592. Friday 26th July 2019. Wetlands, Ball Bay, Smalley’s Beach, Belmunda and Reliance Creek…

Thursday 25^th July.

In the morning I went for a walk to the nearby wetlands reserve. I had a nice walk around the perimeter and watched the several groups of Magpie Geese camped on the low mounds around each pond.

Magpie Geese, at rest and on patrol.

It seems they use a group safety system. While some sleep others seem to keep an eye over the flock while others seem to walk around like security guards. If anything causes concern, such as me walking 100 metres away, the walking guards honk while the watchers take up the call and if I get too close such as on the other side of the pond, they all take off, in silence, except for the noise of hundreds of wings flapping. Then on some signal they all land a few hundred metres away and go back to sleeping, watching or walking. Sometimes two or more birds take off or some come in to land. Never one bird alone. As there were several such groups, they all carried out the same routine as I approached.

I also caught sight of a pair of Brolgas (Australian Cranes) tippy toeing on the edges of the wetlands trying to be typically secretive as Brolgas appear to do.

To me Brolgas always look like they are stalking or tracking something…which they probably are. I was hoping to see a courtship dance butbthis is probably an older married couple and they no longer go dancing.

I continued my wanderings across the places where I lived and played for many years. Re-visiting, re-living and in some way having a new experience with eyes that see differently.

Today I drove through Habana, then onto a gravel rural road to Yakapari and onto the Yakapari to Seaforth Road. Along the way I was also looking for abandoned houses and strange letterboxes.

Abandoned farmhouse near Yakapari.

Often I want to stop when I see one of those items, there is nowhere to park the car and when I do find a place, the prospect of hiking back to the site does not appeal. At least in most cases it is on rural back-roads so frequent stopping is OK but trying to slow down and stop on a more populated road or even a main highway is nigh on impossible.

another abandoned farmhouse near Yakapari.

Today I turned off just before Seaforth and drove to the sleepy village of Ball Bay. Most of the village is made up of permanents and the rest are weekenders. What quickly became obvious is this is a town where all the NO signs grow. No Parking, No camping, No stopping, No water, with other signs which ask you to report suspicious behaviour. Perhaps drug smugglers use the beach to umm err, smuggle.

The beach is a wide arc of rough muddy sand and looks uninviting at low tide and it seems everywhere I have gone these last three weeks it is low tide. Ball Bay has no appeal for me and I felt disinclined to photograph anything.

The village has no shops or other services. They have telephone but no town water or sewerage. They do have garbage collection.

After leaving Ball Bay I stopped to look at a rock feature which is the tall peak of an ancient volcanic caldera.

I have no idea if this remnant of a volcanic caldera has a name but I will call it Ball Bay Peak. It will appear in several photos.

We have always called them jump ups but in reality are just the remains of the volcanic walls which have eroded at a slower pace than other parts. Looking at a Google Earth Photo it is plain to see the caldera outline with Ball Bay nestled into the sea side opening.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-20.9126421,148.9927266,4173m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Next stop was the little campground controlled by Queensland Parks and Wildlife at Smalley’s Beach.

Smalley’s Beach

There are only 11 sites, all screened from each other by trees and shrubs and all with a view through those trees to the beach.

Smalley’s Beach looking towards Ball Bay and Seaforth on the other isde of the hill.

I should mention the beach here is mainly shell grit but at the top of the beach the sand is more like a fine layer of clinging dust. Most of the beaches in this area have a similar dust like sand at the approach to the beach.

Rocks spewed from an ancient volcano at Smalley’s Beach

There is a view across the coral sea to some of the lower Whitsunday Islands across a normally calm and placid expanse of sea. The southern end of the beach is covered with small boulders which seem to be remnants of spewed volcanic material from an insanely distant fiery past.

Looking cross the bay from Smalley’s Beach towards islands in the Cumberland Group.

There are no facilities here so campers need to be self sufficient and must take all their rubbish with them as there are no garbage facilities either. Interestingly the people who come here are more often from overseas and have found the location by diligent research. Most Mackay locals would not have heard the name and if they have, could not tell you where it is. We camped here in our first motorhome, a converted Toyota Coaster bus way back in 2005. It is quite simply a congenial place to sit back, do nothing and veg out type of place. If you can find them, talk with your neighbours.

Abandoned House at Smalleys Beach

another abandoned house at Smalley’s Beach

Next up was Belmunda Beach.

