Hiking - 2016 01 - Gibraltar Range NP

Saturday 23rd

Australia Day public holiday fell on the Tuesday this year so Thomas, Matt and I decided to take an extra Monday to create a long weekend and get in some hiking. With work still to be completed on Sat we made a fairly relaxed move south starting just after 3 in the afternoon… We pulled into Grafton with the expectation of a nice Pub counter meal for dinner but found they were in short supply! First pub only had a Chinese buffet and the second had already sent the chef home! The publican recommended the Services Club just down the road, so we went off in search for that. It was pretty easy to find, it was where seemingly everyone else in Grafton was parked. Carpark: Full. Vacant Lots (2 of them!) across the road: Full. Street: Full. With the expectation of a long wait for dinner we doubled back to a Pizza place seen on the drive through. Pizzas came out brimming with toppings and a good base, worth the run around we had for dinner.

We finally rolled into the Mulligans Hut campgrounds by about 8:30 pm and found a spot to make camp. After our tents were setup we made use of the provided firewood and built a decent fire. It wasn’t a big night for me after the long drive down and thoughts of a longer day of hiking I soon slid into my sleeping bag and drifted off. I didn’t have the best night sleep, developed a bit of a sore throat on Friday and was starting to feel it.

Sunday 24th

We had a short shower in addition to lots of condensation last night and with not much in the way of sun for the morning had a fairly wet pack up. Eventually we were all ready so I shifted my car around to the day use parking and we began the journey. It wasn’t long before we were alongside a beautiful creek with near crystal clear flowing water. We followed the banks on and off for a while getting glimpses of swimming holes. The thoughts of chafing kept me from partaking, ouch! We were only about an hour into the hike before we passed the first group heading the other way. They were heading to the Hut (where we started) and we spent the rest of the weekend trying to work out if they had camped on trail (not at a camp site) or left camp really, really, really early that morning. I almost stepped on a bright red little spider, very small little dude never seen one that bright before.

We climbed up a Rock Crag, a few hundred meters off the path, to find a good spot for smoko/lunch. After a little scramble we were at the top with a nice big overhanging rock for shade and good flat granite sections for seats. Perfect spot really. Just after we were reunited with the main trail we heard the distant voices of another group of hikers. We moved on before they could catch up and later determined that they must have been day hikers enjoying some of the smaller walks to do here.

A few precarious creek crossings on the next stretch, some had bridges, some had planks of wood and others were simply swampy/mud. There is lots of water about and plenty of low lying area to catch it. As we crested a pretty decent rise we heard a noise come from Thomas’ backpack, apparently we had found reception for the first time since 8pm last night. It was decided that this would be a pretty good spot for arvo tea… I had already turned my phone off for the hike, but as we were seated took it out for a look. Heh, no Optus service anyway. Oh well, no loss. Off it went again and to the bottom of my pack until we were finished. Truth be told I was thankful for the break, I hadn’t been feeling will with a bit of a stomach ache and coughing from the sore throat.

It was only about another 2km before we strolled into an empty campground. I was ready to collapse on one of the tables but Matt suggested that if we didn’t go to the falls now (~400m) we likely wouldn’t later… Knowing he was probably correct I dropped my pack and headed off down the path. We passed the day area on the way and saw another hiker group on the way to the falls. Down a flight of steps to the bottom and a very impressive creek, 30m along to a great swimming hole at the bottom of the impressive falls.

Water was a bit fresh (bloody cold!) but all 3 of us dropped in for a swim and it felt great. One of the hikers from the group in the day use had made his way down. He was taking some pretty good shots with his DSLR so we asked him to take a few for us. Was great standing under the falls, water was a little heavy raining down on the head but felt like a massage. The walk back to camp was a little slower, bare feet and trying to avoid chafing. I didn’t. Guess I’ll sleep it off.

We got to work on camp and getting a fire going. The wood was a little damp and it took a little before it was going but we had a good fire not long later. Late afternoon another hiker troupe turned up. Group of 6 young guys, around 10-16, with one leader. A caravan pulled in not too much later. Big camp site here so we were all pretty well spread out. The first group of hikers had forgotten their camping stove… and fire source, so one of their group came over and asked for a piece of burning timber. Of course we were happy to help out. He had taken some pics of us before with his DSLR so he took Matts email to pass them on to us when they got back to civilisation.

Not sure if it was the ~20km we did today or the fact that I felt sick but I was lethargic and only lasted until about 7:20pm before I turned in for the night.

Monday 25th

Had a brilliant sleep, barely stirring at all. I woke up with first light and was out of the tent by 5:30 feeling much better than yesterday. Had the morning to myself, for all of 20min, before other people began to stir… Except the couple in the Caravan. There was another short walk from here (3k return) and Thomas and I thought, you know what we need on this hike? More hiking! So off we set (sans packs) to see Lyrebird falls. These falls were significantly taller than Boundary falls and had a decent flow. No (easy) way to get to the bottom and the view was pretty far away and partially obscured by mist, but still worth the short jaunt out.

Arriving back at camp to see the young troupe almost fully packed and ready to move out. The other hiker group looked like they had ventured back to Boundary falls for some early morning photos, or possibly another swim and the Caravan still looked silent. We had a fairly quick pack up and were back on the path ourselves shortly after.

Yet another opportunity for more hiking! An offshoot to Duffer falls which were a mere 700m away. Just shy of 1100m on the GPS later and we found the falls. Track must have gone around a few more trees since the distance marker was put in… The falls were pretty impressive and again if it wasn’t so early in the day it would have been a great spot for a swim. Upstream offered a nice protected swimming hole and for the more brave amongst you downstream (little bit of easy climbing) would get you to a great hole near the cliff. Looked like it would offered an infinity pool type view, but with trees instead of tourists.

