After an incredible time around the Great Barrier Reef, we get back on the road towards the South.
Our next stop : Agnes Water, along the coast. Agnes Water is a small town South of the Great Barrier Reef and known to be the most northernly town where we can surf on the East coast.
A lot less touristic than Byron Bay, it is here that we decide to take our very first surf lesson (also it is way cheaper here than in Byron Bay). Maider, who’s from the Basque Country, and where surf is a religion, waits to be on the other side of the planet to take her first lesson. We spend two hours in the water trying to stand up on the damn board. And Matt manages pretty well, when Maider has a little bit more difficulties. Overall a great experience.
During the surf lesson, we met 4 very nice French people, who told us we could camp in a kangaroo sanctuary outside the town, owned by an Australian couple. After hearing the word “kangaroo”, Maider is convinced, we will sleep there tonight !
But before that, we had booked a sunset kayak tour outside the village of 1770. Yes that is right, the village is named 1770. The reason is because it was built at the exact location where the first occidental men stepped on Australia. Indeed James Cook and his crew from the Endeavour, set foot on Australia here in 1770.
We are in a small group of 12 people.
And off we go along the coast. The kayak ride is very pleasant.
We are super lucky and get to see some dolphins. Amazing ! We even see one jumping out of a wave. Absolutely incredible. We couldn’t take any pictures because it all went too fast, but it was a beautiful experience.
We stop on a small island for wine and some pop-corn, while watching the sun set.
We also take the opportunity to go for a swim, and realize that the water is super warm, it is even warmer than the outside air at this time of day. Indeed, our guide confirms, the water temperature right now is around 79 degrees, and it can even climb up to 85 by the end of summer !
We hop back in our kayaks and ride back to the shore. This 2 and a half hour tour was really pleasant. We had a great time.
It is time for us to drive to the kangaroo sanctuary where we will spend the night.
When we arrive, it is dark (even though it is only 7 pm). And there are plenty of kangaroos around us.
The sanctuary is located in the heights of Agnes Water, and we can guess that the view on the bay from here is pretty nice. We go to bed early after this pretty intense day (spending 2 hours trying to stand on a board, and then another 2 hours padding is exhausting).
We wake up to the sound of the birds. The view from our bed is indeed gorgeous. Unfortunately the weather isn’t super nice, but it doesn’t take away the beauty of the place.
Before going back on the road we spend some time with the kangaroos.
Maider could have spent the day here. They are so cute and let themselves easily get pet.
Late morning we drive to Bundaberg, 80 miles South of Agnes Water, along the coast.
The main reason we stop in Bundaberg is to visit the Mon Repos natural park. This park is home to the most turtle nests on the Australian coast. Between November and March they offer tours at night to be able to see marine turtles come and nest on the beach. The best period to see female turtles come and lay their eggs is between mid-November and February so we don’t hesitate a single second.
But we read that Bundaberg is also known for it’s rhum and ginger beer manufacturing. So before going to see the turtles we decide to go visit the Bundaberg Barrel, where they produce the famous ginger beer that we see in every supermarket.
Established in the 1960’s this brewery is well known across all Australia. Here they brew plenty of soft drinks such as the Bundaberg Ginger Brew or the Bundaberg Root Beer. This is a brewery that is proud of producing only non-alcoholic beverages, and is family owned. Since 2006, the Root Beer and the Ginger Brew are not meant to be enjoyed only by Australians, since they have started exported to over 30 countries.
It is possible to visit a small museum going over the manufacturing process, but also taste every soft drink they make.
We tasted 13 different drinks, all excellent (except the Root Beer one of course ! Seriously how can anyone like this taste? ).
The entry ticket also includes a DIY 6-pack. So that we can pick and choose the flavors we preferred. So we leave with 12 bottle of different Bundaberg drinks.
The weather is now beautiful and hot, as compared to this morning. We meet up with Clotilde and Jason (met during the surf lesson in Agnes Water) at the beach in Bundaberg and spend the afternoon together. Once again the water is so hot it barely cools us down !
ATTENTION : Now starts a pretty long portion of text with no pictures. So if you come here just to look at the pics and don’t really care about reading (which I totally understand, I would probably do the same) you can simply stop here, and go back to whatever you were doing. All you will miss is a picture of a turtle. If not, enjoy the end of the post !
Early evening it is time for us to drive to Mon Repos to go and see the turtles (our friends have done the tour last night).
What we hadn’t realized, is how popular this is and the amount of people who come here every night to witness the turtle nesting.
Some people book their tickets months in advance. We only booked a couple of days ago (honestly 4 days ago we didn’t even know this place existed). Apparently tonight we are 230 people !
We are simply shocked. They tell us that we will be divided into 4 groups of about 50. Welcome back to the beautiful world of mass tourism ! We mostly feel bad for the poor turtle who is going to have 50 strangers around her, looking at her nesting her eggs.
