Caliope to Bundaberg

When I woke this morning there were hundreds of birds chattering, chirping, whistling and calling in the trees and bushes around the van.  In the first light before dawn everything was soft and misty, but the air was warm.  As I sipped a cup of tea, sitting on the step of the caravan, the first rays of the sun appeared in the east and the mist vanished quickly.  A pair of tiny red-backed fairy wrens flitted among the branches of a native fig just beside me.  The hen was a plain brown colour but her partner was handsomely dressed in his spring plumage- glossy black with a red cape.  A little later a flock of small birds flew down into the tall grasses opposite, silhouetted against the early morning light.  at first I thought it was a flock of sparrows, but when I looked more closely I saw that they were not. I think I have identified them, but I'll let Tim see if he can find them in his bird book to see if I'm right.  (Look under finches, I think, Tim.)  After breakfst we walked down to the river before heading off on the last stretch of the road to Bundaberg.  We spotted a white bellied fish eagle overhead as we walked bak to the car.

About five minutes from the camping ground, a car suddenly shot straight across an intersection, failing to give way.  Philip slammed on his brakes but couldn't slow down enough to avoid hitting the other car.  Fortunately the driver was not hurt, but her car suffered a fair amount of damage.  Our car has some minor damage, but nothing serious.  A police officer who was on his way to work (in a ute with a whole lot of young trees in the tray!) stopped to help push the car off the road and a friend who happened to be passing stopped with the driver until her husband came.  As there was nothing else we could do, we drove on, thankful to God for keeping us safe once again!

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We left the Bruce Highway to follow country roads through woodland and canefields, arriving at Bundaberg and checking on to a beachside caravan park at nearby Bagara just before lunchtime.  It's not Ellis Beach, with the waves almost lapping at the door of the caravan, but a five minute walk gets us to a lovely little beach... and we can swim!!!  Which we did this afternoon, of course.  The children thoroughly enjoyed playing in the surf and so did we.  The water is warm and so clean and clear!

Bridge over the Burnett River at Bundaberg

We'll probably spend most of the day on the beach tomorrow, and in the evening we want to visit the turtle rookery,  We may not see any turtles as the egg-laying season has only just begun, but we will certainly hear some interesting information and get to walk on the beach at night!

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Friday 4th November
As predicted, we spent a good part of the day at the beach, where we had a lot of fun with the boogie board.  Yesterday we watched some people parasurfing and the children begged us to "buy one of those"!  They were very happy with the boogie board, though, and were really getting the hang of catching the waves and riding them all the way in.
We rang this morning to book a tour at the Turtle Rookery, but were told that tours didn't start until tomorrow night. Instead, we went for a moonlight walk along the sand here at Bagara.  We didn't see any turtles, but it was really nice just to walk at the water's edge with the moon's reflection at our feet, and then to sit on the warm sand and watch the moonlit waves as they broke on the shore.
I haven't got any photos today- it's a bit hard when you're playing in the surf!
Tomorrow we plan to head for Maroochydore, where we will stay a few days and visit Hannah.