Sunday delivered perfect weather. How disappointing for Shell, Adam and Lachy that they had to pack up and go home. Of the seven days we had been at Inskip Point there had only been a couple of decent days, the rest had been wet. They were on the road before nine, leaving Em and me to contemplate how we would spend our day.
The rain on Friday and Saturday had seeped into Em's camper so she pulled everything out to dry in the sun. Our full day at Fraser Island the day before had resulted in no housekeeping and the entire camp, including the inside of my van needed some serious attention. We both pottered around most of the morning getting things back into shape before heading into Rainbow Beach to get water and fuel. I also needed to get access to a power point to grind some coffee beans. Normally I would do that in the van with the generator running, but the bloody thing just refused to start. I suspect it may have got a bit damp during Friday's torrential downpour.
Around midday I popped my head into the Surf Lifesaving Club and asked if I could plug into a power point for a few minutes. "Absolutely, no problem". We sat outside on the balcony, in the sun, overlooking the stunning surf beach below and enjoyed a drink while I did the grinding. Back at camp we threw some snags on the BBQ for lunch before spending a relaxing day lazing in the sun, interrupted only by a spot of fishing for Em and a Blog update for me.
Monday was a fabulous day at Inskip. It started with a walk up to the end of the Point on the ocean side and back around to the van, bay side. James loves the beach. Most dogs do, but he's just suffered four months of beach deprivation while we've travelled up through the centre of Australia. Before travelling Oz he got to do a big walk along Seaford Beach pretty well every day of his five and a half year life.
Emma and I wanted to visit Carlo Sand Blow which is up on the hill behind Rainbow Beach township, so we headed into town quite early. The walk up through the National Park to the sand blow was beautiful, with the ocean visible down through the thick, semi-tropical vegetation and the bush oozing a delicious scent. Carlo Sand Blow was named by Captain Cook after one of his deck crew named Carlo. The unique "moonscape" sand mass covers over 15 hectares and the 360 degree vista is spectacular. To the North-east there are magnificent views over the town to the ocean, Inskip Point and Fraser Island, while to the South-east is Double Island Point and the cliffs of coloured sand. You are allowed to walk out onto the sand blow and to the cliffs on the edge of the ocean or back to the rounded edge of the massive dune that looms over Rainbow Beach town.
Our next planned activity for the day was to ride the bikes along the beach at low tide all the way into town. Low tide was at 1.15 and it was a very low 0.3 meters. We had a sausage in bread and were on the beach by 1.30. What a hoot! The bikes travelled with virtually no resistance on the hard sand and it was a fantastic ride along the edge of the crashing surf. We could really get some speed up with power set on high and peddling like mad. It took 40 minutes to get to the Rainbow Beach SLSC where we treated ourselves to drink on the balcony before heading back, just beating the tide as we neared home.
The batteries were pretty low on the bikes so as soon as we got back I hit the remote start button for the generator and it started first pop. Bloody excellent! The batteries went on charge while I got a big fire going and once again we had a fabulous night relaxing by the fire and listening to the waves crash on the shore.
I needed to be at the Sunshine Coast Airport by midday Tuesday to pick Brian up. He was keen to get back to warmer weather after a freezing six days in Melbourne sorting out his aviation stuff. I allowed around three hours to get there which gave me time to pick up a bag of firewood, do some shopping and have a cappy. James got to stay with Emma. It was a sunny but cool day of 18 degrees, so being in the car was ok. With Brian on board we took the coastal route, driving along the Sunshine Coast from Mooloolaba to Coolum. Last time I was there was 1979. The development, as you can imagine, was astronomical. It is a very, very, busy urban area and seemed to be pretty upmarket with beautiful homes and lush resorts.
Closer to home we detoured past the turnoff to Rainbow Beach and continued on to Tin Can Bay. What a lovely place. As you come into the township you pass by a beautifully manicured golf course. That's always a good start to creating a positive impression of any town for me. The course is part of the Country Club which also has a bowling green. It's not a particularly commercialized place though it is fairly well surrounded by water which, the tide being way out when we arrived, was largely mangrove mud flats. We didn't see any sandy beaches, however the waterfront is bordered by well maintained parkland which was just lovely. There is quite a large marina and heaps of yachts were moored out in the deep water. It's probably a great spot to live in retirement if you are into fishing or sailing.
