The Lucinda Spit

After several days of snorkelling, photographing and auto-pilot sailing, we decided to do something more land based for a change and so we jumped in the car and headed south to Lucinda.

Lucinda is just a small seaside town with a population of about 500.  It is roughly half way between Townsville and Cairns with the southern end of Hinchinbrook Island overlooking it.

I have copied and pasted the following from the Queensland Holidays site    http://www.queenslandholidays.com.au/things-to-see-and-do/lucinda-jetty/index.cfm

Situated near the southern end of World Heritage listed Hinchinbrook Island, the Lucinda bulk sugar terminal boasts the longest service jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. At 5.76 kilometres in length and supported by more than 660 concrete and steel pylons, the jetty is nothing short of an engineering masterpiece with its length actually following the curved contour of the earth.

Sugar takes 22 minutes to travel along the conveyor from the on-shore storage to the shiploader. The single berth can accommodate fully loaded Panamax class vessels and the major cargo destinations are Canada and Malaysia.

The jetty enables Lucinda to receive the largest ships used in the raw sugar trade. Adjacent to this amazing structure is a small service jetty which is popular with anglers who don't have their own boat. Pelagic species such as Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, queenfish, northern bluefin tuna are assured and some anglers have even been lucky enough to land small black marlin.

As we were driving into Lucinda, my gaze just happened upon a tree which was sporting a large nest containing a beautiful chestnut and white bird.  STOP!!!! I cried.  Ian is used to this behaviour from me by now and he dutifully did a U turn so I could get a photo.

A passerby noticed us both photographing this beautiful Brahminy Kite and stopped to have a look.  

It turns out he was a fellow 'Birdo' and he put us onto some good bird spots around town, including 'The Spit' where Collared Kingfishers were to be found.

We were soon headed out there with the Kingfisher on our priority list.  There were lots of others to distract us and after wandering out in the midday sun, getting burnt and eventually seeing a Collared Kingfisher hiding in a distant mangrove, we decided to find some accommodation and we would head back tomorrow.

We went back into town, booked into a motel and looked out the window in time to see a Kingfisher fly by and perch on a nearby post.  I got lots of photos but felt cheated.  It was much more rewarding to go out into smelly mangroves at low tide and stalk a bird till it gave in and let itself be photographed than just find it posing next to your motel room!

Not giving in to the easy conquest of the Kingfisher, we set out early next morning to the Spit.  This time we donned hats and applied sunscreen.  

Among the many residents of the Spit were the cutest little Red-capped Plovers that you could ever see.

On seeing us, this little plover feigned the broken wing after luring us along the beach a way.  Hmm, it must have young ones hidden somewhere.

Ian soon located the little fellow.  He wasn't much more than a head on legs! He looked like he might have only hatched 5 minutes before we got there.  On a comparison for size, he was a bit smaller than a ping-pong ball.

Obeying instructions from his parents, he ran off. . . . .  but in the wrong direction.  Mum (or Dad - they both look the same) headed him off, none too gently!

Poor little fellow.  Surely they didn't think he was on our food chain.

He had had enough drama in his short little life so we moved away in search of some real prey.

Now Ian is no sissy when it comes to exploring, unlike me who likes to be a bit more sensible about it, especially since I had only got my shoes dry after cleaning off yesterday's mud.

And so Ian went off for something really elusive. . . . 

while I went after girl's things

there must be times when Ian regretted doing boy's things

I was lucky to get him back!

Now, to find that Kingfisher.  There he was perched on an architecturally appealing tree.  And one of us didn't even get too muddy (this time) to get him.

If I think it's hard to get a bird in a tree, it's infinitely harder to get Ian there.  I was lucky today and he was obliging.  

I love him!

Yorso Good

The weather was fine, I had a couple of weeks off and so did Ian.  There was only one place to go - Low Isles (again).  Well, we never tire of it.  It has every ingredient of Tropical Paradise.

Besides, Ian has been working on Yorso (see Yorso Vain/Stupid in "The Great White Hunter Strikes Again" http://winkali.blogspot.com/2012/08/great-white-hunter-strikes-again.html

Having lightened up the steering, tried a few variations on his pulley systems and gathered up new determination, we headed out in an ideal breeze.

After careful balancing of sails and fingers crossed, we handed the steering over to Yorso. . . . . and off he went, all by himself.

Ian sits and relaxes while Yorso does the work

Yorso didn't know what the fuss was all about.  He could have done this for us last year when we headed out on our trip.  There was no need to have stayed up day and night tending the helm till we were exhausted.  All we had to do was lighten things up a bit and he would have done the rest.