After getting back to the main track we wandered up and down some hills until we reached Grassy Creek Camping. For people taking 4 days to do the round trip this is a likely second night stop for us it made a good lunch spot. It offered 1 table, 1 fire pit some fairly level ground and 20m away a pretty nice flowing creek. Smaller than the ones offered at other grounds, but more than enough to get your feet wet. Just before we reached it the sky had opened up a little and we were starting to get a bit wet. We had stopped to put pack covers on and make sure the poncho/rain jackets were handy.

We were a little damp now but it wasn’t too bad. It was enough to make you wet but not soaked, with the warm weather hiking in a rain jacket can be more uncomfortable than being wet so I left the rain jacket in its pouch. Further along the path we came across a carpet snake sunning on a log, slithered off to the side when I went in for a closer pic. It had stopped drizzling and I thought I could see blue skies.

I thought wrong. Cloud cover came over again and it begun what you could actually now call rain. We were wet. We reached the bottom of a very long hill and sat near a creek for a bit to rest our feet. Not long now until camp. With the exception of a couple of side paths the next 1.5k was the first time we weren’t on a management trail. Feels a lot more like a bush hike on a thin winding path with rocks, roots and other obstacles to avoid… like leeches. We were definitely in the rainforest now and with the rain the leeches were active. I was pretty lucky and managed to get them all off before they dug in. I was surprised with the amount that dropped on my hands though. Usually they’re ankle biters.

We arrived at the camp grounds and it was still coming down pretty heavy so we took shelter under the registration hut. We were held up for about 30min before it started to ease up and probably about another 15min before it stopped. We took the opportunity to make camp and get out tents up just in case it started again. Luckily everyone had their rain protection in place. Thomas’ Osprey Pack cover worked perfectly, Matt had a full Poncho that covered him and his pack and while my pack had nothing, and got wet, I had garbage liners protecting everything inside though, so all my gear was safe and dry.

The rain held off for the rest of the arvo/night and Matt once again got to work on the fire. This one took a little encouragement (read: shellite and butane) but after a lot of perseverance from Matt it was roaring. Well… self-sustaining at least. Yet another early night for me, we covered 23km today so I think that’s justified.

Tuesday 26th

Only 10k back to the car… seemed a little short so Thomas and I decided to tack on an extra 8.5km loop. It was once again rainforest path and the leeches were out in force! Not a minute went by without having to pull one off my shoes or flick it off my shin. They were everywhere. You could see them dancing on the leaves, waiting for you to brush up against them. We ascended for what seemed like ages and finally came across a waterfall. Further up we went until we peaked and started on a descent, past some big red cedar trees and eventually back to camp. In the 8.5km round trip  to camp Thomas had counted over 80 leeches… and he wasn’t counting for the first kilometre or so… Not a walk I would suggest after they’ve had a bit of rain… Good waterfall though…

Matt had already packed up and headed off to the car. Thomas and I left out tents up to hopefully dry out a little more. Which mostly worked. We had a bite to eat and started heading to Mulligans hut. The road out from Coombadjha campgrounds was 3.3km of uphill. Some bitumen, mostly gravel road base. Unlike the other tracks/management trails this was an open road. The occasional car coming down the hill and much harder ground that leaf covered management trails. Not an enjoyable section. Half way up we came across a Red Belly Black snake sunning itself on the road, seemed fairly docile and stayed around for a picture. Unlike the Carpet snake yesterday, I didn’t go in for a closer picture this time…

Just as we reached the top of the hill (or so we thought) it started raining again. The info sign at the park entrance had a roof so we took shelter and had something to eat. The rain was short lived, thankfully, and we moved on. Crossing the highway and back into a more rainforest section on a management track. Heading uphill again but didn’t feel as bad as it wasn’t a road and not quite as steep.

Thomas spotted another Red Belly just of the side of the track just as we finally started to descend. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill my feet were asking for a rest and we took up a seat on the Twin Bridges. Short lived rest, less than 2k to go and we were ready to finish. As we crossed the final bridge at approx 1330, at Mulligans Campground, we saw Matt resting his feet in the stream. There was a short discussion about a swim but thoughts of home won out and we hopped in the Ute to head home. We searched the radio stations and eventually were able to get onto TripleJ so that we could listen to the remaining Hottest 100 on the drive home.

All in all a good weekend. Beautiful creeks and streams and amazing waterfalls. Probably could have done without the rain and the leeches though! I’d recommend the campgrounds if you’re in the area. All beautiful spots and many have short day trips from them, the total walk itself mainly followed management/fire trails so you could probably skip bits if that’s not your thing.

Diving - 2016 01 - Philippines

Quick Stats:-
Location: Philippines - Alona Beach and Cabilao Island
15 day dives and 1 night dives
Water Temp: 28-29°c
Deepest dive: 36.2m
Album (Alona Beach):  http://imgur.com/a/LiBpm
Album (Cabilao Island):  http://imgur.com/a/DDpuW

5th - Jet Set!

Started with a fairly early morning. My parents are coming along this trip to babysit my Niece while my Sister and BIL dive, as a result of my old man travelling it's a requirement to be early... just in case. We parked with Andrews, which seemed pretty well organised and shuttled to the airport to meet the rest of the crew. Fairly smooth transfer through the airport. Arriving about 40min before checkin was even open. After getting through all the various queues Alan R and I went to the bar when some others head off for some food before the flight. We left pretty much on time but hit some turbulence which delayed for an hour or 2. I was literally the last served on the plan and they had run out of Beef so it was just the fish. The guy diagonally in front was getting pretty grumpy with his lack of beef. Dude, it’s a flight, not like they can kill another cow for you... I ended up with some Noodle/Meat thing (not a fan of fish, Stewardess did me a solid.) So pretty happy. She also saved me the very last Asahi on the flight, it pays to be nice folks!