Belmunda looking across Sand Bay towards Cape Hillsborough.

This location is poorly signposted and is on a rough gravel road after turning off from another dry and dusty gravel road. It passes through two types of landscape. Sugar cane stretching off into the distance and low scrub on flat salt/clay pans in a flood prone zone.

Knobbies Creek

Belmunda Beach is on a raised hillside above the low lying marsh area.

Knobbies Creek.

People who live or weekend here need to be self sufficient. Most houses are really nothing more than rough huts. There is no electricity, no water, no sewerage and no garbage collection. I saw one sign to say the property was for sale and the main selling feature was the 12 volt system powered by batteries and solar panels. The tiny village is cut off during the annual wet season when flooding rain turns the normally placid Knobbies Creek into a kilometres wide angry raging flood.

Knobbies Creek

Free camping on Knobbies Creek near Belmunda.

To live here you need to be comfortable in your own skin and or hiding from the world. Or hiding from the law. Or both. There is not much to see or do here except fish. There are no facilities, not even a bench seat to have a lunch or even just somewhere to sit. Unlike Ball Bay there are no NO PARKING signs. In fact there is an absence of signs – unlike Ball Bay.

Looking across the salt clay pans towards Ball Bay Peak.

Along the way I saw several abandoned houses worthy of stopping and taking photos.

By the way, it is mid winter and the temperature was around 24° with very little humidity. It is ideal weather except for the chilly south easterly breeze in the open.

From a high point on the high point of Belmunda I could see Cape Hillsborough across the bay in the distance. Then I saw what looked like a giant archway which I have never seen before and in fact did not know it existed.

The mysterious cavern/arch near Cape Hillsborough. I spoke with my sisiter who has bushwalked around Cape Hillsborough far more than me and she never knew it was there. The tall shadowy almost volcanic looking island in the background is Brampton Island and or Carlisle Islands.

What the!!!

I thought maybe it was an optical illusion but it is real. I needed to do quite a lot of research and thanks to The Mackay Bushwalkers Club, Message Stick news letter I now know it seems there is no official name on a map. The Bushwalkers call it Cape Hillsborough Arch and Sea Cave. It seems even some of their members did not know it existed either. More details can be found here. https://www.mackay.bwq.org.au/Newsletters/August_2014.pdf and again here https://www.mackay.bwq.org.au/Newsletters/September_2015.pdf

 

Also from here I had a clear view of Brampton and Carlisle Islands. Here is a little video about Brampton.

Considering what I thought was a lack of something to photograph I still managed to take 94 photos today.

On the weight loss program I am pleased to announce my weight is now down to 74.3 Kg. My target? 72 Kg or less.

Friday 26^th July

I spent the morning downloading photos, on-line research and writing up my notes from yesterday. Initially I thought I would spend all day doing the photos but the weather is so nice I decided it was time to get out.

I drove to Shoal Point and a little dirt road which leads to Hodges place, a property with many acres surrounding a house on a spit of land which could get washed away if it were not for the original Hodges building a huge rock wall near the house site. I found a parking spot just outside the fence and gates with the Private Property, No Entry signs posted. Another three cars were also parked here. It is not such a secret location. I had decided to walk to Reliance Creek to see what devastation has occurred over the last XX years. The walk from where I parked the car to the mouth of Reliance Creek is about 1 Klm.

I cannot begin to imagine why an Australian Flag would be here. Time and weather have not treated it kindly. Those “sticks” in the sand are the remains of ancient mangrove roots. Newer mangroves can be seen in the background working on the slow recovery of land. It was fifficult walking among these sharp roots. Not only having to be careful where to put your feet as there are lots of small roots just slightly above the sand level. It is so easy to trip on them but worrying that if you fall one could impale you.

I should mention that between Shoal Point and Cape Hillsborough are three major creeks draining into the shallow Sand Bay. Reliance Creek is the first. It is quite a trudge along the beach at low tide as there are many obstacles of loose sand, shell grit, exposed dead roots of dead mangrove forests, deep mud, rocks and during the day the dry sand gets very hot on bare feet. The grittiness of the sand caused a blister on a big toe.

In September 2018 I walked most of the way and reported on a car which somehow manged to be driven to where it was finally bogged and irretrievable.

I wrote about and photographed this car in September 2018. Time tide, the effects of salt water on metal and some mindless vandalism is helping to destroy what is left.

