Bundaberg June 2013

June 18^th, We finished packing up and left Tin Can Bay, heading for Bundaberg. We are going to Miara Holiday Park, 40 Klms north of Bundaberg, at Yandaran on the Kolong River. We stopped in Bundaberg to do a big shop and have some lunch. I had my photo taken with the One Direction cardboard cutouts outside Bi-Lo Supermarket. Val thought I had lost the plot but it would be fun to send the photo to Jessica and Annaliese, with an amusing letter. As we were nearing our Caravan Park, we couldn’t believe how many Kangaroos we came across, on the side of the road. It was around 3.15pm and this must be the time they come out of the bush, to feed on the green grass on the road edges. They soon hopped away as we approached them. Val was getting worried that we were not on the right road, as we seemed to be

travelling for a long way, winding our way around Cane Farms and then coming to a single lane tar section of road. I kept driving and next thing we turned left, then over a cow grid and arrived at our Caravan Park. I parked the car and we walked to the Office, only to find a notice on the door to say “Closed” and a sandwich board sign to say that the Office would be closing at 3pm today. Oh Boy, we were shocked! I tried the intercom for late arrivals but got no response. We read all the notices on the wall and found a mobile phone number to call, when the Office was unattended. The response was that the Manageress was out on the river, in their tinnie, with her visiting Grandson, so she came in to put us on our site. The mix up was caused by her missing our booking when she checked to see if every incoming caravan had arrived. That problem solved, I did the minimum to allow us to get to our bed and walk around the Van, and I’ll do the setting up in the morning.

June 19^th, I went to the Office and paid our fees, $300 for 2 weeks. Very cheap, as the Queensland School Holidays start next weekend. I picked up all the regulations for fishing and boating in Queensland, to read over later. I put up the whole annexe and took the boat off the car. I’ll set it up tomorrow. Talking with people around us I was told they are catching fish. We had quite strong winds today, so not good for boating. I found time this afternoon to read the literature on Qld. boating and fishing and there are some differences. There was no mention of pensioners being exempt from having a fishing licence and if your boat is powered with anything above a 6HP motor, you need to have a boat licence. I’ll have a chat to our neighbours in the morning.

June 20^th, After breakfast, I picked up the Queensland Recreational Boating and Fishing Guide and studied it more carefully. I now know that a Fishing Licence or Permit is only required when fishing in a Dam or Lake where it has been stocked with fish, so river fishing does not require a Licence. I did confirm that because I have an 8HP motor for my boat that I would have to be licenced or have a passenger who held a current boat licence. So I have decided to take the easy way out and not put the motor on my Tinnie and I will simply paddle off shore and anchor to do a bit of fishing.  We did our washing this morning and after lunch went into Bundaberg to do a bit of Shopping and lodge our Centrelink form. It started raining on the way back to the Park, so we had no choice but to leave our washing on the line. Val is a little down in the dumps tonight; she has lost the urge to continue “Dot Painting”. We have not had a response from Gumtree, from the Paintings that I put up for sale. I am encouraging her to give it a bit longer, before throwing in the Towel.

June 21^st, It has rained all last night and all of today. We will be growing webbed feet if this weather keeps up.

June 22^nd, Finally, the sun is shining in “Sunny Queensland”, so I decided that I should reposition the front seat in the Tinnie. That way, when I have to paddle or row out to get to fish, it will be easier to do, if the front seat is in the centre position. I found the set of rollicks that Robert gave me some years back, dug out my 2 paddles and fixed up my rods ready to go. I put the boat in the river and tied it up to a post on the beach. My boat is the little Tinnie in the photo, up on the sand. Now I’m ready to go fishing when the weather is good. Although it was a nice sunny day we had a strong breeze all day, not suitable for fishing.

June 23^rd, Still strong winds today, so I rigged up some poles in the annexe and bent up some hooks to hang Val’s paintings. Then I made up a flyer, for her painting sale, and put them on the notice boards. In the afternoon I went for a fish off the beach, at the front of the park. It was hopeless, as when I cast my line out the wind was blowing it back at me! I wasn’t getting any bites, so I gave up. Val did some painting tonight, so she is “Happy” again and back into “dotting”.