The groups are constructed depending on the date where you booked the tickets. So basically the first 50+ people who have booked, are in the first group. And because we booked only a few days ago we get thrown into the third group. When we see the number of people get up and leave when groups 1 and 2 get called we are almost happy to be in the 3rd group, even if it means a longer wait, because those two groups were definitely much more than 50.
The rangers patrol the beach all night long, and as soon as a turtle appears on the beach, they call in a group. At 7:30 pm, the first turtle arrives, so they call the first group. The second group gets called around 8 pm. It looks like it is going to go pretty quickly tonight so we are relieved.
But just moments after getting called and leaving, the second group comes back ! Indeed, the first turtle decided to back track and not nest, so the first group went over to see the second turtle. Effectively leaving the second group with no turtle to see so they had to come back. But another turtle quickly makes its way on the beach and the second group can go back out.
As we wait there is a tiny museum we can visit, but also interesting documentaries shown on the life of these turtles.
We get called at 9 pm. And our group is pretty large, around 40 people. A lot of families with younger kids. The rules are very strict, absolutely no light must be emitted because it can scare away the turtles. So that means no headlamp, no cellphone and no camera. We head towards the beach where the turtle decided to lay its eggs. The moon is almost full so we have great visibility.
The ranger tells us that she chose a less than ideal place to lay her eggs, right next to a fox cage. We can’t see the turtle very well because of the size of the group, but also because she is hidden behind the cage. Finally the turtle won’t lay her eggs here and goes back towards the sea. On her way, 2 rangers catch her and badge her for research purposes and notice that she is pretty badly injured. One of her rear leg is cut, which explains why she had trouble digging a hole for her eggs and eventually went back to sea. We walk with the turtle all the way to the ocean (boy is she sloooooow), and go back to the park entrance. It is 9:30 pm and we hope another turtle will make her way on the beach soon.
As we wait we watch more documentaries. Even if these are very interesting and we learn a ton about the turtle’s lives we have to fight not to fall asleep. Groups 1 and 2 are done and went home at this point. It is 10 pm and still no sign of a turtle on the beach. 10:30, still nothing. Around us some people are sleeping, some left tired of waiting, especially the families with young children.
At 11 pm, we were ready to leave and go back to our van when we get called. Groups 3 and 4 get called at the same time since only very few people are left. We are only 20 by now. Waiting this long was a blessing in disguise, because a lot of people left and this small group makes for a way better experience.
So we go back to the beach for the second (and hopefully last) time. When we arrive the Loggerhead turtle is making her way up to the dune. We stay far from it as the ranger goes an check that she has started to dig the hole in which she will lay her eggs. This moment is critical, indeed if the turtle sees anything move she can get scared and back track and go back to the ocean without nesting.
We sit a few feet behind the turtle as she continues to dig her hole. She needs to dig a 2 feet deep hole before laying her eggs. And that part is pretty impressive, its incredible how she uses her two rear feet to dig through the sand. Just this takes about half an hour. Everybody just sits there silently, and it makes for a beautiful moment.
Once the hole is deep enough she starts laying her eggs.
The ranger tells us to count until the turtle reaches 20 eggs, because only at that moment we can start moving around the turtle. Because at that point the process is well underway and nothing can stop the turtle from going all the way through her nesting.
We don’t know exactly how many eggs she laid but it should be somewhere around 100. Knowing that a turtle will nest 5 times during a season. That makes 500 eggs over a few months time. That turtle will then only nest again in 5 or 6 years. And only 1 out of 1,000 eggs will survive to become a mature 30 year old turtle able to lay eggs. Between fishing, natural predators (birds, crocodiles, shark…) and climate change, the little turtles face many many obstacles before they are able to nest themselves. That is why the loggerhead turtles are an endangered species and the rangers work hard to do their best and preserve the population. So if a turtle nests a little too close to shore, and her eggs might get wiped out by a heavy storm, like ours did, the rangers relocated the eggs to a safer ground.
As the turtle was nesting, the rangers took out an egg and showed it around to us. Amazing. They resemble ping-pong balls, and during the first 2 hours they are soft so they don’t break on the impact when dropping in the hole.
Once our turtle laid her eggs, she starts filling up the hole with sand using her rear feet, and this is the only time we are allowed to take pictures. During this time the rangers study the turtle, take her measurements and verify her identification number. This is her first time nesting this season and this is only her second season nesting (the first one being in 2012).
It takes forever for her to fill up the hole. We almost want to help her. Especially since we know that the rangers are going to dig the eggs back out to relocate them to a safer place. She looks exhausted and is beyond inefficient (turtles should seriously think about learning how to use shovels), and knowing that all this is for nothing just makes us sad for her.
After a little while, she is finally done and heads back out to the ocean, all while taking breaks because she is exhausted. It is already 1:30 am when she finally makes her way to the ocean and we hit the road to go to a campground 12 miles away where our French friends are staying.
It’s the first time we really drive at night and we are pretty nervous. We drive by a few kangaroos and luckily none decide to cross the road just in front of us. We finally arrive at the camping, it is past 2 am, and we are exhausted.
The next day we are heading to Brisbane, but now, we need some sleep !