Go on... have a laugh... I still am! I had heaps of fun putting this together while Ben & Xena were fishing at Koombaloomba Dam.
NOTE: I had to shrink the file substantially in order to load onto the website, this has resulted in loss of quality. Unfortunately this is only good to view in the size displayed on the blog, not in full screen mode. I am still working on how to do this without losing the quality but i certainly wasn't uploading a whopping 300MB file!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Byfield National Park
National Park (NP).... As beautiful as some of them are, they are dreaded words on our trip. NO DOGS. So with some prior planning we drove the quite boring stretch of road between Mackay and Rockhampton to take Bear & Xena for a 2 night stay of their own at a well researched and very reputable boarding kennel near Yepoon. I imagine it's like having children really, dropping them off and saying goodbye, hoping they'll be happy and looked after. I was very sad leaving them for the first time on our trip, I felt we had left something behind! I am not sure why I worry though... they have always had so much fun playing with other dogs at the kennel in the past.
So with the kids dropped off we weren't too much further from the entry of the park. Since moving to Mackay, both Ben & I have been wanting to visit Byfield but better late than never! Known for its great sandy 4wding and fishing... we were very excited!
Wow.... Nature at one of it's best! We drove through a large amount of state forest before reaching the NP, confronting us with towering sand dunes, narrow tracks, long stretches of beaches (white and sandy as i knew them, not coral), deep blue ocean.... and NO-ONE ELSE TO BE SEEN! It seemed we had the entire NP to ourselves for the weekend. Woohoo!
We set up the camper behind the dunes right on the beach, in between 5 rocks and the inlet and not having to walk the dogs, we weren't entirely sure what to do next. We are still getting used to this RELAXING thing they talk about!
I can't wait to go back to Byfield NP, the sea was a bit rough to launch our small boat this time around, and I can't remember why we didn't get any fishing done here??? From memory I think it was more to do with Ben's keen enthusiasm for 4wding! For the one full day we had in the NP we explored the "Orange Bowl", an amazing sand blow that, to Ben's disappointment, can no longer be driven on. So, in attempt to satisfy his need for speed, we explored on foot and Ben revisited his childhood of tobogganing down the sand dunes. As fun as it looked, I decided to be the photographer!
This really is a place you could explore for days. It's a shame we didn't get a chance to catch any fish or crabs, it really looked like a promising place... and so peaceful. We didn't see another car, besides the ranger, all weekend! Next time I think we will stay for a week. Another thumbs up location!
So with the kids dropped off we weren't too much further from the entry of the park. Since moving to Mackay, both Ben & I have been wanting to visit Byfield but better late than never! Known for its great sandy 4wding and fishing... we were very excited!
Wow.... Nature at one of it's best! We drove through a large amount of state forest before reaching the NP, confronting us with towering sand dunes, narrow tracks, long stretches of beaches (white and sandy as i knew them, not coral), deep blue ocean.... and NO-ONE ELSE TO BE SEEN! It seemed we had the entire NP to ourselves for the weekend. Woohoo!
We set up the camper behind the dunes right on the beach, in between 5 rocks and the inlet and not having to walk the dogs, we weren't entirely sure what to do next. We are still getting used to this RELAXING thing they talk about!
I can't wait to go back to Byfield NP, the sea was a bit rough to launch our small boat this time around, and I can't remember why we didn't get any fishing done here??? From memory I think it was more to do with Ben's keen enthusiasm for 4wding! For the one full day we had in the NP we explored the "Orange Bowl", an amazing sand blow that, to Ben's disappointment, can no longer be driven on. So, in attempt to satisfy his need for speed, we explored on foot and Ben revisited his childhood of tobogganing down the sand dunes. As fun as it looked, I decided to be the photographer!
This really is a place you could explore for days. It's a shame we didn't get a chance to catch any fish or crabs, it really looked like a promising place... and so peaceful. We didn't see another car, besides the ranger, all weekend! Next time I think we will stay for a week. Another thumbs up location!
