Tangalooma

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While Kate was working with Ross on their book in Brisbane we did have some holiday time together. We spent a weekend at the Tangalooma Island Resort in mid October. The picture has Kate gearing up to go snorkeling on the ship wrecks.

We had been before on a short day cruise to the resort back in 2004 and wanted to return for a couple of reasons: 1) there's an artificial reef of sunken ships nearby that's supposed to be really good for snorkeling and 2) there's a dolphin feeding where wild ones come near shore. Both are adventures we had missed on our previous trip.

First some context. Moreton Island is the largest sand island (Bribie to the north and North Stradbroke to the south are the next two largest) on Morteon Bay, at the mouth of the Brisbane River (Brisbane the city is several miles inland), in the south east corner of Queensland. The island is mostly protected forest but there's a small resort, Tangalooma Island Resort, on the Moreton Bay side. There is nothing else other than forest and sand on the island (there used to be "brumbies", ie. wild horses, but they're long gone). There are ferries that will take you to the island. We took a fast passenger ferry from Brisbane to the resort, stayed overnight and had some adventures.

The snorkeling is really quite good. They've sunken some ships a short, but substantial, walk north of the resort. They were sunk by the Queensland Government between 1963 and 1984 and form what is now known as the Tangalooma Wrecks. The idea was to provide a safe anchorage for pleasure craft on the bay. The wrecks are rusting away and coral has grown on them. It's not the colorful coral of the Great Barrier Reef; it's more drab like the fringing reefs of  Magnetic Island. They're just a few stones throw from the shore so it's easy enough to swim out to them. There's some deep water to cross but when you get out to the wrecks there's lots of fishies swimming about. Probably the best snorkeling experience we've ever had.

I find it a bit creepy swimming in deep water, over darkened caverns and rusted hulks. But it was great fun to swim with the many schools of fish. But if there's fish, there's fish to prey on those fish. After swimming around for a while Kate thought she saw a shark swimming by in the deeper water. It scared her, I'm not too keen on the idea either, so we came out to shore. We asked a ranger at the resort about sharks and they said it was extremely unlikely. When we got back to Brisbane we were telling Ross and Bev about this and they said, "Oh yes, there are sharks out in Moreton Bay. But you'd have to be extremely unlucky to be taken by one. ...[pregnant pause] ... Mind you there was a fellow taken by a shark off North Stradbroke recently."

Huh? "Taken" as in taken our on a date? It sounds so pleasant, but what an odd expression. He wasn't killed by a shark, he was just taken away .... and never to be seen again.

The idea that you'd have to be "extremely unlucky" to be "taken" by a shark, or bitten by a poisonous snake, or stung by some deadly jelly fish -- they often say that in Australia. Oh yes, they admit, there is a risk but you'd have to be extremely unlucky. It really doesn't inspire confidence.

You'll note in the pictures that there are "utes" on the beach. In Queensland there are many beaches which count as legitimate road ways. Some people bring their vehicles across on ferries and drive around the island camping where they see fit. There aren't any proper roads across or on the island. Just the beach around the island.

Ah, and there's pictures of people playing cricket on the beach. Cricket is a big deal in Australia but we've never figured it out.

I mentioned the park rangers. A couple of times the rangers gave an informal talk while they fed the wild Kookaburras. The Kookaburra is a largeish bird, unique to Australia, with a distinctive call, almost a laugh. You'll recognize it the first time you ever hear one. They're carnivores preying on lizards, snakes and other land animals. They look like large and dangerous king fishers like we have in Canada but, apparently, don't or only rarely catch any fish. The ranger fed them bits of raw meat and a regular bunch arrives for the feeding. Interesting birds. You can sing along to them: Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry little king of the bush is he, laugh kookaburra, laugh.

On the second day Kate persuaded me that it would be a fun adventure to try Parasailing at Tangalooma. This looks very scary. They lash you into a parachute tethered to a speed boat and race around the bay with you dangling far above the water. I was not keen on the idea and had sent Kate up first (hey, it was her idea!). She survived so I tried it as well. It was fun, even exciting, but not dangerous at all. You simply cannot descend quickly when you're in a parachute. You get some views of the island and resort from a good altitude.

On our final night we were able to catch the dolphin feeding. Dolphins come in from the bay every night at sunset for a feeding. Some guests like us are invited out of the audience to get in the water and feed them. We were called upon and even have the photo to prove it! It's interesting to see these large mammals (they're not fish) up close and near the wild.

Well, that's about it. Another series of fun adventurea at Tangalooma near Brisbane.