Bart Bear's Blog

Whenever we drive up the Pacific Highway to Queensland we pass this giant. He lives just north of Ballina. How big is he? Well, that's Scruffy, Blu and Milkshake sitting with me on the rocks near his feet. Work it out from that; he's big. He is called King Macca and that's his castle in the background. It is called Macadamia Castle, and it is the shop and display centre for the local macadamia nut farms. Macadamias are a native Australian bush nut, not Hawaiian like lots of people think. They were first planted in Hawaii in the 1920's but Australian aboriginals have been eating them for tens of thousands of years. You can try lots of different food containing macadamias in the castle (Dad liked the macadamia ice-cream; you could have guessed that) and buy all sorts of macca things. I would have liked to have my photo taken on King Macca's shoulder, but it is too high for Dad to reach and his armour is too slippery for small bears to climb. Wave to him as you drive north from Ballina.

Labels: New South Wales, north coast

If you didn't know the full story you could be forgiven for thinking that somebody is cheating. I mean, a whale-watching boat aiming straight at a pod of three dolphins, how likely is that? Well, the dolphins aren't real. They are pump-up rubber ones there for kids to play on. The boat is really a whale-watching one though. It is the one that we went out on when we stayed at Nelson Bay. Just shows that you can't assume the photo always tells the story.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, north coast

There is a big cuttlefish in the aquarium at Coffs Harbour. Blu had never seen a cuttle before and was really happy to find out that you can actually talk to them. Cuttlefish can change the colours of their skin. That helps them camouflage themselves when they are hiding or hunting, but it is also one of the ways that they communicate with other cuttlefish. They are also willing to communicate with small bears. Evidently this guy had never seen small bears before and was just as fascinated by us as we were with him. To talk with cuttles you use your hands and arms (and fingers if you have them). Waving them at the cuttlefish looks like you are waving your tentacles at him. He will wave back to you, but also flash different colours on his skin. I guess most of the time he is saying "What are you trying to say? Use colours idiots". One colour signal was very clear. He responded to noisy kids tapping his tank by flashing black and spreading his tentacles wide. That obviously means "Shut up and go away or I'll bite". Blu and I had a nice chat with him and will visit him again when we are next at Coffs.

Labels: fish, New South Wales, north coast

Here's another lighthouse that we have been trying to get photos of for ages. It is on South Solitary island and it is almost impossible to get to except by helicopter. It was classed as the most isolated one on the New South Wales coast. The lighthouse started operation in 1880 and has been in continuous operation ever since, except for a few days in 1942 when some ships were torpedoed nearby. We have tried to get close by boat in the past, with no success. So it was a great surprise to find that we could see the lighthouse easily from Emerald Beach, and an even bigger surprise to find that Dad could hold the camera steady enough to get decent photos at full zoom. You can see the lighthouse and the keepers' cottages and the path from the jetty. The island coast is so rugged that boats couldn't tie up there and supplies for the keepers had to be loaded into a basket that was winched up to the end of the jetty and then winched or rolled up the steep path. The light is automated now and the only visitors are maintenance crews that come by helicopter every 3 months. Maybe we will get better photos one day, but for now this will have to do.

Labels: lighthouse, New South Wales, north coast

There is a great aquarium at Coffs Harbour. It is fairly small, but it has exhibits of the fish and critters that live in the ocean there. Blu had never been to an aquarium. In fact he had never seen fish, so I had to take him in to see. He was a lot happier when he realized that he wouldn't have to get wet. Turns out that he loves fish and, like me, would love to go snorkelling with the Oldies. In the top left photo you can see me telling him all about the clown fish in the right-hand tank and the octopus in the left one. The octopus is hard to see because he folds himself into the shape of whatever he is on and also changes his colour to match. This one is called a "Gloomy Octopus", but actually he seemed pretty happy. Mum has some great video of him prancing around his tank. Occies are superb escape artists and this one has a very heavy lid on his tank to keep him in. Blu loved the Lion fish even though it is dangerous, but my favourites are the Clowns. Actually, at present I am looking after a small aquarium. Brothers Trent and Nathan are overseas and I am feeding Nathan's fish while he is gone. So far they are all alive and well, but I will be glad to see him back. Looking after other people's pets is a big responsibility.

