Yvonne and Jasper in Australia

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Nov. 13 - Nov. 23

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Agnes water is the most northern point of the east-coast, where surfing is possible again, since further up north the Great Barrier Reef protects the coast. Yvonne really wanted to surf again and so did Ceciel. So they decided to hire a board and went surfing for three hours. Jasper and Dennis relaxed on the beach and watched them. The waves were quite mellow, perfect for learning to surf. We both had a lot of fun, but we still suck at surfing.

In the afternoon we drove on together to Bundaberg, where we had booked for the Mon Repos Turtle Rookery. On this beach mainly loggerhead turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Under supervision of rangers people are allowed to view the turtles while doing so. There were a lot of people, so we were divided in three groups. We were in the third group, which meant we had to wait until the third turtle came ashore. In the mean time we had to stay off the beach, as it had to be calm and dark over there. Rangers patrolled the beach and at the moment a turtle showed up and started to dig a nest one group was allowed to go to the beach. At 7 o’clock the first turtle arrived and within 15 minutes, the second one was there. Unfortunately the third one didn’t seem to be in a hurry and we had to wait until 11.15 pm until she finally showed up.



Meanwhile, the rangers gave us a lot of information about turtles and we watched some informative documentaries. On the beach our loggerhead made us wait again. She wasn’t satisfied with the nest she dug and moved on to make another one. And another one… Each of them on turtle speed. It wasn’t until half an hour past midnight she finally had laid her first pair of eggs. From this moment she seemed to be in some kind of trance and now we were finally allowed to she her. We formed a circle around her and saw the eggs drop. The rangers did some research on her and we were allowed to touch one of the eggs. It was amazing how soft and flexible they are. It was a very special moment for us, sitting there next to such a beautiful marine animal. After 20 minutes she was done and she started to cover her nest with sand. We escorted her on her way back to the sea and it was good to see her in the water, for she had been looking so hopelessly on solid ground. It was already 2.30 AM now, but it was really worth waiting for!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

This morning we were the first to go into the tourist information centre to find out about the joyflight. Surprisingly they didn’t even know anything about it, but they really wanted to help us and started calling around. We have been there for two hours, but we left having a booked flight for this afternoon!



While we went to the supermarket we met Ceciel and Dennis again. They had booked their flight for today as well. There is only place for three people in the plane so Dennis was going with us, while Ceciel had to wait for the next flight. At half past one we arrived at the airstrip, nothing more than just a lane of grass in the middle of the forest. Kangaroos hopping around on it. After a very bumpy takeoff we had a really really beautiful view over the coast. We had a very cool pilot an did some awesome stunts in the air like sharp turns and the rollercoaster. For the last one we descent so fast that a lot of stuff was flying weightlessly through the airplane. It was terrific! During our flight we landed on a beach in a national park, where we went for a half an hour stroll over the beach. Back at the plane Yvonne had to climb on one of the wings to pose for a photo! On our way back we flew over the see and saw some turtles, a tiger shark and a dolphin swimming around. We made another quick descent and flew about one meter above the beach, which was quite scary. Back up in the air Yvonne had to steer the airplane for some time, which was so cool! This was definitely one of the best things we did so far!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

In Rockhampton we went shopping a bit, because we needed a couple of things. Afterwards we headed on to Agnes Water, where we arrived in the evening. Not a really interesting day either. But tomorrow we would try to book the joyflight, hopefully on the same day.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Today wasn't very interesting. We met two other dutch people called Ceciel and Dennis. They told us it was possible to do a joyflight in Agnes Water and that it was very cheap. So we decided to go there, although it was still a long way ahead. Between Agnes Water and Airlie Beach wasn't much to do anyway. We left Airlie Beach pretty late, but still drove a couple of hours and stopped on rest area somewhere above Rockhampton.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Luckily, breakfast was served a little bit later today. Probably because the cook had taken a couple of beers yesterday as well. Today might be the last day of the tour, but there was still one place to visit: "Blue Pearl Bay". Here we would go for a snorkel again. Jasper didn't go, because he didn't really feel like it, but Yvonne went. It was nice, but the previous spot was better. There wasn't as much coral as in Cateran Bay, but it was still alright. After snorkeling, course was set back to "Abel Point Marina", where the trip ended. It was definately worth the money, although we didn't see very many special things of the islands. The sailing itself however made up for this big time, especially because it was in a very nice environment. We really enjoyed it.