I can report the car is still there although there is much less of it now. I pushed on until I reached the mouth, which at the moment was a wide expanse of sand due to being at the bottom end of the tide.

Mouth of Reliance Creek at low tide.

In 6 hours where I was standing would be under water as a 7 metre tide range returns.

A small trickle of water still moves through from a side tributary of Reliance Creek.

It was quite eerie standing there below the bank with mangroves, mud banks and sand sand sand in all directions.

A tributary with water still on the run out tide.

That and of course the knowledge this creek is a well known spot for Crocodiles.

Niece Kelly netted a baby Crocodile here at high tide in September 2018. Where there are babies there are Mums and Dads. I kept a very wary eye looking for Crocs. The only footprints all along the sand bar of the mouth of the creek are mine. It makes for a lonely feeling.

My great nephew Ollie holding a baby Crocodile his mum netted and brought aboard the boat last September. This was taken in Reliance Creek by my niece Kelly at a spot near where I was standing today at low tide.

My exploration was brief as in places the sand was deceptively soft and or like a quicksand with a very damp mud beneath the recently laid down surface of sand. I had not told anybody where I was going so I needed to take care. Not only Crocodiles live here but so do sharks, stingrays, stonefish, a variety of snakes and legions of mosquitoes and sandflies.

That little raised portion of sand which clearly shows various tide levels is the direction I have to head to begin my long trek back to Shoal Point.

Even from th sandy mouth of Reliance Creek I can see the monolith of Ball Bay Peak where I visited yesterday.

This is a demarcation line between sand and mud where ancient mangrove beds are still just below te surface. In fact dig the sand and within a short dig you will encounter the mud and root beds.

This is what is created by mangrove roots and where the mangroves have died ff but beneath the surface where mud was created the roots still form a mass strong enough to retian most of its foothold. Eventually the mangroves will return and start again.

Blue Heron on mud flats at Reliance Creek.

689. Friday 19th July 2019. Air crash memorials, Blacks Beach, Shoal Point and a drama story…

ONCE AGAIN, DUE TO THE SHEER VOLUME OF PHOTOS I AM SPLITTING THIS WEEK IN TWO PARTS.

Monday 15^th July

Woke to a sunny day but with a chill wind blowing from the south west. Those south west and west winds are the puts, even here in the tropics. Can you believe it was 7° here in Mackay. I did not want to get out of bed. Moving my feet around only found cold sheets apart from where I had cocooned warmth during the night.

I decide to drive to McEwens Beach on the south side of Mackay.

On my way to McEwens Beach there was a long line of traffic at a large roundabout at Bakers Creek. It seems the large Mainfreight truck had jackknifed going around all lanes had to be closed while two tow trucks managed to get it back onto the road in one piece.

This suburb of about 200 courageous souls has no facilities such as a shop. The nearest being on the highway 7 Klms away at the bottom end of Bakers Creek. The road narrows several times to a one lane road and traffic is forced to each put one wheel in the dirt when approaching each other. That’s fine and dandy in the daylight and the dry but when it is wet the dirt becomes slippery slidey as tyre tracks in the mud can attest. Much of the road passes through sugar cane on both sides of the road while the rest is now, politically correct, wetlands. One upon a time we called it swamp.

Wetlands near McEwens Beach. A large varity of animals, birds and sea life call this home. Now that we have been educated to call them Wetlands instead of Swamps we now know they are a basic breeding ground for life.

What’s in a name? The birds love it whatever you call it. So do the mosquitoes and sandflies. The suburb is located on the extra wide mouth of the estuary of Alligator Creek as it drains into Sandringham Bay. The name Alligator was given back in the days when we did not know the difference between Alligators and Crocodiles. Australia only has Crocodiles. By the way there are several creeks with the misnomer of Alligator between Rockhampton to the south and Townsville in the north. In the distance I could easily see a dozen ships waiting to get to the Hay Point Coal Loading Terminal.

From McEwens Beach at the mouth of Alligator Creek you can see some of the ships anchored and waiting to load with coal at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. I have seen more than 50 ships on some days.

Often it is possible to see 50 or more ships just offshore in good weather and bad. There is nowhere else to go but in cyclonic conditions the port facility is closed down and the ships are sent somewhere else, probably further south. Some years back, perhaps just before or just after to turn of the century, the local residents with waterfront properties complained bitterly to Mackay Council that due to several cyclones their waterfront was being eroded and they were losing some of their property. Council in a spirit of free spending poured huge amounts of money, labour and rocks into shoring up the eroded banks.

