A place with a lifting bridge

It is so quiet here in South Ballina. No traffic and no sounds other than the sound of rain on the roof last night. When we eventually decided to get out of bed the rain had dried up and the clouds were almost gone. In fact the sky was so blue after we had eaten our breakfast that I persuaded my stay at home hubby to come for a walk to the beach. The beach is almost adjacent to the caravan park we are staying in.

The walk did us both good and Colin looked quite happy to be out on the sands.

There wasn't another person on the beach for as far as the eye could see. This is supposed to be a surfing beach but the waves were very small indeed.

We needed a few pantry items from the shops in Ballina (we are a ferry ride across the river from Ballina) so the day was planned so that I could take a few shots in Wardell which was on the road trip to Ballina from here, There was time for a cup of coffee before we left so I can show you the little cabin that is our temporary home here in South Ballina.

I had read that Wardell had a few historic buildings in it – historic in Australia terms but only just over one hundred years old. I took a few pictures of what I could see were old building – the original Post Office is now closed and empty of everything except a few pieces of large furniture.

Post offices like this one were to be found in country towns all over country Australia. They were painted white and proudly displayed the Aussie flag on the flagpole out the front.

The most dramatic old structure in Wardell is the lifting bridge over the Richmond River that is still used by all the cars buses and trucks that use the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane. I really do not know if the bridge is still operational or if it even needs to be. Once upon a time paddlesteamers and yachts would sail up and down the river and need the higher clearance. I did once see the bridge lift for a high masted yacht but that was a few years ago.

And under a small road bridge beside the big lifting bridge is this wonderful painting. Obviously done by someone who loves music!

Before heading back to the caravan park I drove Colin along the track I walked along the Richmond River. When I walked it I stopped before reaching landsend where the river met the ocean but this time we bounced our way over deep holes and corrugations on the gravel track and then walked out along the breakwater where we were lucky enough to see whales passing by. The whales did not do anything exciting – like breaching or like tail flapping but they did break the surface of the water and occasionally blew spray into the air. This was a lucky shot! We stayed and watched for half an hour and in that time saw at least a dozen whales – many too far away to see anything more than the spray but a few close enough to capture with the 200mm lens.

As we retreated to the car we paused briefly to watch as an early fishing boat headed out to the open waters, The bar is calmer on the further side, the waves were really rolling towards the rocks on our side of the estuary.

Another fascinating day and lots more photos to pack into my hard drives!

I have made tentative plans for tomorrow but if the weather changes (it is like summer) then our plans will change too! I will tell you about what we did, tomorrow!

AJ

Tangalooma Whaling

It was such an early start this morning. I was in the shower by five thirty! With so many morning chores to be done before heading off to join our tour bus I had to start early! We were on the road by seven and after picking up a few other passengers along the way found ourselves at the wharf right on time for our ten o clock departure.
I had no idea how long it took to reach Tangalooma – the name of the resort on Morton Island, to which we were going but it took forever just to get to the mouth of the Brisbane River! We slowed down as we passed every moored ship – many of them! I guess that is so that the wake caused by our vessel did not throw them around as they were being unloaded. It actually took an hour and a quarter.

Our fast cat ferry (the one in the background!)

There was time to take a few photos from the jetty when we arrived before we all climbed back on board so we could go out into the ocean on a whale watching trip. The best part of that was the cup of coffee on board! We saw one whale breach (which was wonderful) but the rest of the time we saw water and felt the huge swell toss us around. I was happy when we pulled up and we were on solid ground again!

We were taken on a walking tour of the resort, which is huge and fantastic (and many more superlatives) but when I pointed out that one of the members of the party had major mobility problems (bad knees) we were all treated to a buggy ride for the rest of the resort travel.

Our rooms are quite luxuriant and after enjoying a welcome cup of tea and a muffin (from home!) I left with my camera to take a walk and some photos – I found a collection of curlews and had fun chasing them with the camera and then swung my attention to the sinking sun. I had picked a location earlier that would be good if there was a sunset so that is where I aimed to return to. It was perfect!

At six in the evening the lights on the jetty are turned on and in come the bottle nosed dolphins to be hand fed. We had to listen to a “Japanese Marine Biologist” for what seemed to be an overly long period of time as she explained about the rules of feeding and touching and the ages of the dolphins – all we were all interested in was SEEING them! But we were rewarded. Six dolphins came in and played below us in the water and four of them came in to be hand fed. Amanda, Steven’s girlfriend, braved the cold water and had the thrill of her life! She tried to hang onto her fish so the dolphin would stay longer!

Our day was completed with the most enormous and delicious five course meal that I could not complete! What a treat we have had today! I finished up by going around our table and taking photos of each of the couples, we have already become good friends! Yes, Colin and I had our photos taken (with my camera) too.

Another busy day tomorrow? You betcha!

AJ



Fingal dolphins

When Colin and I took out Sunday car trip to Fingal Head we were hoping to see whales. It was a clear day and the sea was quite gentle. Hearing shouts and seeing a few people pointing in one direction our eyes were directed to a patch of water where there were dozens of fins breaking the surface. I estimate there would have been twenty or more dolphins swimming towards us.

This was taken with the Nikon P90 which requires the user to activate the live-view (big screen on the back) and then press the OK button to start the recording. Since I had been using the camera as a telescope previously the focus was already set to the right distance.

This is nothing spectacular but just a bit of fun - if you are observant you will see what I didn't see at the time - a whale in the distance just breaks the surface as the clip ends!

AJ