Sannah and The Pilgrim, and Pia and The Skyman, by Sue Parritt

Sue Parritt’s Sannah and the Pilgrim is the first title in her climate fiction trilogy. It is gollowed by Pia and the Skyman and The Skylines Alliance.

The genre Cli-Fi (Climate fiction) is making increasing headway these days as writers look at what a future world, wrecked by climate change, might turn out like. Sue Parritt took a close look at Australasia – Australia and New Zealand. Australia, of course, has already had increasingly severe fires, floods and droughts. I found Sue Parritt’s vision to be scarily plausible as well as entertaining.

The story: Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand) are ravaged by droughts. In Australia in particular. The coastal plains have been inundated by rising sea levels. The ‘Whites, although impoverished by today’s standards, hang on to power through apartheid. They force the ‘Browns’, mostly refugee populations from the drowned Pacific Islands, to labour on the little arable land that remains.

Sannah 2314

We see this future from the point of view of a resistance movement, the ‘Women’s Line’, as they endure dangers to help the serfs held in the underground prisons to escape to what we hope will be a better life for them in Aotearoa. This is an Underground Railroad of the future.

Sannah, “The Storyteller”, belongs to the Women’s Line. When a light skinned stranger calling himself Kaire arrives at her dome she must consider whether he is a spy. The twin mysteries of Kaire’s origins and Sannah’s purpose in “storytelling” drive along the narrative in the first novel. Kaire’s background when revealed gives us another viewpoint of the conditions on the planet.

As with all resistance movements, nobody quite knows who is to be fully trusted. Missions are planned, and after excruciating buildups of tension some go wrong.

We have escapes by desert and by sea, rescues, betrayals, brutalities and passions. Yet Parritt’s low key writing makes this stark way of life seem almost normalised, which makes it all the more disturbing; and the wreckage of not just the planet but of humanity springs out at us.

In Pia and the Skyman the story picks up from the bases in Aotearoa.

Parritt writes on her website –

“I want readers to grasp what is happening not only in contemporary Australia, but throughout the world with regard to refugees and the ongoing environmental degradation that poses increasing problems for humanity… By writing fiction that I believe could easily become fact, I hope to inspire more ‘ordinary’ people to take a stand and work for a more equitable and sustainable world.”

Sannah and the Pilgrim was Commended in the FAW Christina Stead Award, 2015. Pia and the Skyman was commended for the Christina Stead Fiction Award 2016 in the National Literary Awards of The Fellowship of Australian Writers. You can learn more about Sue Parritt and these books at her blog.

Where to find the trilogy: All the books are published by Odyssey Book and available through BookDepository as well as Waterstones, Indigo and Amazon. The third book, The Skylines Alliance, is also now available.

Another Cli-Fit series I loved and that you may well endure is the Chronicles of the Pale by Clare Rhoden. You can see my review here.

You are at Baffled Bear Books, the blog of Mark, guardian and blundering typist for Mawson Bear, Ponderer of Baffling Things and one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is writer bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In.

Whale Sharks and Humpback Whales Too

The Search So Far: Mawson’s Guardian, Mark, and the Guardian-ess set off to see the Whale Sharks that migrate up past the Ningaloo Reef in the North of Western Australia. But on our day out on the water, hours passed with no sighting of a whale shark. We feared we would miss out altogether. But then suddenly they were sighted.

Whale Shark. Pic by Daniel Browne of Coral Bay Eco Tours — All under water pics shown here are by **Daniel Browne** of Coral Bay Eco Tours.

The skipper steered into position. We tourists shuffled on bums down to the marlin board, tense for the word to drop in. If the skipper had judged right, the whale shark would cruise in front of us. Go! And there it was! Just below the surface, moving along with a smooth up and down motion of the whole body. I was so excited that if I had not needed the snorkel to breathe, I would have eaten it.

We were actually swimming with this great beast. We spread out into a semi circle and followed as long as possible. Some lucky people were alongside the shark, on either side, 3 or 4 metres away, with a good clear view. Some saw mostly its big tail and other snorkelers. The beast seemed unconcerned by us and never changed its pace. It easily pulled ahead within a few minutes.

The boat came round to pick us up. This required using upper body strength and a big kicking lunge to land your torso as high up the marlin board as possible before clambering up to the deck itself. No problem for me in the calm water within the reef. But the swell had gotten up as the cold front got closer. If the stern lifted up in the swell at the same time as you made your lunge, your big seal flop could be difficult, even bruising. I clobbered my chest. Several people struggled with it. The crew helped pull us up, of course.

