Arrival in Australia, Turtles #1

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Arrived in Brisbane today (our 17th anniversary) and my old friend Bob Houghton met us at the airport and took us to his place in Boonah. Bob and Helen are Aussie friends who I met in Peru in 1982, and who later visited us in North Carolina and stayed three weeks with us just after we got involved. We've stayed in touch for 20 years, and had kids at about the same rate and timing; it was great to see them and meet their kids. We went hiking with them the next day, just a little Sunday stroll Australian style up a narrow gash in the mountain called Palm Chasm; it was a little rough going in the heat, climbing up loose rock and fallen palm fronds in the hot Queensland summer, but it was really lovely too and the vegetation and terrain were completely different from NZ. We enjoyed each others' company, and made plans to meet again next weekend in Byron Bay.

On the 4th, we headed up the coast to Bundaberg, where we visited a turtle nesting area and took a boat out to Lady Musgrave Island, a beautiful coral island towards the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

There's a lot of balancing on this trip- between trying to see it all and relaxing enough to enjoy what we're seeing. Between seeking real adventure and choosing more controlled, accessible, less stressful, and less potentially risky experiences that a family with teenagers can buy into. Between showing the kids a smorgasbord of what's out there with the hope that they'll choose what they want to do 'deep diving' in later on their own, and showing the kids what kinds of experiences can be created with independence, creativity, and a limited budget. Overall, we've played it about right.

2/5 Went turtle watching at Mon Repos Beach last night, the biggest loggerhead turtle rookeries in the Southern Hemisphere, and one of the most important turtle hatching sites in the world. The staff take you out on the beach in groups, and you see either hatchlings running to the sea, or females laying eggs. Either way, it's a treat, a poetic experience, and well worth the time and the chance you won't see anything (it's up to the turtles!). Oh, yes... gender of the hatchlings is determined entirely by the incubation temperature... at Mon Repos, the sand was pretty warm, so they're all girls! This sums it up:

Journey

Soft scratching awakens ancient urges New beak pushes against soft shell Loggerhead hatches free.

Pushing into warm sand Flippers free and moving now, Heeding the call of vast seas untouched, Yet known in deepest strands of nerve and bone. The destiny of a species Vested in this tiny creature.

Hatchling swims up through soft sand, Nest a wriggling mass: Hundreds of sisters Sifting sand and slowly climbing Only inches now from fresh breezes. Pausing then for several days- Shell straightens and hardens Yolk absorbs into body Storing energy for the first mad dash Against odds no child so small should know.

Then, triggered by cooling sands And sisters' movement above, Deep longing arises: an urge to swim. Oceans away, grandfather dives Slow and deep through green water.

Tiny flippers moving hard now, Nothing held back. Beak, eyes, shell emerge into soft night Siren call of gentle surf: 'Come, little one- NOW is your time!'

Down the beach, faster now... Past seagulls' sharp bills, Through footprints of awed tourists Over rocks, stranded shreds of kelp, Following destiny's call. Minute cells imprint magnetic memories For a return fifty years hence- No moment's doubt from long odds Against this girl ever coming home.

Now she's in the water, Instinct driving her on- Flippers pushing salty water. Four days and sixty miles later, She'll stop to rest, eat, and drift, Currents and tides carrying her on To faraway deeps and unknown shores.

For now, just one tiny turtle- Swimming alone through dark endless seas. Overhead, from black sky, A hundred billion stars shine down To celebrate and light her way.

-Doug