June 24^th, This is the day, I thought, to go out for a fish. The wind seemed to have eased a bit, so after breakfast I gathered all my gear and packed it into the boat. It was around 10.30am by now and I noticed that the current was running strongly. Undeterred by that, I thought that if the Pelicans can swim against the current, well I could Paddle against it. I towed the boat to the end of the beach, to allow me plenty of time to get control of the boat before the current and wind affected my outward progress. What a JOKE! It didn’t matter how hard I paddled, the boat was quickly swept towards the other end of the beach and I found that I had to go with the current and hang over the front of the boat, paddling madly, to get into the beach before I got swept around the corner. My other idea of using the paddles in rollicks, just like oars, was a dismal failure, as the paddles are much too short to control. I was glad to put my foot onto sand and then I towed the boat back up the beach and tied it up again. I won’t be doing that again, that’s for sure. We have a resident Hairdresser in the Park, so Val had a haircut this afternoon. After each cut she has now, she is gradually showing more grey/white but her natural hair colouring looks great.

June 25^th, On the suggestion of Val’s Hairdresser, I went for a fish off the little breakwall at the other end of the Park. After 2 hours, my only catch was a 3 inch long toad fish. At this time the tide was about half way out and the current running strongly, so I decided to come out and try this spot tomorrow, but fish over the change at high tide. Val is still Dot Painting madly but has still not sold any paintings. The Wimbledon Tennis has started and it was good to see a few Aussies get through to the 2^nd round. Let’s hope they can keep the winning streak up.

June 26^th, I set myself up on the breakwall, 2 hours before high tide and fished for around 1 ½ hours after the tide change. NOTHING, plenty of bites but none wanted to take the hook. State of Origin, game 2, was on tonight and what a “Shellackin” did Queensland give us. The maroons were in their power surging form the whole game. NSW will really come with their “A” game in 3 weeks time, when the decider will be played in Sydney. Sadly, Layton Hewitt got knocked out in his 2^nd round match, tonight, at Wimbledon.

June 28^th, I noticed that my mobile phone wasn’t working this morning. It wouldn’t even switch on and the screen was black. We went into Bundaberg today to do some top-up shopping, I wanted to go to Telstra to see what was wrong with my phone and Val needed more painting supplies. The Telstra Technition tested my phone and on pulling off the back cover, told me it was full of water and would not be covered by the Warranty.  My only explanation could be that while sitting on the kitchen bench it had been plashed with water. So $50 later I had a new phone and was back on the air. I went to BCF looking to buy oars, so that I could use the boat in the River and get out for a fish. The sales assistant at BCF was an ex Maritime Inspector and when I told him what I was planning to do, he strongly advised me (in a nice way) that he thought that would be very dangerous, because of the very strong currents in the river. So, that solved that problem and saved me $95. If we stay where the water is calm, in Qld, WA, or SA, I can still go out using my paddles. There are no restrictions in the Northern Territory but I don’t fancy fishing with the Crocodiles.

June 29^th, Another windy day, seems to be the norm here at this time of year, so Val suggested that I might as well get the boat out of the River and packed away on top of the car, good idea. That sounds very simple, but with the wind and the strong current, I soon discovered that that wasn’t to be. I had to pull the boat against the wind and tide to get to the boat ramp, so after fitting my clamp on wheels and pulling in the anchors, remember I don’t have the motor on the boat, I tried the method of pushing the boat out into the river then dragging it along the shore, towards the boat ramp. The forces of nature wasn’t going to let that happen and the boat simply came straight back into the sand, with practically no gain at all. I then tried gripping the side of the boat and pulling/wheeling the boat along, while it was still in the water’s edge. This was working very well, until I came to another tinnie anchored on the river front and had to work my boat around and under his anchor rope. Having conquered that obstacle, I was only a few metres from the ramp. I had my towing hitch bolted onto the boat and the car in position on the ramp, so shouldn’t be any more

problems, so I thought. When I tried to maneuver the boat around the end of the boat ramp, I just couldn’t do it under the conditions, so I had to settle on dragging the boat up over the edge of the ramp, luckily this ramp is just a pile of stones and the edges were a gradual slope, and angling the car to allow the hitch to fit to the tow ball. I towed the boat back to our Van then got the packing up completed without any more dramas. We watched Australia win against the British Lions Rugby Union Team, in a very close game, getting away with a one point lead. That means now the Series is one game all and the decider will be played next week. I swapped channels to the Wimbledon Tennis and watched Tomic win his game and now he advances into the round of sixteen. Sam Stoser was playing next but I couldn’t stay awake for the final set when the sets were at one each, so I’ll get the results of that game tomorrow.

July 1^st, Strong winds this morning ( can you see the white capped waves going down the river?) , so took it easy until after lunch, then I packed up most of the things that go in the back of the car. That will leave only the annexe walls to get packed away, on the bottom bunk in the Van, before we leave for Keppel Sands in the morning.