A second beast was seen and then a third one. The vessel steered into a new position, and again we slid into the water. Several people this time got an excellent along-side swim. They got those classic “I swam with a Whale Shark’ instagramable photos. But I saw only a powerful tail ahead of me. That tail moved almost lazily but it made my effort to keep up with it seem like a flutter board chasing a silent jet ski. I swam as hard as I ever have; and the crew member, Ellie, who was helping me hauled me along too. I had never moved in the water so fast. But still not much of a view for me this time. And I was really drained. Been in the water 4 times now. But it was not over. The RV Thunder turned to try for a third swim.

We came around again ahead of the course of the whale sharks as they cruised seemingly without effort north along side Ningaloo Reef. Only 14 or so our group of 20 went in this time, the others exhausted. With help of crew member Ellie, I got into a good position. The spotted beast was huge, perhaps 4 metres, bigger than the others. I managed to keep up alongside it although it took the most powerful swimming of my life and Ellie towing me as well. Within 3 or 4 minutes perhaps, although it felt longer, the animal had glided ahead until there was only its tail to see. We boarded RV Thunder for the last time, collectively elated and exhausted. ( I needed help to get up out of the water this time.) All had seemed lost only an hour before. But now we had actually swum with the whale sharks!

Then our day got even better. The earliest hump back whales of the season were out there too! We hadn’t even expected whales.

To see a whale even from 150-200 metres or so, a huge pecoral fin surging out of the side of a swell and a big body curving up, blowing, and diving down (“Tharr she blows!”) is an uplifting sight. We saw one perhaps 50 m away surfing along the side of a big swell and turning its big pink belly to us. Another (or perhaps the same) turned to the vessel. Yes! It came on, swirled around until it was belly side up, all white and pink, dipped lower while still upside down, and went right under the boat. We think we saw 5 different migrating humpback whales. What a day! What a day!

(I couldn’t get vids of the whales, sorry, but here are more whale sharks we saw that day taken by Daniel Browne of Coral Bay Eco Tours.

Whale Shark seen on 7 June 2022. Pic taken by Daniel Browne of Coral B ay Eco Tours

Note: All under water pics shown here are by Daniel Browne of Coral Bay Eco Tours.

You are at Mark’s blog called Baffled Bear Books. Mark is a dark coffee tragic, bibliophile and Guardian of Mawson Bear, a Ponderer of Baffling Things and one of this bright world’s few published bears.

Whale Sharks of Ningaloo Reef: Our Search is On

The Search So Far: Mawson’s Guardian, Mark, and the Guardian-ess had the good fortune last November to swim with 3 manta rays off the North West coast of Western Australia in the waters of the Ningaloo Reef. You can read about our snorkelling experience here and particularly about the big manta rays here. This year we set off to see Whale Sharks. But would we be successful?

Turtle swimming in the coral reef off Coral Bay in Western Australia — All under water pics shown here are by **Daniel Browne** of Coral Bay Eco Tours.

No doubt, some of you are used to snorkelling and boating. Me, I love to look at the ocean but when I get waist deep in it my body involuntarily says, ‘Errruuuh Huh Huhh Huhhh Ooooogggh Arrrrrrrrrh’.

Out beyond the reef to find the whale sharks in RV thunder

Within the reef: extraordinary structures of coral

I speak as a non boating average swimmer who has rarely snorkelled. Everything about our Whale Shark Day at Ningaloo Reef held its own excitement for me, including my apprehension about sliding into the ocean kilometres off the coast.

Reef Shark on the outer side of Ningaloo Reef

I didnt see that particular turtle in these pics but I was gobsmaked by so much else. Streams of sunlight poured down thru the water catching shoals of coloured fishes like dancing lights. Magical. The coral was simply fantastic, a whole other world. Octopi, reef sharks, fish of all kinds.

After our first excellent swim of the day within the reef around the amazing coral bombs, we set course beyond the reef parallel to the shore heading to about where 5 whale sharks had been spotted by the same crew the day before.