From there we went via Cooloola Cove back to Inskip. The Cove is only a few kilometres up the road from Tin Can Bay and is quite a large residential area. We got back to the van at 3.30 and Em already had the fire blazing. James was beside himself with joy to see Brian. We had decided we would move and spend a few days at Boondooma Dam, put the tinnie in the water and do some fresh water fishing before Emma had to head back to Melbourne on the weekend. Brian got stuck into packing up in preparation for departure Wednesday morning.
We packed up our camps at Inskip, stopped at Rainbow Beach to fill up with water, then headed off in convoy to travel 200 km west back to Boondooma Dam. We managed a couple of weird diversions from track on the way thanks to the Beast's GPS deciding that normal main roads were too boring. We didn't mind though - we passed through some very pretty countryside and managed to pick up a stack of firewood on the roadside. It went a bit pear-shaped when we found ourselves turning onto a dirt road that was closed, without any clue as to which way to go. At that point Emma decided to take charge and used Google Maps on her Iphone to get us to Proston, the last town before Boondooma.
There were hardly any people at the Dam so getting a good spot was no problem. We set up well away from the few campers there, right on the water's edge with beautiful views over the lake and a big fire-pit between our camps. The afternoon was warm and sunny - just the weather were hoping for after mostly showery days on the coast. Brian was able to launch the tinnie straight from the Beast by parking parallel to the bank and virtually unloading the boat directly into the water. That was much easier than putting the trailer together, so he had his boat in the water in no time at all. One of the great things about Boondooma is being able to have your boat moored in front of your camp for your whole stay. We were all looking forward to some good fishing - as well as being able to explore the expansive waterway which is largely inaccessible by road. We had booked to stay until Sunday, so there was plenty of time to do it all.
The bird life at Boondooma is abundant. As soon as we arrived we were surrounded by very cheeky Apostle birds who were so tame they took food straight out of Brian's hand. I had to shut the van door to stop them going in. The Minors played with the side mirrors of the car even as we drove in. There were lots of different species of bird that we were able to identify including Pelicans, Darters, Cormorants, Ducks, Crows, Currawongs, Kookaburras and Magpies - actually too many to list. As night fell the temperature rapidly dropped. We loaded the fire up and got it roaring, then sat in front of it with our rods in the water, hoping for a lucky catch. That was not to be. After a fireside dinner Brian, James and I went for a moonlit walk while Emmie drove over to the ablution block to enjoy a lovely long, hot, pre-bedtime shower.
Thursday morning dawned clear and icy. A light mist hovered over the dead calm lake, the mirror surface broken only by pelicans gliding along or fish jumping. The Currawongs, Crows, Minors and Apostle birds were impatient for us to get up and crashed around the van, awning and furniture outside, chatting loudly. James stayed tucked under the covers for as long as he could stand it, but finally succumbed to his instincts, hurtled himself off the bed, bouncing out of the door as soon as it was opened to chase them all away. By the time I extricated myself from bed the sun was beginning to warm the day. It wasn't long before we were all in shorts and t-shirts. I took some bread out to feed the birds. The Apostle birds were happy to be hand fed while the Currawongs swooped down from the trees catching pieces I threw into the air. James was quite put out that he was confined to his chair while all this commotion went on and spent the rest of the day chasing them away from the camp.
Brian and I threw fishing lines in from the bank and hooked a Silver Perch each. Mine was too small but Brian's was 30 cm and we got a couple of lovely fillets from it. Em paddled out on the kayak for a couple of hours and threw a line in but didn't manage to catch a fish until later when she took the boat out. It was a bit small so she threw it back. Brian and I didn't have any luck when we went out in the tinnie though we did find a great pile of wood on the bank opposite camp and brought over some excellent big pieces for the night's fire. Before dark Em jumped in the tinnie and took a couple of nets with boiled potato in them to tie to a dead tree out in the dam. The camp manager had told us that big Redclaw were being caught on spud in pots set in 8-12 feet of water.
For dinner we cooked up the Silver Perch and the last frozen fillets of Yellowbelly that we caught a few weeks before when we were at Isisford. They were yummy, but I have to say the Silver Perch was nicer.
