Sept 16, 2025 To Sea
We went east to Hervey Bay, a collection of small towns that line the bay formed from Bundaberg south and then swinging around the coast of K’gari, the largest sand island in the world (710 square miles)!
The town of Urangan has a very long pier extending out into the very shallow bay. We walked out to the end and figure that it goes one mile out! There were fishermen & women along the pier and we could see huge schools of fish in the shadow cast by the pier.
We found a tiny 18 acre reserve along the bay, preserving a small remnant of the ‘vine forest’ that once blanketed the south Queensland coast. We walked through the dry rainforest, listening to the birds in the bush. The forest opened onto a pristine empty beach with osprey perched in the trees watching for fish in the shallow bay waters.
Sept 15, 2025 From Mountain
We headed inland to Mount Walsh hoping to hike to Waterfall Creek rock pools.
From a distance the mountain is imposing. When we reached the trailhead we realized it’s too imposing! We changed our minds when another hiker arrived, much better prepared than us, with hiking poles and leg coverings to protect from the snakes that most certainly are around!
These are the pools we were hoping to reach. We consoled ourselves by imagining that with the current drought, the pools are probably empty or slimy with algae!
Sept 14, 2025 Bundaberg Queensland Sugar Plantation
We drove 27 miles to the town of Bundaberg, a hub of the most productive agricultural region of Australia, sugar cane being a primary crop, but orchards abound as well, with macadamia and avocado primary crops. We went to the Bundaberg Botanical Garden and learned about the sugar cane industry in the area. The Fairymead House was moved from the Fairymead Sugar Plantation outside of town to the Botanical Garden and restored as a museum.
The house was built in 1890 for the Young brothers who kick-started the sugar cane industry in the area after the government passed regulations that enabled interested parties to acquire land to grow sugar cane.
“Plantation” evokes some strong images, and those are well founded, even in Australia. Convict labor was relied on in Australia until ‘transportation’ of criminals to Australia ended in 1840. The large land-holding agriculturalists looked for other sources of labor and began the practice of ‘blackbirding’ Southsea Islanders, coercing or even outright kidnapping men, women and even children, to work in the fields in Australia, especially in the subtropical area of Queensland.
The house is a fine example of the ‘Queenslander” architecture. Large verandas, tall roof that is actually a huge air duct, creating draft that cools the interior, and raised off the ground, maybe to protect from the snakes? The stained glass skylight lets light into the interior, and the huge overhangs shade the house. It is only 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, parlor, formal dining room and casual dining room. The kitchen and servants room are separate, to the right of the entrance, for fire safety
A cute little steam train runs through the Botanical Garden. It is a restored ‘sugar train’ that was used to haul the cut cane from the fields to the refinery, repurposed for tourism now.
Sept 13, 2025 Banksia Walking Track
We drove 22 miles east to the coastal town of Woodgate to visit some hiking venues. The short 3 mile ‘Banksia Walking Track’ took us in a loop through a wetland and into the dry, sandy banksia woodland. Banksia are a genus of Australian (all but one specie are endemic to Australia) flowering plants recognized by their flower spikes that become woody fruiting cone-like heads.
Some of the banksia trees were tall, some merely bushes, but none were in bloom. The ‘hairy’ woody cones and seed pods were prominent though.
Up close the closed seed pod ‘fruit’ looked like tightly shut clam shells! And they were about as hard as a clam shell!
We found one open with the dry paper-thin glossy golden seed covering looking like lips in the open pod.
Today we also saw our first 2 snakes! The highly venomous brown snake and the equally toxic red bellied black snake! Luckily we were in the car, driving down the road as they slithered across, not at the same time or same place, but the same road! Not my pictures either!! We now look down at the ground when we hike, looking for snakes, rather than looking up in the trees to spot koalas or birds!
Sept 12, 2025 Da Cottage @ The Habitat
We have a week at “Da Cottage at The Habitat”, an eclectic cabin in a 15 acre “lifestyle block” that is a mini-wildlife habitat.
It has a shaded outdoor kitchen/dining area surrounded by tropical vegetation and lit with colored lights at night.
The grounds are a mix of open areas and small groves of trees and brush.
There are some banana plants and some citrus trees, but nothing is ripe right now.
Every morning we are serenaded by kookaburras and other birds, including a lonely old rooster whose crowing in the morning is a little raspy!
