Urangan Jetty

Since the Urangan Jetty is my favourite spot on Earth, I love to come here when I am in the Brisbane area. This is one of those blogs that I do for my own enjoyment so there are oodles of photos. Feel free to skip most of them.

It's a very popular fishing spot so when the tide is in, there are people fishing all along the jetty.

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The location.

Jelly fish. As I remember, the locals call them 'blue bottles'.

Sunsets are usually pretty spectacular, particularly if there are some clouds about.

The high tide comes almost up to the rocks that protect the shoreline.

At lunch the next day when the tide is out.

Trees that line the foreshore.

An Ibis.

The jetty is built from timber that comes from the nearby Fraser Island. It is some of the hardest wood in the world.

While it is fine to walk on the jetty at high tide, low tide is much more interesting, particularly the sand flats that become exposed. There are zillions of soldier crabs that burrow down into the sand and create these holes and balls of sand. If you click on the photo you might be able to see some of them.

When you come too close, they hide in the sand.

Larger depressions about a foot across. There is probably some thing live buried at the bottom.

One of the tourist boats going out for a whale watching jaunt.

Marianne taking photos. Note the bare feet.

The sand looks dirty but it isn't. It's just wet.

This development to the south interrupted the northward flow of sand so the whole area is quite different now to what it was when I was young. 

Marianne's feet.

Closeup of the sand.

The tide was starting to come in so I was curious how much would disappear in five minutes.

Here is the answer. Robin and I almost got trapped out there on the sand some years ago and we had to wade through several feet of water to reach the shore.

The air is absolutely fresh and clean. It feels wonderful out there with a temperature of about70 degrees.

The wavy sand is quite hard and you definitely notice it when you walk around in bare feet.

Unfortunately the council placed these pipes that convey rain water from the street right next to the jetty.

 

This couple will soon be getting even more wet.

The patterns are wonderful.

My shadow.

Another tourist boat.

A ladder to help you to safety if you are trapped by the rising tide.

A pelican.

Something that is not a pelican on the next pole.

Fishermen at the end of the jetty.

 

The water does have a green colour here.

And so it will be another year or two before I come back again. I will probably take the same photos again but I can't help myself. Here is my effort from two years ago.

Although this area is quite different from Robin Hoods Bay near Whitby, they are both wonderful to walk around when it is low tide.

Most Australians have no idea that this magical place exists. Perhaps it is just as well.

Oversize Load Ahead

Part of the fun in travelling is getting to do things you have never done before. Here is an example.

But first, here is the sunrise for our first morning in Brisbane. We are staying at my cousin's house which is situated high on a hill with a great view and cool breezes. They visited us late last year.

John, the husband, is retired but has a part time job driving the lead car for oversize loads. I went with him to find out what it was like.

This load is not wide, but high.

There are a lot of rules and paperwork associated with oversize loads. First the entire route has to be described so that all the vehicles are in agreement. Every street. Drivers need to know their way around to make sure that the over-sized load can fit the space available.

While I was waiting, I noticed that the Royal Queensland Golf Club was across the road. It is Queensland's premier golf club and this is as close as I will ever get to it.

Our truck to lead turned out to be this one with the blue front.

And this is where we left from.

Inside John's car. CB radio and extra switches for the extra lights. He also has a big torch similar to what the blokes have who guide aircraft up to the gates at airports. The whole job took a couple of hours from the time we left home until we got home. The actual time in the convoy was much less since the trip was only 10 miles or so.

That same night he got another job taking a wide load down the range from Toowoomba to Brisbane. The road down the range is quite steep and big trucks have to go down very slowly. We set off for Toowoomba at 10 pm to meet the loaded semitrailer and started back at midnight.

The convoy was much larger this time. We were in the lead followed by a Police Car with flashing lights. The semi was next and another car like our car was in the rear. It's all about communication. First to warn the driver of the semi that there is something coming up that he needs to be aware of. Secondly, to warn other semi-trailer drivers that a wide load is coming and to ask them to pull over if there might be a problem in a narrow spot, particularly where there is road construction.

Finally, we reached the destination and John helped to guide the semi driver to back his load into the appropriate spot.

Everything has to be done by the book and you have to know the book. This is not a job for people who like to bend the rules. You also have to be reliable, turning up late is not an option. From what John said, it pays well for the short trips but I thought he didn't get enough for the longer trip which was much more difficult. Still, it was a very interesting experience.

Petersham, Sydney

Our daughter Robin lives in Petersham. It's not too far from Sydney Airport so since we had arranged to have a six hour layover in Sydney, we took a taxi over to her flat to see her.

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But first a bit of a whiskey tasting. Robin's friend Alex went to a Scotch Whiskey tasting and bought three interesting bottles. The bottle on the left (Amrut) is a whiskey from India and it was very good. It was as good as any Scottish whiskey I've tasted.

The next two were from Tasmania. The taste of the tall bottle was somewhat strange, but the Lark was pretty good but not as good as the Indian stuff. 

So why was I drinking this stuff at 8 in the morning? Because it was 6 pm at home in the US. Your body clock is still set to the other side of the globe so the time of day really doesn't matter.

I needed to get some money so I walked up to the nearby shopping center in Petersham. Naturally I took some photos along the way. You will find there are lots of interesting houses in the area.

Most of the buildings are made of brick.

Interesting mural.

The first thing I notice when I come back to Australia is the bright light from the strong sun.

I believe this is a frangipani tree without its leaves.

Typical Aussie style block of flats (apartments).

Another block of flats. Mostly they are two bedroom units and I lived in this style of flat a few times when I was in my twenties. They are ok for when you are young, but nothing wonderful.

Robin likes Petersham and I can see why. It has good public transport, is relatively close to the center of Sydney and there are plenty of restaurants.