One of those incredible moments…

Last week I headed north to Hervey Bay, home of the best Humpback whale watching experience in Australia.

Tasman Venture - Spy Hop

There are still a few weeks left until these gentle giants return enmasse to our warm waters, but there’ve been a few offshore sightings to whet the appetite already. Talking to the operators about the coming season reminded me how breathtaking a close-up encounter can be with our Antarctic visitors.

In a few weeks time I’ll be heading north for another totally unique but slightly different experience – swimming with the Dwarf Minke Whales onboard Mike Ball’s expedition vessel Spoilsport.

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Hervey Bay’s not far from Brisbane. Jump in the car on a Friday after work, book a late table at a restaurant (my favourite in Queensland has to be Coast) and wake up bright and early ready for a day on the water. Simple.

The Queensland coast has been gifted two natural breakwaters from the rolling Pacific swell; the Great Barrier Reef and Fraser Island. Hervey Bay takes full advantage of these with sheltered, shallow waters behind Fraser Island offering the most comfortable whale watch cruising in Australia.

Fraser Coast Map

Our whales know it too! Between July and November every year the migrating Humpbacks stop off with their calves to jump, spy-hop and cruise for a while in their crystal clear underworld. They’re more curious of us humans than we are of them, often spending hours swimming around the whale-watch fleet grabbing a peak of what life’s like in our world.

Paddle Out day at Hervey Bay Hervey Bay Paddle Out Aerial

The official start to this year’s season starts on June 23rd with a Paddle Out taking place on the main beach at Hervey Bay outside Enzo’s cafe. Last year over 600 people attended the event, which brings awareness to the plight of whales around the planet. This year they’re aiming to have closer to a 1000 people there, so if you own any form of paddle craft, be it a kayak, SUP or outrigger head to the bay for a superb day on the water. I would love to have been there but I’ll be in the UK.

Tasman Venture - Mother & Calf Tasman Venture - Whale action

As the season approaches there are some cut-price deals to be had. If you’re thinking about it, stop it! The time to book is now. Visit the Queensland Holidays website to find out more.

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At the other end of the Great Barrier Reef, 1400kms to the north, another incredible underwater spectacle is about to take place. From June through to August Dwarf Minke Whales head into the tropical waters around the Ribbon Reefs in North Queensland. They don’t hang around for long though, spending only a few weeks here before disappearing from sight, to date there is no record of where they go.

Ribbon Reefs along the QLD coast

To witness this fascinating encounter you need to travel further out than a standard reef trip allows. The Ribbon Reefs stretch over 400kms along the outer edge of the reef, and it’s here these eight metre beasts enjoy hanging out. They’ve only been sighted here since the late 1990s but interact with snorkellers and divers in a very special way.

Minke Whale eye

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions run a specific trip over seven days that heads to these waters and offer the chance to socialise with these gentle giants by hanging from a line secured to the back of the vessel.

Spoilsport Vessel Watching the whales
The last three years of diving on the Great Barrier Reef have provided me with the chance to witness some remarkable creatures from tiny, brightly coloured nudibranchs up to immense, agile Manta Rays. But the upcoming trip at the beginning of July has to be one of my most anticipated adventures yet. I’ll be taking a full video and photographic rig with me to capture the escapades and bring them to you on this blog.

The Australian television program 60 Minutes featured the Minkes back in 2010, this clip gives you some idea as to how special the experience really is:

If you’ve never witnessed any of these marine creatures up close and personal like this then there’s no better time to start planning your adventure. Whether you choose to hop onboard with one of the operators in Hervey Bay for an experience tailored to your needs, or on a serious dive trip deep into the Coral Sea you can be guaranteed an adventure that will change your perspective of our world.

Now it’s time to read Jonah and the Whale or watch Whale Rider…whilst I’m in the mood for massive mammals!

Ben :)

Back on the road with an Outback Adventure

Angel Flight logo

Back in 2009 during the Best Job in the World I flew from Hamilton Island to the centre of Queensland’s Outback and a fascinating town called Longreach. I was there to take part in a charity drive known as Angel Flight’s Outback Trailblazer. I had such a good time I swore I’d return.

