It was a pretty hot Christmas this year and I had to feel sorry for Santa who, in spite of the heat, hopped aboard the fire truck and drove along every street in Tanilba Bay, Mallabula and Lemon Tree Passage doling out sweets to the children. The truck sounds its siren as he makes his way around and, as you can imagine, it takes some time for him to complete the route so for hours the streets are lined with children shouting 'SANTA' every time they hear the siren in the distance.
Enough about that. I like to kid myself that this is a travel blog so,back to our recent trip. 

We got up early on our first morning in Tin Can Bay and wandered along to a cafe at the waterfront where they feed wild dolphins. These dolphins have been turning up at 7.30 am for years for a feed and the cafe have turned it into a tourist attraction. They have very cleverly positioned billboards, fences etc so there is not a centimetre of dolphin to be seen if you have not paid your $5 entrance fee to watch or $10 to feed them a fish.

 It is all very closely controlled with uniformed volunteers standing in the water to make sure there is no dolphin abuse and to supervise the feeding. The dolphins were really patient remaining incredibly still in the water while the feeders purchased their fish and queued waiting to be called one by one to hand over the fish to their designated dolphin. It was good fun and well worth the tiny entrance fee.
We had an appointment to view the caravan later in the day (the real purpose of the trip) and drove up through Maryborough to Hervey Bay. The drive was as boring as bat poo through endless rows of identical pines grown for logging and it was a real relief to get to the other end. We stopped in Maryborough to find the bank and discovered a splendid market. Maryborough looks reasonably prosperous and must be to support a fairly large market even though it was once a town that thrived on the sugar trade and the little narrow gauge sugar train rail lines are still there. The town is proud of its history and there are interactive information boards dotted around, all quite impressive.
Next stop Hervey Bay where we fell in love with the caravan and agreed to buy it then trotted off to look at Hervey Bay itself which is a big holiday destination, pretty smart and one of the main setting off points for Fraser Island. I was quite taken with a cafe where you could hire a big cushion and umbrella for the day facing the sea and the cafe kept you topped up with cold water. 
Anyway, back through the boring pine forests to Tin Can Bay where we got chatting to one of the permanent residents at our campsite only to discover she was great pals with one of the people we meet at the quiz night at home every week!
Next morning we had arranged to go and pick up the van so set off through the incredibly boring pine forests again, paid for the van and towed it back. When we got back, we swapped everything from tent to van, much to the amusement of the other campers. 

We liked Tin Can Bay very much so decided to stay for a few days and play with the new van while we explored the area.

Apologies for the lack of blogging lately but we have been away on a bit of a trip. Christmas is a really busy time here because, not only are people travelling around to see family but it is also when the children have their six week break and families go on their summer holidays. So we head off a couple of weeks before this and get safely back home indoors by the time the schools break up. 

We have been looking for a smaller caravan for some time now and the very model we wanted at exactly the right age, price and selection of useful extra bits and bobs popped up in the for sale ads. The location of the van was Hervey Bay, a few hours north of Brisbane so we decided to make a trip of it.
The faithful tent was packed into the car and we set off at 7.30 am up the, now very familiar Pacific Highway (via Macca's at Williamtown for a cheeky bacon and egg McMuffin). This gave us a good look at the damage caused by the recent bush fire as it had jumped the motorway at one point. The burnt trees went on for miles, it is incredible to think no homes were lost. We pressed on swapping drivers every couple of hours for 500km until we reached a campsite recommended by a friend. This was a bit risky because we had no idea what type of campsites she likes but, as it turned out she goes for exactly the same things we do. So we pulled into the Clarence Campsite in Iluka, across the water from Yamba and found it was a splendid little place. 

The site itself had a pleasing mix of whacky permanent pitches, touring caravans and tents. The permanent homes are brilliant, they all started life as caravans but have been extended and accessorised until you would struggle to work out which bit is the original van.
The little township had everything for an overnight stay too, a fishermans' cooperative which sold fish and chips for $5 (about £3) and a pub looking out over the water at the fishing boats preparing to go out as soon as it got dark. It was all a little bit scruffy and quiet, which we like, unlike Yamba on the opposite shore which is much more slick and fashionable and attracts the tourists. 

It rained in the night and there is nothing like packing up a wet tent to remind you why you are on your way to hopefully buy a caravan. The van looked like a really good buy and we wanted to get there before someone else snapped it up so we set off early again and drove another 500km to Tin Can Bay. We crossed into Queensland and turned our clocks back one hour (and 25 years, old joke but true, more about that later). I saw the upper floors of Brisbane's buildings from the motorway but that was all. The Pacific Highway at this point reminds me a bit of the M6 in the UK where the road is elevated with the tops of buildings on either side.

