Heron Island Queensland

Getting to Heron Island involved a 5hr drive north of our home to Gladstone and an overnight stay to make the 9:30am ferry to the island  There is only a single trip to the island on certain days.

Trip route to Heron Island, Queensland, Australia

Trying to keep things succinct… a few quick facts about Heron Island:

• there are now no herons on Heron Island but there are egrets.  There were reef herons in 1920’s
• Heron is an islands or quay at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef that started forming 6,000 years ago
• is part Nat. Park, part resort, a bird & turtle sanctuary - no drones allowed
• takes about 20 minutes to walk around island
• resort started construction in 1970s so buildings and accom. are a bit tired but okay

General views of Heron Island - jetty and the bar

 It took 2hrs to get here with plenty of people using sick bags due to rough seas and we were straight into briefing on arrival about how things work, including rules when interacting with the wildlife, things like:

• don’t touch the sharks or rays
• stay away from the turtles laying eggs
• don’t step on the baby turtles trying to reach the sea
• stay away from turtle nests
• don’t pick up any baby Noddy terns who have fallen out of nest etc etc. 

Rail - can fly but like running around on the ground

One of thousands of Noddy Terns

There are a variety of activities both free or paid for everyone to enjoy and we chose a bird walk, turtle hatchling walk and snorkeling on the outer reef.  Masks, snorkels and flippers are provided to each person per room at a cost, so it wasn’t long before we were in the ocean directly out of the front of our room for the next 5 nights.

The view directly out front from our room

At the resort there is a swimming pool, hardly used because of the beautiful aqua blue ocean surrounding the island, a bar, small store, restaurant, reception centre and marine centre.

The swimming pool with restaurant in the background

For the first 36hrs there were strong winds and infrequent rain squalls before finally abating, but it didn’t stop us walking around the island along the beach, exploring various tracks across the island, all the time being constantly accompanied by a range of birds, especially noddy terns in their thousands, the most numerous birds and most of them nesting.

Various walks we took around and through the island

We were always in the presence of birds

It took almost 48hrs to be in truely relaxed mode, slowing down even more and getting into a simple set of routines which included spending more time just observing the wildlife activity all around us.

Our goal(s) during this visit to Heron were:

1. do a lot of snorkeling
2. relax
3. try to see some Green or Loggerhead turtles coming onto or leaving the beach
4. see some baby turtles hatchling coming out of their nest and hopefully reaching the ocean

We managed to go snorkelling at least once a day but 2 times was more frequent, including venturing to the outer reef around the island.  The reef is not rich in colour but there are still all sorts of fish living within it.  People who went scuba diving told us the reef was more vibrant in the deeper waters they visited and even saw manta rays.

Shows the extent of the reef around Heron Island where outer reef tours can venture

CLICK HERE for Snorkelling Inner Reef - Heron Island

Very quickly everyone learns there is an abundance of white and black tip sharks patrolling close to shore and most visitors became quite relaxed as they glided close past them whilst snorkeling.  They were on a mission but more on that shortly.

Visitor enjoying the close proximity of ever vigilant reef sharks

CLICK HERE for Swimming With Sharks - Heron Island

In the waters around the island live a lot of rays of various forms and we managed to see these during snorkelling under the jetty we landed at.

CLICK HERE for Snorkelling Under Jetty - Heron Island

Our other goal was to find turtles either arriving onto or leaving the beach and see turtle hatchlings leave their nest and head to the ocean.

Seeing hatchlings bursting out of their nest came first because you really need to be in the right place at the right time as they may emerge anywhere at anytime between sunrise and sunset.

Baby turtles digging their way out of their nest

CLICK HERE for Turtle Hatchlings Marching - Heron Island

It was very surprising to see them bursting out of one hole and next was how quickly they ‘flipper sprint’ to the ocean with it all being over within 10-15 minutes.  We had to be very careful not to step backwards on baby turtles because they are all over the place.

There are many predators scouring the island looking for these babies to eat, the first being the birds, especially seagulls.  We were encouraged by the island staff to do what we could to scare seagulls away from any baby turtles trying to reach the ocean.

Lots of predators looking for a quick feed during breeding season

Talked earlier about sharks big and small patrolling the shores because they are  also waiting for the babies to reach the ocean and during one episode we watched 20-30 baby turtles successfully reach the ocean and start swimming before the water ‘boiled’ as sharks attacked them in the shallows eating every one of them.

During the breeding season only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings will return to lay their own eggs.

Adult green turtles take 25-50 years to reach reproductive maturity and return to the island where they were born, but only nest every 2-4 years and sometimes lay up to 9 nests per season.  As a result there were lots of turtle tracks on the beach each morning and new nest depressions.

