A bit about Oz
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Mon 28 Jul 2014 06:51
We have also been to the mall, a large modern shopping centre. I can't tell you how exciting it is, they have shops, supermarkets and everything! It is funny when you see other yachties in the supermarkets, we all have eyes like saucers, there is so much food and so much choice, it is almost a bit overwhelming! We haven't seen shops like this since we left England. The food here is great, really fresh and tasty, much better than we have been used to recently.
The organised tour took us to the Eungella National Park about 80km from the marina. On the way, the guide told us about the local area. It is largely industrial with a huge mining industry. Many of the mines are within about 3-4 hours drive from here. The men work away from home on various shifts of up to 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off, leaving the women at home with the kids. The workers are well paid, so the town is quite wealthy, with good shopping and restaurants.
As we drove inland the areas got more remote. It is only a 2 lane road, the same as for most of the country, apart from the big cities, so travel is relatively slow. Also the roads are relatively new. Our tour guide who I would guess to have been about 50 years old said that when she was a child, she didn't go to school as they were too remote. Apart from the mailman once a week, she met nobody except her immediate family of parents and four brothers until she was 21 years old. We were all amazed that someone so young could have lived like that so recently.
Our first taste of Oz wildlife was in the public toilets. I was flushing the toilet when I saw something strange on the back of the pan, it was a frog! For some reason they like living in toilets and he had been sitting under the seat. Lucy, from Folie a Deux, took a video of the frog in the toilet, but the funniest part was all the shrieking women in the background!
Our morning tea stop was in the national park and we were served billy tea and toast with syrup, treacle, honey or Vegemite. There were few takers for the Vegemite, it's supposed to be worse than marmite!
Preparing 'billy tea' over the fire at the Finch Hatton Hilton
Then we went to see the duck billed platypus. These are endemic to Oz and are quite hard to spot. We did see one in the river, but the photo was not good, I wasn't quick enough! While we were there we were chatting to the guide who was telling us about all the things in Oz which can bite, sting, or kill you. It is a long list! There are deadly saltwater crocodiles, kangaroos who can practically cut you open with one claw, not to mention spiders, snakes, insects and of course frogs! Everything here is out to get you!
Although we saw the platypus, they were too quick to get a picture of. These snapping turtles, vicious little devils we are told, were more obliging!
Our lunch stop was at the Eungella Chalet which has fabulous views over the park. Being so worn out I had fallen asleep at this point of the tour, so will have to go back to the park to see the bits I missed. We have Karen coming to stay next week so will go and do all of the tourist sites again then when hopefully I will be able to stay awake!
The view across the park from the chalet
Standing on the hang gliding platform over the edge of the park - no roped off areas here!
For our farewell do we had drinks on board with a few friends. It was one of those great nights which start out as drinks at 6pm and everyone goes home at midnight!
We are now starting to pack the boat up, bit by bit. As we have a week or so, we are not in a huge rush. We have booked a flight to Brisbane on 12 August, and will spend a couple of days there sightseeing before flying home on 15 August. We have just checked the weather though, and Brisbane is even colder than here, whereas we have been struggling with temperatures of 16-18 degrees at night, it is only 7-9 degrees there at night! Daytime, it is warm, about 23 degrees, but mornings and evenings are cold and we have even debated the heating at times, we must be getting soft in our old age!
A bit of Aussie humour!
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