When we checked the pots Friday morning they were empty. Bugger! We were fully expecting a big haul of Redclaw. We shifted them to another location and reset them. The shrimp nets in front of our camp were another story - they were crawling with the little blighters. You beauty - plenty of live bait for the day's fishing. It was another beautiful, clear, sunny day. Em went for a drive to get fuel and did a bit of an explore of the area checking out Proston, Murgon and Hivesville. Brian and I pottered around the van just enjoying the fabulous environment. We took the tinnie across the dam and collected the night's wood, doing a spot of fishing on the way. When we got back I threw a line in off the back of the boat. The drivers seat is really comfortable and I can swivel it so my legs are resting up on the rear bench - a great way to relax and catch some sun.
Em took the boat across to the nets in the afternoon to add more bait. Brian had made a mix of dry catfood and fish oil which he put in little plastic containers with holes punched in them. He figured spud alone was not going to catch Redclaw. When Em pulled up the nets there was a large yabbie in each. She brought them back to camp because they had big claws and she was too scared to pluck them out. They went straight into the fridge. James and I hopped in the boat with Em and after we had re-set the nets we went exploring up near the dam wall. The spillway was a bit further on. You wouldn't want to get too close when water was flowing over it. It looked like a long drop down the other side. We found a little inlet and dropped our lines in. Sadly no-one got even so much as a bite for the whole day.
Boondooma is a very pretty dam set in rolling, bush covered hills. There are lots of rocky outcrops around the shoreline and more pelicans than I have ever seen in one place. You can watch them for hours as they paddle past, digging in the mud with their big beaks. When they lift their heads up to swallow you can see the outline of what they have caught in the sack part of the beak. Watching them take off and land is as good as being at an aerodrome. Brian reckons he's coming back as a Pelican.
We planned to leave Sunday, Em heading back home to Melbourne via Shelley's at Boyland (near Canungra Qld) and us going North to meet with Brian's daughter Natalie at Yeppoon. That meant Saturday was our last full day to enjoy Boondooma and Emma's company, and that we did!
An early check of the pots revealed a couple of good-sized yabbies to add to the fridge. Brian and I then did the usual wood collection by boat. There were mountains of dry timber all around the dam at the top of the 2011 flood level. I can only imagine how spectacular the flow of water over the spillway must have been at that time. We had pulled in a dozen or so shrimp that morning so we threw our lines in a tried a few different spots, without a bite.
Corey, the new manager of the facility, had dropped over to have a yarn the previous night. He and his wife were doing improvements, including the installation of a cappuccino machine and TV screen with Foxtel. We took James for a walk, got a couple of yummy cappy's and watched the replay of last few minutes of the Saints vs Geelong footy match. It's been ages since we watched TV and with the scores 41 a piece at the 6 minute mark we had to stay. We left when Geelong had hit the front by a point with 16 seconds on the clock. I couldn't bear to see Saint Kilda lose!
Later in the morning we went for a great bike ride up to the lookout over the dam wall and when we got back the three of us sat in the sun enjoying a drink and an antipasto platter for lunch. On the water's edge just in front of us a Cormorant was trying to swallow a large fish he had just caught. No matter how hard he tried it was just too big to go down. He coughed it up and sat almost on top of it contemplating his dilemma. A couple of Crows flew down and tried to steal it. They managed to pull it into the water, but all the kerfuffle attracted the attention of a nearby Pelican. He flew over, frightened the Crows off, then went into battle with the Cormorant who stood his ground for a good minute or so before the Pelican grabbed it and swallowed it down. It was so funny to watch. We were in fits of laughter.
"!@#&%% - you took my fish"
Mid-afternoon we all went out in the boat to explore a bit more and fish. That was great fun and while we didn't catch anything on the lines, when we went back to pull the pots in for the last time we had a 7th yabbie. Em was going to do a garlic butterflied yabbie entree for our last dinner.
Getting ready to leave can be quite therapeutic if you have the time to potter around in a relaxed head space. Em started her process early in the day, rearranging the way she packed and getting her camp in order. She loves her camper and it's a pretty enjoyable activity when you are in a stunning environment, temperatures are in the mid 20's and you have a beer in hand! Brian started the same process when we got back, loading the boat onto the Beast before slowly packing bits and pieces up. I fished!
We had a lovely last night in front of a huge fire listening to Indigo Girls (courtesy of Em) before going on a long walk to the end of the camp area. It will be sad to see Em go.
