Road trip to see the turtles

Mon Repos March 2008

Yay!!! My first video clip!!! (click on it, you'll be taken to OneTrueMedia to see it---bonus----my camera recorded the voice of the ranger----you'll love to hear the Aussie accent!)
So the weekend BEFORE Easter ( a 4-day long weekend) the four of us headed out for a road trip north of Brisbane to Bundaberg (home of Ginger Beer and Rum) and ultimately the Mon Repos Turtle Rookery. Our good friends the Burns Family headed up too, but stopped in Tin Can Bay to pick up Rob (finishing a month long assignment) and to feed the dolphins before continuing on to Bundy on Saturday.

This was our longest road trip of our time here. We had driven north of Brisbane to Hervey Bay (about 3 1/2 hours'ish from our house) last September to see the migrating whales. This trip was another 2 hours north of that. The country side flattens out and the soil becomes richer and much darker red. We went through the cutest little town called Childers. Here's a link to see somebody else's lovely pics http://www.australia-in-pictures.com/childers.htm

I've been told that the town has been used in movies set in the 1800's before. They cover up the paved roads with a layer of dirt. We commented that the town looked like it could have been found in a Disney theme park, it was so well maintained and homey/historic. They've done a commendable job in keeping their buildings in good repair. You definitely see elements of this type of architecture around Brisbane's suburbs and city----very nice!

We spent some time on the beach in Bundy before time to head to the rookery (arrival 6:30 pm---out to the nests about 7:30'ish) I'll get more pics of us with the turtles loaded on here---as soon as I get them from the other folks we were with that snapped them. That's Emily getting ready to hold 2 baby turtles.

At the end of our time with the turtles, the ranger had us line up in 2 long parallel lines to the water's edge. Those of us who brought torches (that's a flashlight to us yanks!) could stand in the middle of the line with their feet spread wide, shine the torch on the sand and the turtles would navigate their way (mostly successfully) from light to light until they got to the water to swim away. The girls said that it was so cool!! especially when the babies would go up and over their feet/toes. They each concentrated on not flinching (i.e. kicking) and flinging the babies.

Did you know:

That only 1 in 1,000 of the female babies survive to return to lay eggs?

That the females are 30'ish years of age when they lay eggs?

That the babies have to swim for 20 days to reach the EAC (Eastern Australian Current----those of you who watched Finding Nemo will recall the EAC)?

That the temperature of the sand determines the gender of the baby turtles?

Want to know more? (or better yet check my facts)

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/?parkid=83

Hugs to all my readers!!!

Lori