We are on holiday!

Wednesday 24th August

We decided to stay another night here, so we woke up not having to pack, hooray! We figured having such amazing snorkeling so easily accessible as well as beach fishing was too good to leave!

Richie finally identified some crimson chats that have been zipping about us. There are also flocks of budgies regularly flying past, honeyeaters and some sort of scrub wren.

The kids were really keen to get a close look at a light house we could see flashing from our camp, and Richie suggested we just pick our way across the dunes to get there. We had breakfast, packed some snacks and headed up the dunes on our walk.

It only took 45 minutes to get there – I actually thought it looked further than that! Mostly the vegetation was sparse enough to pick through, and once again lots in flower so heaps to look at. At the light house we had something to eat, watched the whales for a while, then had a little look around. I think the kids were desperately hoping we could get in, remembering a library book we had borrowed about lighthouse keepers living in lighthouses! Of course the door was firmly locked and barricaded! There was a kestrel nest on top, which meant an interesting assortment of dinner scraps on the ground, including an uneaten quail, dragon tails and various bones!

We got back, feeling pretty hot! After icy poles and lunch we decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach, until there was some shade at the campsite. Bonnie and Richie went back to the point to snorkel the hole, while Otis and I played in the sand (and I tried not to fall asleep lying on the beach 🥱). Bonnie returned very excited about seeing a rather large octopus, apparently with tentacles like Richie’s wrists! The little sharks I can handle but just the thought of a big octopus makes me uneasy!! 😳

I went for a snorkel straight out from shore – the hole at the point has the high concentration of fish but the colourful corals are in the bay – and there are still loads of fish anyway! I had another amazing explore of the coral reefs until the cold got to me. Then Otis and I walked to the top of the point and watched the whales again – they come in quite close to the point. Richie took Bonnie in for one more snorkel while Otis and I walked back. We set up camp a fair treck from the lagoon so we’ve been doing a lot of walking up and back with all our gear!

We had a drink up in the dunes and watched the sunset, then had dinner next to the fire. No fish tonight! Richie headed off for a last try for something big while I put the kids to bed.