So, vacation! We just got back from 6 days and 5 nights of family time nearly 5 hours north of here in a town called Bagara. It is just a few miles out of Bundaburg, home of Bundaburg Rum-oh, yeah! More on that later. . . and pictures will be posted in a separate post. Read on!
Day 1-check into the villa (individual home/cabin) and check things out. Located the grocery store a few miles down the road and stocked up on basics and a few extras like ice cream and Froot Loops. Yum! Also got some toss in the oven frozen pizzas, only to realize when we got back, there is NOT an oven in the villa. Whoops! Had to use the micro, so they were a bit chewy, but when the kids are hungry, I have noticed they complain less about the food! We did an afternoon beach walk and found some beautiful shells too!
Day 2 and 3- laze on the beach day! The beach was 200m from the back walking exit to the resort property, so hauled a couple of bags of towels and set out. Loved it! We joined a family we had met the evening before. Aussie hubby who did his university in the states and his American wife. We had a great time visiting and watching the kids play. The waves were a bit high, but Alex jumped right in with her body board and was surfing hardly before we could say to go for it! Ian dung in the sand all morning and Annika made daddy stay out in the surf with her body surfing sans board until everyone was exhausted. We staggered back home for some PB and J for lunch and a rest. Well deserved! Then we hit the pool for the afternoon since it was shaded-thank goodness! And it had close proximity to the snacks and food. Very important you know! We had reserved space for a turtle nesting viewing for this evening. We got there on time and even were in group number 2 to go out onto the beach to watch loggerhead turtles build their nest and lay their eggs. Unfortunately, after waiting until nearly 9:30, there were not any turtles showing up and the kids were at the end of their ropes, which meant we were done. We visited with a family at the resort the next day-they didn't get any turtles until 11:00 and didn't get back until nearly 2 am. They totally hit the jackpot though-1 nest and egg lay, 2 other building nests, and 1 hatching! Awesome time of year to be there with the nesting easing off and the little guys running for the water. Maybe another time, and we'll go prepared for a long night!
Day 4- Lyle's 42nd birthday! Happy birthday Old Man! We beached it and pooled it for a bit, then headed into Bundaburg for the Rum Tour and Tasting. It isn't much as tours went as they were shut down for the holidays, but we got to see the inside of a 60+ year old oak cask they age the rum in while they were shifting part of their aging casks around to make room for a new project-small batch rum aged in a variety of barrels. Sounds interesting! Bundagurg is a HUGE cane sugar producing area and once the sugar is made a byproduct is molassas. Thus, the rum industry was born in the late 1800's. The molassas tastes kind of chocolaty, yummy! There are also small gage rail lines all over the place as they haul in the cut cane using these. I'd love to see a Cane Train tour to look over the fields and learn some history of the area, but it doesn't exist, unfortunately. Anyway, back to the tasting. I found my lifelong addiction in the tasting room. It's called Royal Liqueur and boy, is it a bad addiction to have. Darn stuff can ONLY be purchased in the Bundaburg Distillery gift store in Bundy. It does NOT EXIST anyplace else. I am so going to be in trouble when we move back to the US! This stuff is perfection-aged rum with coffee and chocolate flavors. Tastes best over ice and served with a splash of milk. O.M.G. good. I think I need to make some really good Aussie friends so they can come visit and BRING THE RUM! There's my Jack Sparrow moment.
Now, about those Froot Loop loving ants. We had been battling them since the moment we checked into the villa. Ants are accepted as a part of life here in Queensland, which I am having a hard time accepting! Sorry! This place is EcoGreen certified, so does not spray for crawlies, preferring a more natural approach. The groaning geckos do add a bit to the evening atmosphere. Not appreciated as they had missed the ginormous cockroach that ran over my foot when Lyle moved the garbage can-scared the crap out of me and made me scream! So, the running battle with the ants. Every day we tried to find a place for them to have difficulty getting into. The top of the fridge had been working, and as space was a bit limited, the best we could do. Needless to say, they found the froot loops this morning and totally avoided the Corn Flakes. The kids were NOT happy as they now did not have their morning treat and would have to make due with toast, eggs, and assorted healthy stuff. Poor things!
