Capricorn Caves

About 40 mins from where we’re staying (Emu Park - no emus tho’) is Capricorn Caves.
One of the oldest tourist sites in Queensland apparently, having been going for 100 years. It’s not anもっと詳しく
Flowers, foliage, feathery friends

Moving on from our last stop, and we arrive at Gladstone, as it is the gateway to our next few days in Heron Island.
We have booked Matty in to secure parking here, next to the port, hope she’ll beもっと詳しく
Vodafone mobile coverage debacle

When we first landed, Col spied a Vodafone kiosk at Brisbane airport. He shot in and 20 mins later emerged with an Aussie sim and number.
Great we thought, comms should now be affordable and problemもっと詳しく
Heron Island

We’ve left the security of Matty for a couple of days, to stay on Heron Island: https://www.heronisland.com/
Had to do a mini pack for the weekend, which was surprisingly hard. All our bits andもっと詳しく
Birds of the island

Too many for me to list: http://dev.aldestahotels.com/heron/eco-adventur…
Amusingly, Heron Island has no herons (the egrets are close, though) and it isn’t an island, it’s a coralもっと詳しく
More Heron

Col is completing three more dives, allowing me to go in a semi sub to view the reefs with my own eyes.
There were loads of fishies there, several green turtles and lots of hard and soft corals. Theもっと詳しく
Heron Dives

Did 4 dives in total here at Heron (cram 'em in while you can). The dive crew are great and take us to 3 different sites around the island's reef. Superb dives on a very healthy looking portion of theもっと詳しく
Well, it’s finally happened ….

….. our first close proximity and shocking encounter with a VERY LARGE spider 😱😱😱.
OMG my heart was pounding, but despite my terror, I felt the need to video it!!
We’d no doubt spentもっと詳しく
Last few Heron pics before we leave

On our stay Col managed 4 scuba dives, and I managed 1 snorkel session!
I’m not a swimmer, so getting in the sea is a big deal for me, but I did it with Col’s help, in the shallows, and I sawもっと詳しく
Sorry, had to post this too….

…. to contrast a previous more horrific post 😬
I would consider this to be a ‘normal’ sized spider (lurking within Matty). Note it’s size relative to the glass.
However we were jokingもっと詳しく
Peacocks

These beautiful birds are wandering around the site. Beautiful until they open their beaks, that is!
Big ‘0’ birthday

I transitioned into a new decade today 😬
We had a lot of driving to get to our next stopping point, so I spent most of the day snoozing which was very pleasant indeed!
Here are some ‘awake’もっと詳しく
‘Big’ things - updating as we go

https://www.australianexplorer.com/australian_b…
4.10.22
Cassowary - Mission Beach
Crab - Cardwell
Mango - Mutarnee
6.10.22
Watermelon - Gumlu
Pumpkin - Gumlu
Mango - Bowen
11.10.22
Gemもっと詳しく
Torquay beach, Hervey Bay

We’re staying at Hervey Bay, on a pitch with Matty facing directly to the ocean. So it’s a shame it’s raining today 😂
Our options here are whale watching and Fraser Island…….the latterもっと詳しく
Pretty planty pics

Morning walk

Had a lovely walk on Urangan pier this morning. What is it about walking on a pier that’s so appealing and pleasing?
Humpbacks

❤️ 🐳
Sunshine Coast (ha, ha)

En route to our stay in Landsborough last Friday, we passed through the ‘un-user friendly’ town of Gympie. Supposedly home of a giant pineapple (sadly defunct now), Gympie’s streets wereもっと詳しく
Camp observations

and the perils of being a shortie 😬
Showers
They’re like shopping queues - you think you’ve chosen a good one, but someone else’s always seems better after the fact.
It all starts offもっと詳しく
Wet, wet, wet

The weather’s been good these last few weeks, but the East Coast of Australia is dealing with the La Niña effect ( https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101446044 ) which means rain, rain, rain, with moreもっと詳しく
Benches….

Places of quiet contemplation 💭
Scary signs - updating as we go

How many ways Australia can injure or kill you…..
Australia Zoo

This was to be a highlight of our trip, a golden nugget. It was, but not for the reasons expected.
We’d watched Steve Urwin back in the day, never thinking we’d get to his zoo. Then all the moreもっと詳しく
The 🔆 shines and an old friend

Monday morning and at last we wake up to sun. The sky is blue, the air is warm on our backs and we can start to dispel the dampness in our bones, clothes, shoes….
The other day we made a trip toもっと詳しく
The Gold Coast

Having left the (non) Sunshine Coast, we’re just at the tail end of the Gold Coast, home to high rise hotels and the most majestic beaches. To visit, we’d be passing back into Queensland andもっと詳しく
旅行者
💓