Heron Island With the Parents

July 28-30, 2013

I was so excited that my parents had decided they wanted to include a stay at Heron Island as part of their visit!  This was the second visit for David and I (you can read about our first visit here), but we were just as excited as the first time.  I could go there a million times and not get sick of it- it really is paradise.  Heron Island is a coral island (coral cay) in the Great Barrier Reef.  Conveniently, it's very close to where we live- just a two hour ferry ride. 

This is the first view you get when you step off the boat.  UN. REAL.

 

 

 

We also saw this when we first arrived. 

Shadow?  A darker area of rocks or sand?  Nope.  This is a school of fish.  Crazy, right?  See that line down the middle?  That's the school of fish being parted by this:

I'll get back to this school of fish/shark experience a little later...

We woke up at sunrise on our first morning there to go on a guided reef walk.  A reef walk is a little like tide-pooling.  Basically you are walking around during very low tide with a marine biologist who points out all kids of coral and reef creatures.  It's pretty neat!  This was also around the time that David realized he forgot his bathing suit (OOPS!), so he was off scampering around trying to find a bathing suit in the one gift shop on the island.  I was about 80% sure he would end up with a speedo... luckily they did have some swim trunks, but he missed out on the reef walk :-(

Sunrise over the reef.  One of the few times I haven't been mad about being up early enough to see the sun rise.

 

 

Clam | Sea Star | Sea Cucumber

 

It's crazy how far out you can walk and not even have the water touch your knees

 
 

Sea Hare

We spent most of the rest of the day snorkeling right off of the island and exploring the reef.  So unbelievable to be swimming around in one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  Last time David and I visited Heron Island, we borrowed a friend's underwater camera, so we were able to get much better photos on that trip (you can check them out here), but we did still get some good ones this time.  The highlight of course, was swimming with a sea tortoise- so cool!

 

 

A bit hard to see here, but this is a sting ray

 

 

 

 

Below, you will see what it looks like to swim through a school of fish.  No big deal, right?

And this is what it looks like to swim through a school of fish with a couple of SHARKS!

 

A pretty freaky experience.  These were reef sharks and lemon sharks, which supposedly are completely harmless and uninterested in humans, but STILL.  Come on, it's a shark!  Not sure I trust them completely... at least they had plenty of food...

I know this post is already pretty darn photo heavy, but there are just too many photos of this beautiful place.  So, if you're still with me, here are the last handful that I just couldn't bare to leave out. 

 

Hard to tell its size from this photo, but this is a giant Grouper that lives under the jetty.  The staff said it probably weighs close to 300 pounds!

 
 

 

 

Low tide again.  Pretty crazy to see people out SO FAR in the ocean just walking around.

 
 

 

 

Kangaroos, Koalas, and Crocodiles... OH MY!

No trip to Australia is complete without a visit to see some of Australia's cuddly marsupials... and a few not so cuddly crocs, too.  And of course, I always insist that anyone who visits,  MUST partake in the near-nirvana experience of holding a koala.  So, off we went to the Koorana Crocodile Farm and the Cooberrie Wildlife Park. 

We started at the croc farm.  I hadn't visited this place yet, and I had heard great things about it and was really looking forward to it. Koorana Crocodile Farm is a family owned place, and the guy who owns is like the Steve Irwin of crocodiles.  It's really neat because he even does all the tours himself.  He was full of stories about crocodile encounters, rescues, and lots of croc factoids.  There was a day care group on the tour with us, and my favorite part was right at the beginning of the tour when he warned the kids that anything that hangs over or pokes through the fence is property of the crocodiles.  Needless to say, they were very well-behaved after that warning.  It's pretty insane that these reptiles have lived nearly since the time of dinosaurs, with little to no evolutionary changes.  At any rate, here's a little of what we saw.

  

 

 

 

 

Next, we headed to the Cooberrie Wildlife Park.  I couldn't wait for my parents to pet their first kangaroos and hug the heck out of a koala! 

Aussie Birds: Emu (these things freak me the heck out) and Cockatoo

Dingo

See its cute little spotted bum? Each koala's spots are unique and serve as camouflage while up in the trees (the spots resemble sun light and shadows coming through the branches)

Mom and Zorro the koala

Dad meets Zorro

Koalas need two thumbs for climbing and holding on tight to branches

I dare you to convince me that this is anything but a koala hugging me through a wall.

 

 

 

This one had a joey in its pouch!

This 'roo was very interested in my camera.  Kangaroo kiss?

 

I love how they sit with their paws crossed

Evolution of a Sunset - 1770

These photos were taken from the balcony of our amazing beach shack in the town of 1770.  Although we were on the East coast of Australia, we were able to watch the sun set over the ocean because we were on a bay that was actually west-facing.  At any rate, this sunset was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.  I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking...

Can you spot my mom sitting on the beach?

 

 

 

 

 

I mean seriously.  Is this real life?!

Beaches and Boats - 1770

Although we were slightly out of season for spending a day at the beach, we managed to put in our fair share of beach time while in 1770.  The water was just a little too cold (for us anyways, there were plenty of brave people swimming), but the weather was perfect for sitting in the sun with our feet in the sand. 

My mom kept saying how soft the sand was and how it looked like brown sugar.  I had never really noticed it myself before, but the beach sand in this part of Australia really does have that appearance. 

Walkway to the beach in Agnes Water

 

Mom admiring the amazingly sparkly water

These two have walked many a beach together

 

We spent one afternoon on a LARC tour.  This is one of those amphibious boats that can go wherever the heck you want it to.  Water?  Easy.  Sand or other land mass?  Why not.  At first I thought this pepto bismal pink vehicle was a little hokey, but it was actually a really fun tour.  It's perfect for a place like 1770 since there are so many sandbars during low tide.  Our tour guide got a kick out of driving full speed off of some of the really steep edges of the sand bars in order to try to splash us... or throw us off the boat. 

Sweet ride

Sparkly water with our boat tracks on the sandbar in the background

Interesting pattern and texture left on the sandbars during low tide