Labels: fish, New South Wales, north coast

There is a lighthouse at Nelson Bay that is very hard to get to. Since Mum has this urge to photograph every lighthouse that she can, this one has been a target for ages. The problem is that it is on an island which is connected to the mainland by a sand spit. You can walk across to the island at low tide. However, it is a long walk from the road to the sand spit and across to the far side of the island. The Oldies couldn't make it between tides, so walking to the lighthouse is not an option for them. But guess what? Our whale-watching boat went past the island and when the captain found out about Mum's interest he took the boat in close so that she could get photos. So here is the Port Stevens lighthouse. It was built in 1862 and is now, like most Australian lighthouses, solar powered and automatic. In the top image you can also see the ruins of the keepers' cottages. These were burnt by vandals in the mid-1980s. Small bears hate vandals. Anyhow, that's one more for our growing collection of lighthouse photos, courtesy of a very helpful boat captain.

Labels: boats, lighthouse, New South Wales, north coast

At Coffs Harbour I found this big mountain of sand. It was near the edge of a car park, so while the Oldies were taking photos of the harbour and the approaching storm Blu and I set out to climb to the top of the pile. Climbing sand is difficult. It slips away from under your feet and you slide back down until you find some firmer stuff. Blu has the advantage here because he is so small and light. We found that the best place to tackle this climb was along a ridge. It was just like Hillary and Tenzing going up the South Col on Mt Everest. It was a long, hard struggle to the top but we had a great sense of achievement. Then it started to sprinkle and Dad just walked up and took us back to the car. He didn't even have to stretch very far up to reach us. Sometimes Oldies can really spoil the moment.

Labels: climbing, New South Wales, north coast

We stopped for a few days at Nelson Bay on our way back from the Gold Coast. It is a bit quiet there in the winter months, but one thing that is happening is the migration of Humpback whales along the coast. They come close inshore at Nelson Bay and there are lots of boats that take you out to see them. The day we went it was fairly rough. Just take a look at these photos of one of the bigger boats being bounced around in the 2 m swells. You can see some brave and determined whale-watchers out on deck, but most of the passengers were inside trying not to be sea-sick. Our boat was only half the size of that one, so we got bounced around a lot more, but small bears don't get sea-sick and the Oldies usually don't either (it takes 5 m or more to get Dad crook). Yes, we saw some whales but they were all travelling fairly fast. Mostly we only saw the puff as they came up to breathe, and the tail and fin as they dived. Most of the passengers on our boat were thrilled by that. I wonder how they would react to the magical close encounters we had a few years back on out trip to Hervey Bay (check my Dec 2006 archive for image).

Labels: boats, New South Wales, north coast, whales

Just north of Coffs Harbour is a tourist trap called the "Big Banana". Coffs is about the southern limit of commercial banana growing in Australia and the Big Banana has displays and tours that show you how it's done. You can take a ride around the banana plantation, and try selected banana goodies in the cafe. Now, Australia is very short of bananas at present. Most are grown in Queensland and a series of cyclones wiped last year's crop out, so Coffs bananas have skyrocketed in price. In fact, we couldn't find bananas to buy in Coffs, all of the crop is shipped to the cities as fast as it can be harvested. One of the displays is a huge banana with a strange critter hugging it. Blu and I had to climb up and see what was happening. Turns out that the Monkey and the banana are both plastic fakes. A pity, because I like small monkeys and would really love to have a banana this size to munch on.

