Whitsundays

 

Here in the Whitsundays the weather is rather changeable at this time of year. It’s the end of the ‘wet’ season and getting colder. Colder is a relative term here it means temperatures under 25 degrees and sometimes even as low as 22 degrees. Some people may have to sleep under blankets.

I’m writing this whilst listening to a tropical rainstorm. It’s pretty impressive as the clouds have come right down and we can barely see any boats any more. The noise on the tin roof over the terrace is very loud. The waterfall at Cedar Creek should be flowing strongly after this.

Yesterday we went up to Cape Gloucester, an eco resort about 45 minutes away. Most of the road is paved but the last bit is a gravel road with lots of crossing points for water. Some of the earlier floodways have level markers on them some of them going up to 2 metres. That’s a lot of flooding!

Cape Gloucester is very pretty with crystal clear seas and a lovely sandy beach. We had lunch overlooking the gardens with a butcher bird singing nearby. After a walk on the beach we decided to have another drink before leaving. Both of us opted for coca cola and sat down on bar stools to drink it. No sooner had we sat down and taken a few sips than we were joined by a pretty rainbow lorikeet. Green, blue and orange in colour and very tame. It jumped around our glasses and then jumped onto mine and proceeded to drink from it. It was after the sugar, I’m not sure that the caffeine was any good for it though.  It hopped onto my finger and then up my arm and onto the glass again when I tried to take it off. Then it hopped towards Chris’s glass and landed on his tummy! The chef fed two of them on his fingers. They love anything sweet. Apparently the cleaner feeds them first thing in the morning and it’s not unusual to see 17 or so.

Heather and I went to an aqua aerobics class this morning. Eleven of us in a pool overlooking the sea wearing sunscreen, hats and sunglasses. Beats an indoor pool in the UK. Wally sitting tonight whilst they took Guinness for a walk.  I also fed both of them through tiny little tubes. They only have a small quantity at present.

An evening picnic with Heather and Sheena of fish and chips next to the beach. Very civilised with tablecloth and glasses and beers. We discovered we had all stayed in the same resort in Fiji at different times and even in the same bure (room)! It’s a very small world.