Day 5- Lady Musgrave Island Day. We got up at 5:30 and met the transportaion coach at 6:10 for a nearly 2 hour drive up to the Town of 1770. This is the first place that Capt. James Cook landed in Queensland, so a bit historical. Beautiful drive north, made better by the pick ups of other passengers along the way. Got to see lots of Bundy and some Bed and Breakfast locations. Everyone was pretty tired, so a quiet ride up. Once there, we hopped on the boat, motored out of the small harbor surrounded by sand bars, and hit the open ocean. WOW does not even begin to cover this experience. We followed the suggested list of things to bring-towels, sunscreen, camera, and motion sickness meds. Took them just before we got on the boat too! By the time we had been bouncing around the waves 10 minutes, I'd bet 20-30% were horribly seasick. The staff is obviously used to it! There were 2 barf baggies to be found in the seat pocket in front of you, with access to plenty more. It was pretty gruesome there for a time, but we came out mostly unscathed by it all. The waves were pretty good-10 feet, with some more like 15 feet, and as were were driving right into them, the boat rocked and rolled a ton. The girls were thrilled-90 minutes of roller coasters as far as they were concerned. Ian, well he was terrified the entire time. He's never liked motion-hates to be upside down and screamed in terror when he was tossed in the air as a toddler, so we should not have been too surprised. He spent the entire time buried in either my neck or Lyle's with his eyes shut and holding on for dear life. He fed the fishies at the very end, but I'm still not sure it was seasick as by that time we were getting into the lee of the island-I think he scared himself sick!
First on the agenda was a walking tour of the very tiny island. We were in the 1st group assigned to go, so go we did! We got to ride a glass bottomed boat to shore and then hop off onto the shore. This is a coral island-broken and shattered coral everywhere. Shoes are a must and footing is a bit dicey at times, especially in the water. Several varieties of seabirds nest here, so the island smells like a fertilizer factory. Good thing for sea breezes! One type burrows into the ground so you have to stay on the marked paths so the burrows don't collapse. We didn't see them as they fly out at dawn and return at dusk. The tree nesters were noisy! The chicks were just starting to hatch! Their nests were pretty disgusting-leaves from the trees glued together with bird poop. We all got pooped on before we left! There is a campground on island and the tour operator transports the campers and their gear out and back. Very primitive location-you have to haul in everything, including water. The boat brings it in for the campers as well as checks up on them daily for safety. While we were walking on the beach we saw a feeding frenzy of black tip reef sharks not too out from shore. These don't eat you.
We got back to the boat and diving deck in time for lunch, then Lyle and Alex suited up for snorkeling. Alex is totally hooked-she saw a turtle resting on the ocean floor and lots of fish and coral. She was a bit put out because this is not a truly tropical reef, so very brown, beige, with some blues. The fish were also pretty dull. We hope to get up to Cairns sometime and snorkel the tropical section for comparison! Lyle was amazed at how fast Alex could get from one place to another. I watched her porpoise swim all over the place from the observation deck!
The trip back was much better than the trip out for nearly everyone. Amazing-they sold motion meds on board and people actually bought them. Bet they listen if they do an open ocean boat trip again and take the meds! Going with the waves is much easier than against them-it felt like a rocking chair and we dozed a bit on the way in. Things got exciting there when we hit a pretty good sandbar just outside the harbor during a very low tide. We all got to shift to the front of the boat while the captain did the forward and reverse until we came unstuck. They were already getting ready to muster the smaller boats to take off groups when the boat broke free. Yay! Back on the bus for the 90 minute ride home and get everyone ready for bed. We were tired!
Day 6 - Head for home, a 5 hour drive through some of the most beautiful Australian countryside!
Highlights of the trip according to the kids-Annika: loved the tea served on the boat. The Lamingtons were delicious and she loved the semi submersible boat so she could see the coral. She loved the boat ride too! Ian: liked the pool at the resort and and going to the beach. He loves running and throwing and looking for shells and interesting pieces of stuff. Alex: getting sniffed by the possum at a outdoor movie night, seashell hunting among the rocks on the beach, snorkeling and seeing a turtle resting on the bottom, and the boat ride. Lyle: snorkeling and RUM. Gayle: Rum, obvious from the devotion above, and the lazy days.