At McEwens Beach these huge blocks of rock were installed along the waterfronto to stop erosion during cyclonic swells and tides. The staircase is the best access to the beach. BEACH??? Yes this is a beach of muddy sand. Alligaor creek drains from a huge area and spreads out far and wide. During tides which can be up to 6 metres, a large quanty of material is shifted.

All this for 200 residents! That said the properties are still intact with a nice rock retaining wall about 5 metres thick at the base and three metres thick at the top keeping the angry sea from reclaiming the land which it believes belongs to it.

The netted swimming enclosure at McEwens Beach fares better than similar enclosures which directly face the ocean.

Leaving McEwens Beach I drove back to Bakers Creek to see the memorial to one of Australia’s worst air disasters. Two of Australia’s worst air disasters occurred in the Mackay district, one here at Bakers Creek and the other offshore at Illawong Beach at the end of the Mackay Airport Runway.

At Bakers Creek in June 1943 a US Army Flying Fortress crashed shortly after take off. It was returning soldiers who were on R&R leave in Mackay to the front at New Guinea. Forty men died in the crash and there was only one survivor. The plane was known as “Miss Every Morning Fixin“ because when it was withdrawn from active service in Darwin, 1,100 bullet holes were found in the body. The plane was always undergoing repairs. The reason for the crash remains a mystery. News of the crash was suppressed due to wartime censorship so full details were not released until late in 1945 when the war had ended.

WWII Mackay Air Crash Disaster Memorial.

Next I drove to Illawong Beach where there is a second memorial to an air crash.

Mackay Air Crash Disaster Memorial at Illawong Beach.

In June 1960 a Fokker Freindship, owned and operated by TAA crashed on approach to landing, killing all 29 on board. What made it worse was 9 schoolboys had joined the flight in Rockhampton and were on their way home for the weekend. The plane crashed somewhere between Round Top and Flat Top Islands about 7 Klms offshore.

The islands known as Flat Top and Round Top, for obvious reasons. The plane crash was a few Klms offshore behind Round Top.

Several theories were put forward for what caused the crash but not one was conclusive enough. It also remains a mystery. The wreckage was not found until two days later in about 12 metres of water. A further two weeks went by before all wreckage and bodies were recovered.

Same ships waiting but viewed from Illawong Beach.

Tuesday 16^th July

In the cold morning with a chill south westerly blowing I went to Blacks Beach and tolerated the wind for a few minutes.

Bench seat at Blacks Beach, another location where huge rock walls were built to stop erosion.

View of Brampton Island from Blacks Beach. Note the choppy sea surface which here is partly protected by the Slade Point Headland.

After lunch I walked around Eimeo Beach Village finding it was out of the wind but still required a jacket to stay warm.

Wednesday 17^th July

Another cold night and and even colder morning. It was 5° early this morning with another night of similar temps expected tonight.

Last night I weighed myself. 75 Kg. That is a weight loss of 7Kg since I started my diet and exercise routine. 7 Kg! Let me put that in perspective. My carry on bag when I flew here was 7Kg, the maximum allowable. That is a heavy bag to carry in your hand or on your back. That is the same as 7 bags of sugar or 14 500 gram tubs of butter.

In the morning I went to my old favourite, Shoal Point and walked northwards towards Reliance Creek. The tide was on its way out giving me some photo opportunities.

Bench seat at Shoal Point overlooking Little Green Island. Believe it or not, at low tide you can walk to the island.

I sat on the sand for awhile with one of the oldest houses behind me. I recall visiting here many years ago when the man who owned the house had a seaplane. He would fly in at mid tide and taxi as far onto the sand as he could go. He lowered the wheels and used a tractor to tow the plane to his backyard rock retaining wall where it was tied down. When he wanted to fly he towed the plane to near the incoming tide, returned the tractor and sat in the plane doing his checks waiting for the tide to come in and the plane would float.

Those days are gone.

Even here you can see the edge of the forest being reclaimed by the sea. Sometime in the future the tree will succumb to the forces of wind, erosion and tidal pressures and will topple to the ground. Note the other trees also suffering and dead.

Shoal Point. I recall that once upon a time this tree was part of a forest of Paperbark Trees and this was the edge of the land. Now it is part of the ocean floor.

