Bundaberg - Baldwin Swamp

A Lewin's Honeyeater having a healthy breakfast

Baldwin Swamp Environmental Park is a network of ponds and canals covering an area of about 77 hectares.  

Before European settlers came to the area it was home to the Bunda people. The name Bundaberg is derived from the aboriginal word 'Bunda' meaning tribe, and the saxon 'burg' meaning town.







When Bundaberg was first settled, the springs in this area provided the water supply.

In 1902, a water tower was built to provide reticulated water.  It is a masterpiece of bricklaying, with walls up to 1.4m thick and a height of 36.6m. It stored 40 000 gallons when in use. It is now heritage listed.

Ian and I were expecting a swamp, riddled with mangroves midgies and mosquitos, along with lots of bird life, however, it turned out to be a well kept area with barbecues, playgrounds, lots of paths, a huge shelter shed which you could hire and hold functions, especially if you got married in the Bush Chapel.








Although the mangroves were absent, there was a lot of bird life, and we weren't disappointed by the lack of mosquitos either.



 


















I've always wanted to photograph a frog on a lily pad, but I've never seen one to photograph.  Ian found this little fellow in the grass and after I'd had a good look at hime, he kindly deposited him on the lily so I could get my photo.

He didn't stay there long though.

It was quite a hot day.  This pelican and turtle were having a race in the shade.  

After a photo finish, I decided it was a draw since neither of them had moved.









We left the well tended path and went into the untidy area of the park.  That's where you usually find the good stuff.  I wasn't long before we heard the high pitched twitter of Fairywrens.  These Red-backed Fairywrens are one of my favourites. Ian took these photos.  The plucky fellow in the photo below has a little bug in his beak.  He's telling Ian to keep his beady little eyes off it.

A little further down the track we come across a Little Egret, feeding along the bank of a causeway.  His breeding plumage consists of two long slender plumes on the back of his head, along with the lacy plumes on his tail and breast.

He poses for us so we can get a better look.

On the other side of the causeway, the lilies and pond weed thicken.  A Pacific Black Duck struggles through in case we have something for it to eat.  We don't.

We come to an area of thickly vined forest and wonder whether we should start laying a trail of bread crumbs.

On closer inspection, the vines are actually climbing ferns.


















We find more good stuff as we venture deeper into the less popular area of the park. The mosquitos find more good stuff as we venture into their area.

A Nankeen Night Heron hesitates long enough for us to get a photo before he disappears into the thickets.  He is also wearing his courtship clothes.













The stick like camouflage let down this poor stick insect today as he became lunch. 

A bee goes in search of a vacant lily. It finds one already occupied, but there's room for two.








Back to the more civilised areas of lawns and playgrounds, we find some Black Swans gracing the lake. 

Now these beautiful birds seem to spend their time floating serenely around parkland lakes, like living ornaments but they could seem otherwise boring as you never seem to see them doing much else, so I thought  I would see what google had to offer on the subject and I found some interesting facts in Wikipedia.

They were once thought to be sedentary, but are in actual fact nomadic.  They'll follow areas of rainfall, sometimes quite deep into the interior of the continent.  If the wet conditions don't last, they'll leave again, abandoning their eggs and chicks.


Mostly they are monogamous, however, there is about a 6% divorce rate. About a third of all broods exhibit extra paternity.

About 25% of pairings are homosexual, usually male.  They steal nests or form temporary threesomes with a female, driving her away after she lays the eggs.

After hatching, the cygnets are cared for until they fledge at around 9 months.  Before this, the parents may carry them on their backs for longer distances into deep water.


Back to our anchorage in the Burnett River, we wait for good weather to take us to Fraser Island.  

The view takes on different hues, according to the time of the day.  

We watch a Brahminy Kite family go about its daily activities, which consists of sitting on branches and fishing.

Fishing?  How's the fishing going?  Well, after watching countless torpedo like fish leaping out of the water all around us but not catching them, Ian went to the fishing shop.  The salesman recommended a fail proof lure and Ian fell for it hook, line and sinker.  The fish didn't.

A couple of mornings later, while Ian was sleeping in, I decided to have a go.