The rain on Friday and Saturday had seeped into Em's camper so she pulled everything out to dry in the sun. Our full day at Fraser Island the day before had resulted in no housekeeping and the entire camp, including the inside of my van needed some serious attention. We both pottered around most of the morning getting things back into shape before heading into Rainbow Beach to get water and fuel. I also needed to get access to a power point to grind some coffee beans. Normally I would do that in the van with the generator running, but the bloody thing just refused to start. I suspect it may have got a bit damp during Friday's torrential downpour.
Around midday I popped my head into the Surf Lifesaving Club and asked if I could plug into a power point for a few minutes. "Absolutely, no problem". We sat outside on the balcony, in the sun, overlooking the stunning surf beach below and enjoyed a drink while I did the grinding. Back at camp we threw some snags on the BBQ for lunch before spending a relaxing day lazing in the sun, interrupted only by a spot of fishing for Em and a Blog update for me.
Monday was a fabulous day at Inskip. It started with a walk up to the end of the Point on the ocean side and back around to the van, bay side. James loves the beach. Most dogs do, but he's just suffered four months of beach deprivation while we've travelled up through the centre of Australia. Before travelling Oz he got to do a big walk along Seaford Beach pretty well every day of his five and a half year life.
Emma and I wanted to visit Carlo Sand Blow which is up on the hill behind Rainbow Beach township, so we headed into town quite early. The walk up through the National Park to the sand blow was beautiful, with the ocean visible down through the thick, semi-tropical vegetation and the bush oozing a delicious scent. Carlo Sand Blow was named by Captain Cook after one of his deck crew named Carlo. The unique "moonscape" sand mass covers over 15 hectares and the 360 degree vista is spectacular. To the North-east there are magnificent views over the town to the ocean, Inskip Point and Fraser Island, while to the South-east is Double Island Point and the cliffs of coloured sand. You are allowed to walk out onto the sand blow and to the cliffs on the edge of the ocean or back to the rounded edge of the massive dune that looms over Rainbow Beach town.
Our next planned activity for the day was to ride the bikes along the beach at low tide all the way into town. Low tide was at 1.15 and it was a very low 0.3 meters. We had a sausage in bread and were on the beach by 1.30. What a hoot! The bikes travelled with virtually no resistance on the hard sand and it was a fantastic ride along the edge of the crashing surf. We could really get some speed up with power set on high and peddling like mad. It took 40 minutes to get to the Rainbow Beach SLSC where we treated ourselves to drink on the balcony before heading back, just beating the tide as we neared home.
The batteries were pretty low on the bikes so as soon as we got back I hit the remote start button for the generator and it started first pop. Bloody excellent! The batteries went on charge while I got a big fire going and once again we had a fabulous night relaxing by the fire and listening to the waves crash on the shore.
I needed to be at the Sunshine Coast Airport by midday Tuesday to pick Brian up. He was keen to get back to warmer weather after a freezing six days in Melbourne sorting out his aviation stuff. I allowed around three hours to get there which gave me time to pick up a bag of firewood, do some shopping and have a cappy. James got to stay with Emma. It was a sunny but cool day of 18 degrees, so being in the car was ok. With Brian on board we took the coastal route, driving along the Sunshine Coast from Mooloolaba to Coolum. Last time I was there was 1979. The development, as you can imagine, was astronomical. It is a very, very, busy urban area and seemed to be pretty upmarket with beautiful homes and lush resorts.
Closer to home we detoured past the turnoff to Rainbow Beach and continued on to Tin Can Bay. What a lovely place. As you come into the township you pass by a beautifully manicured golf course. That's always a good start to creating a positive impression of any town for me. The course is part of the Country Club which also has a bowling green. It's not a particularly commercialized place though it is fairly well surrounded by water which, the tide being way out when we arrived, was largely mangrove mud flats. We didn't see any sandy beaches, however the waterfront is bordered by well maintained parkland which was just lovely. There is quite a large marina and heaps of yachts were moored out in the deep water. It's probably a great spot to live in retirement if you are into fishing or sailing.