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Rain Rain Go Away... We're Going To Mackay Today!
That's right.... RAIN! For those that know us you will be familiar that nearly everywhere we go it rains... well this is no different. The weather turned miserable at Kurrimine Beach so we decided to head for Mackay to stay with friends Chris & Shantelle for a few days. I was sad to miss a stopover at Bowen but we have spent alot of time on the coast between Cairns and Mackay so it wasn't anything we haven't seen before.
We arrived in Mackay... still raining and had an enjoyable few days catching up with friends, watching TV for the first time since we left and enjoying staying in a house during the bad weather. THANKS Chris & Shantelle!
Not long though and the weather improved and it was time to leave "Home" and continue south down the coast! Next stop Byfield National Park.
We arrived in Mackay... still raining and had an enjoyable few days catching up with friends, watching TV for the first time since we left and enjoying staying in a house during the bad weather. THANKS Chris & Shantelle!
Not long though and the weather improved and it was time to leave "Home" and continue south down the coast! Next stop Byfield National Park.
KING REEF - KURRIMINE BEACH
Finally... we made it to King Reef, a place we had planned to be our first stop of the journey! Better late than never!
A short drive from Paronella Park and just north of Mission Beach, lays a tiny picturesque town on the Great Barrier Reef. We decided to give the caravan park a miss when we found a small, basic and more affordable council run camping area right on the water... beautiful! The weather wasn't the best, a bit windy to hit the reef in our small tinny, but there was plenty of beach to run the dogs and an inlet to throw a line and "TRY" for some mud crab!
The reef is just 300 metres from the shore here, the closest it comes to the coast, boats can only be launched at high tide and by tractor as the water is extremely shallow for hundreds of metres offshore. We did explore the coastline briefly in the tinny... we didn't find the awesome fishing spot we were after though... and the only fish we caught was the gar fish that jumped right into our boat! The wind started to blow and we ventured back to dry ground.... If only the weather was better for our stay... the locals all headed out one one fine day, they seem to know the spot to go!
With no luck at the reef we decided to hide from the wind and launch the boat into the inlet. Ben was so excited that today was his day and he was going to catch a mangrove jack! It was all I had heard about for the last few days. Can you imagine the look on his face when I caught the only 2 keepers. I really did feel terrible for him.... no really... i did! At least we had fish on the table for dinner! (And i had a great time catching them.)
NOTE TO SELF: Beautiful place...next time tell the wind to bugger off.... don't let Krystle catch all the fish and ask the locals how to get to the reef fishing spot!
A short drive from Paronella Park and just north of Mission Beach, lays a tiny picturesque town on the Great Barrier Reef. We decided to give the caravan park a miss when we found a small, basic and more affordable council run camping area right on the water... beautiful! The weather wasn't the best, a bit windy to hit the reef in our small tinny, but there was plenty of beach to run the dogs and an inlet to throw a line and "TRY" for some mud crab!
The reef is just 300 metres from the shore here, the closest it comes to the coast, boats can only be launched at high tide and by tractor as the water is extremely shallow for hundreds of metres offshore. We did explore the coastline briefly in the tinny... we didn't find the awesome fishing spot we were after though... and the only fish we caught was the gar fish that jumped right into our boat! The wind started to blow and we ventured back to dry ground.... If only the weather was better for our stay... the locals all headed out one one fine day, they seem to know the spot to go!
With no luck at the reef we decided to hide from the wind and launch the boat into the inlet. Ben was so excited that today was his day and he was going to catch a mangrove jack! It was all I had heard about for the last few days. Can you imagine the look on his face when I caught the only 2 keepers. I really did feel terrible for him.... no really... i did! At least we had fish on the table for dinner! (And i had a great time catching them.)
NOTE TO SELF: Beautiful place...next time tell the wind to bugger off.... don't let Krystle catch all the fish and ask the locals how to get to the reef fishing spot!
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| Ben's Mangrove Jack....... |
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| Krystle's Mangrove Jack!!! |
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