Noosa Everglades

Yesterday, I just hung out at the hostel and even had dinner there, not so bad fish and chips with salad.

This morning, I was up really early (before 05:00) texting with friends in Europe about the next hashing events in Scotland and Germany. Then I was up and out, making my way across the street to the bus stop by 08:15.

Today, I'm visiting one of the world's two everglades systems. (The other one is in Florida.) Here is what one of local tourism blogs says about this:

"There are only two Everglades in the World – the first being in Florida and the other is our very own Noosa Everglades. The definition of an Everglade is: A tract of low, swampy land characterized by tall grass and branching waterways. There is very little information about the Noosa Everglades and it is thought the term Everglade was first used to describe part of the extensive water way and wetlands of the Noosa River by tour guides" (https://www.kanukapersaustralia.com/what-is-the…).

Anyway, I'm here and it's amazing! The boat ride over Lake Cootharaba was soothing...except for the four tweeny-year-old Irish girls alternating between their phones and talking about anything but what we were doing here. The lake is 50 square kilometers but only about 1.5 meters deep.

Aboard the M.V. Cooloola, we made our way across the lake to a jetty at Fig Tree Point where the four Irish were put in canoes. No, not because of their rudeness. Apparently they and 16 others added a canoe ride to their trip, so 10 of them paddled up river, while the other 10 paddled down. The boat was much quieter after their departure.

Those of us not taking canoes went for a short walk (400 meters) on the Maleleuca circuit track, where we saw the magnificent tea trees (a.k.a. paper bark) that stain the water reddish-brown and give it its mirror-like surface when still.

Back onboard, we started up the Upper Noosa River, but had to pick up two of the Irish girls who could not make the canoe do anything but circles. We wasted 20 minutes trying to get them in the boat.

Anyway, while dragging their canoe, we spotted a huge black cormorant, but no other wildlife, which was disappointing. But when we arrived at Harry's Hut, we spotted the lace monitor!! This one was quite small; they can get up to two meters long! Also called a lacy or tree goanna, most Aussies just call them goannas. Their closest relative is the giant Komodo dragon found in Indonesia and that I saw way back on Day 138.

This one has learned that humans are messy eaters, and he found some cake crumbs under the table. While he was eating, one of the Irish girls was amazed, saying that he ate just like a dinosaur. Wait, what? Does she think Jurassic Park was real? Please put her back in a canoe. Or maybe she and her friends can go swimming. They can continue being amazed when they see some of the bull sharks that are known to visit the river. Just kidding. Mostly. 😉

We're at Harry's Hut now, which reminds me of my mom's grandparents' home in Texas.

So long [for now] and thanks for all the fish. ✌️

P.S.: I wanted to keep the end of the trip with the beginning since not much happened after noon. The return trip with 31 people was dominated by the four Irish taking up the front of the boat, laughing at who cares, and not paying any attention to anything but themselves. I went to the back to chat with the skipper, which turned out very nice. We spotted pelicans, little perch, another black cormorant, and a pied cormorant before getting back to the beach. We had a late lunch there and got back to the bus stop at just before 16:00.Okumaya devam et