From there we went via Cooloola Cove back to Inskip. The Cove is only a few kilometres up the road from Tin Can Bay and is quite a large residential area. We got back to the van at 3.30 and Em already had the fire blazing. James was beside himself with joy to see Brian. We had decided we would move and spend a few days at Boondooma Dam, put the tinnie in the water and do some fresh water fishing before Emma had to head back to Melbourne on the weekend. Brian got stuck into packing up in preparation for departure Wednesday morning.
We packed up our camps at Inskip, stopped at Rainbow Beach to fill up with water, then headed off in convoy to travel 200 km west back to Boondooma Dam. We managed a couple of weird diversions from track on the way thanks to the Beast's GPS deciding that normal main roads were too boring. We didn't mind though - we passed through some very pretty countryside and managed to pick up a stack of firewood on the roadside. It went a bit pear-shaped when we found ourselves turning onto a dirt road that was closed, without any clue as to which way to go. At that point Emma decided to take charge and used Google Maps on her Iphone to get us to Proston, the last town before Boondooma.
There were hardly any people at the Dam so getting a good spot was no problem. We set up well away from the few campers there, right on the water's edge with beautiful views over the lake and a big fire-pit between our camps. The afternoon was warm and sunny - just the weather were hoping for after mostly showery days on the coast. Brian was able to launch the tinnie straight from the Beast by parking parallel to the bank and virtually unloading the boat directly into the water. That was much easier than putting the trailer together, so he had his boat in the water in no time at all. One of the great things about Boondooma is being able to have your boat moored in front of your camp for your whole stay. We were all looking forward to some good fishing - as well as being able to explore the expansive waterway which is largely inaccessible by road. We had booked to stay until Sunday, so there was plenty of time to do it all.
The bird life at Boondooma is abundant. As soon as we arrived we were surrounded by very cheeky Apostle birds who were so tame they took food straight out of Brian's hand. I had to shut the van door to stop them going in. The Minors played with the side mirrors of the car even as we drove in. There were lots of different species of bird that we were able to identify including Pelicans, Darters, Cormorants, Ducks, Crows, Currawongs, Kookaburras and Magpies - actually too many to list. As night fell the temperature rapidly dropped. We loaded the fire up and got it roaring, then sat in front of it with our rods in the water, hoping for a lucky catch. That was not to be. After a fireside dinner Brian, James and I went for a moonlit walk while Emmie drove over to the ablution block to enjoy a lovely long, hot, pre-bedtime shower.
Thursday morning dawned clear and icy. A light mist hovered over the dead calm lake, the mirror surface broken only by pelicans gliding along or fish jumping. The Currawongs, Crows, Minors and Apostle birds were impatient for us to get up and crashed around the van, awning and furniture outside, chatting loudly. James stayed tucked under the covers for as long as he could stand it, but finally succumbed to his instincts, hurtled himself off the bed, bouncing out of the door as soon as it was opened to chase them all away. By the time I extricated myself from bed the sun was beginning to warm the day. It wasn't long before we were all in shorts and t-shirts. I took some bread out to feed the birds. The Apostle birds were happy to be hand fed while the Currawongs swooped down from the trees catching pieces I threw into the air. James was quite put out that he was confined to his chair while all this commotion went on and spent the rest of the day chasing them away from the camp.
Brian and I threw fishing lines in from the bank and hooked a Silver Perch each. Mine was too small but Brian's was 30 cm and we got a couple of lovely fillets from it. Em paddled out on the kayak for a couple of hours and threw a line in but didn't manage to catch a fish until later when she took the boat out. It was a bit small so she threw it back. Brian and I didn't have any luck when we went out in the tinnie though we did find a great pile of wood on the bank opposite camp and brought over some excellent big pieces for the night's fire. Before dark Em jumped in the tinnie and took a couple of nets with boiled potato in them to tie to a dead tree out in the dam. The camp manager had told us that big Redclaw were being caught on spud in pots set in 8-12 feet of water.
For dinner we cooked up the Silver Perch and the last frozen fillets of Yellowbelly that we caught a few weeks before when we were at Isisford. They were yummy, but I have to say the Silver Perch was nicer.