Labels: climbing, New South Wales, north coast

This is the closest that I managed to get Blu to the surf at Emerald Beach. He eventually got game enough to come down out of the tree and go onto the sand. Even then he wanted to sit on a log so that the small crabs couldn't get him. I am not scared of small crabs. Scruffy and I worked out a way to clobber them on our last Fiji trip; you can find photos of that in earlier posts. Big ones still scare me though. The tide was way out when this photo was taken. You can see by the ripple marks in the sand that the water comes almost to the log at high tide. I figured that if we stayed there long enough we would get to swim, but no luck with Mum on watch. I reckon that by the time we go the beach again, Blu will be ready to build sandcastles with Scruff, Milky and I. If you look carefully, you can see an island on the horizon. That is South Solitary Island and it has a lighthouse on it, more about that later.

Labels: beach, crabs, New South Wales, north coast

Blu hadn't been close to a beach before our last trip. He had seen beaches at a distance, but had no idea how much fun they could be. Well, one of the places we stayed at was Emerald Beach, just north of Coffs Harbour. This is a small town with a great beach for surfers and families. There are usually big waves for surfers at the end near the headland, and calmer water for kids further down the beach. I figured it was time for Blu to get down onto the beach. The problem was that he was scared of waves and crabs and wouldn't go there. So, I sat with him in a tree near the beach and we watched the surfers and kids having fun, and after a while I managed to get him onto the sand. I was about to get him into the water when Nemesis (AKA Mum) arrived and read the riot act about small bears and water. Maybe some day I will manage to get into the ocean.

Labels: beach, crabs, New South Wales, north coast

Our main reason for stopping in Port Macquarie was to visit the Koala Hospital. This is a very special place which helps sick and injured wild koalas recover and return to the forest. Port Macquarie has just the right sort of forest for koalas to live in, but it also has lots of cats, dogs and cars. The forest comes right into the town in places, so in some places people and koalas live in the same areas. Koalas are safe while they are up in the trees, but they have to come down to the ground occasionally to move to another tree. Each year hundreds of them are hurt by being banged into by cars or mauled by cats and dogs. This is when the volunteers at the Koala hospital come in. The hospital has a surgery, intensive care unit, 6 outdoor intensive care yards and 33 rehabilitation yards. Blu and I have definite koala ancestry, so we were very keen to visit the hospital The top photo shows us checking out one of the outdoor IC yards. There is a recovering koala in there; you can see him if you look hard. The bottom photos show me reading one of the signs that tell the story of the koala in the big rehabilitation yard, and the koala herself, snuggled down high up in the gum tree. As well as treating sick koalas, the hospital is part of a research team trying to find cures for koala diseases. Do visit the hospital if you are ever in Port Macquarie, and donate a bit to help keep them in operation. One of the fun ways you can help is to adopt a wild koala; we have adopted 6 so far. If you want to help, you can read about the koala hospital and the "Adopt a Wild Koala" program on the web at http://www.koalahospital.org.au

Labels: animals, New South Wales, north coast, trips

Well, we are back in Canberra after a fortnight on the road. We drove over 2,500 kilometres - up to the Gold Coast in Queensland and back. Along the way we stopped at a few nice places for 2 or 3 days. The first stop was at Port Macquarie on the New South Wales north coast. Port Macquarie was founded in1821 as a convict settlement and its early history was very brutal. Today it is a top holiday spot and a place lots of people retire to. We stayed in a park cabin right next to the Hastings river. I love cabins like this because you can always see something interesting happening. During the day there are boats and joggers and at sunset you can see keen fishermen trying to catch the fish that come in to feed as it gets dark. The fisherman who used the breakwall in front of our cabin says that dusk is the best time to catch fish and he caught lots of them so he must be either right or very lucky. Scruffy, Milkshake, Blu and I spent lots of time sitting on the veranda rail watching the passing traffic. The only problem for us small critters were the Kookaburras that thought we might be edible, so we weren't allowed to sit on the rail without an Oldie in attendance. When the Oldies went out for dinner and left us in the cabin, they left the curtains open so that we could watch from the safety of inside the cabin. Besides being a pretty place for people, Port Macquarie also has a large population of wild koalas living there, more about them in the next post.

Labels: boats, Gold Coast, New South Wales, north coast, Queensland, trips