Excitement was high. We steered north and chatted of all the creatures we had seen. We kept on northward. We all made umpteen adjustments to our gear. We kept steering north. The spotter plane appeared and quartered the area. Nothing. North and further north we coursed. At this rate we would soon be half way to Exmouth. There we were, all kitted in our wetsuits, keyed up, ready to plunge in; and no sighting. We started to realise that this just might not be our day. You can’t predict the wide ocean and wild animals. T

Whale Shark of Ningaloo Reef: Photo by Daniel Brown of Coral Bay Eco Tours

The crew conferred. They told us that it looked like perhaps they had nothing for us. Our emotions dipped from elation to deflation. We all knew that we were unlikely to go out next day for another try because the weather was going to turn overnight. So that seemed to be that. Oh, well. We could still do another swim or two.

For our 2nd snorkel they took us to a little seen spot on the outer side of the reef. The coral animal structures on the deep side look different, tougher you might say, and just as fascinating. We saw reef sharks and larger fish. The swell was stronger here for an average swimmer like me and there was some suction close to the reef. My arms tired but I kept happily swimming. I was going to make the most of seeing Ningaloo Reef with my own eyes.

Suddenly the crew signalled to get aboard. Had a whale shark at last been spotted? Yes! We scrambled back on the marlin board in a tangle of flippers and seal-flopping bodies. We sat on the deck with masks and snorkel on our heads, ready to slide in at the word to go. The vessel’s stern dipped and the bow surged.

Could we actually get our swim alongside the creature?

Don’t miss the next awesome episode. Spoiler- we saw three!

Note: All under water pics shown here are by Daniel Browne of Coral Bay Eco Tours.

To See Whale Sharks of Ningaloo Reef: Prelude

Mawson’s Guardian, Mark, and the Guardian-ess had the good fortune last November to swim with 3 manta rays off the North West coast of Western Australia in the waters of the Ningaloo Reef. You can read about our snorkelling experience here and particularly about the big manta rays here.

This year the Guardian-ess had a Big Birthday. ‘What would you like for your birthday?” asked the Guardian. “To swim with whale sharks”, she replied promptly. Whale Sharks migrate up the coast of Western Australia on their way to Indonesian waters and come close to Ningaloo Reef. We were able to book for early June, quite late in the Whale Shark migrating season, and there was a risk we could miss them altogether. There was also a risk that the winter weather would not allow safe vessel operation beyond the outer reef, but we chanced it anyway.

Murchison River gorge in Western Australia — Murchison River gorge and the skywalk near Kalbarri

We drove some 1400 kilometres north of Perth to the township of Coral Bay, turning off to Kalbarri on the way to see the amazing Murchison River gorge. I will talk of that in another post, but for now, here is a picture of the Skywalk jutting out over the lip of the gorge, or ‘canyon’ in American-English. You cannot capture the spectacle in photos. Millions and millions of years of layers of rock all eaten down by the flow of the waters in the bed of surrounding land.

Clouds hung ominously over the landscape as we drove north — Office Ratty and Terri Turtle admire the clouds

Sunshine and rainbow prisms played on the sky — Office Ratty and Terri Turtle admire the clouds

During our long drive up we fortunately missed the worst of the bad weather which struck the coast for days. No charter boats or tour vessels had gone out in that time. Would we also strike bad weather on the very day we had booked to go out with Coral Bay Eco Tours on the good ship RV Thunder?

The morning before The Big Day, we trooped to the booking office for fittings ie we squashed ourselves into wetsuits of suitable sizes, which Eco Tours requires snorkelers to wear when in the deep water beyond the outer reef. By the time I had finished not falling over as I hauled on the leggings and got my chest to function again after I was zipped into the suit, I believed I’d had all my aerobic exercise for that day.

Sunset over Coral Bay in Western Australia

That afternoon the weather began turning. The sunset was spectacular but the heavy clouds a concern. Those of our party who had wifi connections (something not always the case beyond the big Australian cities) peered at weather forecasts. Another front was definitely coming in on Our Day. When? ‘Late in the day’ observed the weather people. Would the operator therefore cancel for safety reasons? They didn’t. But as it turned out, the on the following 2 days they did; and every tour and charter vessel stayed at moorings as rain surged in. We only just managed just to squeak into the window of opportunity.

At 8 am we boarded RV Thunder and steered out over calm waters under a sky cloudy but bright to a spot in the Ningaloo Reef featuring ‘coral bombs’. These clusters of all shapes of coral rise from the sand floor nearly to the surface. In fact, you have to be careful to not get over the top of them in case of injuring both oneself and the coral.

Coral cluster at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia

Here we practised being comfortable in our wetsuits and goggles as well as enjoying the swim. More about that in the next post! Meantime, a sneak preview of a whale shark.

Don’t miss the next exiting part of our Whale Shark Day.