When we checked the pots Friday morning they were empty. Bugger! We were fully expecting a big haul of Redclaw. We shifted them to another location and reset them. The shrimp nets in front of our camp were another story - they were crawling with the little blighters. You beauty - plenty of live bait for the day's fishing. It was another beautiful, clear, sunny day. Em went for a drive to get fuel and did a bit of an explore of the area checking out Proston, Murgon and Hivesville. Brian and I pottered around the van just enjoying the fabulous environment. We took the tinnie across the dam and collected the night's wood, doing a spot of fishing on the way. When we got back I threw a line in off the back of the boat. The drivers seat is really comfortable and I can swivel it so my legs are resting up on the rear bench - a great way to relax and catch some sun.
Em took the boat across to the nets in the afternoon to add more bait. Brian had made a mix of dry catfood and fish oil which he put in little plastic containers with holes punched in them. He figured spud alone was not going to catch Redclaw. When Em pulled up the nets there was a large yabbie in each. She brought them back to camp because they had big claws and she was too scared to pluck them out. They went straight into the fridge. James and I hopped in the boat with Em and after we had re-set the nets we went exploring up near the dam wall. The spillway was a bit further on. You wouldn't want to get too close when water was flowing over it. It looked like a long drop down the other side. We found a little inlet and dropped our lines in. Sadly no-one got even so much as a bite for the whole day.
Boondooma is a very pretty dam set in rolling, bush covered hills. There are lots of rocky outcrops around the shoreline and more pelicans than I have ever seen in one place. You can watch them for hours as they paddle past, digging in the mud with their big beaks. When they lift their heads up to swallow you can see the outline of what they have caught in the sack part of the beak. Watching them take off and land is as good as being at an aerodrome. Brian reckons he's coming back as a Pelican.
We planned to leave Sunday, Em heading back home to Melbourne via Shelley's at Boyland (near Canungra Qld) and us going North to meet with Brian's daughter Natalie at Yeppoon. That meant Saturday was our last full day to enjoy Boondooma and Emma's company, and that we did!
An early check of the pots revealed a couple of good-sized yabbies to add to the fridge. Brian and I then did the usual wood collection by boat. There were mountains of dry timber all around the dam at the top of the 2011 flood level. I can only imagine how spectacular the flow of water over the spillway must have been at that time. We had pulled in a dozen or so shrimp that morning so we threw our lines in a tried a few different spots, without a bite.
Corey, the new manager of the facility, had dropped over to have a yarn the previous night. He and his wife were doing improvements, including the installation of a cappuccino machine and TV screen with Foxtel. We took James for a walk, got a couple of yummy cappy's and watched the replay of last few minutes of the Saints vs Geelong footy match. It's been ages since we watched TV and with the scores 41 a piece at the 6 minute mark we had to stay. We left when Geelong had hit the front by a point with 16 seconds on the clock. I couldn't bear to see Saint Kilda lose!
Later in the morning we went for a great bike ride up to the lookout over the dam wall and when we got back the three of us sat in the sun enjoying a drink and an antipasto platter for lunch. On the water's edge just in front of us a Cormorant was trying to swallow a large fish he had just caught. No matter how hard he tried it was just too big to go down. He coughed it up and sat almost on top of it contemplating his dilemma. A couple of Crows flew down and tried to steal it. They managed to pull it into the water, but all the kerfuffle attracted the attention of a nearby Pelican. He flew over, frightened the Crows off, then went into battle with the Cormorant who stood his ground for a good minute or so before the Pelican grabbed it and swallowed it down. It was so funny to watch. We were in fits of laughter.
"!@#&%% - you took my fish"
Mid-afternoon we all went out in the boat to explore a bit more and fish. That was great fun and while we didn't catch anything on the lines, when we went back to pull the pots in for the last time we had a 7th yabbie. Em was going to do a garlic butterflied yabbie entree for our last dinner.
Getting ready to leave can be quite therapeutic if you have the time to potter around in a relaxed head space. Em started her process early in the day, rearranging the way she packed and getting her camp in order. She loves her camper and it's a pretty enjoyable activity when you are in a stunning environment, temperatures are in the mid 20's and you have a beer in hand! Brian started the same process when we got back, loading the boat onto the Beast before slowly packing bits and pieces up. I fished!
We had a lovely last night in front of a huge fire listening to Indigo Girls (courtesy of Em) before going on a long walk to the end of the camp area. It will be sad to see Em go.
Hi guys. Niki here from Boondooma Dam. Was just googling 'Boondooma' to see what was out there on the web about us and came across your blog. Thanks for the great writeup! Glad you had a great time!
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