The next thing "IAN, IAN, QUICK, I GOT A FISH", which translates to "IAN, IAN, QUICK, I GOT A FISH AND I WANT YOU TO GET IT OFF THE HOOK FOR ME".

Ian leaps out into the cockpit in time to see the fish get itself off the hook and try to escape through the cockpit drains.  Bravely, he grabbed it by the tail and got it back.  I would have just let it go, it had large sharp teeth.

Here I am, still in my nighty with my catch.  Its pretty harmless by now but I didn't take any risks and held it by its tail.

It was a beautiful looking fish if you didn't look at its teeth.

We ate it for lunch.  Unfortunately, it had to many bones in it to be enjoyable.

Oh, and Grants Fish Guide says its a Hairtail.

Bundaberg - Burnett River

Ian finds a good anchorage

We left Great Keppel Island a little over a week ago.  After the strong wind warnings were downgraded to what we considered perfect sailing, we made a run down the coast for Fraser Island.  It would be an overnight sail as there was nowhere between Great Keppel and Burnett Heads that would provide a sheltered anchorage in northerly winds.

We had a great sail that day and some of the night.  That was when the wind decided it would strengthen after all.  By 4 a.m. we were struggling with winds of over 30kn into the Burnett River leads.  We were glad it was too dark to see the height of the waves properly.  We watched their huge hunched backs, obliterating the lights of the coastline as Winkali took it all in her stride.  

After spending a couple of days anchored near the Bundaberg Port Marina, waiting for the winds to abate, we decided to motor up the river to the township of Bundaberg for a look around.

There was lots to see along the river.  It gave us two coastlines to watch and lots to see.


The Sugar Wharf was the first point of interest on our trip up the river.  

The Bundaberg Sugar Company is the largest in Australia and completes all the sugar production phases from growing to refining to packing and distributing.  

After that came the Bundaberg Sailing Club.  This is a bit of a social centre for water sports.  They have sail training, organize regattas and is home to an organization called Sailability which conducts water activities for people with disabilities.  It is also the home base for the Bundaberg Dragon Boat Club.  

We passed the now defunct Cable Ferry Crossing, which gives fishermen peace of mind that their fishing lines won't get caught in the Ferry cables. 

The ferry used to carry the cane trucks across the river although in recent years, only when things got hectic late in the season.  Last year's floods put an end to the ferry as it was washed out to sea and not seen since. 

I found this clip on YouTube when the ferry was in action.  It didn't look too safe.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB2je6_leFM

The river is popular fishing spot with both humans and Darters.  This Darter on the left is just a young one and is actually waiting for a parent to come along with a catch.  Hmm, not that much different from humans are they!







All along the river was evidence of the massive floods they had last year.  The Burnett River has flooded twice in the last three years with last year being the highest in history.

Beautiful Melaleucas line the banks of the river, with a hot water cylinder snagged in the branches.

A doonah caught in a Casuarina.  I hope the hapless soul that it belonged to, managed to wake up in time before they followed it into the tree.

A lace curtain, dislodged from its window, now flutters in the breeze supported by a eucalypt branch.








I'm sure there were tears about this one.  We see a mast standing proudly in a field beyond the river bank.  Later, we find out that it belongs to a 45' Catamaran.  The owner of it has come to an agreement with the indigenous owners of the land.  When the river floods again and the boat floats, he will collect it.  They will look after it in the meantime.  We wonder how he will get there to collect it when the time comes.

  

   

Eventually, Ian found a good anchorage for us.  

We are greeted by one of the locals, who view us as a food source.  How canny of them.

There is a family of Brahminy Kites residing nearby. One of the parents bring junior his breakfast. He takes off with it before the parent changes their mind.

We wake up around 5 o'clock most mornings.  We are astounded to find that there are other people around that choose to get up early.

An evening electrical storm provides us with a light-show.  We are not sure whether to enjoy the visuals, or to start panicking, as the Bureau  of Meteorology radar shows severe rain and winds approaching.  

Lucky, the storm skirted around us and for once, we were glad of its inaccuracy.

We've been to a couple of interesting places here now as the weather has no intention of letting up to give us easy passage to the Fraser coast.  

I'll tell you about the Botanical Gardens soon.