18th March

We stayed two more nights in Noosa but in a different campground as the first was a bit pricey - definitley paying a premium for the location by the river. This one had an excellent swimming pool as well. The children love the sites with swimming pools and spend ages playing even when the sun has gone in and it's cold. On our second day in Noosa we walked out to Dolphin Point in the Noosa National Park. The spot is very popular with the surfers and there were many out there bobbing about waiting for the perfect break. On the way to the point we saw another Koala curled up asleep which hasn't lost its magic despite having seen Koalas in the wild a couple of times and lots of them in the animal parks we have visited. Unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins swimming off the point but the children spent an enchanting half hour supporting an ant colony in their efforts to drag food back to their nest including some of our crisps and even half a smartie! The afternoon was spent on the beach which had the obligatory awesome surf and waves. Rosie, Connie and Daddy spent ages out in the water again and Meg and Isla hopped between the shallows and the sand collecting shells and digging holes, and if the boogey board is available, getting rides on it in the shallows being pulled along by Mummy! This has become a standard beach afternoon for us since being on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts - sand, surf and sun, you can't beat that combination when they are all awesome and you end the day feeling very tired but envigourated and healthy!

Noosa is an excellent holiday destination and the local community have pressed hard to avoid the high rises and over population which can really take the edge off a location. We spent our last day outside of the town visiting one of the more remote beaches on the North Shore of the estuary. The beach was unguarded so we couldn't go in the water and it looked treacherous anyway. The Aussie guidelines to beach safety are really clear. Swim between the flags (which are guarded) or don't go in. There are signs everywhere warning of this and the other dangers including rocks, rips and strong currents. You'd be a fool to ignore them but people do and drownings do occur which is tragic but so easy to avoid. When you are in the water you can feel the strong currents even when between the flags and we have needed all our concentration to keep track of Rosie and Connie who so often get bashed about by the waves but find it all brilliant fun (as did the big kid in the family). The beach on the north shore of the estuary is open to 4 wheel drives as are many of the less populated beaches all over Australia. This visit was no exception, with 5 or 6 ploughing through the deep sand by the dunes to get down on to the harder sand closer to the water. The rule is simple - this activity can continue without environmental imapct as long as people drive below the high water mark. It makes you re-think your philosophy of big 4WD's when spending time in Australia. Along with the beach access there are thousands of km's of unsealed roads all over the country and spending any time in the bush away from the 'main drag' makes a 4WD essential. It does make it all the more galling thinking of the 4 litre 4WD gaz guzzlers shmoozing around Surrey which will never see a grain of dust beneath their tyres! The beach was beautiful with or without the 4WD's and we watched a sea eagle fishing along the breaking waves before heading back to our site for a final swim.

The next significant stop was 300 km's up the coast at the town of Bundaberg or 'Bundy' as the locals call it. It is in an area swathed in sugar cane fields - miles and miles of 12 foot high cane feeding the sweet tooth of the nation. The houses located by the side of the road in these areas only have one view (and that's the road) as the other three are dwarfed by the sugar cane for several months of the year. We arrived in Bundaberg on Saturday which was the same day we arrived when we visited 14 years ago and it hadn't changed in its habits at all, in that everywhere was closed! Fourteen years ago we arrived without cash, and couldn't get any as the bank was closed, and therefore couldn't buy so much as a pint of milk (and even if we had some dollars, the shops were closed too!)so we ate cottage cheese for our dinner! Things have moved on a little but it still has that ghost town feeling. The campsite staff came top of my list for friendliness and a warm welcome. Simon was the only host in about 45 different campsites on our trip to shake my hand and ask my first name. Everything was 'no worries', 'not a problem' and 'good as gold'!