Every morning we would find fresh turtle track on/off the island

Adult turtles prefer to arrive onto and leave the beach during high tide, reducing the distance to crawl to nesting locations.  We were lucky to have high tides happening around sunrise so it was early morning starts for us in our quest to find adult turtles.

We never actually saw any turtles coming onto the beach to nest but we did see them swimming close to shore.

Turtle swimming the shoreline either feeding on jellyfish
or waiting to come on land to breed

Over the course of a few mornings we found multiple adult turtles in the process of covering their eggs after laying by using their flippers and then return to the ocean to feed and rest.

It was fabulous to observe these magnificent animals.

Returning to the ocean to feed and rest

After finishing laying, she gently pushed sand back over the eggs using her rear flippers to cocoon them.  Next was the arduous task using her front flippers to push lots of sand backwards whilst slowly hauling herself forward.  

Green turtle covering her eggs

She also used her rear flippers to compress the sand and by the time she was finished, she had moved forward nearly 2 mtrs and had piled a 40cm layer of sand over her precious eggs.

It was such a privilege to be able to observe all of this?

CLICK HERE for Green Turtles Laying & Covering Eggs

We went to Heron Island with quite low expectations apart from the relaxation and snorkelling and we came away feeling very satisfied with what we had experienced.

With ‘living with covid’ now changing our capacity to get back into increasing travel activity, all being well (pun), there will be more to come from the Geripackers going forward.

CLICK HERE if interested in a few more Heron Island photos

Go well!

Ecuador - Galapagos - 2018

The first destination we booked over 12 months before leaving for South America was to the Galapagos Islands, and the rest of our trip was planned around it.

Our 2 sons and daughter in-laws, all of whom had already visited the Galapagos, were definite that we should visit and they helped us understand what was involved.

For example, we could do all land based ‘tours’ using water taxis between islands, or we could do a combination of boat and land or just boat. 

The challenge we also learned through them and subsequent research, was not all species of wildlife are found on all islands and for some, their presence is seasonal, like whales, as are breeding seasons.  

Additionally, water taxis could not take you to some of the furthest islands where some of the more iconic species are found.

The Galapagos Islands

We elected to spend 2 weeks, in fact 2 x 1 week tours back to back, on a boat called the Eden because it was the only one we found which visited all the key islands at a reasonable price, therefore giving us the best chance to see what we were most interested in.

Getting to the Galapagos first meant flying from Buenos Aires via Lima to a city called Guayaquil in Ecuador where we spent a night.

Buenos Aires via Lima to Guayaquil

After going through quite a strict process at Guayaquil Airport next morning, where our bags were scanned for any food products, and needing to purchase the Galapagos entry permit, we then flew to the island (isla) of San Cristobal on the Galapagos.

Takes 2hrs to fly from Guayaquil to Isla San Cristobal

There, sniffer dogs again checked our bags and mine was singled out for further inspection.  The dog had picked up some soil on the bottom of my sandals and after a quick spray of something; Luis, our guide on the Eden for the next 2 weeks, met us.

Even on the wharf whilst waiting to board we started watching wildlife, with frigate birds above, baby iguanas, or having to skirt around the sea lions.

Waiting on the wharf with a new friend

So over the next 2 weeks we travelled to many islands, each of which had either specific wildlife to be expected (hopefully) and other scenery.  Below is a table of the islands we visited and landed on, apart from Kicker Rock.

Over 2 weeks we visited islands using the following routes.

Week 1. (West to East) Route      ____________________

Week 2. (North to South) Route  ____________________

We also learned as soon as we arrived into San Cristobal that it was breeding season, so many of the birds were likely to be sitting on eggs if not looking after new borns and this extended to other species like iguanas.

Other wildlife were also likely to be courting for partners to mate with.

Blue footed booby courting dance

It was straight onto the boat, a quick induction before starting to meet the 13 other fellow travellers we would be with for week 1.  The maximum number of passengers on the Eden was 16, so we all got to know each other quickly.

The Eden

The Eden has a crew of 6 who were both good company but also keen to ensure we enjoyed ourselves and eat well… which we did.

Luis the guide on left with Eden's crew

What a great bunch of people the other travellers turned out to be with a good mix of younger and older.  Everyone was very respectful and helpful to each other plus getting on together extremely well.

With introductions to each other and lunch barely settled in everyone’s stomachs, the boat raised anchor and headed to Isla Lobos a short distance away.  Before reaching this island, Luis and crew were fitting us with snorkelling gear for our first activity.

Shortly after, there we were, making our way into the cool waters of the Galapagos, enjoying looking at many fish when suddenly, young, curious and very playful sea lions turned up to play with everyone!

VERY curious indeed

What an amazing experience to have them swimming around you, twisting and turning very close by, then coming up towards our faces and staring straight at us whilst blowing bubbles out of their mouths.

