On arrival at Bargara we had a cold drink overlooking the beach and were entertained to see a ladies craft group round one of the tables, doing their patchwork and crochet by the sea.
Once we'd settled into our cabin we decided to hire bikes to explore - the lady in the air conned shop clearly thought we were mad and we wondered ourselves as we slogged in the 30 degree heat on "granny bikes". It was a 12 km ride to see the historic lighthouse at Burnett Head and we'd read about a good bakery for lunch. We found and admired the lighthouse but the bakery experience wasn't to be, as sadly it was just closing.
On the way back we stopped several times to rehydrate and the thought of a dip in the sea kept us going - another highlight was seeing kangaroos in the surrounding bush. Some were sleeping but this big one gave us a stare then hopped into the trees.
Reaching our cabin with relief, we peeled off our clothes (literally) then grabbed our swimmers and headed to the beach. The water was a lovely temperature and we bobbed about and watched people body boarding.
We went back for noodles then we were picked up and taken to the local Mon Repos turtle rookery. We were the first group to go to the beach and in the dusk some hatchlings were emerging from their nest. These are loggerhead turtles famous for laying eggs in this area and now protected on a reserve.
We were down on the beach a couple of hours watching some 35 turtles leave the nest then make their way to the sea. They are tiny and perfect and watching their first steps on a long journey was moving. They will eventually end up in the waters near Mexico but once the females reach 30 years old they will be mature and come back to lay their eggs on this same beach or close by.
No comments:
Post a Comment