Susan and I pitched the tent in the Caravan Park at Hervey Bay as the
forecasted wind strengthened to gale force. We stayed 2 nights until the wind had dropped to 20-25Kn and caught the afternoon barge to Moon Pt. The barge carried 2 kayaks (ours), 2 passengers (us) and 2 crew. One hour later we wheeled our kayaks onto the beach at Moon Pt. We were preparing to launch when a couple of whale watching boats came past and pushed a good wash onto the beach creating an opportunity to launch our laden kayaks. Wrong! The wash kept coming, my Marlin was swamped, I switched on the bilge pump and nothing came out, so we stood thigh deep in water hand bailing our cockpits much to the amusement of the passengers on the barge awaiting the return journey to Urangan. We finally got in our boats and paddled north with the last of the daylight to a campsite near the mouth of Coongul Ck. The sandflies were friendly, but tolerable.
We woke early the next morning to a calm sea and light wind. We went for a walk along the bank of the creek about 500m until we reached some fallen trees. The far bank was graced by a solitary Jabiru of enormous stature. Throughout the trip we were privileged to a remarkable diversity of birdlife. Susan wanted to explore the creek at high tide so after breakfast we headed upstream for about 4.5Km. The creek was teaming with fish which changed with the salinity. We arrived back at camp to find a couple of people fishing near the mouth of the creek. One of them caught the biggest Flathead we have ever seen. So big its head and tail stuck out of the fishing bag.
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