Shoal Point waiting for the tide to reurn. Cape Hillsborough is in the background.

I noticed what looked like long ribbons of red on the sand in the distance. I thought it may be some sort of rope washed ashore from a fishing boat. I soon found it was a species of Pig Face, or Carpobrotus or Karkalla or Sea Fig or Beach Bananas.

Red stemmed Pigface.

There are about 30 different varieties and I call them all Pig Face but this one with flaming red stems is new to me. Every part of this plant is edible and/or medicinal – the leaves can be used like Aloe Vera to lessen stings and burns of the skin, as well as eaten raw or cooked. Pigface has been eaten and used extensively by the peoples of Australia for as long as there’s been people here. https://www.milkwood.net/2014/01/30/snacks-for-salty-sea-dogs-foraging-pigface/

Thursday 18^th July

Another cold night and morning with that nasty south westerly wind still making life colder than it ought to be.

This morning I finally caught up with ex BIL John W. I caught John as he was preparing to collect some supplies for a coffee shop and cafe he owns in a shopping centre nearby. It is a busy coffee shop with a staff of around 4 to depending on the time of day. John sat down to chat when his phone rang. There was drama at the shop. It seems there was no gas. No gas for shopping centre. WT!!! There are normally 4 giant 45 Kg bottles which are used to supply to various stores but at this time of day it was the coffee shop most in need as they do deep frying and other cooking all on gas appliances. We drove to the centre and checked the gas bottles. All are empty. It seems the supplier has somehow forgotten to keep the bottles topped up and or replaced. They only have two trucks supplying gas for commercial premises. One was in Airlie Beach a 1.5 hour drive to the north and the other was at Moranbah a 2 hour drive to the west. It was lunch time and customers were queued to the door and getting annoyed. Those who wanted sandwiches or toasted sandwiches and coffee were getting served. Those who wanted the house specialities (Phillipino meals) were out of luck. John and I raced back to his house and collected a 9 Kg gas bottle and a gas burner and back to the store to get it set up. In the meantime the gas supplier had found another supplier willing to provide a 45 Kg bottle to get things working but it would be an hour before he arrived. That was my excitement for the morning.

John on the other hand had two days of excitement.

Here is the beginning of the story from RACQ CQ Rescue.

The rescue helicopter landed on the sandy shore of the island, 35km north-east of Mackay, to find a 7.3 metre catamaran beached, a man and his two dogs the sole occupants.
The sailor reported he’d been stranded since Saturday night after six foot waves blew in damaging the vessel and washing him ashore in the north-western bay of the island.
With plenty of supplies on board, he didn’t activate his EPIRB until today after he suffered a fall.
The gent refused transport as he didn’t want to leave his dogs and was late this afternoon being assisted by the good folk at Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR).

Stranded with a damaged hull on Keswick Island. Thanks to the CQ Rescue Facebook site for the photo.

He and his poodles were rescued by VMR and brought back to Mackay but he was concerned the damage to the catamaran would involve a major recovery but in the meantime was concerned his boat would be stripped of all its goodies. Enter John who was asked if he knew somebody with a large boat capable of bringing loads of goods back. As luck was with him there was such a man in the coffee shop that day with a new Haines who was willing to bring home the belongings but on approaching the island it was found the conditions were too rough to attempt bring the boat onto the beach. While the skipper brought the boat close enough to shore to allow John and his friend to wade (actually it was more like swim ashore) in chest deep water to begin stripping everything off the catamaran. Meanwhile the skipper of the rescue Haines became seasick in the conditions. After most of the day was spent loading the Haines the trio spent a rough seasick passage back to Mackay.

After telling me the story John introduced me to the Catamaran owner and the Haines owner who are both regular diners at the coffee shop.

After lunch friends Ron and Eileen W from our motorhoming days arrived for a coffee and a catch up since our last meeting which after discussing realised it was early in 2013.

638. Sunday 9th September 2018. Mackay and family visits…

Many photos this week.

Monday 3^rd September

We had a lay day today. That was a good thing because I needed to rest from lack of sleep Saturday night and after a long day yesterday. As well I still have the dreaded head cold which has taken hold. Runny nose, plus a cotton wool head feeling and headache. Hmmm! Was it only May this year when I last had a head cold? Other than that I cannot recall the last time I had a cold.

