Reef Walk 2013

We came across a flying fox hanging from a barbed wire fence. He was beautiful – a rich red brown coloured, shining fur and a cute little mouth. However he was obviously distressed as he tried to disentangle his membrane where it was caught on the wire. Continue reading →

Bicentennial National Trail

Red-rumped parrot

According to our map the Bicentennial National Trail follows the Bruce Highway from near St Lawrence to the turnoff to Wumalgi. However we struggled to find the trail. We walked off the highway for several kilometres but we saw no markers. How wonderful to be off the road – quieter, alive with birds and trees, cooler in the middle of the day. It appears that  paradise has been paved to create the Bruce Highway!  Continue reading →

Brolgas dancing

We’ve finally begun the long and isolated section of the Reefwalk between Sarina and Rockhampton. However it has been refreshing to have less traffic and a more natural experience. We’ve seen red-tailed black cockatoos, bush bustards, bush stone curlews, red-backed fairy wrens and brolgas dancing. Continue reading →

Walking into Louisa Creek we were prevented from entering the short stretch to the Hay Point lookout, aagggrrraaa, Continue reading →

Day 1

Having joined the Reef Walk in Mackay, I came prepared for 10 days with others walkers. However, instead of being exposed to the Bruce Highway, as the others had been for most of the journey, since Cairns, I joined at a time of media interest, community action and rest. Continue reading →

leaving Lousia Creek

Hi everyone, I know  we have missed a few very interesting days to blog about but I am tired and I just could resist blogging about today.  Five of us left Louisa Creek this morning, farewelled by our host Betty, headed towards Sarina. Just a few km on Margaret, a local woman we had met the evening before stopped on her way to work (at a nursing home in Sarina) and asked if we could visit the home later that day. We quickly agreed. Continue reading →

We were horrified to hear that four bombs had been dropped from a plane onto the reef in the joint US/ Australia training exercise Talisman Sabre.

There are so many threats to the reef already. How can we accept the placement of bombs in this World Heritage Area? Continue reading →

Today we walked into Mackay, joined by locals who are passionate about caring for the Reef. It was a great morning with CPR (Communities Protecting Our Region). Local indigenous lady Mabel Quakawoot and young Patrick Fitzgerald gave inspiring speeches. Continue reading →

How sad to see all the road kill. Going through Ayr and Burdekin regions we saw many beautiful white owls dead on the road, together with wallabies and other creatures. Today there were three echidnas. What a waste of our beautiful fauna.

Today was a great day for meeting kinspeople, just by chance.

First a bus from “Dirt cheap tours” stopped and 16 people spilled out. They are on tour up the coast of Queensland to explore the coal and coal seam gas developments and campaigns to slow this down and reduce its impact. What a diverse group, locals, a PNG cameraman and some Aboriginal kids! United in their concern to protect Queenslanders and the world from these destructive industries.

Continue reading →

We spent a free day at Airlie Beach working with volunteers at Ecobarge marine clean up. 400Kg of litter found on one of the Whitsunday Islands last week required sorting and counting. It was shocking to see the waste that washes up on the shores of the beautiful islands – footwear, bleach bottles, drink bottles and oil containers, tyres, a toilet seat, sunblock and rope. Continue reading →

Derwent Hunter

After leaving Bowen, we were a bit short on accommodation , we travelled back to Maria’s for one night walking extra klms, then onto Maria’s friend Lisa’s place, also doing extra klms so we eventually arrived in Airlie a day early after having picked up Glenda (from Switzland) at the Proserpine train station. Continue reading →

Vince and Rita’s cane farm lagoon

After two nights and a rest day in Ayr we walked out on Tuesday July 2 towards Home Hill on the southern side of the Burdekin River.
Ayr is memorable for the “Burdekin Snow” (the black ash from burning cane and trash) which falls day and night during the harvesting season. Most cane growing areas now cut green and leave the trash blanket on the ground as mulch but as the Burdekin area is mostly irrigated from the water table, farmers here have problems with the water pooling due to excess trash and so causing rotting of the trash and cane stools. It is hard to believe that in the 21st Century a more environmentally friendly answer cannot be found for these problems. Continue reading →

Hello, my name is Taylah Johnson and I joined the Reef Walkers to walk from Townsville to Alligators Creek. It started off easy and I thought I could definitely make it to Alligators Creek easy, but it turned out it isn’t as easy as it looks. Six kilometers walking pace, takes about an hour. When walking an hour it’s really hard. I enjoyed the walk but it was tiring after a while. Continue reading →

My name is Aussie Johnson and I joined the reef walk twice, once in El Arish and once in Townsville. I joined the walk because I wanted to be a one of the many people that are fighting to save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I found the walking was quite easy, although sometimes we got squished between the traffic and the side of the road.  I hope that we win the fight and save the Reef, before it’s too late.

What a strange name for this little creek – Goodbye Creek. I had a quick dip in the water here. The spot is near the turnoff to Abbot Point on the Bruce Highway.

News from our new Federal Minister for Environment Mark Butler is that a decision on the Abbot Point Port, involving dredging and dumping the spoil into the marine park, is deferred. Maybe it won’t be Goodbye Abbot Point.

We walked through more cane fields today, and enjoyed watching harvesting. It’s like a huge lawnmower. Some of the cane farmers seem anxious about our efforts to protect the reef. However sugar cane can be one of Australia’s sustainable industries, where we have the right climate and soils. Continue reading →

Our second day out of Bowen was probably the hardest days walk yet for me.  Yesterday afternoon was quite windy and I think that is why I woke up this morning with a sore neck/shoulder.  Carrying the flag was very hard against the wind, so I needed a few panadol to get started. Continue reading →

After consultation with Tub (who lives at Abbott Point ) we made plans to drive to his place, leave our vehicles and walk 2 1/2 km to the port gate where we would hang banners and take photos .  The four walkers were joined by six locals including 2 year old Malakai in his stroller. Continue reading →

We spent an amazing few days in the delightful town of Bowen.

Saturday was a walk to the Abbot Point Port, including people of all ages from a child in a pram to elderly locals joining the Reefwalk for the day.

We were met by police and instructed that the walk was not permitted. We sang and celebrated the beauty of the wetlands. The police officer shared our concern for the reef, and was relaxed and supportive. However the Security officer – who probably called the police – appeared threatened by our presence and had no interest in the walk. Continue reading →