Today we headed to Arthur River 15 kms down the road on the west coast for the boat trip we had booked while in Stanley.
We arrived just before 0930 so we could pay the balance and have a coffee ( all part of the deal) before boarding the boat at 10ish for a 1015 departure.
Firstly we went up to the point where the river meets the sea and saw the salmon fishermen trying their luck at the river mouth. We watched the 1.5 metre breakers and tried to imagine them at their 10-12 metre roughest - you could see how river and wave action frequently re moulded the coast. The shoreline was littered with timber all brought down by the river. It really was a lovely rugged coastline - we could see the 'Edge of the World' viewpoint from the boat(which we visited after the trip for more great views).
The highlight of the trip for me was the two pairs of white bellied sea eagles that live on the river one pair at the top and one pair at the bottom. We got really good views of them as they swooped for salmon thrown into the river by Rob. Nature purists may not like it but it engaged the 11 tourists in the splendour of a beautiful bird; indeed they were only fed a small amount of what would be their normal diet anyway. ( one of the eagles is today's photo). We continued up the river looking at the unique vegetation - the eucalypts make the forest less dense than other rivers but the ferns which take 100 years to grow a metre were amazing to look at particularly knowing they must be several hundred years old. Similarly the orchids we looked at lunch which at hardly changed in 15 years. Lunch was a lovely healthy finger buffet of cheese, sandwiches, fruits and carrot cake and was eaten while watching currawong and pademelons. We then headed off on a self guided walk to Warra Falls, with numbered guide book in hand to point out the vegetation and things of interest - most interesting for me were the burrowing crayfish burrows - these animals live on rotting vegetation at the water level.....I didn't realise such things existed. The falls were dry but I imagine with water running over the moss covered steps they would be very attractive.
When we got back on the boat we could see short finned eels which Rob tried to entice with a piece of fish - but instead of hanging around they pulled it off his piece of string and swam off with it!
Apparently the river has one tide a day not tidal and governed by the moon but instead it is governed by the barometric pressure which again I never realised existed.
A great and very different trip - we were back at 4pm and after visiting the 'edge of the world' we returned to our cabin for tea and cake and to enjoy the last of a warm summer day sitting outside - and imbibing more of the intoxicating views - sea, birds and surfers!
The sunset was a good one - a lovely orange glow illuminating the trees on the horizon -here endeth another gorgeous day down under.