In the afternoon we drove Sandi to the airport for her flight to Cairns.

Tuesday 4^th September

It is another hot Spring day here in Mackay.

In order to stave off cabin fever we went for a drive to 1. buy some fuel and 2. have a look around the beaches of Mackay. Have they changed much? No not at all. Unfortunately the approaches to the beaches, usually via a park are dry. In this drought it is the best you can expect as the grass is dry, brown and crackly. The approach to what should be the premier beach of Mackay, Harbour Beach, passes through a dismal and untidy industrial area and some dry scrub over sand dunes. The nice tar sealed road ends at the Surf Club and the road along the beach, laughably called East Point Drive is a lumpy bumpy pot holed, sand boggy excuse. The roadside is littered with rubbish and even used as an oil dump in places. The road ends at the entrance to the Pioneer River and should be a pristine location. It is not. It is used by hoons in their four wheel drives and in the wet manage to make deep mud filled trenches. No improvements have been made to this road at least since 1986. (It seems the land is owned by the Mackay Harbour Board, not Mackay City Council, not the State Government and not Main Roads Dept. The Harbour Board has not spent any money on maintaining the road .)

We stopped at the picturesque Mackay Marina but roadworks are being carried out so vehicle access is denied. Pedestrian and cyclists are permitted. A plaque at the entrance to the rockwall declares the wall was damaged by cyclone Ului in 2010 and Cyclone Dylan in 2014. Repairs to the wall were completed in 2015 and the road was re-opened. Cyclone Debbie in 2017 again caused damage to the rock wall and parts of the marina itself. The road along the marina surrounding rockwall has been closed ever since. Repairs are still being carried out with a constant flow of trucks loaded with basalt blocks from a nearby quarry.

I had to reverse the photo to understand this. The catamaran is called “BLONDE MOMENT”. I wonder if buying a new catamaran was the blonde moment.

We also took a drive along Mt Basset Road to the weather observation complex at Radar Hill Lookout.

Mackay Bureau of Meteorology and weather station atop Mt Bassett Lookout.

Much of the city and inner suburbs of Mackay is built in on or around mangroves.

View from Mt Bassett to Mackay City. Mangroves and Pioneer River are in the foreground. Note the building storm clouds.

Many creeks feed into the arms of the convoluted Pioneer River. The river does flood, especially in cyclonic conditions but so far the two modern high level bridges have stood up to the task. It is easy to see much of the mangroves surrounding the city from the Mt Bassett Lookout.

The streets of the city and inner suburbs often flood during periods of heavy rain and high tide. The city is criss crossed with flood easement canals with non return valves. It is often these valves which help create localised flooding as a high or King tide tends to keep the valves closed. Rainwater backs up and soon a flood begins.

While out and about we watched building storm clouds, black and ominous, creeping along the coast.

Looking to the east from Mt Bassett Lookout. Those ships in the path of the building storm are waiting to load coal from Hay Point Coal Terminal to the south. About 2 dozen ships were waiting.

The sky was soon overcast, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.

View from Mt Bassett overlooking Mackay Harbour to the north.

I cooked up a big batch of Chicken Massaman Curry. Daughter Averyl joined Donnis, Dave and myself. Great curry although a little mild and sweeter than the Yellow Chicken Curry I did last week. It had a distinct bite and made my nose run and lips numb.

A little drizzle of rain before we went to bed. Is that all we are going to get out of that big black clouds earlier today?

Wednesday 5^th September.

Happy Birthday to me!.

During the night the rain thundered down prompting us to jump out of bed and close all the windows. Wow! That was some rain which continued for ages. I hope they got some of this rain out west where it is desperately needed.

According to the news reports and Facebook pages, we received over 100mm overnight.

In the afternoon we went to visit friends Len and Lyn at Slade Point. We have been friends for many years since we originally joined the Mackay Sugarloafers chapter of the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia. We no longer have a motorhome and cancelled our membership several years ago. Len & Lyn still have their campervan and are still members of the CMCA but no longer attend meetings.

Tonight we went to watch Shelby play Netball. Her team was undefeated – until tonight. They lost by one point. The other team came out with a winning attitude and took Shelby’s team by surprise. By the end of the first quarter they were down by 7 points. They made up the deficit and matched the other team point for point but ran out of time.

Thursday 6^th September

Today we visited niece Kelly and young son Ollie and grandfather Mike.