Saturday, November 18, 2006

Breakfast was served quite early in the morning, but we were already awake. Delicious fruit was served, together with corn flakes and milk, and of course there was bread. The first thing on schedule was to play around a bit on Whitehaven Beach. Because of the silica sand, it was very white. This was really, really nice.

After playing around a bit, we went back to the ship to head to 'Tongue Bay'. There was a lookout (Tongue Bay Lookout), which looked out over 'Hill Inlet'. Yes, you might have seen this one before, because it was posted in the first post on this blog! Below is one of our pictures. It isn't as good as the other one, because we were there at high tide, so it shows less sand. We really pitied this.



The last visit for today was on 'South Molle Island'. Here it was possible to take a fine shower and to spent some time at the pool, where also a couple of beautiful rainbow lorikeets were getting drunk of the remains from a cocktail left on a table. But it was actually time to get a couple of beers at the bar and enjoy a nice meal. The meal wasn't as nice as was promised, but it was still okay and very welcome. The beer was very okay of course, and after the meal some drinking games were started. It's better not to tell too much about this.

To return to the ship, we had to form two groups, to be brought back in a motorboat. Halfway, the engine stalled and the guy transferring us was like 'Holy crap guys, we're out of fuel! I need a strong swimmer who can get some help!'. Too bad for him nobody fell for this, so he was going to restart the engine. But, because of a bit of a hard pull, the engine somehow broke down and we were stuck for real! Everyone agreed that he was the strongest swimmer anyway, so he swam back to get another motorboat. Now we finally could get back to the ship.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Early in the morning we left the hostel and headed to the 'Abel Point Marina', from where we entered the sailboat 'The Card'. There we met the crew of the ship: the captain and two others. 'The Card' is a very fast sailing ship which has participated in the 'Volvo Ocean Race', where it ended up 5th, even with a broken mast. Two other sailboats of the same type ended up first and second in that race. So we were on one of the worlds fastest sailboats!

It was really cool to go sailing. Everybody could help with raising and lowering the sails, and it was allowed to take the wheel as well. So there was quite a bit of interaction! When sailing against the wind, there's a high side and a low side. Everyone has to sit on the high side, which you can see on one of the pictures. Still, if you didn't want to get wet, it was best to sit on the back of the ship. But even that wasn't safe.



The ship headed to 'Scrub Hen Beach' first, where everyone could snorkel. But because there was too much wind, that had to be done somewhere else. Lunch was served instead, which we liked the idea of. After lunch, course was set to 'Cateran Bay'. This time it was possible to snorkel for sure. The coral was nice, but a bit high in the water, probably because of the tide. After snorkeling time was over, a new course was set to 'Whitehaven Beach' where we would sleep for the night. Tomorrow we would visit it.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

We both weren't tired enough yet, so we headed to our next stop in Airlie Beach, to book a trip to the Whitsundays. It was very warm, so we came to the conclusion we needed an ice cream. But, at the crucial moment of payment, the wrong price appeared on the checkout display. Because of this, we got the ice creams for free! After enjoying them double, we wanted to go to a bookings agency, but we couldn't start the car! Luckily for us, somebody had jumper cables so the problem was fixed again. But it was really weird, because we didn't left the lights on or something... Anyway, we drove for an hour to recharge it and check out the town a bit. When we thought it had to be charged again, we stopped near a bookings agency to book our trip to the Whitsundays. There wasn't really much choice, but luckily an extra trip was organized. This seemed like a really good choice so we decided to go with this one. Also a free night in a hostel was offered, really nice! Time to go back to the car... ohnoes, wouldn't start again! This time we called the RACQ for roadside assistance, which was free of charge because of us being members. A couple of screws were tightened, and we were on our way again. We checked in at the hostel and went to a briefing, which described the plans for tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The alarm rang at 5.30 AM, as we needed to meet the Adrenalin Dive crew at 6.45 AM for a dive to the Yongala Wreck. The SS Yongala was a cruise ship which was very luxurious for the time being. On its way from Sydney to Cairns in 1912, it lost radio contact and hit a cyclone. The ship sank with all its passengers, whose remains are still in the ship. Since the ship is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, nobody is allowed to enter it. But because of the huge amount of marine life, it has become one of the most beautiful wreck diving spots of the world and the best of Australia. For now, we had to fit the supplied diving gear before we could go onboard. Yvonne had to try five different wetsuits, because none of them fitted really well. Soon after that, everyone could go onboard. It would become a pretty bumpy trip, as the sea conditions were rough! The transfer to the Yongala Wreck took about three hours, and a lot of people felt seasick at the arrival. It was time to put on our diving gear and dive the wreck!