Kristina decided to expel the contents of her stomach onto Kristie as we landed in Darwin for a stopover. All her clothes were in her checked luggage so she borrowed a shirt from Jez to get out of stinky/sticky clothes. Was a quick turnaround, time enough for a pie and to stretch our legs before we were herded back onto the plane. Alan R did manage to find a PowerPoint to get a little more charge into his laptop. My travel battery left me with approx 10 hours of movie playing time on mine. Beautiful sunset just as we approached land. Smooth transition through customs and we were at Hotel Jen. Pretty well set up place. Nice rooms and decent par. Found the local beer, San Miguel. Goes down all right. Both the light (as in low carbs) and the premium all malt. Also had a sample of the Pilsner (though I'm not a fan of any, so not in a position to judge) and there was a darker draft too, which I'll probably avoid. Retired to the room by 10pm (local time, midnight QLD time) to watch some Filipino dubbed movies before turning in.

6th - Are we there yet?

Early start today 5:20am (all times from now are local) for a 5:30 breakfast and a 6am departure to the domestic terminal. However all of us were down by 5:40 so they herded us onto the bus early. Lucky I was there a little early as in the pre-packaged breakfast was an instant coffee/creamer/sugar mix. I was able to get hot water (for Jez/Alan/I) before we left... not sure how they expected us to make it on the bus trip to the airport.... Arrived and got through the 2 different security checkpoints rather easy then settled in the for ~3+ hour wait until out flight. The Domestic here actually had some fairly decent facilities. The girls all got a massage and free Wi-Fi kept most of us entertained (taking turns with Kristina) until the flight. Quick (55min flight time) trip until we were in Bohol! Short drive later, through typical island traffic, saw us to our resort. Looks pretty well setup.

We were all fairly keen for an afternoon check-out dive but due to a miscommunication with the Travel agent (Dive Adventures) the price for the additional dive was $40 (+Marine sanctuary fees) instead of a tank hire of $5... So we decided to snorkel. I actually had a pretty good one seeing a few pipe fish, new starfish, and baby catfish. To top it off a Cockatoo Waspfish, which was pretty cool.



After the dive we met up for a few drinks and headed off for dinner just down the beach. $5 for a pretty filling meal and $1.20 beers... a guy could get use to this. It had been a long day so I wasn't long for bed, thoughts of tomorrows diving made it difficult to fall asleep.

7th - Underwater we go!

Slept fairly well last night all things considered, AirCon in the room is a bit loud and we could head the band that was playing not too far away but I drifted off ok. Good breakfast, included which is nice, though it took a while to come out. Ordered by ~7:10 and it was probably 30min before we got out food. Met the boat at 8:30. All our gear went on to a little tender which looked very cramped. Thankfully that was just to transfer it to the larger boat before heading to our dive site. Very easy dive, extremely mild current. Good wall starting at about 6m heading down until about 22-23. Temp was around 28-29c and I was a touch warm in my 5mm. Marie, in a 3mm, felt a little cold. Lots of Nudibranch to see and a few other interesting things. The best was probably this little zebra shrimp in a Black and white feather star. Guide pointed it out, looked really cool.



For the second dive I decided to just go with my thermocore top (basically a thick rash shirt) and board-shorts. Marie borrowed another top from Alan D and my hood to keep warmer. Dropped almost on top of a huge black frog fish. Really hard to take a picture of as they're big/hard to focus/have no contrast but I tried my hand and got a pic that you could at least recognise what it is. Heaps more Nudi's and a pretty cool little Orangutan Crab. He was hiding behind an anemone so I couldn't get any shot off. Couple of Razor fish about too and another Zebra Shrimp before we popped back up.

Up the road back towards the main street for lunch. Heaps of different options for lunch but we settled on one that looked good and prices looked right (~$5 a meal.) As it was their Anniversary (38 years!) Chris decided to buy 'Lobster' (Cray Fish) for lunch. Reports are that it tasted good but was a little heavy on the Garlic Butter, it wasn't as cheap as the other meals, only slightly cheaper than what you would pay in Aus. Went back to hang out back at Alona Vida until it was time for the night dive!

I flooded my main torch (big and bright) fairly recently on a Cairns trip and haven't got around to replacing it... that’s cool. I have a backup torch. Tested to make sure all was good before we headed out and it was fine. 5min into the dive though it got really dim. By 10min it was pretty much non-existent... guess I should have used fresh batteries... That's ok though. I enjoyed the next 25-30min cruising round in the dark, relying on the ambiance of others diver’s torches. Pressure gauge was glow in the dark and computer had a light so I could still see the important things. Kirrily offered me her backup torch but I declined as I was still enjoying the dark. Ended up still seeing quite a bit, but I'm still getting use to the new camera at night. Got a decent shot of a Porcelain Crab. At about the 40min mark the guide insisted I take his spare torch, despite me still having about 40 bar more air than him at this point... We also saw a Spanish Dancer putting on a show. No chance to photograph that moving at night yet.



After we got back it was a quick shower then off to a place 50m down the beach for dinner. Amazing Spare Ribs, not something I expected over here. Fell off the bone, great marinate and everything. Kirrily got a Flower Salad + Chicken thing... which was pretty nice really. The flower Salad had some normal salad but was basically a bowl of edible flowers. All our salads came with edible flowers actually, some enjoyed them more than others. After dinner Coralie and Marie went off in search of shops while others returned to their rooms. Some for sleep and others to begin sorting through the many photos already taken.

8th - The 'Long' Boat ride across the sea

Same start as yesterday but with a different diving destination. Booked in for a triple dive over on Balicasag Island. Organised a packed lunch yesterday and after the normal "make sure you have everything" speech we were on our way. We had to take a packed lunch today because it was such a long journey out... all of 25min. What would they think about our standard runs to the top of Moreton? To be totally honest I wasn't all that impressed with the diving Balicasag had to offer. It had the same vis as the more local sites, a lack lustre ~8m, and not really anything new. Did see a Persian Carpet Flat worm though, love their colours. The first dive went by without anything really of note. During the surface interval Chris went for a bit of a snorkel, doing surface watch we lost her a few times as she ducked behind another boat.



