Sunday 27 June 2010

A tough winter here in South East Queensland.....

.....or maybe not

We are in the midst of our winter here but many of my northern hemisphere friends would chuckle and say, "That's not a winter!".  I can certainly see where they would have that view after experiencing a 'real' winter in Wyoming in the States some years back.  By comparison I would liken our winters more to a Wyoming fall.  As last Sunday was such a glorious winter's day, Michelle and Alex decided to take an impromptu drive out to Wellington Point at our bay-side and invited us along too.  How could Aaron or I refuse?!  Beau stayed home as he had things to do.  Brad stayed home because the rocky shoreline at the bay-side is too difficult for him to negotiate due to his blindness....and Reece and Sarina were off doing their own thing for the day.

I LOVE being near the sea!

It had been over two years since I last visited the bay so my parched soul just drank in all the beauty and felt so refreshed.  The smell of the salty, sea air was amazing and invigorating!


Normally we would go for a lengthy walk across that sand-bar (pictured below) but, as you may notice from the pic, the tide was already coming in when we arrived so we couldn't take our usual walk.  When the tide is out, the sand-bar is quite wide and it makes for a leisurely walk way out to a teeny island called, King Island.


We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips....one of my favourite things to do when visiting the bay or the beach.  These guys (Ibis) were patrolling the picnic area looking for hand-outs.

A common sight at the bay....people fishing from the jetty

Sadly, with the bay having a rocky shoreline, it makes for a lot of snagged fishing lines etc. so, as we walked the rocky shore, we collected snagged fishing lines, hooks and broken glass to put in the bin.  It upsets me to see it all knowing that it puts the sea-life and bird-life at risk but, hopefully, we kept a few of them safe by our actions.

close up of a small crab we found....sadly, not alive

another jetty pic.....what is that sitting on top of the light pole?

A pelican, of course...how cute he was too!
Pelicans are one of my top three favourite birds.

I loved the play of light on the water

Thanks for a beautiful day out, Michelle and Alex (pictured below with Aaron)!

~ Love, light and peace ~

15 comments:

  1. Nice trip!!! I love pelicans also!

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  2. how wonderful.... felt like I was along for the day as well.... thanks guys!

    Serena...when I said about your hands being unbearable...I meant the smell...it is sooo powerful.... not too bad at first sniff...but, peewwww after awhile...and some time later..it is almost sickening... kind of like too much lavender.... after awhile...ick... and, I love lavender..just not much of it...

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  3. Oh, you poor thing....having to endure such a tough winter day! The photos are beautiful! I, too, love the ocean but seldom get there anymore. The traffic is just so bad between where we are and the ocean.

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  4. Hello Serena :)Did the trip to the bay quench your parched soul? I hope so. Thank you for posting the pictures; lots of lovely sights.

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  5. Serena, Thank You!!! I feel like I've just been relocated to your beach! Of course, gonna have to see the real thing someday!!! On my WISH LIST. You've taken some beautiful shots and love that pelican too!!

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  6. Beautiful post.

    I really hate the fishing lines left all over the place. SO many animals get tangled up in that stuff.

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  7. Hi Serena,
    What wonderful photo's and a lovely way to spend a day with the family.
    Ah, ha, I'm coming up that way on Saturday for a few days.
    I can't wait to get feel the heat of the sun on my back!
    Hugs,
    Anna

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  8. Was glorious to be taken with on your trip to the beach! :) So glad you guys picked up the fishing line, hooks, and glass, etc, that you found along the way. Blessings to you guys!! Great shot of the pelican. I tend to like the smaller birds like the sandpipers, but Ibis and cranes are beautiful. Pelicans are so comical to me, but they are such graceful divers. What a great day!! Thanks for sharing--food for the soul!!! :):)

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  9. I feel like you've just taken me on a lovely tour, Serena, and YES, you did save some sea life with your actions. You remind me of when F. and I would pick up trash from the dry bottom of the local lakebed during the drought, and I'd get depressed because there was so much litter we could never get it all up, not if the drought lasted all the years we're here (thankfully it's over now).

    But F. would say we had to focus on what we could and did do -- not on what we couldn't manage. He's right. Focus on the difference you made, how you did what was in your power to do.

    And I'm glad you focused that camera on all the beauty of your day at the beach. I used to go to the ocean every year, and I haven't been for three years now, and I miss it badly. You've given me a little vicarious pleasure. :)

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  10. I definitely live in the wrong part of the world!

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  11. Great photos. I had fun on the tour. Glad you had a nice time. Have a great week.

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  12. I also love the ocean. How wonderful that you get to live so close to it.

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  13. Great photo of the "kids" at the end of the post.

    You know, in Southern California we have these days...very often. Winter is usually great out here. Spring we have a lot of rain normally.

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  14. I love the water also. I can see why you would love it there. It is just so beautiful. I wish we were going to see Lake Michigan now. Sigh.

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  15. Great pictures Serena. I love the ocean, it is my favourite place to be to chill out and admire the beauty of nature.
    Lee:)

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