Swimming with Turtles

I noticed the other day that I am cooking fine with just two pots.  I was going to bring a bigger one but it wouldn't fit when I came to pack, and I haven't really missed it.  Usually at home I end up with three or four pots to wash after dinner.  It's amazing what you don't really need.  I often have grand plans to clear out my house and throw away what we don't use but I have trouble finding the time, disciplining myself to make it a priority, and then deciding what we don't use or need.  I probably just need to get rid of it all.

This morning we drove from the caravan park and across the road to the Jurabi Coastal Park.  Grant enjoyed driving along the soft sand road, trying out his 4WD, while we all bounced along for the ride.  Everyone pitched in to let the air out of the tyres before we set off, so that we wouldn't get bogged.




Looking at our nice bog job in the sand...

 

The boys decided to pack down the sand



As we neared the end of the track, we saw a turtle sitting in the carpark, away from the water on the wrong side of the sand dunes.  We jumped out ready to rescue it, but it was too late.  It must have gotten disorientated in the night and come down the wrong side of the sand dune, then been unable to get back up because of the barriers that are set up to stop people driving onto the dunes.  There were tracks in the sand where she had wandered around looking for a way through, but in the end she would have become dehydrated in the hot sun.  She was all swollen up and stinking, so I think it had been a few days.

Swollen dead turtle

We headed down the path to the beach, and found ourselves alone on a long stretch of sand, except for about fifty turtles.  I had come ready to swim, because the manager of the caravan park, Marie, said it's lovely, but the others hadn't. However, when they saw how beautiful the water was, and all the turtles floating around, they were quick to strip down to their undies and jump in.  Dominic started the idea of crawling down the beach on his stomach, like a turtle, so by the time they got to the water their pants were full of sand.  A bit of clothes optional swimming was attempted...Dominic thought it was great fun.  "There's no resistance". But the arrival of a turtle necessitated some hasty dressing.  Turtles have big beaks.

Once the others got out and the water quieted down, a number of turtles swam past, usually dawdling along in the shallows, then when they spotted that I wasn't another turtle, doing a very fast 90 degree turn and shooting out deeper.

It was so lovely I could have stayed in all day, but I'm glad Grant called us out when he did, because I got a little sunburned again.  The backs of my legs are peeling from the snorkeling sun burn.  Now my arms might go the same way.

Piling quickly back into the car to get away from the smelly turtle, we bumped back down the sandy road, with Grant trying to find all the softest spots to try out the 4WD.  We stopped to look at all the shells covering the sandy plains behind the sand dunes.  I don't know how all the shells got there, as the high tide would never pass the sand dunes, but there were thousands of white sun bleached shells across a huge area of flat ground, most of which aren't broken, which says to me they were put there gently and not by tossing waves like when the tide goes in and out.  It was very interesting.  I will asked someone at church tomorrow if they know anything about it.

Building a city



The pool at Yardie creek was a hit


We had a slow afternoon, with Grant insisting on no computer for the big boys, and in the end Joseph and Dominic joined in making a city in the sand outside the caravan with water piping and swimming pools, and then a game of cricket, with Joseph keeping a tight reign on all the rules.  I was able to do three loads of washing all at once because of all the machines in the laundry here.  I am seriously considering a second  washing machine at home!  I hung up twenty-four pairs of undies...

The boys went and watched some of the campers gut and fillet their catch for the day.  There were some more Spangled Emperor, a Tuna, and half a mackerel.  The shark got the other half.  They came back with ideas for what bait to use for their own fishing.  Joseph and Dominic are getting quite keen, but we haven't had much luck catching anything.

We had a movie night tonight, watching "are we done yet", and afterwards everyone got themselves ready for bed.  Nadine went off to the loo (a huge achievement for her, as at the start here she was too afraid of the lacewing insects to go by herself) and Cooper, already in his nappy, announced he wanted to go as well and trotted after her.  I told Grant he'd better go and make sure he left the loo clean and tidy, and went back to making up beds.

Grant came back pretty soon to say that Cooper had run into the girls' toilet after Nadine and he couldn't help him.  So off I went, up to the toilet block, to make sure Cooper didn't cause too much trouble.  I passed Nadine on her way out, who mumbled something about Cooper running off, which I thought was her way of telling me that Cooper had run away from Daddy into the girls' toilet.  I went in to find one toilet occupied with the door locked, so I stood in front of it and called out "Hi Cooper" or something like that, and followed that up with a few "are you fininshed yet?" "good job Cooper" and "let mummy in"s.  There were some toilet noises, paper ripping, which sounded very advanced for Cooper (usually he just unrolls the rolls) and toilet flushing without any announcement first.  He was, in fact, remarkably quiet in there, and my mother's instinct got me away from the door just before a grown lady opened it and stepped out.

I muttered something about losing my son, and made a big show of looking in all the toilet cubicles, then rushed out the door.  Her husband was waiting outside, and I laughed to cover my embarrassment and said I'd lost my little son.  He wordlessly pointed to the boy's toilets.  Cooper had switched facilities while we weren't looking.

As Grant was heading off on a second mercy trip, Joseph led Cooper up to the van.  Praise the Lord for big brothers!
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Vicki