 

The second wasn't really different. Saw a turtle and got a decent shot of it this time though, so that was nice. Chris went for another snorkel, this time into the beach for a bit of a walk along the shore. At one point she came very close to getting her head clocked by the outrigger of a boat, not sure if it was just the angle we were on but it looked like it only missed by millimetres. Thankfully the third dive offered up something new. Some cool big green Nudibranch (which were surprisingly hard to take a picture of!) We also saw a nudi with bright orange highlights, Octopus, Tiny little crab and to top it off just as we were about to start out safety stop a Warty Frogfish. This was at about the 58min mark and Alan R had got to a point where he didn't want to head back down (was ~8m deep for the frogfish) so Marie and I hung out for a while longer getting shots. I even ended up with a shot of its open mouth, which I think was pretty lucky.





 

Back to Alona Vida to clean the gear and have a beer. Alan R and I headed up the beach to the local 'backpackers' joint for a few drinks. 2 Beers a Rum+Coke and a Mojito for about $7... not bad. They did have some interesting servers though. One guy in DTs and a sports blazer, another in nothing but Board shorts with a bowtie and the third seemed normally dressed. This was until some female tourists walked by and he lifted his short and dropped his shorts to reveal a silver G-String. Not something I need mid-gulp of beer... After we finished our drinks we met with the others and headed off to dinner. Plans to head to the 'Aussie BBQ' were shot down when we found out it closed over a year ago. Despite the signs still point to it... Woodys in its place though provided great meals and some very tasty cocktails. Some headed for ice cream after while a few people sorted lunch out for their Whale Shark tour tomorrow and others still retired to their rooms. Alan R and I went to a local bar that had a band playing. They were actually pretty good... up until they invited a guest singer up on stage. That poor, poor cat. We also had the pleasant aroma of diesel wafting through the area every now and then. Even staying up the 'latest' we were in bed and watching Transporter by 9:45pm.

9th - Sea life putting on a show!

Split groups today. 5 went off to snorkel with Whale Sharks while Al, Al and I continued on diving. VERY glad we did. On the first dive there was Seahorses, Ornate Ghost pipe fish, Razor Leaf fish, Sea Moth/Pegasus Fish and heaps of other little things... Best of all though. FLAMBOYANT CUTTLEFISH!! These little dudes were awesome. Made better in that I found a tag team (2 together) by myself. They put on a very impressive show of colours for us flashing bright and changing quickly. I took some pics and a vid but I don't think they do it justice. We also found another one by itself later on the dive.



Second dive was also pretty good. In fact today shits all over the other days in terms of life seen. Alan D found another Flamboyant Cuttlefish, these things are Rare and we saw 4 today, very lucky. Some cool Nudies and a great Peacock Mantis Shrimp! The others have seen a few already this trip but this was the first we saw. To top off the end of the dive we also saw another variety of Frog fish, a Hairy one.



 

After the dives we met back with Kristie, Kristina and Rod to head out for lunch. As we were finishing the others came back from their Whale Shark tour and said that it was worth it. First time seeing whale sharks for a few of them so it would have been really cool. They then headed out for their dives, insisting they go to the same place we went this morning. Rod and Chris were on Kristina duty and the Als and I went up the beach for a beer. We soon found that for Al R's Rum and Coke they had run out of coke. A little while later someone else asked for a cocktail with cranberry juice. As the waitress went to open the bottle it burst forth, spewing 3/4 of the 1.5lt container all over the floor. Surprise surprise, they were now out of cranberry juice.

It wasn't long before the others had returned from their dive. The guide, now knowing where to look, found the cuttlefish along with the rest of the good finds. Was nice they got to see it too. They also had a pretty good time with the Whale Sharks from all accounts. Nice pizza for dinner at the place right next door before yet another early night.

10th - Shore leave

Shore day today. A few people (I think Kristie and Marie?) have organised a day full of activities to do on the island. It definitely wasn't a rushed start, due to meet the bus at 9am. I've seemingly been waking up at about 6 most mornings so far... First stop was a Pharmacy 'Mercury Drug' as a few people had come down with a few ailments. About an hour later and we were at the first stop, the Tarsier Sanctuary. These little dudes are amazing. Smaller than I expected and hella cute. You had to be quiet but in the group in front of us there was a 'typical' American tourist, who didn't seem to understand what 'quiet please' meant. Got some good shots and then we were off to the Lomboc River for a lunch cruise.



Beautiful water and some really picturesque river banks. Lunch was a buffet style and didn't totally impress, not for the cost. The river cruise almost made up for it though. After the cruise it was off to the Chocolate Hills lookout. There were a few warnings about the 216 steps to the top of the lookout... like it was a huge undertaking. When we got there it wasn't even steep steps... Never the less we passed a group on their way up as they were taking a break. They rewarded themselves when they made it to the top by infighting a cigarette... One thing I very much dislike about travelling some places. You get use to the awesomeness that is QLD, Australia. Banned smoking in clubs, pubs and anywhere food is served. Even in front of public buildings. It's awesome. Putting up with smokers is not. The hills themselves were partially obscured by rain clouds, but still pretty impressive.



 

After our panoramic shots it was back down from the lookout and onto the adventure park! They had a high ropes course here and the Sky-Bike which were both very cool to do. I may have tried to run across the second ropes segment... on wet, slippery, wobbly, wood. It might not have been the best idea. I did come off (the only person for the day) but harness caught me. Slight nic on my right pinky finger and I did develop a bruise just above my left knee where it caught a wood plank on the way down. Breezed through the rest at a more responsible pace... Fun, all be it short, zip line down to exit. We then climbed some more stairs to have a go on the Sky-Bike. Pretty short stint but it was really fun and offered a great view!



At the end of the near 2hr bus ride home, sun setting on the way, we got dropped directly at the Beer Garden restaurant for dinner. Great meals but it looked like the servers were run off their feet. Power also went out for about 5min at one point, looked like it was the whole area that went down. After dinner we headed back and I did a little bit of housekeeping, both with photos already taken and the room as we had a transfer day to look forward too.

