Cooloola Beach February 2017

First trip for the year and it was unanimous that we should head for the beach!

A few dramas at home necessitated a break for some R&R, so National Parks beach camp permit booked on line for two weeks and beach driving permit booked at the same time. We decided to leave home on Tuesday the 21st of February heading South to Tewantin where we got on the ferry for the short trip across the Noosa River to Noosa North Shore.

We picked the low tide at about 11 am to drive the 20 k’s up the beach to our favourite camp spot on a grassy sand hill about 3 meters above high tide mark. Unfortunately all fires are completely banned in the park. Not that it was cold enough to have a fire but we normally burn the OZ Pig for a spot of cooking and the comfort value of watching the fire at night. There was a lot of quality fire wood left in our camp site by some poor bugger that had dragged it up here only to be faced with the ban. I managed to find an area to store it on the van for future use so we poor buggers will drag it home .

 

Normally I would drop a filter into the sand to hook the van into the water flowing from the sand hills behind us but there was a lot of freshly dug and filled in areas near camp that indicate toilet pits used by those without toilet facilities. I bl..dy hate that,but what can you do that’s life!. It’s a lovely drive up the beach to Freshwater camp to dump the toilet and pick up water for shower and wash up. The water is untreated creek water which is not a problem as we have heaps of drinking water on board.

Two very unusual sites on the beach were a huge fish kill apparently reported in the Gympie paper some time back. Literally thousands no hundreds of thousands of what looked like juvenile Leather Jackets all the same size. Was talking to a ranger who said that samples had been taken to try and determine the cause. The dead fish spread from Noosa all the way around the coast to Rainbow Beach. Very sad!

We have been here now for 6 days and have had an Easterly wind every day followed a few days ago by a South Easterly. The result of these winds is pretty rough seas and squillions of blue bottles. For those that don’t know these critters can impart a nasty sting from the long stingers that trail behind the floating body bubble.

I suggested to Mavis that she wear panty hose while fishing for protection. She only had some old stockings and as a consequence set a new fashion trend for the lady fisherpersons. One of the nasty little blighters managed to sting her through a ladder in one of the stockings,not badly thank goodness. For those reading this that don’t know what stockings or ladders in them are,ask your Nana’s .

We have never seen so many pipis/eugarie’s ever on a beach. These little blokes were all pipi babies in massive nests all along the beach,surprisingly there were very few good sized pipis for bait.                                                                                 

Another strange site was again (sorry) squillions of cane toad tadpoles in the fresh water ponds at the base of the sand hills, not a pleasant site with the water almost black with the rotten things. I am sure this pest can live anywhere. These fresh water pools fed constantly from the sand hills, are swamped with salt water at high tide and still they survive

Friday saw the influx of thousands (not squillions ) of happy campers to the area. Saturday had more cars and trailers tramping the beach. Apparently National Parks limit the numbers that can camp here but the beach driving permit is open slather. This sees heaps of happy day trippers on weekends roaring up the beach headed possibly to Rainbow Beach or just fishing and others with jet ski’s in tow going to the sheltered area just over the track at Double Island Point. Sunday was witness to the masses returning to catch the ferry.

Ahh the serenity. It is hard to beat the smell of salt spray and diesel fumes in the morning.

  There is actually 24 car’s in this one pic below all racing for the ferry to get home on Sunday. It is an endless stream all day.

 

In spite of the weekend crowds this is a lovely spot to relax and chill as the week day’s are very quiet.

Below is the patterns made by the rutile washing out through the sand hills in the flowing streams. This fresh water  flow’s constantly. If it weren’t for those that use the camp sites as toilets we would have an endless supply of non potable water for showers and wash ups. Sorry to harp on this but it is an extremely big pet hate of mine.

Finally fish on the plate. Wednesday the 1st March Mavis finally caught fish. The deal is she catches I clean, cook and plate them, I think there is some fairness there some where .  5 nice dart made it to the fridge and the BBQ this night. She did get quite a few more but they were under size so they went back in the drink to grow for next time. Major good fun.

Have I mentioned the March flies,well I guess they could be February/March flies because we have had them since we got here. There are two types, one is a fast sneaky striker that gets his proboscis in before you know it is there, only alerting you by the sting and he has the most insidious fluoro green eyes.

The second is a slow moving dope that just waits for you to swat it.

Have not been stung by one of these and really don’t want to be,they are humongous creatures. Below is the result of sitting and having fivesies yesterday, gotta love the fly swatters. (Ask Nana about fly swatters. Good exercise and no toxic waste in the atmosphere and the ants and little lizards love the by product!.)

So proud of my girl. 12 months ago she was terrified of water,(swimming water that is) and did a water confidence course put on at RV Homebase. Yesterday the 6th of March she braved the surf for the first time for a  swim and thoroughly enjoyed the experience,catching small waves and all . Go Kyd.

Today the 7th March we left paradise and docked at Lawnton Show Grounds for a few days. Guess most good things must come to an end as must this tale until next time, see ya and cheers from us.