Remembering Morton Island

Although today has been taken up with the everyday activities of home life I have just been looking back through my photographs taken over the weekend and my fascination with wildlife shows through them. Among all the scenery and sunsets there are plenty of records of the birds that have become friendly - thanks to the regular feeding of the dolphins.
Morton Island - and in particular, Tangalooma, was the site of one of the largest whaling stations in Australia. The average number of whales killed in 12 months was 600 and most of these whales were taken from the waters just in front of the resort in which we were staying. An old newsreel video recording - the sort that used to be shown before the film when us "oldies" went to the cinemas "way back when", showed how the whales actually swam and showed off around the whaling boats  - just as they do for the tourist whale watch boats. The whalers would estimate the size of the whales and pick out one that was over the set limit and harpoon it with massive explosive harpoons until they killed it. The waters were red with the blood of these huge intelligent (but in those days quite stupid and unsuspecting) whales.

I took a photo of one of the harpoons - the explosive spear head has been put back on the end (less the explosive, of course!) and the plaque gives more of the gruesome story. The number of whales is climbing back up again - the wanton killing reduced their numbers almost to the point of extinction, I wonder if later, once the numbers are considered too great, that commercial hunting will recommence.
There are no larger marsupials on Morton Island and the possums and other small mammals are quite secretive and difficult to spot so I had to content myself with the local bird life!
Kookaburras hang around the resort because there is a regular feeding time for them. As long as feed is put out at the same time every day it is quite easy to coax our native birds to come close.

I never attended the Kookaburra feeding - but I enjoyed taking a few shots of these unique Ozzies in as natural a scene as possible.
Another bird that seems to love hanging around tropical resorts on island is the Curlew. These fairly large birds with long legs have a very strange call that sound a little like a baby crying. They sound very mournful at night - a little ghostly, in fact!

I tried really hard to get close to these birds but just as I thought I could take one step closer they would strut away a few more paces! They will permit you to come close - but not THAT close! At one stage I was sneaking up on seven birds at a time but once I crouched down to take my photo I would be left with just two! This one looks quite relaxed - but it was "growling" at me!
Thanks to the regular feeding of the dolphins every evening, there is a colony of cormorants that have taken residence on the small patch of beach next to the jetty (the viewing platform is along the side of the jetty). I suspect that there are fish scraps that are missed by the dolphins and these are harvested by the cormorants ("shags" is a common name given to these birds). feeding wild dolphins has become a tourist draw card in many parts of the world, Australia has some very strict regulations regarding the feeding of them (including "no touching") and yet, in spite of the restrictions, people just love the novelty of being able to hold out a titbit and have a dolphin swim right up to them and take it from their hands. In this photo, one of the resort staff is giving a snack to one of the dolphins - its a bit like saying, "here's one for now, the next you will have to earn".

The dolphin picture was taken at night with out the use of a flash, the jetty lights gave out a barely adequate illumination for taking photos - a slow shutter speed was mandatory - so the only shots that worked were the ones where the dolphin and the people were quite still.
Finally I am showing a shot of one of those black and white cormorants at work! This next picture was taken on Sunday morning. I walked onto the jetty (the same one that is used to view the dolphins) and watched the cormorants as they swam under the water and chased small fish. I didn't think that I would be able to capture this action but with digital you try anything!

The bird swims as efficiently as a fish! I was fascinated.
Now I will have to set too and put my photos together in a web album that can be shared with all my fellow travellers - and I will have to find something else to write in my blog!
AJ

Another day in the sunshine

Our last day on Morton Island at Tangalooma Resort was a very social day. When our Bombora tour group left the Gold Coast we were all strangers but over the three days we had cemented friendships that on this last day were further reinforced.
After a true "Sunday breakfast" of bacon and eggs I first took the camera out for some exercise and found some cormorants on the beach.

For a while I was able to get close to the birds but a young boy of about twelve years old, encouraged by his father, tried to catch one - which of course made them all fly away!

The sun was by now shining into the big concrete fish tank so I tried my luck at taking fishy shots - I used the circular polarising lens to cut down on the reflections from the nearby glass windows - but since the lion fish refused to come out to be seen I soon lost interest! I would never be any good as a scuba-diver! I fail to get excited at the sight of a fish!

As I said earlier, our Sunday was a very social day, Colin and I meandered back to our group and we all purchased coffees and sat chatting and finding out more and more about each other.
I spotted a group of quad bikes returning from their 25 minute "tour" - they run along the sands and play "follow my leader" up and down the sandy tracks near the beach and do figure of eights on the sand well away from the resort and generally "have fun". The quads could be heard returning so I timed my shot to get a couple of them in the clearings between the trees and get the yacht in my sights too.