11th - On the road again.

One last breakfast at Alona Vida before heading off to Cabilao Island. We checked out and then went to pay our sanctuary fees before heading to the boat for our 2 hour ride North Nor-West. The Pura Vida Resort looked amazing from the beach. Nice green grass, deck chairs, good gear wash bay. We got into our rooms, ocean front villas, which were pretty nicely setup. Only complaint is that the lights are pretty dim and a lack of bench space. Had to use a torch to see in our bags!

[caption id="attachment_279" align="alignnone" width="3080"] My Niece enjoying the boat ride[/caption]

 

We booked in for the afternoon dive and were soon on our way out with another 6 pax. Seems they only use the 1 boat here, so 14 divers all together... The other 6 dropped in first and we gave them 10min head start.. but then all 8 of us were asked to drop in together. This caused a bit of a traffic jam at the start, especially if anything interesting was found for photographs. Kristie and I bought a Tarsier Hat for some underwater posing that I got to take on the first dive. Exhale bubbles were getting caught in it, lifting it up and causing it to be a bit annoying, even under the mask strap. Kristie used up the last of her Camera battery (she had forgotten to charge after yesterday’s long day) to get a shot or 2 in.



Pretty cool wall dive. Heaps of pipe fish about, including a couple pair of banded ones. Some new Nudi's and interesting frog fish again. Marie found what looks to be a 'Hairy Octopus' but was unable to get the attention of anyone else. Would have loved to see it... maybe next time! The guide seemed very interested in showing us Bubble Shrimp, something not too hard to find normally, but I think after the 2nd "Yeah, whatever" look from our group he stopped pointing them out. Sign of a good guide. I had chosen to don the suit for this dive, just in case it was cold. The other guests had said it was 26c! Brrrr. My computer was reading 28.5. I did take an extra weight but with the ally tank I was a little floaty towards the end. Picking up a rock to make the safety stop easier.



The afternoon seemed to just fly by after the dive. I headed up to the main lobby/restaurant/common area as it was the only place to find Wi-Fi and was eventually joined by others until it was time for dinner. Food is pretty good here, though expectedly more that we were paying on the mainland. I was among the first to leave tonight, heading to the room around 8:45pm. While going to rinse out my mouth after brushing my teeth the bathroom taps stopped flowing... The Island runs on De-sal and Tank water and apparently they haven't had rain in a while. No phones either so up a flight of stairs to reception who informed maint crew.

12th - Who brought the magnifying glass?

Water was working again in the morning... for 1 flush of the toilet before it ran out again... Breakfast buffet here was great. Much faster than the 30min wait at Alona beach too meant plenty of time to dally about in the morning. We made our way around the northern side of the island for the first dive on a wall site. Dropped down to about 28m directly onto a fan where the guide knew a Pygmy Seahorse was. Pretty awesome, but tiny, little creatures. Very hard to get a good, in-focus, picture of. There was a bit of an issue with divers though. 15 divers (would have been 16 if Alan D wasn't out sick) all dropping into the water at approx the same time. There was a queue to take pictures... it wasn't fun. After the dive we had a chat to the guide and he agreed to drag out the drop times a little.



Geared up for the second dive, I was in group #2 of 5 to drop in. We let #1 get well underway and swimming along as we geared up dragging our feet... By the time Alan R (the last in our group) dropped in 3 divers from group #3 had already dropped in! Madness! Still they waited on the surface for us to go down and begin our dive, which meant that at some of the more interesting creatures (including another Pygmy Seahorse) they were just sitting their waiting for us to move on... Saw a bit more on the second dive and because we waited it didn't feel as crowded under water. I still think 15 divers on the 1 spot at the same time is still way too many.



We all decided to skip the arvo dive and enjoyed a longer lunch. Some went for a short walk into the village and others lounged about on the deck chairs. After sorting out photos and spending a little time on the internet I tried to catch an arvo nap. Unfortunately couldn't quite fall asleep and felt really groggy when it was time for the night dive. Downed a coke and geared up, still feeling like I needed about 12 hours of sleep. When I got into the water though, all was right again. Felt well rested. Glad I went on the dive too, saw 2 great small octopus, a white and an orange, as well as heaps of prawns, crabs, morays, nudis and other usual night dive creatures. Thanks to Alan D for lending me his torch (mine was still having difficulties, worked after a few knocks but liked to turn itself off.) After the dive Alan R took a little time digging out an Urchin Spine from his Knee, Ouch! Fairly quick dinner before everyone dispersed to bed for the night.



13th - Sharks? What Sharks?

Kristina was seemingly unwell (suspected teething) so Kristie opted out for the morning double dive as we headed to 'Lighthouse.' By all accounts on the internet this is where one would go to see Hammerhead Sharks. Big schools of them. By all accounts of guides and anyone that has ever dived here... good luck with that! We did actually get to see a shark though... a Nurse Shark... taking a nap under a coral bommie. Dive here was pretty good over all. More Frog Fish and a few small things (Hairy Squat Lobster etc) to look at. I found a cool little flat worm. Much skinnier than any I have ever seen before, it was moving pretty fast too, as far as flat worms go at least. Finished off the dive by seeing 3 Morays getting cosy in the same hole.





Second dive was around at South Point. Dropped and almost immediately saw a banded sea snake weaving its way through some staghorn coral. Couple of Nudis, couple of shrimp. We also saw another Warty Frog Fish which was nice. Sadly when getting onto the ladder Kirrily's GoPro got caught on something and snapped the little string she had on her wrist strap. She watched it float down. Marie was still mostly kitted up and in the water, but by the time she got her fins on it had sunken out of sight. Not a good way to end a dive :(

It seemed Alan R had also forgotten the cap for one of his strobes. The battery cover had a secondary O-Ring which seemed to protect it though. At least it was still kinda turning on and occasionally flashing...