 Eventually we reached Gympie and turned off down Tin Can Bay Road which is lined with mile after mile of completely straight pine trees grown for logging. This was interesting for about ten minutes then quickly became one of the most boring roads imaginable to drive along. Tin Can Bay itself is a bit like home really, at the end of a long, narrow peninsula with a similar population. We had decided to try the Kingfisher Caravan Park and found it to be just what we like, friendly, nice mix of permanent and touring guests and, most importantly, clean showers and toilets. 

Now, back to the time change in Queensland. There is no need for a change between New South Wales and Queensland because, geographically, they are not in different time zones. However, Queensland chooses not to take part in daylight saving (putting clocks forward in Spring and back in Autumn) so it starts to get light at 4am and, because it is so much nearer the equator, it is pitch dark at 6pm! So there are families on holiday bumbling around in the dark as they go out to eat or have an evening stroll.....bizarre.

 After two years in Australia I am getting to know what to expect from the seasons. We are in late spring now and the temperature each day tends to hover around the 24 - 25C mark although we are beginning to get  30C days more regularly as November comes to a close.
The magnificent jacaranda trees are just getting past their best, although they still have a reasonable showing of mauve flowers and, in Australia's usual upside down fashion, many varieties of gum tree have shed their bark and are now displaying glorious dappled trunks. 

The baby birds are fledging now too and this family of kookaburras who live in our garden have a very cute chick who looks a bit like a toilet brush and is currently learning the kookaburra laugh with differing degrees of success.

 The camera Ian bought me before we set off across the globe has become my constant companion and I managed to get the perfect pose out of the tawny frogmouth family we have been watching on their nest at the habitat. Unfortunately, the quality of the picture is not that great but I was lucky to get it because, the very next day, drama struck!
A friend was walking his dog and found one of the chicks on the ground beneath the nest! He was ok but his parents had obviously decided it was fledging day before he was quite ready, his sibling had made his maiden flight without mishap but not so this little chap. 

So he was brought into the visitors centre where the volunteers on duty phoned the wildlife rescue people who told them to put him in an ice cream tub and attach it to the tree where the rest of the family were still perched. They did this and left him over night but, alas, he was back on the path again in the morning and the family had moved on and left him! Nature can be very cruel.

 So he was brought back into the building and the wildlife rescue people came out to see him. They checked him over and pronounced him fit but still needing a few more days of syringe feeding. So they took him off to raise him with a couple of other orphans of the same age, he will be released with them in a few weeks time.

 The excitement has been building here because November brings the annual Tilligerry Festival to our little town. I find it quite amusing that we moved from Rickmansworth which hosted the famous Ricky Week every spring and we now have settled in a town 11000 miles away which a pretty much identical week of events each year albeit on a smaller scale. I was looking forward to this as I was back visiting England for the whole of November last year so this was to be my first festival here. 

The week kicked off with the Literary Awards Dinner, prizes are given for the best short stories in various categories and the competition attracts a surprising number of entrants when you consider that only 5600 people live on the Peninsula in total. We did not go to this but we were ready and waiting for the next event... the trivia night.
This was really the usual quiz night we attend regularly but with a specialist round on the local area. We did a bit of revision but did not hold out much hope of success as we are still very much the newcomers to the area out of all the quiz teams but we came second, beaten only by a team of six which relies rather heavily on their two English immigrant members, I don't know what this says about the teams who were born and brought up around these parts!

 Next up was the Art Exhibition with categories for Paintings, Photography, Quilting and Sculpture. I could not believe the number of entries and the standard of the winners was incredibly high for a local show. It was only afterwards we found out that the prize money for these shows is pretty high so they attract artists from all over, not just locals.
The week ended with the Foreshore Fun Day on Saturday. Santa arrived on the Marine Rescue boat then there was a sail past of any boats who wanted to dress up and join in (we were too nervous we might cause chaos with ours but might take part next year when we are a bit more experienced). It reminded me a bit of the Pagham Pram Race, the annual Boxing Day event in the village my parents retired to that kept us amused for many a year. There were prizes for the best dressed boats and crew and it was won by a group of Scots on a catamaran. 