Coffee time spilled over into lunch time and we were still seated and yapping! Since it was quite cool inside we all moved out into the sunshine and commandeered a couple of tables.
All too soon we had to collect our tickets for the boat ride back to Brisbane. Our cases had been left outside our rooms during the morning, to be transferred to the boat, so we didn't have to concern ourselves with them.
Outside the tour desk where the rubber waders that could be hired for the dolphin feeding - people who do not have wet-suits and still want to wade into the sea to feed the dolphins can hire them so that they can stay dry. I thought the sight of these waders looked rather comical!

It was time to leave. Our visit had been filled with lots of great memories of activities, food and friendships.
We had started the trip with smiles and we finished the trip with hugs and exchanges of addresses.

 However - I really enjoyed being in my own bed last night!
AJ

Another day on an (almost) deserted island

Waking bright and early as usual I watched with dismay as the clouds greyed the sky – but the sun was behind the hill and hadn’t pushed the evening cover off the island yet so by the time we were walking the rather long distance to the breakfast restaurant the sky was blue and not a hint of rain in the puffy white clouds at all.
The meals are really generous but the amount of walking that has to be done means that we will not put on any weight!
What a lavish display of food was laid out for the breakfast buffet! I felt almost ashamed having only one American pancake and maple syrup before being very British and having a slice of toast and marmalade! Colin made up for my lack of breakfast appetite and wolfed down bacon, eggs, mushroom and tomato – and a couple of pancakes too!

After brekky our group meandered over to check out the “helicopter workshop” and made an enthusiastic bunch of people for the young pilot to talk to. I was invited to accompany Joyce on a helicopter flight – she was only able to take the flight if she purchased two tickets and would I like to go with her. Would I……? Amazing! Now I know why I had an itchy palm this morning!

We took forever sitting inside this tiny flying machine before the pilot lifted it skywards – there are so many safety checks that have to be done first. The rest of the gang watching from the sidelines was getting tired of waving!

I fitted the long lens on the camera thinking that we would be a long way up and I would need it – especially since we might see whales from “up there”. However we had barely gone five minutes when I realized that I needed a much wider view that the 50-300mm would allow so hurriedly switched back to the 17-55mm and part way through the flight remembered that I had changed the White Balance the night before – for the dolphins in the dark – and put that back on daylight! Grr! Thank goodness for Photoshop! That will let me put the colours right. Incidentally we didn’t see one whale!
All through the short flight I was juggling between the Nikon D90 and the JVC pocket video cam so I have some terrific pics of this sand island that is Morton Island and hopefully some good video too. I just hope it doesn’t make the viewer air sick!
Once on the ground Joyce, Colin and I purchase a coffee and sat and yarned for a while and were soon joined by five others from our Bombora group so stayed on and purchased a sandwich each for our lunch. It was great to sit and chat and learn more about each other.

After picking up a jacket from our rooms we all boarded a flat bottomed punt like boat that took us a short way to an artificial reef made up of old, rusting ships and barges.

To get into the punt we all had to remove our shoes and socks and roll up trousers and paddle through the ankle deep sea water before stepping onto the ramp at the back. That small adventure set the mood for the rest of the “cruise”! There was a lot of laughter. Once at the wrecks we were all given tubs of pelletised fish food. Sprinkling the pellets onto the surface of the crystal clear water soon brought a myriad of tropical fish racing to eat them.

Our skipper tried to educate us as to what fish was what but I think that most people just enjoyed seeing the frenzy these colourful creatures were creating!

The reef of wrecks creates a sheltered harbour for pleasure craft and there were plenty of beautiful boats to admire of all shapes and sizes – from small yachts and cabin cruisers to massive multi decked ones that were almost the size of liners! (slight exaggeration!)
Once on dry land again I dragged my patient hubby along the sands back to the wrecks – I was determined to get a sunset with them as a backdrop. I am telling you – it was the best decision! I am so pleased with the shots I got.

I could bore the socks off you all with the number I took! (but I wont!) I love to have something of interest between me and the sky. Others take the sky, I know, but I like “something” in addition!
Half an hour after the sun had disappeared there was still colour in the sky so I sat down on the wet sand and put the camera on my gorilla-pod and with a slow shutter speed took another couple of shots.
There was no time to return to the hotel room before the “Aussie Barbecue” evening meal. I did find somewhere to wash off all the sand before I entered the restaurant though! When the food was brought out for us – a special room with a special meal, just for our Bombora group of nine, plus Joyce, the lady who took me on a helicopter trip – I could not resist taking more photos.

The presentation of the food was magnificent. Fruit and vegetables were cut into decorative flower shapes and the actual BBQ food looked so special – and it was.

So, Saturday was another full and special day filled with exciting activities and leaving me with lots of amazing memories to carry with me. Tomorrow couldn’t possibly better today! But I don’t want it to!
AJ