Bundy Mini Break - Days 8 & 9 Part 1

An Experience of a Lifetime

The last two days of my lovely Bundy break included lots of sightseeing.  We had been shopping and visiting places before, looking at the lovely scenery up here.  But we wanted to make the most of the last two days before I leave so concentrated efforts more in these two days.

Jan and Jim sit on their lovely wide verandah and look out over the view below.  This was taken at low tide unfortunately and shows how the last cyclone reomoved the sand from a large part of the beach, leaving rocks exposed.  Hopefully the sand will gradually be washed back over the next year.  What a view!  And such a lovely cool sea breeze on the hottest of days as well.

I was also keen to take a photo of a classic 'Queenslander', a type of house traditional in Queensland in previous times.  Raised up high to allow cool breezes underneath, often with lattice or decorative open strips of timber on parts of the lower area; lovely wide verandahs on several sides if not all round.  Beautiful, beautiful houses.  I have happy memories of playing with my cousins in the cool downstairs as a child visiting Bundaberg, and of the lovely high-ceilinged, large rooms upstairs as well. 

We found several Queenslanders, now a dying breed.  Most of them are well hidden by shrubbery unless they have been physically moved out of town.  Here is one that has been renovated really beautifully and I was able to take some photos to give an idea of what they are like - for those of you who aren't Aussies.  First, here's a (sort of) front view:

And now, to show you the space underneath:

Of course a lot of owners can't resist the temptation to close in all that lovely space underneath the house - and instead of just the traditional laundry under there they can double the house area.  That defeats the cooling purpose of the raised house but in these days of air conditioning, that can be overcome I guess.

A major event that both Jan and I were eagerly anticipating was a visit to Mon Repos, a turtle rookery located close to Jan's place.  Jan and Jim have turtles come up on their beach to lay their eggs and have actually had baby turtles hatch out from right beside the steps to their verandah but Mon Repos has guided tours and supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the Eastern Australian mainland.  It is also one of the two largest Loggerhead turtle rookeries in the South Pacific Ocean.

Mon Repos has been conducting a major research program since the 70's, tagging over 100,000 hatchlings and examining reproductive and migration, nesting and behaviour, incubation and genetics. 

And yes, these are stock photos I googled from the net.  Why?  You may well ask!  I downloaded lots - and I do mean lots - of wonderful photos of this truly amazing experience.  I had photos of everything we were permitted to photograph.  There were photos of me beside a cast of a fully-grown loggerhead turtle in the Visitors Centre.  There were photos of the life cycle of turtles and their migration patterns in the Visitors Centre.  There were photos and photos and more photos of the tiny hatchlings being shown around the group after they had all emerged from the nest.  Of Jan holding one.  Of me touching and holding one.  Of other people holding one. 

There were photos of the eggs being removed from the nest after the turtles had made their way down to the water There were lots of other photos.  So where are they? Of  course I never format my memory card until I check the photos on the computer.  So why did I do it this time, when the camera moved during downloading and the download was interrupted?  Why did I just think that it would all have been okay?  Why.........

One of the things that we weren't permitted to photograph was the babies emerging from the nest - swarming like ants from a hole.  I counted them as they came, difficult as it was to do so - 121 of them.  I will never forget that mental picture - much better than this stock photo below.

 

As they emerged they were put in a sort of holdingpen made of plastic mesh until they were all out of the nest, then some of them were shown around the group by the two Rangers. They are so sweet - the size of the palm of your hand.  And when I held one, they are so strong, their little flippers flying through the air or against your hand.  Gorgeous.

Then we stood along two lines marked in the sand almost down to the water, with some people holding torches in the middle to guide the hatchlings to the water.  We watched, literally moved and with wonder as they scurried down, following the light and as they reached the water they were tossed around a bit until they were washed out. 

Of course we weren't permitted to take a photo of this stage either, because the flash would have distracted the babies.  They can also see infra-red so even night-vision cameras are not allowed.  So I don't feel so bad that I use a stock photo for this one vbg.

After this we were given a chance to either return to the Visitors Centre with one of the Rangers or stay with the other one while he did the rest of the checking back at the nest.  Jan and I chose to stay.  He dug out all the eggs - in the process finding 5 more live babies that hadn't dug their way out of the nest yet.  These he gave to various people to take halfway down the beach to release.  The journey to the water is important for the turtles to imprint the location of the beach for when they return to lay their eggs in around 30 years' time.

I counted the empty shells as he dug them out, and counted 126 of them.  The Ranger asked how many I counted and I told him.  There were four unhatched eggs and he had to check to see why they hadn't hatched.  Then he counted the shells, putting them in groups of 10.  There were 126.  He was really surprised, and said that he had never had anyone else who had counted them accurately.  He called me 'Rainman' LOL.  I'm not sure whether that is a compliment or not.  But I am a compulsive counter. 

Then it was time for our return along the beach - escorted of course.  We had to stay together behind the Ranger, who had a torch and checked that the way was clear of  little hatchlings from other nests making their way to the water.  Each and every one of this endangered species is precious.  Fortunately the temperature of the sand at Mon Repos means that the hatchlings are pretty well all female which augers well for the future of the Loggerheads even though only 1 in 1,000 will reach maturity.

So that is a brief overview of the highlights of our sightseeing - of course we did more.  Part 2 will be the mini side of the last two days.