Snorkelling in Coral Cove

Jon and I woke up early Saturday morning to enjoy the beautiful beach that was at our doorstep. I had brought up my snorkel gear and Jon took it to go off the rocks by our campsite. He saw some small sharks, anemones & some great fish. It was impressive, but we had heard there were better spots in the area that he wanted to check out.





So, we set off in search of a dive shop to pick up a snorkel set for Jon, so we could go splash around in Coral Cove for a bit before we had to head back home to Marcoola. But, Bundaberg decided to be closed; almost everything was shut because it was Sunday! Finally, after hours of hunting, we found a dive shop and Jon was able to get the bits he needed.

The owner was really nice and gave us tons of advice on where to go. So, we headed down to Coral Cove about 15 minutes outside of Bundaberg and hopped in the water off some rocks. It was absolutely spectacular. There were heaps of reef fish of all varieties, colors & patterns. There were quite a few really large schools of fish that we were swimming through ~ brilliant. The corals were every color in the rainbow! It was absolutely spectacular!!



On the way back from our entry point, we found this area in the rocks where the waves rushed in through a small opening into a larger pool. The water swished around like a washing machine, so of course, against my better judgement, I decided to jump in and go for a spin. I checked with some of the local kids ~ but teenage boys and good safety advice usually don't go together. It was so much fun!!

As the sun started to set, (which is super early because here in rebel Queensland we don't do daylight savings time; we're too cool) we started to make our way home.
It was a WONDERFUL weekend; just what the doctor ordered, so to speak!



A total aside, on the way home, we were listening to the radio and heard a news story that is too funny not to share! It was about these two schoolgirls in NZ who did a school science project that involved testing beverages for Vitamin C. Ribena is a well-known black currant juice over here that claims to have as much Vitamin C as XYZ number of oranges; apparently, it tastes like medicine, but for years and years people have been drinking it because they think it's good for them. The schoolgirls' tests uncovered that Ribena not only doesn't have the heaps of Vitamin C it claimed to have, but it doesn't contain Vitamin C at all. The girls took them to court and won! Too funny.

Heroes in a Halfshell - Turtle Power!

Jon and I set off on Saturday afternoon to drive about four hours north of our home to Mon Repos Conservation Area, one of the largest turtle rookeries the South Pacific. Loggerheads, flatback and green turtles all make yearly appearances to nest at Mon Repos.



We arrived and set up our campsite at the Turtle Caravan Park right on the beach and set off down the trail to the information center where we met the ranger that would be taking us down to the turtle nesting area. The information center was a really interesting; you can learn everything you every wanted to know about sea turtles, their life cycles & what is threatening the species to explore while you are waiting for your turn to go down and see the nests.



Since it was the last weekend of the season, there were heaps of people there; each of the four groups had 60 people! We were really excited that because we booked early in the week we got to go in the first group and the turtles starting doing their thing early in the evening, so we weren't kept waiting around for hours.

As we walked down the beach, we had to do so with our torches turned off and walk in a tight group. We had quite a few children in our group, so it was quite a feat! The turtles use the light from the horizon to navigate their way down the beach, so any artificial light can affect the natural process, so the conservationist at Mon Repos do their best to facilitate these tours with minimal impact on the hatchlings.



When we finally arrived at the nest, the little guys were already bursting through the sand. We saw 95 turtles in all climb out of their little nest and they were placed in a small enclosure to avoid any of them getting lost or stepped on. All of the little ones were out of the nest within 10 minutes.

The hatchlings we saw were absolutely adorable. Words really can't describe what an amazing experience it all was. Right before we got ready to watch them make their run to the ocean, the rangers brought around one of the hatchlings for us to take a quick photo & feel their little flippers.



Sadly, we were told that only 1 out of every 1,000 hatchlings will survive to maturity. The ones that do, however, will return to Mon Repos to lay their eggs because they are able to interpret their location from unique magnetic information that they sense from their hatching beach. Also, because the sand is darker than most beaches, the hatchlings will all tend to be female from Mon Repos because the temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings, which accounts for the high number of return females lying eggs.

After the nest was checked for any stragglers, we were asked to line up in two lines perpendicular to the water line, several of the children stood in the middle with their flashlights on the guide the baby turtles to the sea. The ranger let them out of their enclosure and they made their dash to the sea. It was an absolutely amazing sight! Finally, when the last wave washed the last one out to sea, we started off back to the info center.



We were told that the little guys were going on a swimming frenzy to make their way out to the East Australian current, just like in Finding Nemo!

As, we were walking back we crossed paths with two more nests that were already hatched and had started making their way down the beach. Having those "encore performances" was such a great added bonus!