Mike and Kelly work with bees. Oh and that’s me.

It was a nice visit and we learnt more about bee keeping. Kelly and partner Jason have a number eof beehives including Native Bees. They collect and sell honey and are called Beecasia Honey. I learned something new today. I always thought Native Bees to be stingless. Of the 1600 known native bee species, only 11 are stingless. I also learned that the native bee sting is nothing like the painful sting inflicted by European Bees. Apart from producing and selling honey they also create bees wax cloth which can be used and re-used instead of say, plastic film. https://www.facebook.com/Bee-casia-Honey-145037879555168/

Kelly also showed me photos of a recent fishing trip to Reliance Creek where they came across a group of baby Crocodiles. They were able to scoop one out of the water and examine the youngster. It is rare to come across young crocs in the wild without a mumma watching from nearby.

Ollie holding a baby crocodile found in Reliance Creek. Note the mangroves behind him.

Usually they know how to stay hidden. After they had a chance to examine the young croc it was released back into the water. Kelly, that was a magnificent find. I know you have spent many years fishing in Reliance Creek. I have too. We knew there were crocs there but have never encountered them before.

Afterwards we drove to Shoal Point for a marathon walk along the beach. It was low tide and the sand goes on an on and on.

View of Little Green Island from the hill at Shoal Point. On days of very low tide you can walk to the island through calf deep water…and back again if you do not dawdle. The island is privately owned and has a fresh water supply from an underground spring.

View from the hill at Shoal Point looking north to Cape Hillsborough.

At low tide the millions of Blue Soldier Crabs emerge from under the sand to feed on the miniscule amounts of detritus in the sand, leaving rounded pellets of discarded sand behind them. It is amazing to watch these little crab marching across the sand. As my shadow appears over them they stop and instantly burrow into the sand.

Just a small number of Soldier Crabs going about the business of finding a meal. Look along beaches anywhere along along most of Australia’s coastline and you will see millions of these .

This is what an adult Soldier Crab looks like. Imagine hundreds and thousands of these walking across the beach rolling up tiny pellets of sand to extract nutrients.

Once upon a time I could drive the 4WD along the beach to Reliance Creek.

Mangrove trees will take root in almost any environment and maintain the struggle to survive and capture more ground and create a bulwark against the ocean. The roots spread out like fingers and detritus and leaves build up around those roots and in turn attract more sand and leaves and slowly build a soil platform around itself.

Remains of what was once a strong and healthy Melaleuca (Paperbark) forest. Slowly the shape of the coast changed due to shifting currents and many many cyclones. In the background you can see a combination of Melaleuca and Mangroves retaliating in trying to win back what was once land.

Did this chair wash up from a storm or was it placed here? To me it is facing in the wrong direction.

Now, successive cyclones over several years has eroded the sand and exposed the mangroves all of which are dead and their slim trunks stick out of the ground like tall thick stubbles of wheat.

This was once a mangrove forest which has been overwhelmed by the sea and will slow decay and form a muddy peat like base which will also be fertile ground for future mangroves.

The mangroves have been fighting a battle with the sea over untold millenia. The mangroves try to reclaim land from the sea while the sea tries to wrestle back what belongs to it. It is a constant battle and looking at the sand it is easy to see ancient beds of rotted trees similar to peat slowly turning to mud mixed with sand.

This is the remains of an ancient mangrove forest now a muddy peat base.

It is no longer possible to drive now that the sand is gone. Even walking among the fingers of mangrove stumps and muddy peat requires care where your feet are placed. In one peat/mud zone was the remains of a late model 4WD where an incautious and most likely inexperienced driver came to grief.

Jut some poor unfortunate teenage driver who borrowed his Dad’s car to impress his mates with his driving ability had to abandon it in the mud. How he managed to drive it this far through tree, rock, mangrove and mud obstacles is a mystery. Perhaps he was a skilled driver after all. The ocean was more skilled.

Later I learned the Mitsubishi Pajero 4WD was borrowed by a teenage boy. Worse, he borrowed from his Dad. The car got stuck in the mud and could not be retrieved and has been flushed out by two high tides a day for the last 12 months.

