Birds of a feather

Having chickens is all part of living on a rural property. We have started with two, creatively named Brown chook and Light chook, and they are a delight to have around. They are inqusitive and like to follow me around in the garden, particularly light chook. Once brown chook realises what's going on, she races across the yard to join in. They often trot up to the front door to say hello, and look longingly through the slatted wooden fence into the kitchen garden: a no-go zone.

They also like to scratch around under the motorhome, gathering grease like true chook mechanics.

ISA Browns are popular for their good temperament; they are friendly and quiet mannered. They love being around people. They are also excellent layers, producing approximately 300 eggs each per year.

At the moment, only Light chook is laying: she was at the point of lay when she arrived, about 22 weeks. Brown chook is still a little young so we have to wait.

The chooks free range all day in the yard or in the adjacent dry-vine forest. Their diet is supplemented with a handful of protein-rich grain each morning and early evening, and some food scraps.

Once the light has faded, on cue they make tracks for their little house each night and nestle down in the mulch-filled boxes; sometimes sharing a box. They aren't into roosting as they like their comfortable bed! We lock them in overnight as we don't want pythons or Lace monitors getting too friendly.

After a fair bit of initial squabbling, the chickens are now living harmoniously with the family of Australian brush turkeys, who clean up what the chickens don't eat. The turkeys were such a nuisance; getting in the garden and scratching up all the dirt and any plants that weren't surrounded by large rocks, but now they have the chooks to distract them the garden is completely forgotten. For now anyway.

For a low maintenance, productive pet that makes you smile, you can't go past the ISA Brown chicken.

Mini 4WD Whitsunday adventure

For an adrenalin, fun-filled afternoon with your friends and family, take a mini 4WD tour at the Whitsunday Adventure Park with Wings Whitsunday Adventure Tours.

Published in The Whitsunday Times, 7 May 2015

Whitsunday Sail and Snorkel

It was perfect Whitsunday dry season weather as we set out from Abell Point Marina last week: clear, blue skies, 15 knot south east breeze and 28 degrees Celsius. Perfect weather for a sail to Whitehaven Beach and The Great Barrier Reef.

With husband Gary at the helm it was a two hour sail on Emperors Wings, an 18 metre sailing catamaran, to our first snorkel at Blue Pearl Bay off Hayman Island. The late afternoon light and low tide provided good visibility of the various coral and fish close to shore. The water temperature was about 27 degrees Celsius making it very comfortable to stay in the water as the day faded away.

Dinghy lesson, Blue Pearl Bay

A sunset cruise to Hook Passage had us rounding the southern end of Hook Island, past the sheltered waters of Nara and Macona Inlets displaying several white dots of masthead lights, before dropping our own anchor for the night on the north eastern tip of Whitsunday Island.  

It was dark when the alarm went off the next morning and we pulled up the anchor to head to 'the beach'. The sun rising over Border and Dumbell Islands lit the water and the tips of the majestic hoop pines that cling to the rocky edges of the islands.

Sunrise over Border and Dumbell Islands

The anchor was dropped in Tongue Bay for a 7am breakfast before being ferried in the dinghy by the skipper to Whitsunday Island National Park.

Tongue Bay, a popular anchorage for Hill Inlet Lookout walk

It's a short walk through dry vine forest, pandanus and palms across to the silica white sand of Betty's Beach, which faces the seven kilometre silica white sand stretch of Whitehaven Beach, one of the world's best beaches, and the beach that every tourist to the Whitsundays wants to visit.

Betty's Beach

After frolicking in the sand and aquamarine waters it was another short walk up a steady incline to Hill Inlet lookout. This is the postcard view, and although the high tide didn't quite have the same striking effect of wavy sweeping streaks of white interspersed among the blue, it's still a beautiful vista.

Northern tip of Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet

Lunch was on board as we made the three hour sail to Bait Reef, the closest outer reef in the Whitsundays area. With the wind astern and the tide ebbing in our direction (north), it was a relaxing journey as we left the islands behind us.

