was getting as low as -2 celsius and we were rugging up and putting the fire
on.
That meant
splitting wood into smaller pieces for the slow combustion stove.
It was so
cold at night that even the Possums were seeking shelter.
They were in
the laundry and also on the back deck.
We were even
able to feed them some apples.
But during
the day the cool clear conditions made the gardens come alive with colour,
flowers and insects.
Even at dusk the Bees where still busy collecting Pollen.
Diann taking photos of
the cactus and agave at dusk
At night with
the clear skies, we rugged up and took the cameras out in the cold night air
and did long time exposures of the Milky Way and Star Trail photos.
On the
weekend, we went to the Nanango Markets before heading out to Cooyar.
Cooyar is a
very small town with only a few buildings.
The
Cooyar Pub
Not far from
the town is a great place called Palm Valley which is within the National Park.
The walks are
awesome with huge palms and gum trees standing beside massive Bunya and Hoop
Pines.
On Paul’s
last day at the farm, we went and had a look at the fields of small Duboisia
Trees. These are not grown in many locations but are popular around the
Kingaroy area as they flourish in the red soil. The leaves are exported to
France for processing and used during eye surgery.
Due to the
potent leaves, the fields are well fenced with barbed wire.
After 10 days
we returned to the coast to pick Lisa up from the Hervey Bay airport and to
have a few days together before Diann and Ron headed back to the farm.
We spent time
exploring the Hervey Bay foreshore.
The last thing we did was a HUGE reprovision
of food, fuel and spares which took over 2 days…..
So that’s it
for another Episode.
It’s been a
little different as there’s no sailing but now Lorelei is fully serviced, minor
issues fixed and reprovisioned for a full 3 months of travel on the next leg of
our sailing adventure.
The whales
have just shown up in Hervey Bay so that’s the first stop.
We keep
saying it but hopefully this time we will have some half-decent weather to
enable us to get out to the Swains Reef and hopefully areas like Saumarez Reef
in the Coral Sea over the next few months.
Time will
tell……
Cheers
Paul and Lisa
Hogger.