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| Windy, to say the least ... see the way the grass bend and the spray from the waves |
We went to Maria Island today. The ferry leaves at 9 and the dock is a half hour drive from our cabin. Last night the fire burned out and I woke up around 3:30 because it was cold. Fortunately there are heat pads for the bed and I still managed a good night sleep. It is cold and very windy this morning and so we put on 4 layers of clothing. There were white capped waves in the open sea. The ferry was full and at least 6 people were without seats. At the beginning, they all went up to the open deck. But when we were out in the open sea, we could see the waves crashing onto the windows. Eventually they all came back and the one who stayed out the longest was totally drenched!
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| Fossils everywhere |
Our first stop was the Fossil Cliffs. The area used to be a limestone quarry and there was a cement manufacturing facility nearby. As a result, there is a good stretch of flat surface for us to explore. There are so many fossil shells embedded in the rocks. Some of the rocks are just the fossils; one does not have to 'look' for them, they are everywhere. Some of the shells are as big as my hand.
David wanted to do the Bishop and Clerk trail. Though the summit is only 620m high, the brochure says part of the trail goes straight up and may involve some scrambling on rocky slopes. So I politely declined and went for a more sedate hike via the Reservoir circuit. I lucked out on this one, a wombat was foraging on the side of the trail and I did not notice it until it ran away; and it scared me! I ran into a kangaroo next, but by the time I got my phone out, it hopped away. Yet I managed to get a picture of it hopping away. Next I spotted a kookaburra, it sat there until I started to take a picture. While I was sitting there waiting for David, I got a shot at a pretty red chest bird perching on a tree.
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| wind was crazy on this open pastureland |
[David] The Bishop and Clerk trail is a little bit more challenging than I thought. After I parted with Karen, I had to hike up a relatively steep pastureland. But it was in the open and the wind from the ocean nearly blew me off my feet. When I tried to take a picture of the cliff, it was so windy that I was afraid I might be blown away. So I played safe and crouched down … but I must have nudged my backpack the wrong way and the thermos popped out from the side pocket … and I watched it slowly rolling off the cliff. I did not try to save it because it was way too windy! Even though the ground is relatively easy to walk on, it was all a steady climb.
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| zig zag up the scree |
Then I hit the scree part and followed the zig zag part up a steep rocky portion. And then the scramble began. When I got close to the summit, there was a huge rock that I would need to climb up. I am pretty sure I can get up there, but coming down with a pack and the very strong wind is a different story. So I decided to stop there, took some pictures and hurried back.
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| the view at the beginning of the hike |
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| the view from the top! |
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| wombat |
After David joined me, we went to the Painted Cliffs. A wombat walked across the trail right in front of us. David did not have his camera out. After a bit of fumbling around, he spent some time taking pictures of that little guy.
When we first landed, due to the strong winds, the ranger suggested that we take the inside path to get the Painted Cliffs. Since we were late, we just followed the sign and ended up with very strong wind blowing in our face. Also one can only get to certain sections of the cliffs at low tide. But it was over an hour after low tide and we could see the water level rising. Fortunately we could still get though, and the colour and the pattern on the rocks are spectacular - well worth the trip.
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| Painted Cliffs |
We had to hustle back to catch the ferry at 4:30 and we definitely didn’t want to be stuck on the upper deck. On the way back, we ran into two more photo ops - a wombat with her baby, and a partial skeleton of a whale. The sea was rougher on the way back, if the trip took longer than planned 35mins, I would probably be sick. I made lamb chops (broiled them in the oven and set off the alarm, sighhhh), broccoli, and Portobello mushroom for dinner - all without a frying pan, and finished off with aunt Angela's left over birthday cake for dessert. All in all, it was a very good an enjoyable day.
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| baby & mom |
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| sk |
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