Time off in a caravan park

My 10 days of work ended soon enough as just about every part of my body was complaining from the physical exertion of cleaning, bending and hurrying from place to place. Off I went on the same little plane that took me to the island. This plane is one of the oldest in the "fleet" and not favoured by seasoned islanders. It was just the chef, the pilot and I on this flight that went straight to Hervey Bay. On take off I counted 8 manta rays one behind the other close to the shore.

The night before I left the island I attended a talk on Manta Rays by a French woman who has finished her PhD at University of Queensland and works in the Manta Project. http://www.uq.edu.au/ecology/project-manta (The aim (of Project Manta) is to define key drivers behind movements of large filter-feeding organisms, using the manta ray as a model system. An understanding of why animals occupy particular sites at particular times is important, especially in the face of climate change.) The author had lots of footage of her many dives around Lady Elliot showing the mantas and describing what they have learned about these relatively unstudied animals. It was very informative and convinced me that I must achieve my scuba cert so that I can do more than snorkel.

You may remember from my earlier post that I considered bunking with the Buddhists or staying in a worker's room offered at a small hotel by a generous man I met. In the end I realise that my journey is my own, I am not Buddhist and don't think this is the time for me to take up a religion. While it is nice to meet generous strangers it's also good to just figure it out on my own. So with all of that in mind I pulled my Honda without 3/4 of the back seat (left in Melbourne) and my new car mattress into a caravan park on the beach. The $26 per night backpacker special gave me a spot to park and use of the toilet block, kitchen, and laundry.

Night one was difficult as I did not have the usual physical exhaustion to keep me asleep all night. The sea was loud, bats were chirpy, the mattress too firm, the sleeping bag too hot and there was a bright light shining in on me. Second night much better as I was used to things and had invested in a sun visor to keep the light from entering the car. Plenty of caravaners and backpackers driving vans around to know that many people enjoy this mode of travel.

There was plenty to do whilst on my break. Living out of a car requires a bit of organisation that took time. I walked the beach and met this pelican. Enjoyed a few hours in the local library working at my computer and learned to use my iPhone as a personal hotspot. Visited the doctor who suggested I stop stressing about my blood pressure and was quite dismayed that I was handling all the changes in my life without an antidepressant and no friends on the island. I thanked him for his concern and said that I had email contact with many supportive friends and that the island was good for me.

And good for me it is. As I boarded the flight it even felt a little like coming home. The pilot was the same one from my first trip over and very friendly. He asked me to sit next to him so I had the co pilots seat. About 6 whales greeted us when we got close to the island and the pilot made a circle above them for all to see. Then a few mantas just off the island and I was home.

The pilot gave me the good news that 9 of the Orcas that had been "trapped" in the shallows for over a week made it to open sea. He had flown over them last Thursday. A total of 4 whales died from the beaching and everyone is still amazed that there were Orcas in Hervey Bay.