We left the comfort of the Burnett River on 28th
November and once more headed out to the high seas. Unfortunately the wind was
a persistent east or south east and so we were bashing into it and heeled over
for much of the way down the coast. We had reefs in and out at various points
but safely made it down to the relative shelter of Hervey Bay, although our
first anchorage off Torquay Beach was a bit uncomfortable.
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The Burnett River |
Then we had a short motor across the bay to Kingfisher Bay on the west side of Fraser Island. We saw lots of birds feeding in the bay. The mackerel and the birds all chase the baitfish and it makes for quite a spectacular feeding frenzy. I had fun trying to get some photos of the action.
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Feeding Frenzy |
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Common Tern |
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Mackerel and terns fight for the bait fish |
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The one that got away! |
At Kingfisher Bay we said goodbye to X-Pat for a couple of
days, whilst we went and lived it up at the Kingfisher Bay Resort. The
accommodation and food were both wonderful and we had a room with a verandah looking
out over a small lake, so it was great fun watching the wildlife.
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Another classic turtle pose |
Yesterday we hired a 4WD vehicle and went touring around the
beautiful Fraser Island, visiting the beaches and the lakes. Debi drove the
whole way, which was 7 hours driving. She
seems to have acquired a taste for off road driving now and to her credit didn’t
get us stuck once! For my part I now have a swollen knee from bracing myself in
the navigators seat for 7 hours! We saw one dingo sniffing around one of the
car parks for food and did a nice dawn chorus walk this morning before we left.
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Lake McKenzie, Fraser Island |
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Car and Driver |
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The rainforest |
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Wreck of the Maheno |
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Wreck of the Maheno |
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Tourist planes landing on the beach |
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The motorway on Fraser Island |
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Perched Lake |
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Tannin stained water from the nearby tea trees |
After a rather wet dinghy ride back out to the boat (due to
wind and waves) we have now motored down the coast of Fraser Island a few miles
and are once again sitting in what seems like quite an exposed anchorage. I’m
not sure why I can’t pick more sheltered places. Hopefully the wind will obey
the forecast and die down over the next few hours.
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