Sea lions playing with us

What a great way to start our time in the Galapagos and something neither of us will forget, especially as now we have a lot of underwater video of the experiences.

For the next 2 weeks we settled into a daily routine of multiple activities involving the use of ‘pangas’ (zodiacs) to either go on land, or do panga cruises or use them as a launching place for snorkelling.  A very loud ships bell signalled the start of each activity or meals.

No matter which island we visited there was always wildlife around or above you, quite often so close we had to be very careful not to step on them, including nesting birds, land or marine iguanas, lava lizards and sea lions.

Heron keeping Rob company behind her back

It constantly amazed us just how close we would be to the wildlife, including very small birds, which would normally fly away from us at home.  The rules were simple, stay at least 2m from the animals to ensure we neither hurt nor scared them.

It was also a surprise just how many people actually live on a selected number of the Galapagos Islands, something never seen or exposed in the multiple documentaries I’m sure we have all watched. For example, the population on Isla Santa Cruz is ~25,000.

Port area of Santa Cruz

Luis our guide who was born and lives on the Galapagos, whilst having a very keen sense of humour, also had a great knowledge of the flora and fauna of the islands we visited, plus their history. Nobody is allowed on land without a guide.

Luis behind Rob waiting for a panga to arrive

The 14 other passengers on the boat during week 2, were all very nice but due to language limitations, tended to break into groups during meals, the German & English speaking tables.

Our table being the English one, included some delightful couples from Holland and New Zealand who were a lot of fun indeed but we enjoyed everyone's company.

Our trips to land in the pangas were always eventful, after having donned life jackets and then either tackling a ‘dry’ landing onto steps cut into wet lava rocks then clambering up more rocks, or steps or a wet landing, which is as the name suggests, you step into the water, then go ashore.  

On a panga heading to shore

On one occasion whilst trying to board the pangas to return to ship, a group were almost washed off the rocky landing pier used when we arrived due to the rising tide and increased waves.

Our snorkelling activities were either commenced from the beach or a few off the side of the panga.  On some islands the water was reasonably warm, but others required renting a wetsuit for the day in order to stay comfortably in the water for an hour or so.  The Humboldt Current was returning already bringing cold water up from Antarctica.

All wearing wetsuits for the cool waters

All the snorkelling activities were very enjoyable and how couldn’t they be when you’re either swimming with seal lions on multiple occasions or...

penguins...

Galapagos penguins

sea turtles…

marine iguanas feeding underwater…

Marine iguana

sharks…

White tipped reef shark

Each day was very busy with at times 3-4 activities being undertaken like say 2x 1hr snorkelling activities and 2x 2hr walks on land and typically with 7am starts each day.

There were so many many other highlights during our time on the amazing Galapagos, but if we were to share but a few.

… blue footed boobies

Why they are called blue footed boob

Blue footed booby mum, baby and egg

...red footed boobies

Red footed booby

...nazca boobies

Nazca booby

...Galapagos hawks

The top predator on the Galapagos is the Galapagos Hawk

...short eared owl

Short eared owl is the 2nd top predator

...frigate birds

Frigate birds are great acrobatic hunters in the skies

...land iguanas

There are multiple species of land iguanas

...marine iguanas on land and under water

Marine iguanas warming up in the sun

...lava lizards

Lava lizard

...colourful crabs

Crabs with a friend

...sea lions on shore

The ever curious sea lions

...giant tortoises

Giant tortoise... looks a bit like ET

...flightless cormorants

Flightless cormorants watching an intruder

...Galapagos penguins on land

Galapagos penguin couple

...very colourful flamingoes

Very graceful indeed

…walking on lava fields

Some beautiful patterns in the lava fields

...beautiful scenery after climbing mountains

Looking out over some of the Galapagos landscape

… watching the graceful Galapagos (Waved) Albatrosses

Albatross having a stretch whilst sitting on its egg

Magnificent albatross in flight

If considering a visit to the Galapagos, which we would highly recommend, especially if doing some or all of it on a boat as we did, it would be prudent to research each ship and study cabin layouts and sizes.

Some of the crossings between islands are fairly long, like 7-10 hours and the long ones typically occur at night, when much needed sleep is required.  Our boat rocked and rolled a bit during these transitions between islands, meaning we were a little sleep deprived the next day.

Since visiting the Galapagos Islands there have been two volcanos erupt, one on Isla Fernandina and the other on Isla Isabella from a volcano we climbed to the rim of.

After 2 weeks on the boat, we did enjoy a bit of chill time on San Cristobal Island for 2 days before flying back to Guayaquil on mainland to start the rest of our travels through Ecuador, so more on that next post… go well.

CLICK HERE - Link to more photos Galapagos Week 1.

CLICK HERE - Link to more photos Galapagos Week 2.