5 Jumped in for the Arvo dive. I've been having a problem with my left ear, so I wanted to dry it out. Alan D is still feeling a little chesty and Jez was on Daddy duties. They headed down to the South Point again on a treasure hunt for Kirrilys GoPro. Coralie spotted it almost immediately! Was sitting on the bottom of the short wall at 33 meters. They continued on for the rest of their dive seeing the usual macro life. A few went for a walk through the village and saw Roosters in pens. All about 6-7 meters away from each other tethered to their individual roosts. Looks like they might be bread for cock fighting. As it started to get dark everyone started to gather for dinner, opting out of the night dive for tonight.

14th - Zoom! Zoom!

Normal morning start for the double dive today. After drying out the Strobe the afternoon before Alan decided to test out the strobe in the morning. It didn't perform awesomely and wasn't working most of the time. The first dive we were warned about a 'slight' current. It must have been about 4kn! It was fast. Super-Fast. I had fun though, it was really awesome just sitting out watching the wall zoom by at impressive speed. Those with Bigger cameras, not so much. Some barracuda and tuna to mark the passing but nothing too great to see. Have to risk the big current to see the big fish though.



After the current we ducked behind the wall over to a sand flat, still had quite a bit to swim against but were relatively calm once we exited that. I had burned almost 120 of my 200 bar by about the 20min mark in the current. Deep and finning against it works you hard. On the way to shallower waters we found a cool pile fish, which eventually sent me into Deco... Luckily at about 7m I also found an awesome Nudi, so taking pictures of it worked off any extra stops I needed. Despite using most of my air in the first 20min of the dive staying 2-5m for the remaining time meant I could see out a full hour. Found a few cool little things to see including a big school of juvenile Catfish.



As the current was still too strong over the western side of the island the second dive was don’t on the house reef. Moments after we dropped in there was a huge turtle that Kristie Chased away, wait, I'm sorry "Followed as it was already swimming away"... yeah right... As she /chased/ the turtle a big shadow formed above her. A massive Sardine Ball was flocking around, chased by the occasional mackerel. It was impressive to watch but we soon moved on to more exciting things. We saw a 'Disco Clam' (Ctenoides ales) doing it’s think and just below it an Awesome Peacock Mantis Shrimp. With all the people it had retreated back into its cave, far out of my camera range so I swam on. On the way back I made sure to double back to the same area and see it poking its glorious head out with all its majestic colouring. We finished off the dive over relative shallow sea-grass slope where we saw some Razor Fish and a couple of Nudies making babies.



I was still feeling a little crook and the ear was playing up so I ditched the Arvo dive to lounge about. Gave me a head start on drying my gear as well. The others came back with decent reports of Pygmy Seahorses and other nice finds and then we all converged for dinner and it was another early night to bed for em.

15th - Enjoying all the Fauna of the Philippines!

Still not feeling great Al D and I stayed back when the others went off to enjoy the morning dives. The first sight was more of the same (Pygmy Seahorses!) while reports on the second sounded awesome! Swim Through, Caves, Overhangs, Heaps to see. Sounded like a cool dive, pity I couldn't make it. It worked out well though, Kristie was having problems with her computer and her 1st Stage Reg, and so she was able to borrow mine when I stayed back. I also managed a nice lounge in the sun chairs and a quick snooze in bed.



Upon their return began the onerous task of drying out gear. Sun real-estate was a premium as people searched for trees to prop their boots against and chairs to lay out their wet-suits on. Given that I didn’t dive yesterday arvo today most of my gear (Sans borrowed equipment, including my Hood Marie used) was already dry and packed. The afternoon was more than enough for 1 hood, regs and my computer.



For dinner tonight Kristie had organised something special; a spit roasted pig! We were meant to consume it on the beach, but the wind had blown up so it was all done back near the restaurant. Mid-afternoon, mid card game, we heard the squealing of the pig as it was being 'prepared', this was enough to make some reconsider their choice for dinner. No me though. MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Roast Pig. A few of us spend the better part of the afternoon finishing all the duty-free alcohol purchased on the trip over while playing a few games of cards. Crackling was thin, but excellent! The Chef did an awesome job.



I was still feeling unwell so it was yet another early night to bed for me. It's not often I'm amongst the first to sleep, being sick sucks!

16th - Homeward bound

After yet another early night I was up pretty early. Greeted by an amazing sunrise. We had all morning to eat breakfast, dry out gear and pack so no-one was in a rush. By the time it came to check out it seemed a bit disorganised. Splitting up Bills (2 people sharing a twin room) proved difficult for the staff and even normal rooms seemed to take ages. They also Charged Kristie/Jez for Chris/Rods room by mistake... So Rod/Chris just paid the left over room and got the difference later.



Stopped for a final group shot on Cabilao Island before starting ~22 hours of transit home. Started off simply enough with a ~10min boat road to the next island. We landed and hopped into three vans to drive to the airport (this island had a bridge connecting it.) The Van I was in didn't seem to know the best way, so despite leaving first we quickly pulled over and let the lead vehicle pass. Our driver then did his best to ensure that at no time there was a gap greater than arms reach from the lead vehicle... I've been in plenty of places like this... where road rules are merely suggestions... but this is the first time I felt I was going to be sick. I made sure my seatbelt was on and held on for the ride. Thankful to arrive at the airport in one piece.



Then came the waiting game. The flight was late (they blamed traffic controllers) from the other end, so we had an extra hour or so (on top of the 2.5 planned...) in a regional airport. But hey, free Wi-fi. We took turns entertaining Kristina until it was time to board and start the next leg. Only ~1hr flight time until we landed in Manila, watching the sunset along the way. Not a great airport to be stuck in (about 3 hours.) Past the first 2 security checks and in the 'general' waiting area. Duty Free was more exy than Dan Murphys and food options were limited. I ended up with a hot-dog and a tin of beer. No bottled beer in the Airport (scared of glass maybe?)



