One Mile Beach

One of our last beach days was spent at One Mile Beach in Anna Bay, Port Stephens. The surf was flat everywhere else, but on this beach the waves were perfect, tiny kid-style waves. We've seen some stormy, choppy surf on this trip, so- we all fell in love- surfing and boogie boarding until the sun went down.
The boards we had were 5'5" soft boards (borrowed from the RV rental company) and not easy to surf. The kids were all used to at least a 9' board (what they learned on in California). I was very impressed when they were all able to surf the shorter boards.

We finally picked up a boogie board in Noosa- over halfway through the trip, but then made good use of the fun little "sled".

M got good at the catching the wave herself, without any push whatsoever.

C started sporting the goggles to keep the salt water from burning his eyes, very effective, he could stay in the water for hours at a time with his eyes covered. He and F would "share" the boogie board...
Method- Steve O would push him into the wave, he would give a little cheer then look back at his feet and kick as hard as he could for the whole ride. He takes his fun very seriously.

Byron Bay

Everyone we've asked for advice has recommended Byron Bay, looking at this picture you can see why. The beaches are beautiful, the town is cute, Steve O calls it "Moab of the Sea" because it's trendy, hip, lots of funky surf shops and art galleries, dreadlocks and backpacks.

The kids are disturbed that "Australien" is spelled wrong, I keep telling them, I didn't make it- it's poached art, I just came across it while walking. I'm not quite sure what language spells it this way...

The water was so clear. Not as warm as Queensland but refreshingly delicious.

Steve O having a special 'breaking the law' moment.

The Aussies sure do like to leave their Christmas decor up just as long as possible.
Not nearly as many bikes as you might think in this country. The climate is perfect, so- what's up with that? There are two possible conclusions we've come up with after discussing it with folks.
1. It's mandatory to wear a helmet. No helmet= big ticket.
2. Motorist don't give a crap about cyclists, (or pedestrians for that matter) so you are taking your life in your hands riding around town. Some spots are trying to change attitudes and streets for cyclists (Sydney) hopefully this is a countrywide trend- wait, make that worldwide.

Lest We Forget

(Hope this is not disrespectful but...)
Sometimes is fun to pretend your baby brother is dead when you are at the beach at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Amen.

safety first

One of the things we love about this place is the openness with which they refer to the possible consequences of playing in a specific area, usually, but not always, having to do with water.

This giant sign is posted at the trailhead of Cedar Creek Falls in Mount Tamborine.

This guy must be illiterate, poor fella. Dude, BTW, there are eels in that water. We learned about the eel situation after we went for a swim. (Cedar Creek Falls, Mount Tamborine) Oh yes, of course we stayed to watch him jump (just to make sure he surfaced safely).

Just about every beach has some sort of warning, referring to all the ways you may be injured or die, don't say we never warned you...

Of course a picture always helps the illiterate or the youngsters get the 411. We love this one.

It's true, I was tempted to climb around on the cliff rocks, then I read the sign, AND remembered I'm a mother of four...

Let's see, what do I know about stone fish...?

Let's be frank, this could be a safety issue too.

Lychee, Passionfruit and Mangos

The fruit in OZ is snack-tacular. Here is looking up into a mango tree, the trees are everywhere and the best mangos I've ever eaten. C and F are big fans too, begging them as snacks.

It took a young gal working at a fruit stand offering me a lychee (one of these little red fruits) to get them figured out. I have seen them in the grocery stores but had no idea what they were or what to do with them- so I left them alone. Finally, fruit gal showed me how to peel it and eat it, and I fell in love.

They are about the size of eyeballs, perhaps a bit bigger, and super slimy- but in any case the kids just can't get around that fact and refuse to eat them.

Don't forget the pit- not edible. They taste kind of like grapes, only a bit sweeter. Delicious little lollies.

Passionfruit sample from the Eumundi Market. You can see here Steve O is a big fan- super sweet fruit, look like slimy fish eyes, still-I can't get enough.

Lady Musgrave Island, Great Barrier Reef

Here we all are on Lady Musgrave Island, 90 miles off the coast of Australia. The island is completely surrounded by reef and lagoon and is extraordinarily beautiful. The beach we landed on is big chunks of coral and sounded like glasses being clinked together when you walked across it. The other side of the island is where about 30 sea turtles lay their eggs every night.

The entire island is a marine sanctuary. You can't even pick up bird poop much less coral as a souvenir. This is perhaps to make up for many years of wackiness on this island even- in particular. It's tiny, (15 hectare) but in the 1930's a resort was built on the island until WWII when it was abandoned and pilaged during the following years. Goats were left behind (to feed shipwrecked sailors) that picked the island clean until they were eradicated in the 1970's. Very interesting history... today you can camp on the island with a permit, for 3 weeks in a stretch. Hello- why wouldn't ya?
Actually, we walked past a group that had been camping since Christmas and they looked a bit shipwrecked. Still, I think I would suck on coral and drink rain water to spend a week living here (let's just start with a week...)

Fabulous snorkeling for everyone...

I kid you not, the water inside the reef is really this blue. It was one of the most surreal, exquisitely beautiful sights I have ever seen.

C, hanging on the dive/snorkel platform. Later on the kids said one of their favorite things from the trip was this platform. Go figure.

Reef markers.

The Town of 1770

We are making our way south now. We are in a town called "The Town of 1770." This photo is from a beach day in Agnes Waters in Queensland yesterday. All is well and we are happy. (we are out of internet range so few posts for a while)