Once they were ready A&L headed out for breakfast and would meet A&M at the Everglades Tour office! L is still not feeling great and so was not on for much breakfast.....tea and a banana while A opted for a simple latte, banana and some great wholemeal toast! A&M appeared on their way to the pier and stopped in past.
It was still drizziling as they made their way along the river to the pier. The waterside is the lifeblood of Noosa and and is always busy. There are boats constantly on the go....as well as moored yachts and even a lot of houseboats!
They arrived at the pier but the boat was still being prepared! All the foods for the day were being loaded on by the Captain! He told us they would be ready to board in 10 mi Utes or so! There were a number of people waiting and it looked as if there would be about 20 people going on the trip.
Once the sigma. Was given we all filed on to the boat. Pelicans were swimming round the area as well as other bird life! There was a wide range of nationalities on board and they set off around 9am. The captain gave his introduction and touched on one or two safety points.....you know......well...there are life belts if you need them and someone falls in or there are life jackets if the boat sinks.....and oh.....there is a fire extinguisher.......if there was a fire! However, as the majority of the time will be spent in water that is no deeper than your knees or at worse up to your chest....the chances of needing any of these are limited! If you didn't enjoy it...you could always walk back to Noosa and only really get your feet wet!
The captain had been born in Noosa ND had lived here all his life! He had been working in the company for almost 40 years.....and he loved his job......and he has cooked too many sausages and steals to count!
They head up the river and he gives a running commentry for a while.....about the houses, the lifestyle in Noosa, the fact that people live and work on the river and about the nature round us! We went past one tree with a heron on the top branch and two sea eagles on lower branches! Apparently they sit and wait for the heron to catch some fish then basically gang up on it and mug it and take the fish! So if it has any chance....it would just catch the fish and pass it over and then catch more!
They sped up the river at about 45km/h but they stopped and went very slowly at times if there were houseboats, rowers or other people that might be affected by the wash of the boat.
The North shore has a number of houses on it but they are only accessible by a ferry that runs back and fore from each shore. The majority of them have cars....but they also have their own boats and most tend to leave their cars on the other shore and nip back and fore by boat when they need to and don't use the ferry! They are keen to retain the ferry and are against a bridge as this would encourage a lot of developments in that area and they realise that this would be bad for the area!
Along some parts of the river the speed is limited to 6mph so that the wash from the boats would not impact upon the shoreline. However the captain felt that most of the damage was due to people using the shore which resulted in erosion taking place as the trees and shrubbery are lost.
We go up the river and cross two lakes. One of them is the largest lake which is tidal in Queensland - despite the fact that at the deepest point it might only be five feet! Occasionally the boat does get beached and apparently the trippers have to get out and push to free it again!
The lakes are quite large and we travel around 9Km across one till we reach the start of the everglades. We stop for our morning coffee and the captain breaks out the flasks and tea bags and coffee and the biscuits or the tradional Aussie lamington! As we have this he prepares the Canadian canoes for those who have also taken on to canoe in the Evergaldes! All the young ones, most are between 20-30,get ready to canoe up to the lunch point! They are given the directions.....basically follow the river and tipurn left at the first 'junction' of the river and right at the next! He did warn them to try and not get lost as this can be a problem if they go off the route!
So they set off again with only 10 on the boat as the rest are canoeing. They pass them and head on slowly along the river way enjoying the sights! The rain and cloud did disappoint and it was not as spectacular as last time when the sun was shining brightly! One of the attractions of the Everglades is the reflections in the water of the lilies, grasses and trees! But today it was not so spectacular!
After an hour or so we arrived at Harry's Hut......an old building from the days of when the area was used for mining - Harry was an old worker and when the mines stopped working he bought the hut for a fishing base. After a legal dispute he managed to retain the legal ownership of the hut once the government purchased all the land compulsorily to set up a National Park. When he was allowed to retain ownership of the hut he then gave the government all the ground round it for the park. When he died he passed it on to his friends although they do not own the ground it sits on!
We berthed at the jetty and it was time for lunch!by the time the canoers arrived he would have had lunch prepared! We helped with the cool boxes and other items he had and we went over to the covered picnic area. He set up the BBQ and started cooking and as the sausages and steaks cooked he set up the rest of the lunch!
It was soon time to dish up and as you'd expect the young ones rushed forward to get their food first! Us oldies held back and waited and then went up at the end! They enjoyed steak, sausages, bread and salads all freshly prepared!
It was still raining but A&M went for a walk while A&L stayed at the picnic area as L was still not feeling great! In fact she is in her bed now as I write this!
The canoers then swapped over and some of those that didn't canoe up took over and would canoe back to where the others started earlier in the day!
So....their entertainment on the way back was one of two of the young backpackers discussing the ins and out of everything in life! One, from Liverpool, has been here for a few months and was returning home tomorrow so that she could attempt to pay off her debts and credit card bills before making it back before March next year! She had had numerous jobs since leaving school, as well as having been at uni and having been a firefighter who got sacked because she put some info on Faceboomthat she shouldn't have! She is desperate to be in Oz but also wants to travel the world! This includes hoping to visit South Korea to teach English as a second language! Well.....on the one hand she would be ideal as she NEVER stopped speaking but if you suddenly bump into some South Koreans with a Scouse accent then you will know she made it there! So...anyway......she quite happily spread her views on everything with this Italian guy and for everyone else to hear! And she had a view on EVERYTHING! I'm not sure if that's a female thing,a human thing or a Scouse thing!!!
The guy she was chatting up was Italian! He was 35 but had sold his Pizza Restaurant in Italy and had decided that he wanted to travel the world! He was now in Oz and was looking for a sponsor to try and get his citizenship! But, he was not prepared to work for cheap money and was looking for proper work to fund his lifestyle! However, they spoke about working as part of their visa and how you could make big money working Friday's and Saturdays or Sunday's if you were prepared to as that was when the service industry really needed workers!
Anyway, they had made it back through the peaceful (well......almost peaceful !!!!!!) routes of the Evergaldes and we berthed at the same place where we had had our morning tea. They had to wait for the three canoes to catch up and then for them to be stored! After they made it back and were safe.y aboard they set off back across the lakes and along the river to the pier!
What a great day - even though the weather was not ideal! The day of peace and almost quiet contemplation was a rel change to the normal hustle and bustle of a busy holiday!
Tomorrow they are off to the Eumundi Market and a tour round the Noosa hinterland of the Glass House Mountains! Hopefully L will be better and will feel a little more full of life! They are not out for dinner tonight as she is in bed so A will go out for a carry out instead!
It's hard to believe it is almost a week since I left - I have seen a lot so far and have two items stowed in my suitcase - and either of them are marmalade sandwiches!
No comments:
Post a Comment