Our principle reason for coming here was to visit the turtle rookery at Mon Repos beach to try and repeat the experience we had last time of seeing a turtle laying her eggs. As it was the end of the season it was more likely we would see the hatchlings emerging which the children were very excited about and we set of for the beach really buzzing. The conservation effort for these endangered animals is huge and the opportunity to see this amazing annual spectacular is closely controlled. We told the children what we were hoping to see, but had to prepare them for the fact that we might not see anything, as these are totally wild animals, and are not programmed to 'perform' just because we would like to see them! It promised to be a big adventure regardless, as we were to go out on the beach with a ranger in the dark, so that in itself was exciting - we were hopeful that the children would get to see the fantastic display of bright night stars that we have spoken of. On arrival at the rookery, we were allocated a group and waited until the rangers saw any action down on the beach for us to go and watch - suffice to say we had everything crossed that the visit would not be in vain. After about 90 mins we were called down to the beach as a nest had started to hatch. The atmosphere was tense as we walked along the beach, guided only by the moonlight and awesome stars which were out in full force, following the ranger to where the nest was. In order to really see the hatchlings they put a circular wire net down to hold them in until they've all emerged otherwise they'd all leg it down the beach before we arrived and there would be nothing to see. After about ten minutes of watching the nest the Loggerhead hatchlings started to slowly emerge and then the sand just erupted as masses of turtles about half the size of Meg's hand made a bid for air and their first taste of freedom. Apparently they can be just beneath the surface of the sand after breaking from their eggs 50 cm down for up to five days waiting for the right time to do a runner for the ocean. It was a truly awesome sight and the children were totally transfixed. Meg was on my shoulders at the time and was madly telling me every time she spotted a new one. The other three children were equally animated and I know there was more than one member of our group who shed a wee tear as it was actually quite emotional. The ranger brought a couple of the little fellas round for us to touch and we could take some piccies. Decades of research has concluded that this human intervention has no impact on the species and the benefit of raising awareness to the plight of marine turtles is huge.

The action slowed down a little as most of the hatchlings appeared and then the children were able to play their part in guiding the hatchlings down to the sea by forming a line and using their torches to entice them down the beach. The children stood with their legs astride forming a type of tunnel for the turtles to go through. It was amusing to see so many of them going through, and probably equal numbers blazing their own trail outside of the tunnel. Isla was squealing with delight as they scrambled over her bare feet (how many kids at her school would have had baby turtles running over their feet as they make their way down to the sea?!). It was magical to watch them scurry down the beach in the dead of night knowing we had been the first to see them, and probably the last to see them for many years before they return to the area as adults to mate and lay their own eggs - well hopefully... only one in a thousand reaches maturity - we had a very excited chat on the return beach walk as to whether one of 'our' turtles would one of the survivors. The research has also established that the hatchlings scamper to the sea, and immediately start swimming in search of the EAC (If you are a 'Finding Nemo' fan, you'll know that this is the East Australian Current; a stretch of ocean where the turtles can drift with the current). The hatchlings will not stop swimming until they reach the EAC, a journey that will take 3-5 days of constant swimming to make - no food stops, just surviving of the yolk of their egg which they ate before surfacing on the sand. When the research at Mon Repos began over thirty years ago, it was believed that the turtles matured in about 8-9 years, and at this point they would return to lay their own eggs. The hatchlings that were tracked did not return in this time span, and a lengthy wait by a very patient Professor Col Limpus revealed that in fact the turtles did not mature until they were into their 30s (maybe they are not so unlike us??!!) and they then began to return in massively depleted numbers. A truly amazing journey for such a vulnerable and youthful animal, and one which means that we fell in love with turtles all over again - We could happily become a family of turtle rangers!

The next morning, still on the high of our turtle experience we left Bundy and headed up the coast to get some serious km's under our belts. The distances between towns is starting to increase and the highway is less populated. It's a pleasure to drive along these, and even though it is a two way road with intermittent passing lanes you can still maintain a decent speed. Certainly the trucks or 'road trains' travel at over 100 kph and don't stop for much. These beasts of the road are almost twice the length of a normal articulated lorry and make a thunderous noise. The road kill is evidence of their presence. We stopped for the night at a rest stop where you are allowed to camp over. They are free but noisy as they are right near the highway so we don't make a habit of it but this one was very welcome after we'd covered over 460 km for the day.