Again, the afternoon light enhanced the colours of both soft and hard corals, and lit up the fish as they darted all around me. The water was crystal clear; it was stunning. I could see the sandy bottom and, if you know what to look for, sting rays resting on the bottom camouflaging themselves with sand. It was low tide so I could almost touch the coral; leather coral, sea fans, plate and brain coral. There were hundreds of different fish, and lots of schools of fish, including iridescent Damselfish, blue-green Chromis, Tomato Clownfish, 7-banded Angelfish, multi coloured Parrot Fish, and yellow spotted Boxfish. There were moray eels, green sea turtles, reef sharks, blue spotted rays, blue star fish and the very small but striking nudibranchs. The list goes on, and it's time I bought myself an underwater camera to capture the wonder of The Great Barrier Reef.

Our boat was the only man-made structure for as far as the eye could see, and we were surrounded by reef and the Coral Sea with only an outline of the Whitsunday Islands in the distance off to the east. To spend a night on the reef is special: bobbing around in the lagoon, stargazing and being rocked to sleep.

Bait Reef

An early morning snorkel of the Stepping Stones surpassed all expectations. I could have snorkelled all day but we needed to head back to shore. So, we dropped the mooring and hoisted the head sail for the three hour journey to Langford Island for the final snorkel of the trip. The tide and wind were against us this time, so it was a little rough for some of the passengers as we crossed the open water from the reef to the shelter of the Whitsunday islands.

The wind dropped as we took up a mooring alongside Langford Island, also a national park, consisting of a small timbered outcrop with fringing reef and a lengthy sand spit depending on the tide level. There are scattered coral bommies surrounded by abundant fish life that run parallel to the beach, making it an easy snorkel in the shallows.

Black Island with Langford sand spit in foreground

Two hours sailing and we were back in civilisation and Abell Point Marina, bringing to a close a wonderful three day two night sailing and snorkelling adventure in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Wings II and Emperors Wings, Hook Passage

A patch of art

One positive aspect of the hot and humid summer in the Whitsundays is that people make good use of being holed up in the air conditioning. There is plenty of creativity going on (myself included!) when it's too hot to do anything else.

The biennial Gloucester Hidden Talent Art Expo held over the Easter weekend in Hydeaway Bay, displays fine local talent that includes painting, photography, jewellery, fibre art and quilting.

The Old Ambulance Depot Gallery in Proserpine, open daily, displays an array of local artworks, and regularly hosts workshops to improve your skills.

Entrance to Old Ambulance Depot Gallery

 

 

The spacious foyer of the Proserpine Museum is also home to regular art exhibitions, rotating every two months and often opening the new display with a wine and cheese evening.
 

Local scenes depicted by needlework
L-R Prominent buildings of Proserpine, Farming, Sugar cane production, Fishing on Peter Faust Dam, Whitsunday islands and reef

Art Whitsunday is an artist group formed in Airlie Beach, whose members exhibit in the Art Whitsunday Gallery and Shop. Each year a public exhibition is held and a prominent arts personality is invited to judge each member's work. The Director of the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art will be judging the 28th Annual Exhibition, which will coincide with the Whitsunday Reef Festival from July 31- 9 August 2015.

 

The Wizard and Flak

It was a week of entertainment in the Whitsundays last week.

Wednesday evening was spent watching the sunset at Abell Point marina from Barcelona Tapas Bar and Cafe, followed by some deft piano playing by Andrew Farrell, a.k.a. The Wizard.

With a wide variety of tunes and music styles, The Wizard delights and amazes with such an enormous repertoire. From Billy Joel to Rachmaninov; jazz, R&B and Boogie, it's a musical smorgasbord: just like the menu.

Choose from an extensive list of tapas: I recommend the goat's cheese, and the calamari is by far the best I have ever eaten. The table service was fantastic; sometimes hard to find in Airlie Beach, but Barcelona really has it together.
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Friday night was spent at the theatre: Michael Veitch's 'Flak' was performed at the Proserpine Entertainment Centre.

Perhaps best known for his sketch comedy television shows, The D-Generation, Fast Forward and Full Frontal, which included a number of characters and impersonations, there is also a serious side to Veitch.

He travelled throughout Australia collecting yarns and anecdotes from aging World War Two airmen, and compiled their war stories into two books; Flak and Fly. Five of these airmen's stories are told, as they were to Veitch, in this remarkable stage performance. Complete with accent, the extraordinary tales of two Australians, a Welshman, an English man and a German are brought to life, interspersed with brief commentaries of the various aircraft that flew (or not quite flew) the skies of the time.

