Tidal Island

Sunday morning is always great as we lie in bed listening to Macca on the radio. We slept all night with windows wide open and nice breeze coming through to keep us at a nice temperature.

After a fairly late breakfast and the usual morning chat with others around us the time got away and we arrive a little bit late at the lagoon to start exploring on foot. The lagoon is big and has a mostly sandy bottom with tidal channels where the water rushes in and out. A mangrove covered island is located on the northern end and can be reached by crossing a couple of tidal channels.

As we walked out onto the sand the tide was still running out and we (Alexander, Alan and I) decided to explore the island. We had to cross water but it was only ankle deep. Once on the island we found a track through the mangroves and came out on the other side where we found deep pools surrounded by rock.

The whole island was covered in oysters. They were even hanging of the mangrove leaves. The rocks were covered in oysters all over and therefore very very sharp. I'd hate to fall over or slip on these rocks - servere cuts would be guaranteed.

As we explored along the island we saw a number of turtles with some coming up very close and playing happily in the shallow water. A blue spotted sting ray (photo) made an appearance and showed us his brilliant blue colours.

We slowly made our way back to the land side of the island by climbing along the rocks. When we finally caught a glimpse of the sand flat we used to get across we found the sandlot gone. A reasonably strong tide had been running in for some time and we didn't notice the tide turning as we frolicked on the other side of the island.

Once we realised the error of our ways and decided that we didn't want to spend the night on a mangrove island, we got a move on across the remaining rocks and then picked what looked like the shallowest water to walk back across (photo) in a rather hurried pace due to the continuously rising tide. We made it just in time but got a little bit wetter than anticipated. Just as well the tides a low at the moment, if they were any higher we'd have been "swimming against the tide".

When we got back to the caravan we booked another two nights so we'd have more time to explore further. After late lunch and a rest we went to the evenings entertainment which was provided by a couple singing and playing Ukelele. It turns out the entertainers come from Wangaratta but we've had to travel to other end of the continent to meet them!