My Afritrex expedition in 2008 saw me travel overland circumnavigating Africa in my trusty Land Rover, Colonel Mustard. Since then I’ve brought him out to join me in Brisbane so it was about he time he stretched his legs again on the open road.

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We hit the road together at 4am winding our way out of the city confines. The motorway to Toowoomba was beautifully quiet as we climbed over the Great Dividing Range that lifts us 700m above sea level. I’d never driven this way before and as the road passed across the Darling Downs the sun was just starting to show its head across the fog-lined valleys. It reminded me of those cool autumnal mornings back in the UK.

Darling Downs sunrise

The drive out to Barcaldine, my destination for the night, tracks for over a 1000kms through Queensland’s Outback. I love driving huge distances, watching the landscape and agriculture change, stopping off to chat with the locals and counting down the distance to the finish line. 14 hours and 1,123 kms later the sun dropped behind the horizon, I pulled into the Iron Bark Pub car park to be greeted by a gaggle of Trailblazers already enjoying ‘a cold one’.

Outback Route

Ten days of Outback adventures lay ahead for around 40 vehicles, decked out in the sponsors’ livery and all on a mission to drive around 2,500kms on the “twelve river run” around Queensland’s outback. With 100 people from all walks of life taking part it was set to be a great fundraiser with a whole load of laughs along the way. Angel Flights Patron is Tanya Kernahan, one of Australia’s famous country singers. She launched this year’s event in Barcaldine with the cars all lined up outside the Tree of Knowledge

Sunrise past Toowoomba
Fisheye of monument Start your engines!!

Over the next seven days we headed through some of the most stunning Outback scenery. Long open stretches of dust-funnelling dirt road, vast expanses of low bush trailing off into the distance, the occasional mud track and lots of  tarmac extending to infinity. No two days were the same.

Since the official end to the Big Dry, Australia’s ten year drought, the Outback has transformed from a red dust bowl into a succulent green landscape severed by creeks and rivers. The wildlife has come out to play too with Emus and Kangaroos bounding along the edge of roads, racing for cover at the last minute. It’s only when you get up high you see the distances and the scale of this space. Life is everywhere.

The daily format for the Trailblazer involves early starts, a short drive before a filling breakfast, another drive to our location for lunch and an afternoon drive in time for dinner! Drive, eat, drive, eat. Each of the towns we stop at have something very unique about them. Some are famous for their opals, some for their cattle, some for the most recent flood and some like Toompine, for their population of 4. Yes 4 people!

Outback distances Happy Trucker
Iconic Outback stopoff

We meet some of the most hospitable people I’ve met in Queensland on the trip. School groups turn out to feed us, the local lawn bowls club to host competitions and the police even get involved with an impromptue road block. You see these communities don’t have a huge amount of traffic passing through them, apart from the occasional road train (at up to 56 metres long). So when 100 people arrive enmasse  it becomes a pretty major event. The highlight of all this fun and frivolity has to be a performance from the children at Quilpie school who one evening sing, dance and tap their way through an entire repertoire of songs after only three hours practice…and they rocked the place.

The Outback is famous for its watering holes. Not the ones the wildlife need to stay alive in the dry season, more the pubs that attract locals from far and wide after a hard day’s work. We stop off at a few along the way and each has its own personality and characters propping up the bar.

Along the way we stop at some iconic Outback tourist attractions, some of them wacky, some of them plain weird! The Cosmos Centre in Charleville has to be one of the best though. With clear outback skies and no light pollution their telescope can spy stars and planets way off in the distance and they operate sessions at 7:30pm on most nights. Well worth stopping in for.

Mudbath time in Palm Grove Ian and Nan Pike the fig farm owners Does this even work still?

