We departed
Mooloolaba for
Wide Bay Bar and Fraser Island which is the largest sand bank island in
Australia. Crossing this bar is always a
bit of a white knuckle experience and this time proved no different. It is all about timing wind, sea state and
tide and local knowledge as the bar crossing changes as the sea bed is
constantly shifting. With the prevailing
conditions as favorable as we could ask and the latest updates on the crossing
point provided by the Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) station nearby we
successfully crossed the Wide Bay Bar and negotiated the hazards off the lee
shore for a very bumpy mile before turning safely into the channel. From here we had an easy motor sail in soft
water up the inside passage stopping for the night at Garry’s Anchorage. The following day we caught the morning tide traveling north and we dropped hook at the Kingfisher resort. Wes and Stine (Sv Sarabande had arrived and suggested a 'wee' hike the
following day to Lake McKenzie and to see the local dingoes. Lake Mackenzie is unique in the fact it is
100 percent rain water and houses its own brand of fresh water turtles. The hike was pleasantly enjoyable on a perfect kinda day, up and down thru leaf covered trails, too tall trees and a variety of sand dunes. It seemed to take a
little longer than we thought but we finally arrived at this picturesque pristine oasis
of flat water stretching as far as the eye could see. We were more than ready for a rest to enjoy a picnic lunch in this idyllic setting. Despite
being ready for a cool down swim, Kaija and found the water a tadd too chilly
for our liking. But being younger and
braver this did not stop Wes and Stine from diving to find the elusive fresh
water Lake turtles.
These pie
plate sized creatures are not easy to find by Wes did manage to locate a couple
to the delight of Stine and Kaija.
Somehow on the way back to the boats we managed to find the ‘path less traveled’. As dusk was approaching, and
not a dingo seen all day, we limped back to the shore to find the dinghy high and dry approx.
500 ft. from the water’s edge. With dark
fast falling and what remaining strength we could muster we all grabbed hold of
the dinghy and while sinking to our knees in mud we managed to get to the water
and the dingy floating. Needless to say
we arrived back aboard KaijaSong a wee bit weary and ready to lick our wounds
and soak our tired feet. We were
reminded again of the joys of youth…or at least the strength of youth and Wes
and Stine looked like they could have repeated the hike which turned out to be
a whopping 22 km…which to this old boat boy is NOT A WEE HIKE! … However, fun
was had by all and all survived the bantering and floggings to fight another day.
No comments:
Post a Comment