This was followed by the usual mix of stalls, funfair rides, dog displays, sausage sizzles, dancing and music until 8.30 when it was dark enough for the fireworks. This was pretty exciting because we don't have bonfire night in Australia and it is illegal to buy fireworks anywhere other than Canberra so, unless we travel to an organised display at New Year, we don't get to see them. A barge was towed out into the bay where they were let off and looked fabulous reflecting on the water. It was nice to be warm too, I don't think I have ever watched fireworks when I have not been cold and, more often than not, wet.

 Last Friday we began to hear reports on the news about a fire which was burning out of control by the Pacific Highway near Karuah. Although this is not terribly close to us, about 5km across the bay but about an hour by road, Australians take news of any bushfire in the vicinity seriously especially as were have had a lengthy hot, dry spell and strong winds were forecast - perfect bushfire conditions. 

So we kept a keen ear on the news and discovered the fire was getting much bigger and heading in our general direction. The Rural Fire Service from all the surrounding towns were in attendance but were struggling to contain the fire because of the weather conditions. The most effective way to prevent a bushfire from travelling is to back burn ahead of it so there is nothing left to burn when it gets there, but the wind meant back burning was not an option.

 What they did manage to call on was this huge plane (Ian tells me it is a DC10) which dropped massive amounts of fire retardant on the flames and looks far more effective than the usual helicopters with water bags dangling underneath. 

However, the fire was still progressing and the Pacific Highway had to be closed (this is like closing the M1) as it reached the outskirts of Medowie. Now this is much closer to us, about 25km and most of it bushland, that news focused our minds and we reviewed our bushfire plan. Every household is supposed to have a plan and our plan A involves loading everything important into the caravan and heading off away from danger.  There is a flaw in this plan though because we are at the end of a narrow peninsula and, if the fire is heading towards us we would have no way of driving around it, so plan B is to put our important paperwork into a waterproof pouch, run to the end of the road and jump in the water!

Smoky sunrise from
our balcony

 The fire service give out advice on how to stay and defend your home but, as we live in a wooden house, we probably would not be taking that option. 

The fire had been raging for three days now and in the early hours of Monday morning we were woken by the smell of smoke. We peered out of the windows and it was really thick outside but coming from across the water, not down the road thank goodness! I took a photo of the sunrise from our balcony and you can see how smoky everywhere is. 

View from our front gate

The smoke cleared during the day but was visible from our front gate by the evening so we drove up to sunset point and took some pictures across the water to Karuah where it looked like a furnace was burning in the distance.
Eventually, after nearly a week of battling to save people and properties, the fire fighters were helped by rain and lots of it. At its height, the fire was 80km across, it burned 9500 hectares and, apart from a few sheds and caravans, the firefighters managed to keep it from destroying any properties. It was an astonishing effort from this brave group of volunteers.

  There was great excitement in the Rabbitt household this week when we received phone call from a contact at Port Stephens koalas telling us about a planned koala release. One of my jobs at the Tilligerry Habitat is to report all koala sightings to Port Stephens koalas who, in turn, add them to the national database and they were ringing to ask where the best spot was to release a female back into the habitat. So we managed to get ourselves invited along to watch Elsie being released. 

Elsie is a young female who had been found nearby with, what the rescuers initially though was a broken arm. It turned out to be tendon damage and, after a course of acupuncture she appears to be recovered enough to go back into the wild. Koalas are released as close as possible to where they were found and, if the area is completely unsuitable, then they are placed within 10km of the rescue site.  Elsie was released into the Habitat because it was quite near where she was discovered but safer and with a lot more food trees. It is more difficult to find a release site for males if they cannot go back to where they were found because they are territorial and will not tolerate another male on their patch. 

Kookaburra

Yellow Robin

So, Elsie turned up in her travel basket on a trolley (they use two laundry baskets strapped together and lined with blankets to transport koalas) and she was wheeled down to an appropriate Swamp Mahogany tree. This is the koalas' favourite food around these parts and is really a variety of eucalyptus, it is called a Swamp Mahogany because, when the white folks arrived they started trying to think of names for everything based on what they were familiar with in the Northern Hemisphere and this tree grows in coastal areas and is the colour of mahogany - hence the name. 
 So the basket was opened and, after a quick spray of pink paint onto her bum to help us identify her at least until it rains, she was off up the tree where she turned and posed for a few pictures. We have been looking for her since but have not seen her which is a good sign that she is moving around and finding food as she should be. 

White Headed Pigeon

Elsie is a lucky girl, the Habitat is a beautiful place to live at the moment with plenty of birds arriving after their winter breaks where ever they go. We have been keeping a close

Tawny Frogmouth

 eye on a Tawny Frogmouth on its nest and saw a chick's head pop out from under it today when we did not have our cameras with us, I will try and get a picture tomorrow.