Eventually we went through the 3rd security check (only for passengers going to places like USA or Australia) and found a space of cold hard tile to sit down on until our flight. Luckily we had scoped out this area earlier and waited to go through. By the time I was in it was only another ~10min before we were boarding the plane. Similar to the trip over there was a quick stop in Darwin... and yet another security check (by Australian Security staff this time) where they found and confiscated a camera screwdriver in Coralies bag....  Finally landing in Brisbane mid-morning Sunday. Customs had a very long line, but it seemed to move fairly fast and it wasn't long before we were home again!

Camping - 2015 12 - Fraser Island

Quick Stats;

4 Nights on Fraser Island

990km Travelled

~440km on sand

86lt of Diesel consumed

29th

There was little chance of beating the incoming tide (which would of meant leaving Brisbane at some un-godly hour in the morning) to get around Hook Point. So we opted for a more casual time that matched with Kristina's (9mo Niece) sleeping pattern. This saw me rolling out of home at about 7:30 to pick up Vee on the way north.

Had a few people not be able to make the trip and found myself with a few spare seats. I knew it was a bit late notice (2 days warning) but decided to offer it out to anyone willing and I was surprised when a seat was taken. Knowing next to nothing about my new travel buddy I was happy that they seemed pretty proficient with this whole camping business and I wouldn't have to care for them as you often do for people new to the game. Plenty of space in the D-Max for all the gear and after a quick goodbye to the cats we were on the road just after 8.

Pretty light on traffic the whole way, made for an easy drive north. Already seeing heaps of police on the roads. Most already have someone over and writing them a ticket for something. Would make a rather poor start to any ones holidays... We met Kristie and Jez in Rainbow at the shell and quickly moved on to catch the barge. It was 1/2 full when we arrived and filled up and left soon after we boarded. Short trip across the passage and we were on Fraser! Wind was up a bit (reports were for it to stick around...) making the crossing a little lumpy, but we've seen it worse.

Tide was beginning to retreat but still far too high to make it past the trees. We followed the crowd down the inland track, not as bad as I remembered but still plenty of corrugations. Half hour later and we were on the smooth (in comparison) beach and cruising along at 80k. It was great to have a passenger so excited to be driving up the beach, Vee smiled, laughed or clapped with glee most creek crossings and roll overs. It was hard to not feel excited as well with that next to you. Even though it's pretty old hat for me now. There were a few steep sand wash outs on the long beach drive, so I made a point of crawling up some of the better ones to make things even more interesting :)

Despite the heavy police presence on the Bruce there didn't seem like there were any Police on Fraser. Normally they have Speed traps and "Random" breath Tests (testing every vehicle) at Eurong... but not today. Usually this time (and Easter etc) it's crawling with the boys in blue. Without these interruptions it wasn't long before we ploughed through Eli creek and flew past Maheno. We pulled into the Pinnacles (coloured sands) just as 3 of those big tour Busses pulled away (Good Timing!) Soon as we hopped out of the car you were hit by a wall of wind. Easy to forget about it while protected by the car. On the way up I did notice a lot of shades just had the frame up, people taking down the cover to protect it from the wind. Some Dome tents were folding in as well.

After some token happy snaps we jumped just up the beach to Red Canyon before heading to the northern side of Indian Head for a bit of protection from the wind for a late lunch. Ducked back over to the southern side for the walk to the tip. I took Kristina in her pack and got a few "Aww a baby" looks and comments on the way. Was a few tag-a-long groups there so the top was a little busy, most staying back from the edge though. I took Kristina to the best views, doing my best to instil my love of heights in her and being 'the fun' uncle :p

For the first 2 nights we were staying in 'accommodation' that a friend (we go diving with a lot) owns up at Orchid Beach. We drove past all these beautiful holiday homes with manicured lawns to arrive at a big blue shed, old school curtains over some sliding doors and longer grass. "Yep, Looks like Kens place." I joke but it's actually well setup and sure as hell beats camping with this bloody wind!

After getting settled with some drinks out on the 'balcony' (patch of grass out front) with some good views of the beach we retired inside for dinner. One of the houses not too far removed was getting in some early celebrations and letting off some fireworks. There was 3 or 4 little bouts over a few hours in the evening. Managed to see the tail end, but not quick enough to try get the camera out. I'm not sure who was first to doze off, Jez or Kristina, but the rest of us followed suit very soon after.

30th

Bacon and eggs for breakfast, love camping! After a quick clean we were on our way to ocean lake for a bit of a swing and a swim. Very short drive up the beach and only 1k inland to a pretty good fresh water lake that you can usually find a bit of rope set up for a Tarzan swing. After spending a little time relaxing in the surprisingly not cold water we headed south to the northern side of Waddy Point for some Sand Jumping.

Photo by Jez

Photo by Jez

Now that we were nice and sandy it was time to wash it all off at Champaign pools. Spring High tide meant that it was a bit rough in the pools. Both Vee and I lost our sunnies as a result of some of the bigger waves and one managed to knock Vee off her feet causing some scraping on her toe. Bit of blood and it looked a little sore, though Vee insisted it looked worse than it felt. Kristina spent some time in the shallower section but wasn't a fan when the waves came crashing over and splashed up.

Back to Kens shed for lunch before heading across the island to Wathumba. I urged Vee to drive which was... interesting... Auto-license and nil 4wd experience made for some fun times. For all intents and purposes though she did really really well. Couple of stalls, mostly when pulling off trail for oncoming vehicles, but a no point did I ever feel in danger. Still, would have been nice to have a "Jesus!" bar in the D-max :p Smooth gear changes (not one crunch!) and calm driving made for a relatively comfy ride.

Highway to the Danger Zone!

