Calliope River

If I told you that you could stay on the banks of this beautiful river, completely for free, would you believe me?

Calliope River is one of those special "finds" that, once stumbling upon it, you find yourself wanting to stay as long as possible.

We managed to find a spot right on the bank, with our own tiny private "beach".  Every morning we fished right at the doorstep of our caravan, and hauled in plenty of catfish and butter bream, but nothing worthy of a good feed.  No matter, it was great fun being able to drop a line in the water whenever we felt like it.

Each morning a thick fog descends upon the water, where it lingers until burnt by the warm spring sun.

From the fog, fishermen emerge...

...and ducks position themsleves downstream where algae and grasses grow, irridescent green against sienna water.

There is heaps of wildlife here of course - birds of prey swoop and squawk overhead, while closer to the water, multitueds of insects gather and buzz.  As the sun warms the day, the buzz and chirp of insects becomes a loud and happy chorus, and as the sun sets, dozens of fire flies flash with dazzling displays of luminescence as they quietly fly around our camp.

One morning a group of families with a couple of speedboats spent the morning waterskiing along the river.... a very pleasant sight from our caravan with a quiet cuppa in tow.

And what do you think you're up to?

My goodness, these giants know how to have a good time.  This sight greeted us at 5 o'clock this morning.  In the distance is Fraser Island.

Stay tuned for more....

The Island

Today we walked to, and hiked up, the little islands offshore from Seaforth.  Spectacular views!!

From the mainland, there is a long dirt track, passable at low tide.  The track leads to the first island, which is rocky but easy enough to walk around. 

Then, another low-tide track leads to a second island, which has a goat-track leading to the top of its hill and offers amazing views of the Whitsundays and the mainland.

Talk about island-hopping!

Here is the island which we will be walking up:

You can vaguely see the little goat track leading up up up.

But first, you must walk around the first island to get to the track leading onto the second (which is in the distance of the below photo). 

We start our ascent...

The view is truly spectacular - the first island is in the middle of the photo, and the small line of beach to the isalnd's right is our starting point.

No sleep for Seaforth

We spent a little while at Seaforth, where the beach at low tide stretches on and on.  Miniscule crabs dig tiny balls of sand out of burrows and every morning there will be millions of these little holes, protected by shy microscopic crustaceans.  Look up, and in the the distance there are small islands dotted about the place - these are the Whitsundays.

The water here is clear and very warm, but to be safe, you should swim within the stinger nets, which, on this beach, border only a very small area in which to swim.  Each day I ponder the decision to either swim should-to-shoulder with little kids in the stinger nets or risk it and swim in the open water.  More often than not, it falls into the "too hard basket" and so we have only swum a couple of times.

It has been windy so no boating, however we have enjoyed taking a long daily walk along the sand, and, if we're feeling energetic, to the closest island just offshore (about 40 minutes away) which has a passable track at low tide.

The moon rises over the sea which is a spectacular sight, and people try to fish even though there is little hope of catching a feed.  Plenty of boats launch each day,  but these usually take off at great speed towards the Whitsundays where there is more promise of catching a feed.

We enjoyed our stay here (relaxing atmosphere, kids running around due to school holidays, blokes clinking beers and talking shit, and a small but useful farmers market).... with exception of the abundance of midies, mozzies and curlews.  These noisy, invasive, large, strange birds will hang about your camp and, being notcurnal, call to each other incessantly during the night - every night.  Right now it's breeding time, so they are particularly noisy.  Every night is a night without sleep.  There is also a variety of ducks (who may even be spotted at the beach which is a strange sight) who are tame, and can be aggressive towards each other now that they too are breeding.

We also visited Cape Hillsborough National Park, albeit briefly.  Its boardwalk provides excellent views of mangroves, rainforest, and other interesting things. 

Read point 2 of the sign below; it cracks me up!



Old Station Teahouse

We went for a drive the other day and found ourselves at the Old Statioon Teahouse, reading a sign which declared "Woodfired Pizza Saturday & Sunday".

Excellent!  A quick booking was made, and two days later we supped on some of the most delicious scrummy pizza ever!  ...and being Gand Final Day, we pretty much the place to ourselves.

Nestled among rainforest and bush, this lovely old relic has been doted on for the last few years and its owners & operators are proud of both the building itself and its surrounding gardens; enhanced by collections of antiques, old tins & bottles, posters, and railway memorabilia; and a big snoozy dog and a cuddly ginger cat to boot.

What a pleasant afternoon.