Saturday, Palm Cove for lunch. Very windy day, not inclined to swim especially in view of sign displayed!
On Sunday we took our second excursion from Trinity Beach out down the Russell River and over the sea on a catamaran to one of several Frankland Islands; Normansby. A perfect castaway island, with the 18 of us the only people on it.
We snorkelled and saw bright coloured fish, huge clams which our guide touched to make them close and soft corals even though visibility was not perfect and the corals are only just growing back after the cyclones. A wonderful experience. Pete saw a turtle and a shark! He dared to snorkel out further than me.
We swam and had an impressive lunch of salads, prawns, chicken and fruit under the trees. Then a walk with our fearless guide, Louis, 17 years old, who showed us burnie beans, sea cucumbers, clams, brittle star fish, horseshoe clams, fossilised coral rocks and deceptively attractive cone shells. These little fellas live in relatively shallow water and under rocks. The unwary diver thinks there's a cute little shell, picks it up and stuffs it in his pocket not knowing there is something living inside. The creature inside having been whisked away from it's revery gets a bit cross and pokes out a small hyperdermic type needle and injects its new friend with enough toxin to completely ruin his day. The locals call it the cigarette cone, because you've just enough time to have one cigarette before your central nervous system packs up and you die (about 15 minutes). What an education.
Fantastic day. Ended with being driven back to our bnb by Gabi where we found ourselves suggesting we go out for dinner together to their local Thai.
Not quite our style, but nevertheless we had a jolly time with them.
Palm Cove
Frankland islands, so Robinson Crusoe
View from lunch table
Young Louis searching for more goobies to show us
Horseshoe clam
On Sunday we took our second excursion from Trinity Beach out down the Russell River and over the sea on a catamaran to one of several Frankland Islands; Normansby. A perfect castaway island, with the 18 of us the only people on it.
We snorkelled and saw bright coloured fish, huge clams which our guide touched to make them close and soft corals even though visibility was not perfect and the corals are only just growing back after the cyclones. A wonderful experience. Pete saw a turtle and a shark! He dared to snorkel out further than me.
We swam and had an impressive lunch of salads, prawns, chicken and fruit under the trees. Then a walk with our fearless guide, Louis, 17 years old, who showed us burnie beans, sea cucumbers, clams, brittle star fish, horseshoe clams, fossilised coral rocks and deceptively attractive cone shells. These little fellas live in relatively shallow water and under rocks. The unwary diver thinks there's a cute little shell, picks it up and stuffs it in his pocket not knowing there is something living inside. The creature inside having been whisked away from it's revery gets a bit cross and pokes out a small hyperdermic type needle and injects its new friend with enough toxin to completely ruin his day. The locals call it the cigarette cone, because you've just enough time to have one cigarette before your central nervous system packs up and you die (about 15 minutes). What an education.
Fantastic day. Ended with being driven back to our bnb by Gabi where we found ourselves suggesting we go out for dinner together to their local Thai.
Not quite our style, but nevertheless we had a jolly time with them.
Palm Cove
Frankland islands, so Robinson Crusoe
View from lunch table
Young Louis searching for more goobies to show us
Horseshoe clam
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