Oh well, better late than never.  This makes places like Lord Howe Is and New Zealand a possibility after all.

Now that knew we had Yorso on the team, we sailed back to Low Isles and re-anchored.  

Now it was time to try out my new flippers, goggles and underwater camera.  

"Oh no", you say, "before it was all the bird photos, now it's going to be fish photos".

Well, I tried but I think that birds are a lot easier.  With the current and waves bobbing me about, all I could do was hope that the lens was pointing in the direction of my subject when I pressed the shutter.

After a while, I started to get the hang of capturing stationary objects.

Now, I'm not as conversant with the names of things at the bottom of the ocean as I am with creatures of the air but I do know that the object on the left is a very nice piece of pink coral.

After I managed to photograph the coral, I headed for something more tricky - something that moved.  I located this lovely blue starfish as it slowly made its way across its coral surrounds.  I didn't actually see it move, but I know for a fact that they do.




Then, I mastered the art of photographing fish as they darted in and out among the coral.  How did I do this?  First of all, I located large schools of fish.  Then I pointed the camera in their direction and pressed the shutter like crazy before they all swam away.  As you can see, I managed to get the last few stragglers. 

A lucky snap on the right.  The rare little stripey fish swims into view just as I was getting a photo of the coral.

Then best of all, just when Ian thinks he's safe from my prying lens, I catch him under water.

THE END

The Gulf, Cape York and Moreton Telegraph Station

The dry season is the busy season in the tropics.  Thoughts turn to warmth and sunshine when the first hint of frost appears in our southern latitudes and Queensland usually springs to mind.

Now when you want to be sure of warm weather, it pays to go to north Queensland because Brissy and the Gold coast can have their fair share of winter chills.

I have now done three Gulf Tours and two Cape York Tours, with one more Cape York Tour to go. 

I have stopped promising blog photos to my passengers as I forget all the details by the time I get round to writing them.  

I made the following movie clip on my first Gulf Tour in June, so this is for my passengers in June.

Ian helped out at Moreton Telegraph Station doing boat tours on the Wenlock River, as the previous coxswain made a sudden departure due to family emergency.  

Ian (centre standing) cautiously navigates between shallow sandbanks on the Wenlock

Navigating the river was tricky as a 'dry' wet season caused a low water level much earlier than usual.  

There were usually a couple of trustworthy residents of the Wenlock River to show to admiring tourists.

This Azure Kingfisher looked particularly spectacular as he flashed his electric blue from branch to branch as he zig-zagged his way up the river.

                                                    A territorial Shining Flycatcher lets everyone know that this is his branch and to go and find your own flies somewhere else.      

                                                                  

Ian drove to Moreton, accompanied by 'Pete, the Plumber', who was also going to Moreton to help out for a few weeks.  He was promised lots of lazy days, relaxing and fishing for the numerous Barramundi which abounded in the Wenlock.  All he had to do was a tiny bit of work in return for his food and lodging. All Ian had to do was help Pete when he wasn't driving the boat.

After 2 weeks, Pete finally managed to do a bit of fishing.  He caught a Barra, among other things.

I returned from my Gulf trip and booked a flight to Moreton.  I would spend my two weeks off taking photos, while Ian worked.

Moreton airstrip boasts a no-frills terminal for the budget conscious. The mail plane comes once a week and you can even mail people to and from there.

A Yellow Honeyeater  picks some fruit and catches it

  

Moreton always has an abundance of wildlife, especially birds.  This kept me occupied while Ian was working.  I never get tired of stalking these Red-winged Parrots as they try and feed in the grass undisturbed.  This one eyed me off suspiciously. . . . 

unlike this Black-backed Butcherbird who showed off his grasshopper.

Ian did manage to get a couple of days off while I was there.  We went exploring around some nearby lagoons.  Ian had found this amazing tree a few days before I got to Moreton.  It turns out to be a Weeping Tea Tree.  

Melaleucas being friendly with the lagoon. 

A White-faced Heron poses for a photograph.

The day is done.  We have a cup of tea before retiring to our Safari Tent accommodation.

After a few weeks Ian and I drive  back to Cairns. The Wenlock is down to a trickle and boat cruises are finished for the year.  I have to do my next trip.  

Pete left a couple of days before us.  Fishing was getting too dangerous and nobody was willing to unhook his crocodiles for him.

The crocodile he caught in the movie clip was unhurt and managed to free itself.