Hardly any bugs over here, must be because of the wind. Usually it's crawling with Mozzies and Midgies Last time I was being swarmed within 10 seconds of hopping out of the car. This time I think We saw/killed one lone mozzie. Took a few token tourist shots and ate some Cheeries and Grapes before heading back. We decided to head back to Champaign pools at a lower tide. Such a difference it makes. Wind is still strong though, making the ocean choppy and causing me to take a few steps back when rock hopping. Gust at the wrong time is off putting when on sharp rocks. Looked at all the rock pools to see what we could find. Came across a few little fish and some soft coral before finding a pretty colourful little crab. Found a little crab, about the size of my thumbnail crawling across the sand too.

Got back to Kens and realised my shade (still tied to the roof) had started to shift a little (I can blame Vee's driving for that, right?) so I took it off before settling down for a few more drinks. Made a Katsu Curry for dinner then enjoyed a few card games before finally turning in.

31st

Pretty efficient pack up in the morning, easy when not dealing with tents/kitchen I guess. We wanted to beat anyone coming up when looking for a campsite. On the way out of Orchid Beach we stopped at the store, which had a bit of a rush. Everyone getting in early to buy Ice it seems (<3 having a camping fridge.) Little disappointed though as they've taken down the 'Wall Of Shame' which was a huge poster/board with photos of all the cars that had gotten into strife on Fraser.

Cruising down the beach until we found a good camp about 10min south of Eli Creek. Took a little while to set up out tents etc and then headed off for the 'Lakes District.' First stop was Wabby lookout where we had to wait about 10min for some people to leave so we could steal their parking spot. We then got ready for the 1.2km walk down to the lake.

Over the sand blow and down to the water edge for a nice little wade. Lake Wabby has these little fish here that will give you a bit of a pedicure, similar to those fish ponds in Thailand. After we were done feeling all pampered by the fish we headed to nearby shade to enjoy some cheese and crackers for an energy boost before the walk back up the hill to the carpark. On the way up we saw a skink sunning itself on a log and right near the cars was a small Goanna. Quick bite before heading to Lake Makenzie.

It was starting to get a little later in the day so the carpark actually had quite a few open spaces for once. There was still quite a few people, but we got a few spots right near the start of the walking track. The others jumped in for a dip but I decided to stay dry and laze about on the beach. As it was getting pretty late now we decided to skip the second half of the lakes drive and head back via Central station and Eurong (shortest distance to the beach.) After making it back to camp we didn't have much daylight remaining. Absolutely amazing stars, as always, so I tried to get some shots before the Moon came up or clouds came over.

It was pretty short lived because the clouds weren't too far away. Few bits of drizzle were annoying but not too difficult to deal with. A few places up and down the beach had already began letting off their fireworks and at 11pm the people just a few camps down made a big hurrah. Obviously NSW/Vic peeps up, silly daylight savings. Went for a bit of a walk on the beach and could hardly find any ghost crabs, usually there's heaps out. It wasn't until I was back 5m from my tent that we saw our first.

Despite a few touch and go moments we all made it the rest of the way to midnight. A large flash of Fireworks coming from possibly Happy Valley to the south but it seems most other campers blew their loads earlier in the night. We lit up a few sparklers to wave about, but before long were for bed ourselves.

1st

Happy New Year!

Felt surprisingly good this morning. Got some decent rain during the night but everything was dry now. Wind still blowing pretty hard... When we were all up for it we headed off again to see more sights. Stopped in at the Maheno Wreck (after driving straight past it 3-4 times now) for some shots at low tide before pushing on to Lake Allom (Turtle Lake.) I absolutely love the drive in here. Beautiful rainforest area. Really calming. Turtles put on a show like they do  I think Kristie got over 24 before she lost count as they were moving around too much.

Another family turned up and we decided to head back for a relaxing trip down Eli creek. There was probably 100-150 vehicles here... so a little busy. Still nothing compared to the 400+ you can get at Easter. I've also been the only vehicle here once. Mid week, not/public school holidays and it's magic. You just need to learn the time table for the Tour Bus/Tag-a-long companies and you can have it to yourself.

Floated down only once, was a bit fresh in the water, then set up under a shade on the waters edge for a bit of RnR. Hung out for a while and had a bit of a snooze. Headed back to camp and I had a bit more of a snooze when Vee read a book and Kristie and Jez stayed at Eli with Kristina. It was a pretty quiet night and we went to bed around 9pm.

2nd

Wasn't in a big rush this morning, but did need to beat the tide. Made a quick stop in Happy Valley for a visit to the facilities and a final sneaky ice cream (packing up camp is hot/hard work!) Then started the journey home. Made it around hook point, though waves were just starting to reach the trees (2hrs after low tide, almost on the dot.) As we pulled around the corner we found ourselves in the fairly substantial line for the barges home.

1hr 20min of waiting later and we were loaded. Jez and Kristie were last on the barge (in front of us) but the second was only 2-3min behind and we easily fitted onto that. Drove past the long queue for the vehicle wash bay... normally I would stop in but we've had enough waiting today... Aired up on the side of the road just past it under a little bit of shade. Kristie and Jez headed off for fuel and a bakery before heading home. Vee and I went into Rainbow but decided that cold sausages from my fridge seemed like the better option.

Got caught in the predictable Bruce "Bottleneck" Highway traffic on the way back. Caught up to Kristie and Jez near the Morayfield BP, as they had a driver change over. Traffic cleared eventually opening up to a smooth journey for the rest of the trip home. 990km just ticked over on my ODO as I was pulling into my driveway.

It has been a long few days so I only decided to do the essentials today, cleaned out the fridge (some meat juice had spilled) and threw the clothes in the washing but decided to leave the rest of the unpack and cleaning (oh god, sand everywhere!) until tomorrow.

Fraser is always a great trip. This one seemed even better than normal because I had a very excited passenger. It's easy to forget to appreciate the little things sometimes. It was great to be able to share the drive with someone that had such enthusiasm making me feel like I was seeing it all for the first time again. Thanks for making it an awesome one!