Friday 7^th September

Today we took a quick walk around Bucasia Boat Ramp on Eimeo Creek

A couple of boats tied up n the mangroves on a muddy bottom at the Bucasia Boat Ramp end of Eimeo Creek. The one on the left was unfortunate in that it took on water and sank and became stuck in the mud. The owner managed to pump out the hull and refloat…temporarily. The hulls had became damaged and continued to take on water. There is a sign on the boat that it is a danger to navigation and must be moved. The boat on the right is still being used as a live aboard.

Bucasia Boat Ramp end of Eimeo Creek. This is also a live aboard although you would need to time arrival and departure. That mud is thick and deep and smelly.

More live aboards at Bucasia Boat Ramp at Eimeo Creek.

then visited Mike and Kelly. We learned a bit more about Native Bees. Most of them are single and do not swarm or have a queen. They do not make honey. They are however very good at pollinating. Beekeepers tend to make Bee Housing or Bee Hotels just to have these busy little bees in their area. Each “hole” in the hotel will be a home to a single native bee.

A single Native Bee Hotel. Single native bees do not swarm, do not have a Queen, do not build a nest and do not make honey. They do pollinate so are still a gardeners friend. Installing one of these will attract single Native Bees.

Tonight we caught up with my daughter Melissa and her husband Steve. We went to a local Mackay Japanese style restaurant called Bing Nomiya. It has a reputation for good food. When we arrived it was fully booked out. Not a table to spare. OK thats good. We ordered. An hour later we had not been served but people at nearby tables who arrived after us were eating. Hmmm! That’s not good. We complained. They told us we had only ordered 30 minutes before!!! WTF. That was not true. But had we ordered 30 minutes before you would expect to at least have had the entree served within 10 minutes! As it turned out we were not impressed with the food. It is not as good as the Kabachi Ya Japanese Restaurant we have on the Gold CoastThe only good thing about the poor service was we got to spend more time with Melissa and Steve to catch up since our last visit. Melissa is very busy and in big demand tending to the needs of horses. She has a business trimming the hooves of horses and providing a massage and or Chiropractic attention to horses. To keep up with the demand she usually has to work weekends.

Saturday 8^th September

Today we visited the Go Wake Cable Park http://gowakemackay.com.au/ to watch Anakin in his wakeboard competition. Anakin is in the Intermediate Class and only only joined the sport this year. We were quite amazed to watch the Novice Class and the children, as young as 7 perform jumps and twists. They look so light and seem to perform their stunts in slow motion.

Look at the size of this boy. He barely has enough weight to make a splash.

Anakin threw himself into the competition despite having an injured back and despite having received acupuncture treatment earlier today.

Anakin waits for his heat to begin.

and he gets away to a flying start in heat 2.

In his final round he had a fall and landed badly and found he was in considerable pain.

Anakin performing a loop in his first heat.

Anakin performing an even better backward somersault in heat 2.

Hmmm! I see more physio, Chiro and Acupuncture in his life in the coming weeks.

Anakin doing a power turn to line up and gather speed for the ramp.

Anakin slides onto a rail.

Staying on the rail for its full length is a challenge.

Afterwards we retired to daughter Averyls house where we had dinner and surprise surprise she baked a Carrot Cake for my birthday. Awwww. Gee Wizz. Thank you. We had a pleasant afternoon and dinner with Donnis, Averyl, granddaughter Shelby and grandson Anakin

Later back at Sandra’s house Dave and I sat up late working on a project on his computer. We over indulged in chocolate bullets and I over indulged more than Dave.

Sunday 9^th September

Woke to an upset stomach. So upset I did not feel like breakfast. I am convinced this is the bodies revenge for over indulging on chocolate bullets.

For that reason today was a bit quiet. Dave was at Big Boys Toys promoting Shannons Insurance while Sandi was taking part in a walk for World Suicide Prevention.

Donnis and I stayed home. I had a sleep and after Donnis had lunch we went to Eimeo Beach for a walk in the fresh air and strong breeze.

Probably the most sought after beachside location in Mackay. This house address is Mango Ave and is the only house right on the point with multi million dollar views. Somehow it has escaped serious cyclone damage.

It did nothing to settle my stomch but I did come home and have another sleep.

Tonight we had a family dinner. Besides Sandi, Dave Donnis and myself we were joined by Daves daughter Emily and her husband Bill and their two children.

Bria an almost 3 year old ball of uncontrolled energy. She likes chocolate…who doesn’t.

We plan to hit the road tomorrow morning and cover at least 500 Klms before we stop for the night.

Thanks Sandi and Dave for looking after us.