7th October - 13th October ONE TREE ISLAND

Turtle Love 

One Tree Island: I think I've found paradise - what a beautiful little Island - Thanks Russ and Jen for sharing your island home with us!

One Tree is a National Park 96 km from Gladstone.  It is part of the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands, and is zoned for scientific research. The Research Station is operated by Sydney University and was established in 1976 it accommodates up to 20 visiting scientists.  Jen and Russ have been here for five years and manage the day to day operations.  Solar panels backed up by a 240V diesel generator provide electricity and the only freshwater supply for the island is rainwater.

Managers Shower 

The accommodation is very cute with the best views from your loo I've ever seen (Rob spotted a whale on his first visit). Some of the floors are coral rubble - a bit hard to walk on but quite spectacular.  The canvas bag bush showers were fun - and certainly put you in touch with nature. Certainly takes away the effort of scrubbing tiles :))  The birds are plentiful and are certainly not shy of human contact with a variety of terns, Silvereyes, Brown Boobies, Rails and a pair of magnificent Sea Eagles.

Sooty Tern

The snorkeling was amazing with plenty of green turtles, beautiful corals and an abundance of reef fish. The shovelnose rays were pretty amazing to observe.  Below are some pics and video  taken in the waters around One Tree.....

Above: Coral-banded Butterfly fish         Above: Eastern shovelnose ray  

Thanks to Jen and Ben for some pics - This shot of the corals is pretty amazing.
 

Above: Underwater Garden

Above: Black tip reef shark....

A LITTLE CONFESSION

Vinegar is an important item to have in the pantry particularly in North Queensland with those rotten stingers - don't you think? I mean there are more uses for vinegar, than say all Rob's snatch straps and all those other man things he has shoved in the back taking up precious space wouldn't you agree?

And I can explain why I need to have so many different sorts, I'm sure you will see that there is absolutely nothing wrong with carting around 6 bottles of vinegar :))

1. White Wine Vinegar: This product is perfect for today’s lighter cooking style -- replace heavy cream or butter with a splash of White Wine Vinegar to balance flavors without adding fat.
2. Balsamic Vinegar: A must for the concerning Chef - mainly used in salad dressings, sauces and gravies  
3. Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar: Because it's just yummy and I'm an addict - OK
4. White Vinegar: For all those stingers that might get us and Ohh yeah its a good cleaner and disinfectant.... OK
5. Rice Vinegar: For all those Asian dishes add to a quick stir-fry dish with ginger and of course sushi rolls
6. Malt Vinegar: Everyone knows its the one you have to have for your fish and chips - I wonder can I pickle prickly pear fruit with it?

So to all you that scoff at my taking up room in the pantry with vinegar - I'm sure I have convinced you that it's perfectly logical to cart 6 bottles of vinegars around Australia with you :))

28th September - 4th October Byfield NP

Happy 30th Birthday Nick!!

Weir at Water P Creek

Left Blackdown NP today a bit reluctantly but need to restock and we have also decided we need to do something with our mattress so after restocking in Rockhampton and the purchase of an egg shell mattress we set off for Byfield NP - Guess what?  It's raining!  We arrived at Water Park Creek in the State Forest section of Byfield and decided to camp there as we were loosing light and the rest of the track while only 18km to go was heavy 4wd and we had been warned that it would take us an hour or more to get there for Water Park Creek.  Lots of Mosquitoes...... pretty area but all pine plantation - a pretty boring monoculture.

Woke to sunshine and a beautiful nights sleep just that little bit extra has made our little penthouse so much more comfortable.  Set off for Five Rocks campground (Byfield NP) via a pretty ordinary access track, Rob's first heavy sand-driving for a few years and he did good!

The drive in was stunning, just look at the centre of this flower on the right.  We were both pretty excited about seeing the coast again!   Byfield NP covers about 15,000ha.  Massive parabolic dunes, the oldest reaching 5-6km inland in the south while in the north, the rugged pinnacles of The Peaks and Mt Atherton dominate the landscape.  The park conserves  large areas of coastal Heath and Taller eucalypt woodlands flourish in sheltered areas and rainforests thrive where there is abundant water.

We arrived at our Campground - wow this is Paradise!! Five Rocks Campground is set in coastal woodland and is in Byfield Conservation Park which also incorporates the tiny Township of Stockyard Point (population 10) the headland has stunning views out over the coastline. From our campsite we accessed the beach via a steep stepped track via beautiful wetlands and a lovely waterfall that we used on the return journey to wash off the salt.  

Above: Thong Ave Stockyard Point

One of the two streets

 


Above: Five Rocks Campground



Above: Five Rocks Beach



Above: Five Rocks Beach again...



 



The water is beautiful here and so is the wildlife everything from turtles mating colourful birds etc but the highlight of the trip was watching the 30 or so Humpbacks travelling south with there calves - lots of tail slapping and breaching but how do I explain what it is like to see this?

The pics below are a taste of Byfield - we will definitely be back.......

Cold but most welcome...







23rd - 28th September Emerald & Blackdown National Park

Nogoa River Emerald

Emerald: Rain Rain and More Rain.....

Still too wet to head west with lots of road closures so we spent a few days in Emerald with the intention of doing a bit of fossicking but with all the rain and the forecast not looking good for the next week, we decided to head for the Capricorn Coast.  

Emerald Golf Course

Blackdown Tablelands National Park: A beautiful sandstone plateau, heaps of wildlife, spectacular views, crystal clear waters and great walks. What a fantastic spot - we will definitely return!! 

Left: Gudda Gumoo (Rainbow Waters) Waterfall - flows deep into the gorge

We had a cheeky Pied Currawong who entertained us he obviously had had success of stealing food from previous campers - within five minutes of setting up he had a go at taking our lunch when I turned my back but there was no way we were sharing and he was not going to give up!  This resulted in an outright war between Slingshot Robbo and Cheeky Currawong - after many failed attempts Slingshot Robbo managed to make target; I don't know who got the bigger shock the Currawong or Slingshot Robbo -don't worry no-one was hurt! 

Distant ranges

Blackdown NP is about 35km east of Blackwater (a huge coal mining town). It covers 47950ha.  It rises high above the surrounding plains and the Dawson, Expedition and Shotover Ranges all converge at Blackdown Tableland. There is so much to explore here and the views out over the edge of the tableland of the distant ranges and sandstone cliffs are breathtaking.  The Aboriginal rangers were very proud of their park, the traditional homeland of the Ghungalu people and were keen to share their stories and advise us on Rock Art sites within the park.  There is a special celebration Easter 2011 which we just might try and get to.  

Curious Skink...

 Hey Ben What sort of Skink is this?  Isn't he cute?   

There were some great spiders and some pretty cool webs - my photos don't do justice but thought I would just put up some of my favourite shots.  Hope you enjoy them.