Palm Grove Date Farm is another gem of a place. They grow figs, dates and have some amazing mud baths too utilising the artesian clay that lines the creeks here. It’s all good for the skin apparently! Ian and Nan Pike run their little shop and sell some true delicacies including their Sticky Date liqueur – have a shot! I walk out with dried figs, fig jam and of course a mud pack!

After a week on the road the convoy pulls into St George having visited some cracking locations, met some charismatic people and experienced some real Aussie hospitality. The event last year raised over $250,000 for Angel Flight and this year looks like it could surpass it with more vehicles and much more generosity all round.

The Cunnamulla Fella Heading home, watch out for the road trains!

Next year the event will take place in October and head north from Barcaldine exploring another area of this beautiful land.

Time to wash down the Colonel, clean the dust from my ears and dream about the next Outback drive.

Ben :)

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Route in a day Darling Downs sunrise The Colonel after 1,123 kms Sunrise past Toowoomba Outback driving The Alfa that didn't make it Open-top driving Barcaldine band play Tree of Knowledge monument Craig and Daniel the RACQ legends Fisheye of monument Old Commodore prepped and ready to go Annabelle from OTQA The wind pump at Barcaldine Start your engines!! How cool is this oven? The Barcoo Cup….we didn't win it! Caught red-handed and thrown in the slammer Another smoko stop-off No reception out here in the Outback The Brumbies glove box is emptied Walking a very sloppy wallk Clayton concentrates on the job in hand Moniques frozen fish! Old oil can Matt Bron sizing the yabbies up Heli-mustering Brand time! Adavale Piub - middle of nowhere! Brumbie Brothers relaxing on the Colonel Billies boiling Breakfast grill Damper Outback style The Outback is looking green again 1956 and 1986 The crapper Roos at the Cosmos Centre Outback distances Dusty rims Happy Trucker Does this even work still? Iconic Outback stopoff Another full smoko stop Outback Sunset Mudbath time in Palm Grove Bath time! Just stuff Ian and Nan Pike the fig farm owners Fresh fruit ice smoothies - uber-yummy! Eulo and the Queens Old Leyland? Listening to the Eulo Queen The Cunnamulla Fella Last day's Kangaroo Court in St George Huge Roo looking for a box Last night Italian party Lance the Organiser and legend Heading home, watch out for the road trains!

The opposite of Ben

Gwinganna

I haven’t ‘relaxed‘ properly in over four years.

Not the relax where you sit down for an evening to unwind, not the relax where you fall asleep on the beach or the relax where you watch the sun go down into the ocean. But the sort of relax where you forget your mobile phone, the internet and the outside world for days on end.

Last weekend I finally achieved this state of totally abandon, threw away the cares of the real world and headed to Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat on the Gold Coast to give myself a well overdue break from my ridiculously hectic lifestyle…and I rather enjoyed it.

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The view from the lawn

The view from the Qigong lawn in the centre of Gwinganna summarises the ambiance of the entire place. You look across the sweeping hills of the Gold Coast Hinterland towards the ocean in the distance with the skyline of the Gold Coast punctuating the two. This gives you an appreciation that you’re still part of the real world but far enough from it as to adopt a different mentality and take on life.

After the exhuberance of last weekend at the Adventurethon on Magnetic Island I thought I’d give my legs and body a well-overdue rest. Time to treat it to some therapeutic massage, healthy eating and some old-fashioned horizontal rest.

Gwinganna is one of those locations I’ve been meaning to visit for the last three years. It’s talked about with high regard as somewhere to go to leave the world behind and enter another headspace altogether. So when I heard they held an Organic Living course over a long weekend I decided it was time to venture south, almost the border of New South Wales (but not over of course!) and sample their delights.

Leave the iPhone in the room, step aside from caffeine and alcohol and embrace early mornings, healthy food and NO DESSERT! This could be tough.

My room at Gwinganna was a retreat in itself, overlooking a serene lake and themed in a Balinese style with no television, internet connection or minbar. I slept extremely well on the first night until the 5:30am wake-up call “Good morning Ben”.