 It seems to be my time for seeing unpleasant beasties at the moment. First there was the gigantic brown snake a couple of weeks ago and now this worryingly large spider was in one of the loos at our local swimming pool. I am telling myself it must have been a Huntsman (huge but harmless) and not a Funnel Web (deadly). Funnel Web spiders are attracted to swimming pools but on the plus side, you don't hear much talk about verrucas in Australia. I suppose this must be because most pools are outdoor and not the breeding ground for germs an indoor pool can be so - Funnel Webs or verrucas, I'm not sure which I would prefer! 

We are back to swimming most days now as the weather is nice and warm. Some sturdy folk swim all year round but although we were full of resolve to do this, we discovered that we are fair weather swimmers and chickened out during the winter even though the pool is heated.

Hibiscus

 Just to make you feel better about our lovely, warm climate I have included a couple of pictures of a walk we attended last weekend in support of the Greens who are trying to raise awareness about a local area of wetlands the council is selling off to developers little by little.  Although it was bucketing down the day was really well attended and began with various speakers telling us about the area and its flora and fauna then we all sploshed off through the woods with guides to look at the birds and try to spot koalas. It was quite interesting seeing the place in the wet walking along to the sound of frogs instead of the usual buzzing insects. The day was rounded off with the traditional sausage sizzle and everyone had a good time. 

Flannel flower

Pigface

We had half expected the event to be called off but when you live in a warm climate you learn very quickly to view rain as your friend, not only from a life sustaining resource point of view but you also know that if you get wet you are unlikely to be cold and wet and the chances are you will be dry again pretty soon. I asked Ian recently what he liked most about Australia and he said, "not having to completely dry yourself when you come out of the shower," it's the same principle really. 

Iris

Kangaroo paw

The other reason I enjoy a bit of rain these days is because I am a gardener and the garden is starting to take shape. It is no longer just a grassy slope and the things I have planted over the last 18 months are beginning to look established.

Bromeliad

 It is a strange experience having to re-learn everything I thought I knew about gardening. As you can see I am gardening on sand so most of my time is spent finding ways to get some sort of moisture retention going on. And then the plants themselves are mostly unfamiliar, even when I find one I recognise it often goes under a different name here, for example the Amaryllis in the picture would be called a Hippeastrum here. So I watch Gardening Australia avidly each week and go to the monthly talks at the local hardware store. I am having some success as I hope can be seen from the pictures. 

Hibiscus

Amaryllis

 Now the weather has well and truly picked up we have renewed our efforts to become boaties. Almost every other house here has a boat in the driveway and we are determined not to be among the few for whom the boat remains there permanently.

 Before we bought Bunny II (Ian's parents owned the first Bunny) we chortled at the people who appeared to never take their boats out but, since becoming boat owners, we've discovered how easy it is to do just that.
Taking the boat out involves a certain amount of effort which is not too bad once we have got the hang of it but, add to that the fact that the weather conditions need to be favourable and the opportunities for going out in it become considerably reduced.

 For us, that is. Most sailors are not phased by a light breeze but with our lack of experience, even the smallest gust seems perilous. And, of course, we always seem to be busy. I am reminded of my Dad who, after retiring used to say he did not know how he ever found the time to work....the excuses could go on and on.
Anyway, yesterday dawned bright and sunny and, most importantly - still, so we loaded up the fishing rods, life jackets, drinks and snacks and off we set. Launching Bunny is something we have managed reasonably well since the beginning so we don't cause any embarassing chaos at the boat ramp but we disagree about how the boat trips should be planned.

 Ian likes to set off across the bay at high speed without checking that he can work the sat nav until we realise we are not sure where we are and I prefer to creep sedately along the coastline to the nearest bay and drop anchor there so we can't get lost! I am sure we will eventually reach a point where our trips out become something between the two but we need to take the boat out a lot more regularly before we reach that happy medium.
So we bombed across the bay for a bit stabbing fingers at the sat nav controls as we went then scooted back to Tanilba Bay for a bit of fishing (Ian, not me. I am happy with my book) and it was beautiful.

 A magnificent catamaran glided in behind us and we bobbed around for a couple of very peaceful hours.
Monty has finally worked out that it is very uncomfortable to try and stand up when travelling at speed and retreated to the comfort of the cabin for the return journey. 

Getting the boat back onto the trailer is something we seem to have got worse at as we have become more confident so, a few rope burns later, we got Bunny back home safe determined to take her out every week, at least for the next 6 - 7 months while the weather is good.