Because there was a really strong current, the descent to the wreck had to be done using a rope. This was still pretty difficult, but a lot better than without. As we had only done nine dives so far, it was needed to go with a guide. This was actually pretty nice, because he would show us the better spots! He brought a little tablet with him, to describe what part of the ship we were. One of the first things we saw were the toilets. This was really, really cool to see. The toilets were covered in coral, so we saw coral with a dump hole! After that we swam around the rest of the wreck, saw some other amazing things, and did our ascent to the surface. When floating in the water we had to get back on board, also using a rope because otherwise we wouldn't make it. Now it was time for dinner!

Most of the people weren't be able to enjoy their dinner, because they were seasick. Jasper on the other hand, saw this as an advantage and ate their share. Although, this was how it must have looked like. Anyway, it was time for the second dive. The descent was being done using a rope again, and we swam around the ship another time. This time, we saw a gigantic loggerhead turtle. Absolutely amazing! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to pet it. For the rest we saw a couple of seasnakes, a Napoleon Wrasse, and of course a lot of other fishes. Afterwards we logged our dives and headed back to Townsville. Although the dive wasn't as good as we expected, we still had a really good time.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Today we continued our way to Townsville, still finding out which company we would go dive with. After using all of our phone credit, our decision was to go with Pro Dive. We asked for their address, to complete the booking and pay for the trip. But when we arrived, it appeared that we were at the address of Adrenalin Dive... Then somebody explained Pro Dive and Adrenalin Dive were about the same. We were already wondering why they gave us the same information! The rest of the day we spent hanging out in Townsville, shopping and chilling a bit, like trying out the Australian Mc Donalds milkshakes. It was bedtime early, tomorrow we would go diving again so we needed to be rested.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Jasper was still ill today, that's why we decided to take it easy. There were still a couple of things which had to be taken care of anyway, like planning our next 'mission': diving near the Yongala Wreck. It was necessary to find a good company to go dive with. One other thing: the car was a complete mess, so it was time to clean that up as well. The rest of the day we didn't do that much. We started heading to Townsville, because the transfers to the Yongala wreck would depart there.

4 Comments:

  • We're trying to catch up with this blog, so here's a new part. At the moment we're trying very hard to update it further, so probably within a week there will be a new update.

    And of course we want to wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year! Yes, we know we are a bit late ;-)

    Have fun reading.

    By Blogger Yvonne en Jasper, at 2:44 AM  

  • Merry christmas and a happy new year to you as well! It is nice to see that you're finally catching up, it can be hard to keep your blog up to date. The joy flight and the turtle with eggs seemed to be a lot of fun, I would really like to experience that once.

    Good luck to you both, and keep us informed!

    By Blogger Georg Muntingh, at 8:26 AM  

  • Heee!
    Waar zijn jullie?? Bijna begonnen met werken?? Wij zitten in Glen Innes, lekker weer hier! 30 graden en op 1100 meter hoogte... ben ik zelfs met 30+ zonnebrand nog verbrand! Damned! Auw! Maja... wel mooi kleurtje ;)
    Onze site is weer geupdate!
    Yv, hoe gaat 't met je dagboek?? ENne al een woordenlijst aan het creeeren?

    Daaaag, x Ceciel en Den

    Ps Ontbijt op mn verjaardag was heeeeeeeeeeeeeeerlijk!!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:04 AM  

  • Nice post. thanks for sharing your experience in Byron Bay.

    By Blogger Agate, at 4:45 AM  

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