Gwin_signsuites_HIGH
The lake of serenity Signature Villa front

Time to take part in the first of the day’s activities Qigong – an ancient cross between slow-mo dance and Thai-chi. Qigong is supposed to root your core to the earth and re-establish your place on the planet! Watching the sunrise from the horizon out in the open air is pretty special whatever you’re doing with your body at the time.

Breakfast is the first taste of how differently things are done here; healthy all the way. Almond milk, sheep’s yoghurt, buckwheat kernels, organic muesli and a shot of apple cider vinegar to line the stomach.

Next in the days proceedings, a hard walk through the bush with John Palmer, resident botanist and environmentalist here. John is one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met on this planet. Overflowing with character, knowledge and hilarity this gentle man embraces the natural world, wraps it in his own personality and delivers it to you in the most affable way. I could have spent hours hearing his stories of life and his work which has spanned over 20 years here.

Edible flowers The organic garden Future food for the guests

We’re here for an organic experience and once the walk has finished its back to the main restaurant for the core of the course; Organic Living with Shelley Pryor. Having spent 20 years as a chef growing everything organically on ‘the next ridge over’, she comes armed with knowledge on just about everything you can grow, cook and eat. Where Gwinganna has managed to find two such incredible characters is beyond me. Shelley and John are the very essence of how it should be done in a perfect world.

Having been brought up in the ‘Green Fingered Way’ by my parents in the UK I love growing fruit and vegetables so I’m here to get tips for Aussie growing. After three days of lessons and listening my notebook is full of scribbles, my head full of ideas and I’m itching to put them into practice.

Dreamtime arrives just after lunch. This is the part of the day that everyone looks forward to. A chance to be preened, pampered and poked in the spa for the betterment of the human body and mind.

Having smashed my legs to pieces the previous weekend they’re in need of some serious attention and I enrol for the Rockupuncture and Deep Tissue Massage courses. Eighty minutes brings everything internal back on track so I can abuse my body again in a few months time when I take on the next marathon!

The Dreamtime Spa

The spa itself is nestled amongst the trees in the forest, the treatment rooms laid out like the points on a compass. Inside each the knowledge of an expert brings the lucky inhabitant back to life in their own special way; acupuncture, massage, hot stones etc etc

Once the treatments are out of the way its ‘you’ time – a chance to lay back, read a book, relax and unwind – after all its been a tough morning!

The evening meal can’t come soon enough, I love to eat and the exertions of the day build the appetite by 7pm. Each evening we’re treated to luxurious, healthy food…but there’s always one thing missing in my mind – DESSERT!!! It doesn’t matter  how long I sit at the table after the meal is cleared. I never arrives :(

The Gwinganna buildings are traditional Queenslanders My book reading spot
Last light of the day

Four days pass too quickly, each offering a different experience and set of activities. The pick of which for me has to be ‘Finding Your Mojo’. Picture me in a room with 20 women belly-dancing, pretending to hold a bank note in my butt-cheeks whilst wiggling like Beyonce and then to top it all off ‘Dancing the Horny Camel” – I laughed until I cried.

As I drove away I felt sad to be leaving after a truly awe-inspiring, spiritual experience, heading back to the real world of chocolate, wine, hectic traffic and DESSERT!!

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To say Gwinganna had a profound effect on me would be an understatement. I mean look at the twelve hours after I left the retreat. I headed straight to a worm supplier and bought a worm farm, repotted all my plants with organic compost, planted out my cuttings from John Palmer and cooked Sophee dinner using Shelley’s herbs and plants!!!!

To find out more about this beautiful part of the Sunshine State visit the Gwinganna website and check yourself out of the real world, just for a few days.

I’m off to the Outback for the next ten days as part of the Outback Trailblazer which will make for an amazing experience and some great blogs.

Have a great week

Ben :)

  • In 2009 Ben Southall  was announced as the successful candidate for Tourism Queensland's 'Best Job in the World' campaign  and became the Caretaker  for the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Since then he has worked as a Queensland Tourism Ambassador travelling extensively throughout the state filming, photographing and blogging about his adventures. Read More

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