Our 2021 trip North

Covid restrictions prevented a second year of Northern Hemisphere travel but we were able to enjoy some warmer Northern climes in Queensland. Our first stop (having driven through a locked down Sydney with some good bladder control) was South West Rocks. 

We woke to a beautiful day. Its stillness was apparent as we made our way across the creek

and walked the 5 kms along Trial Bay beach. The weather is not always like this! The bay used to be shelter for ships en-route to Sydney. At the far end in the distance is a gaol and partly completed breakwater of which more shortly.

During the walk we encountered many willie wagtails with their beautiful chirp and distinctive white eyebrows.

At the Eastern end of the bay is a breakwater which was built by convicts (once they had built their own gaol accommodation!). The breakwater was to increase shelter to the bay. However, it took much longer to build than planned due to the hardness of the rock and constant storm damage. It also caused the bay to silt up and with the advent of sturdier ships the need for shelter also dissipated so gaol and breakwater were abandoned.

Not that history was of interest to this young sea eagle which thought the viewpoint and breeze enabling easy take off were perfect.

Trial Bay gaol was built between 1877-1886 and was the only gaol in NSW built solely to enable prisoners to construct public infrastructure. It is an imposing structure in a beautiful setting and had two wings set in a Y formation.

Despite its harsh history the only inmates now are protected kangaroos who clearly enjoy their surrounds.

There were some great blacksmith skills used to produce the likes of boilers, drills and rail turnouts.

Moving North to Kingscliff we joined up with long term friends Graham and Jo for a trip North into Queensland. We had to cross a couple of days earlier than planned to get ahead of a snap decision by Queensland to close its borders with NSW. A slight disruption but no hardship as it purely extended our stay in Hervey Bay. This was a nostalgic trip as we were based here the early 80’s. It has changed but remains a great place for many activities.

The first was a trip to Maryborough with its wonderful historic buildings and wall art.

The setting sunlight on the tower of the Anglican Parish really brought out the building’s colours. (Would this count when proving you are not a robot on a website if asked to select traffic lights?)

Walkers engineering was the lifeblood of the city for many years building trains and other heavy engineering projects. These cyclists are leaving the factory smiling – the expressions may not have been the same in the morning.

This colourful mural is of Samuel Hecker an aviator who was the first to fly (his Tiger Moth) under Sydney Harbour Bridge. It made me think of Denis Sargent (one of our core Rugby World Cup travellers) who recently died. His love of speed included flying a Tiger Moth and during his wake at Royal Canberra Golf Club one flew up the 18^th fairway. Quite a way to go.

This last mural is a bit of fun rather than history. I suspect the person who put up the road sign did not join the dots.

A short journey away was an aboriginal sculpture garden. An Echidna can be seen in the background but I thought the pelican chairs were particularly imaginative.

Not that any of these stationary animals were of any interest to this Dusky Honeyeater.

Honey for us was covered in our next visit which was to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery. Unfortunately we had to lock all our metal goods away so photos were not allowed other than in the reception area. At least these enourmous vats could be snapped. There is a father and son team that make them over a 4 day period. The edge of the white oak timbers are slightly (but precisely) bevelled and then only held together by the metal hoops. Once filled, the moistened wood expands to prevent leaks. Some of the older barrels (not seen here) have small tarry spots where rum had initially seeped through.

One memorable point (which couldn’t be photographed) was a shed with a huge below ground concrete well some 20m by 50m and 4m deep. This held the molasses that is the by product of sugar manufacturing and is the key ingredient to rum. The well is slowly filled during harvesting so the distillery can produce year round. It is like a gooey quicksand – once in you are gone. I knew rum could be deadly but had no idea molasses had similar charateristics.

Of course there are a few varieties – I just had not appreciated how many….

Most cane sugar trains are pulled by small locomotives but not always.

A key attraction of the area is a day trip to Fraser Island – the largest sand island in the world. We opted for a self drive tour. A very early start, 7:00 ferry and and somewhat too long safety briefing (we just wanted to get going) saw us on the track at about 9:00. First stop the stunningly beautiful Lake McKenzie. In the 80’s with young children we went for a swim. Happy to settle for a quick temperature check on this occasion.

Next stop Central Station! The largest population here are staghorn ferns. Their size is staggering. It's amazing how many are on one tree.

After slow going on the sometimes rough sand track we reached the East coast and smooth Seventy Five Mile beach. Here you can rip it up to 80 kph but need to be careful of the numerous river outlets.

The main attraction is the wreck of the SS Mehino which was being salvaged and towed to Japan. The tow rope broke in a storm so not much was salvaged!

A little further up are the Pinnacles. The afternoon light did not really help to pick up the varied coloured sands.

Winter is a relatively quiet affair. The beach was often deserted. No one in sight to the South.

And nothing to the North either – although this does prove I was there!

The rented Toyota cruiser had certainly paid its way with 400K kms on the clock.

There was an opportunity to have a quick flight. I had flown and landed on the beach in the 80s. You have to fly around and see where there is a sufficient length of beach between streams and then come around and land. On that occasion there was a stiff SE breeze and as we drew up to the resort we parked next to an old wrecked plane. My pilot said he thought he would meet his Waterloo here one day. Needless to say I drove to the island after that. It is a bit more professional now – they use cones to mark the strip!

On the way back we were escorted much of the way by this sea eagle.

A smooth part of the inland track with passing bay to the left. Those travelling uphill give way as it is easier to reverse in the sand downhill.

Some of the dunes go on for miles

Finally back at Kingfisher Bay resort we had a beer while waiting for the ferry and taking in the sunset.

The local sea eagle arrived on his lamp post perch for the night.

While the ferry took us back we marvelled at another wonderful sunset, reflected on a fabulous day and anticipated wine, dinner followed by an early night.

The “must do” trip in Hervey Bay is to go whale watching. When booking we carefully picked the calmest day of our stay so that Helen was happy to come aboard. The bay itself is huge. We travelled over an hour and were still an hour South of the Northern tip of the island. The island shelters these waters from the ocean and its swells.

And we were spoilt. Whales were everywhere. Here are a small selection of over a hundred photos. The humbacks came so close – they are very curious.

Travelling under the boat was also a bit of a lark – here you can see the tail of one on the sonar.

There are quite a few barnacles that enjoy a free ride. The Bay is used as a stopover to and from Antarctica. Many of the pods were of quite young whales.

It is the underside view of the tail that is key as it is unique and enables each whale to be identified.

How’s this for flexibility or is it a bit of a wave?

Or would you like to see my tummy….

Or maybe my pectoral fin (and tail).

If you are not paying attention 

Then giving the water a mighty slap will really make you jump.

A fantastic trip – it is easy to see how some have a season ticket to travel and see these wonderful creatures regularly.

We travelled back via some friends on the Sunshine coast and a couple of nights on Brisbane South bank with an evening at the jazz. Our final trip was to a quirky little village called Tyalgum. This is an eclectic mix of buildings catering for all tastes.

You can even have high tea at “Flutterbies” with quaint chinaware

and calm, antique surroundings. (There was even a grand piano in the corner behind me.)

Unfortunately, Covid once more reared its head (this time Brisbane CBD where we had just stayed) and the planned leisurely trip down the NSW coast had to be changed at the last minute to a 1100 kms one day dash for home so we could obey new “stay at home” orders under our own roof.

With the exception of the ending this was a great winter break. It was nice to encounter warmer climes and catch up with old friends. Here’s hoping that 2022 will allow us to get back to some Northern hemisphere travel.