Heron Island: swimming adventure where sharks are part of the scenery

Heron Island is a coral cay located 72 kilometres off the mining port of Gladstone in North Queensland. It is a national park on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef that also accommodates a research centre and a resort for 200 guests.

I was there a couple of weeks ago with around 150 mad ocean swimmers, who got the opportunity to swim 3km around the island.

During our stay, we also swam with sharks, rays and turtles. Yikes! Sharks!

I never thought I would calmly observe a shark as it glided underneath me but I did. And it was the most amazing experience. Heron's sharks are predominantly the black tipped and white tipped reef variety. I also saw a lemon shark, which has a fatter body.

The reef sharks are long and sinuous and can look rather scary, especially when you see their fin slicing through the water. But these sharks aren't the least bit interested in biting humans for a taste and there has never been an incident involving humans and sharks on the island.

Below are some happy snaps of my holiday. More to come - with more of a story about the trip.

The wreck that greets visitors on their approach to the island.

Every island has to have a sunset.

The rays hang out near the shore.

The black object is a shark.

Bait fish.

The gantry.

  

Feeling glad all over, it's Mr October: hedge trimmer extraordinaire

I'm thinking about a comeback. Starting with Mr October's not a bad idea. 

This photo says a lot about the calibre of the Aussie male physique and why it's sometimes best left to the imagination. 

Having said that, Mr October is a fine specimen with a unique approach to lawn maintenance. I think it's fine for him to go wild with the whipper snipper in his own backyard but I won't be asking him to help out at my daughter's annual school working bee anytime soon.

I reckon his talents would be better appreciated at a Country Women's Association bake-off. 

Pass me the smelling salts Madge! My scones are rising!

Spring has sprung and so has Mr September: Dorothy the Dinosaur a sex toy?

Sorry. I've been away for a while, taking a break from the blog and trying to get some real writing done. Then I went and got sick and found an excuse to stop altogether!

Hopefully, the end of winter will bring good times. It's been cold and miserable for months and I'll be glad to see the end of it.

It's spring in Sydney and the predictions are that it's going to be a long hot summer. 

Speaking of long and hot, it's time to meet Mr September. 

I will never be able to think of Dorothy the Dinosaur as a mildly annoying, rose-growing reptile ever again. She has now become cemented in my mind as a sex object - literally.

Enjoy spring. I hope to be back soon on a more regular basis. 

The QT Hotel in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast: a weekend of romance with a hacking cough

I flew to the Gold Coast last weekend for the Romance Writers of Australia annual conference at the QT Hotel in Surfers Paradise. I intend to write more about the conference on my Wordpress blog, which is dedicated to my writing ambitions (sadly, there's not a lot of action on that blog).

In the meantime, here are some pics of the amazing conference venue, the QT Hotel, and some nice shots of a benign beach - these are not the challenging conditions I've come to know and respect on the Gold Coast, where a strong current usually restricts my swim to the shallows. 

I swam on Sunday morning and it was calm, flat and clear. I'm not a huge fan of Surfers and my preference is to stay away from the sleazy, run-down town centre up the road at Broadbeach or even down the road at Burleigh Heads. But if you have to stay at Surfers, the QT is the place. It's one of the coast's older hotel's that's undergone a stylish refurbishment that's fun and funky. Enjoy the pics.

PS: I had a hacking cough all weekend. No fun. 

Beautiful weather in Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise: the beach is the best thing about it. The QT is the second-best thing; excellent accommodation and fantastic conference food!

Lobby at the QT in Surfers Paradise

QT Hotel, Surfers Paradise