Veitch's performance will ensure that the wish of one of the veterans will live on: which is, "to be remembered".

You can hear one of the stories by clicking here.

A dirty afternoon

On a mid week day off my husband asked if I was keen for a fun and dirty afternoon. Not wanting to miss out on anything, I was more than ready to go along with his suggestion.

"Wear old clothes and sturdy footwear", he said. "And bring a change of clothes: you'll need them".

Now I am intrigued.

After a 45 minute scenic drive from Airlie Beach, through Proserpine and cane fields, we arrive at the gate of Whitsunday Adventure Park for a few hours of 4WD buggy action.

Helmets and goggles are allocated before the required short briefing. We then headed off into the bush, following the tour leader and tackling a few small obstacles prior to the more challenging terrain. With my husband driving, he made the most of the sweeping corners and short straights. Although the vehicles are speed restricted to a maximum speed of 30 km per hour, it is still a hoot zooming around the bends. We toured through the grass lands and negotiated ditches and gullies before arriving at the skills area; a man-made circuit of tyres, bridges, moguls and mounds. It's challenging when it's dry, but even more so when wet: we had a heavy downpour just before setting out.

The buggies are easy to operate, and can really go over anything: just make sure you keep the power on. It was my turn behind the wheel, which was more like a Sunday drive than an adrenalin rush. But that's the beauty of this tour: anyone can drive the buggies (as long as you have any type of licence), and you can go as fast or slow as you wish. Just make sure you stay on the tracks and look out for others. Don't worry if you get stuck, the tour leader will snatch strap you out: that's all part of the fun anyway.

We continued through dense rainforest, along a creek bed and up a steep hill to The Lookout for a commanding view of the Conway Range and the Proserpine & Goorganga Plain with the steam towers of the Proserpine sugar mill rising up in the distance.

Many spiderwebs, countless butterflies and the odd snake were viewed from the comfort of the buggy as we bounced along the track through open woodland towards home base. Now it was time to get dirty in the mud pit.

The last half hour of the tour is spent spinning around the muddy berms and crashing through the enormous mud puddles on a near one kilometre mud circuit. Make sure you keep your mouth closed, and you'll have to stop now and again for a visor wipe courtesy of the tour leader. As your confidence grows you'll be doing the full circuit with your foot flat to the floor. It feels like you are flying around - until you drive through a mud puddle and are covered with a tsunami of milk chocolate. It's so much fun!!

Time for an outdoor shower and a change of clothes before heading back in to Airlie Beach with a huge smile. That was indeed a fun and dirty afternoon.

Barging to Hamilton

For a day trip to Hamilton Island (Hammo as the locals call it) with a difference, we took a ride on Samson: with the master's permission of course.

Samson

Shute Harbour

With two scheduled departures from Shute Harbour Monday to Friday, we checked with the crew first before boarding, then watched supplies for the busiest island in the Whitsundays be loaded and secured for the one hour crossing.

Loading at Shute Harbour

Owned and operated by Hamilton Island, Samson is a landing barge with a carrying capacity of 334 tonnes and can transport up to 260 000 litres of fuel or water. She brings across all the necessary items required for running an island resort: food, alcohol, linen, grocery orders, removal trucks, buggies, maintenance and earth moving equipment and supplies....the list goes on. Stuff has to be removed from the island too; for example, dirty linen and rubbish.

Approaching Hamilton Island marina

The bridge deck

Constructed in 1982 by Keith Williams, and now owned by the Oatley family, Hamilton Island as a tourist destination has continued to develop and prosper. There is a permanent resident population of around 1300 people, with the capacity for over three thousand overnight guests at anyone time. That's a lot of supplies!

Hammo is always busy, but there's plenty to do. Have lunch in one of the numerous restaurants/eateries, have a swim in one of the many pools, drink cocktails in one of the countless bars, play mini golf, big golf, tennis or archery, sail a catamaran or snorkel in Catseye Bay, take a bushwalk, pet an animal in the wildlife park, visit the art galleries, take the glass elevator to the top floor of the Reef View Hotel for a sensational view of surrounding islands and the main resort below. And more.

Departing Hammo

Whatever you choose to do, just make sure you don't miss the boat back!

For more information on the making of Hamilton Island, read The Hamilton Island Story by James Alward.