WB To the Lookout

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Mon 30 May 2016 22:47
To the Lookout at Whitehaven Bay
 
 
 
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No sooner than we had picked up a visitors buoy than we had little friends chirping and trilling in welcome.
 
 
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After a game the time was right to head ashore. The tide was almost fully out exposing the reef. I was about to hop out when I heard I’ll pull you in in case of stonefish. OK, I’ll sit quietly, my hero took me almost to the sand.
 
 
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Ashore the wind had blown the rocks smooth.
 
 
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A quick pose.
 
 
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Up the steps.
 
 
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Information boards at the top and then a path to follow.
 
 
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Growing one to two centimetres a year, grass trees can live as long as six hundred years.
 
 
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From the Lookout we had just the most amazing views.
 
The boards here said........
If this sand could talk: For at least 80,000 years, the grains have been here. They could tell us of ice ages, speak of dinosaurs and whisper stories of changing seasons. The grains have witnessed the fall and rise of sea levels, and the drowning of long-forgotten mountain ranges now known as the Whitsunday Islands.
Wind and waves shape this land: The sand grains continue to be blown by the wind and polished by the waves that lap at the dunes’ feet. The process that created these sands has long since ended, but the grains’ journey continues. The currents tug at the grains, pulling them northwards to the shallow banks and swales here at Hill Inlet. And once the sand is gone, it will be gone forever.
Washed by waves: The sea’s currents carried the grains about a hundred kilometres north, leaving them on nearby Haslewood Island, which was once a coastal headland connected both to the mainland and Whitsunday Island. Over time the sea level fell, stranding the sand island, where wind-blown grains began to shift and form the dunes of Whitehaven Bay.
Why is the sand so white ??? For millennia these ancient grains have rested here. As tides turned and seasons changed, the elements stripped impurities from the grains until only brilliant white silica remained. But these grains haven’t always been here, their travels began many moons ago.........
 
 
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The track back with some interesting trees.
 
 
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Along the way we saw a huge lady – a golden silk orb-weaver.
 
 
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Believe it or not, this cape is made from Madagascar Golden Orb spider silk exhibited at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
 
 
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Stranglers and an interesting egg sack.
 
 
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A sea eagle overhead. What a fantastic afternoon.
 
 
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Back to Beez.
 
 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL A REAL BRUSH WITH NATURE
                     A VERY PRETTY SETTING