Yesterday (meaning January 6) we visited Moreton Island, near Brisbane. It’s the third largest sand island in the world … and also the third largest sand island in Queensland, Australia. The water was beautiful tropical water — rich lapis blue, jade green, and every color in between. It was warm and humid. Actually, very warm and very humid. We started out bird watching and saw many including pelicans, pied cormorants (both in the top picture), and (bottom picture) bush thick-knees.
Went snorkeling near the Tagalooma Wrecks — some ships that were intentionally submerged to form a barrier to protect the island. As happens, corals and fish discovered the metal and moved in. The snorkeling was meh — too many people, too much current, water not clear and we were required to wear wet suits. That said, I saw sergeant majors, parrotfish, a few others, and the experience whet my appetite for more snorkeling to come on this trip. (photo credit to Glorie)
Today (meaning January 7) was special. We were in Brisbane. I got to meet a “cousin” — specifically the local reviewer, Thomas. Before today the only time we’d “met” was over Zoom when he graciously agreed to be included in my book. At dinner tonight we were joking about some of the crazy things cachers do and how trusting we are of each other. I quipped that it had been just a few hours since I hopped into a car with another geocacher I’d never met. But as reviewers — some of the 275 or so volunteers — we already have mutual friends, and can safely assume that the other person is a good human (spoiler alert, no surprise at all that Thomas is indeed a good human).
We started with a hike in Karawatha Forest. It’s got the oldest cache in Queensland which normally wouldn’t be a particular draw for me except that it happened to be published in the year 2000 and I’m trying to find more caches placed in the first few months that geocaching existed. The forest was loud! Lots of cicadas humming very rapidly as it was quite warm and humid. It smelled of eucalyptus which is comforting as it reminds me of my college days — San Diego and Brisbane are similar distances from the equator, though of course on opposite sides of both the Pacific Ocean and the equator. We probably walked a few kilometers, including almost exactly 161 meters/528 feet as the crow flies of bushwhacking (those numbers will mean something to the cachers in the crowd). We spotted some interesting, non-toxic spiders but I didn’t successfully photograph them because the camera wanted to focus behind the spider so it looks like an unfocused blob. Found the cache easily, then noticed three people approaching so we waited a bit before realizing they were friends from the ship. After the first cache we continued and found a second (and declined to do 400 meters of bushwhacking for another find) before returning to the car.
This may be burying the lede for some cachers (and totally irrelevant to others), but it speaks to the priority of the day being “family” and social rather than caching, but with the first Karawatha Forest find: I completed my second Jasmer loop on this walk.
Next we visited a gadget cache which was visited by a gecko while we were there.
Then we took a lovely walk downtown along the Brisbane River where we saw several of the 15 or so bridges, the downtown beach, some nice buildings, and a pleasantly walkable city. Lots of interesting mosaic tiles on the sidewalk as well walked along the river.
After a tasty pub lunch we went to Mt. Coot-Tha which provided a lovely view of Brisbane and southern Queensland. (There might have been a couple of caches along the way.) Then it was time to return to the ship.
Conversation flowed easily — not surprisingly because there’s a lot for reviewers to discuss. Caching. Reviewing. Which other reviewers we‘ve met. Travels. Differences between our countries — which side of the street to drive on, accents, measurement units (distance and temperature), foods, weather, size of the states (Australia has 6 states plus two mainland territories and is about the size of the United States’ lower 48 states), how our political systems differ, and so much more. Professional experiences. Things we do besides work (for the one who is employed), caching, reviewing and travel.
And I’m delighted that I have a new friend, someone I’ve now met (once) in person. That said, I’m sure we will both remember aspects of today because that’s the way the reviewer family works. Maybe someday he will be able to visit Portland and I’ll be able to reciprocate his hospitality.
The day concluded with a beautiful sunset after dinner.
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