AUSTRALIA
- [QLD] Caboolture, Bribie
Island (Wk.1 of 1week)
Week
56 of World Tour
Blue
Water Tips
It was a beautiful
and sunny winter’s morning. Val, Annette and I had set off early
so we could do some sight-seeing before I was due to meet up for lunch
with Angie, my Caboolture host.
Our first stop was
at the Little Rocky Creek Grinding Grooves, a pre-historic Aboriginal
axe grinding site. The creek was barely more than a trickle, so getting
across from one side to the other was an easy feat, as we discovered
dozens of axe grooves on the smooth flat rock along the riverbank. With
the help of Val’s binoculars, I spied a pair of Tawny Frogmouths
sitting together on the crook of a eucalyptus branch across the road.
And as I marveled at how much more enjoyable bird-watching was with
binoculars, a strong wind suddenly developed, sending a 5 foot (1.5
m.) branch out of the tree above me and just missing my head by inches.
Next stop was at
the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve. A black leather jacketed, and bearded
biky gang was just leaving as we arrived. But soon our attention was
drawn to the breathtaking view of the Glasshouse Mountains across the
valley. Through the haze was a line of magnificent mountain peaks, the
highest being Mt. Beerwah at 556 m. The atmosphere was damp and dark
as we entered the reserve. Wild bush turkeys strutted amongst the tall
rainforest trees and huge vines that dwarfed everything around them.
The main attraction being the gigantic parasitic fig trees that twisted
up for over 50 m!
Soon we were back
on the road again and driving through a typically Queensland rural area
with pineapple plantations, custard apple plantations and macadamia
nut plantations. The occasional African Tulip trees were always a joy
to see with their brilliant large red flowers.
Even though I had
my doubts, Val got us to our destination right on time, and soon I was
tranferinging my luggage into Angie’s car. It was just after noon,
so we all went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Christine, a friend
of Angie’s was there waiting to join us.
The view from the
seaside restaurant was beautiful. A lone pelican glided high above the
yachts moored in the adjacent marina. And across the water was Bribie
Island, our after-lunch destination.
This restaurant
will remain forever memorable for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, as we joined
the short queue to order our meals, I noticed a large balloon glass
on the counter filled with water. A small note at its base asked for
tips to be dropped inside, and sure enough, some coins lay at the bottom.
Back in Melbourne we usually have shallow dishes near the cash register
for customers to place their tips. Maybe at this restaurant they’d
had problems with tips disappearing while their staff was busy filling
orders. In fact, I’m sure this was the case, because they’d
added a little tell-tale ingredient into the water. Blue dye!
My second memory
was the birds. I’ve seen sparrows, starlings, pigeons, seagulls
and even magpies scavenging off the scraps from finished meals. But
I’ve never seen ibis in this role. The Straw Necked Ibis is a
waterbird about the size of a chicken but with a long neck and a long,
narrow curved beak. So you can imagine the pandemonium when a flock
of about 8 of these birds swarm onto an unattended restaurant table.
Fortunately the table was on the lawned area outside. Nevertheless,
within minutes they had devoured the remains of a basket of chips, prawn
shells and, amazingly, even the Morton Bay Bug shells. Basically, they
ate everything that could be eaten, and in the process knocked over
the basket, bottles, plates and cutlery onto the ground.
Shortly after the
fracas, and as a show-stopper, a solitary waiter turned up to collect
the debris, as if he’d been waiting all along for the birds to
complete their work first!
This
article is taken from the ebook,
400-Day LETS Odyssey
About
the book
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