Note: All under water pics shown here are by Daniel Browne of Coral Bay Eco Tours.

B52s of Bird-dom: A Pelican Song

There were flurries of elation,
For the squawk had gone around
That the fish near Old Egret
Were there to take.

So the pelicans were plashing,
The gulls joined in the fray,
And all the others followed
In their wake.

They paddled in formation,
They made their presence known,
They owned every ripple
of the Quay ..

They shooed away the ferries,
Sailed proudly by the berths,
A flotilla in command
of all their sea.

B52s of bird-dom,
Our heroes lurched aloft,
Low- flying over
pelican domains .

And Old Egret?
Like a statue he held himself aloof.
From pelican- ish preening
he abstains.

A happy pelican morning one day at Elizabeth Quay, Perth. This pelican flottila that I ca\hanced to see really did look like it had taken full command of the area.

Mark is guardian and photographer for Mawson Bear, one of this bright world’s very few Writer-Bears. Mawson wrote It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In .

Reef Walk at a Coral Quay on Great Barrier Reef

Lady Elliot Island is a coral quay on the south end of The Great Barrier Reef. The tiny island featured on an episode of David Attenborough’s TV series, Great Barrier Reef not only because of the bird life, turtles and manta rays there but also because it is a conservation success story.

We journeyed to the island, explored all around it, and snorkelled in the lagoon. Of course, we saw lots of coral when out there snorkelling but we had not an underwater camera. However, another way to get a good look at the coral is to walk out into the lagoon at low tide.

We took these pictures with an ordinary camera aiming down at the water. The water was clear, as you can see, although later in our walk it got murky as the tide came back in.

The staff members of the Eco-restort at Lady Elliot Island lead the groups out. Of course, the first thing they tell you about is safety. If you scrape against the coral you will get a nasty cut and likely an infection. We put on our reef walking shoes. These are thick soled plastic slip-on shoes to protect your feet. You can get them when you arrive at the resort.

The protective gear for the rest of the body simply consisted of a pole to lean on, like one of those poles that nordic walkers use. We walked in the sandy bits that you can see in the pictures, staying clear of the coral. Staying upright while clutching a camera in one hand and a pole in the other was tricky to do especially when the tide turned and the water started surging.

Take snorkelling goggles too so you can get your face under the surface and get a good clear view under the water.Right away we saw all kinds of creatures. Look at the size of these starfish!

There are small reef sharks and huge sea slugs.

And coral of many kinds: ‘brains’, spiky ones, and some like manicured shrubs and huge ‘brocolii’ like creatures.

Later, we sat over a drink or two on the decking of the resort restaurant and thought how lucky we were to be there. We had not even known about this amazing island in our own country until seeing David Attenborough’s show.

What a flight it had been just to get to the island, an adventure in itself. With the beaches and the lagoon and the clear water and the trees full of birds .. Already we felt it was one of the best holidays we had ever had.

Next time we will show you more of the thousands of birds that nest on Lady Elliot Island during November.

Mark is guardian and blundering typist for Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published bears.

Of Mawson’s first book, ‘It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In’, a reviewer said, ‘Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.’

The Dance Troupes of Lady Elliot Island bring you the Waltz of the Terns

Fellow Baffled Ones and Gentlebears, We hope you are enjoying our tales of Lady Elliot Island. BeeBear went along on behalf of all of Mawson’s friends because she was small in the luggage (Mawson’s own generous proportions were WAY too big) and because she is an experienced aviator. She was thrilled to fly out there across the sea. She came home to tell all of Mawson’s household about exploring the island, the corals she saw in the lagoon, and the great day that she saw turtles at dawn.

There are thousands of birds on Lady Elliot Island too, and BeeBear did her best to explain how numerous and noisy they all were.

And now fellow BaffledOnes and Gentlebears, as promised, we are proud to present to you, direct from the dance troupes of Lady Elliot Island, the amazing, the wonderful, courtship dance of the terns.

‘Oh, will you do the courtship dance, will you do the courtship dance,
Will you do the courtship dance, with handsome, hopeful me?’
‘I might I guess, just SMS, I’m making up my mind.
Then again, I like your looks, so lets lose no more time,’

‘Stick your tail feather up,
Drop your right wing down,
Stand on a leg and pirouette round. .’.

‘Its just a waddle to the left – no, to your left, your other left –
And let’s do the wing dip now! Yes, let’s dip the wing dip now!‘

‘.. And a chest boop, And a chest boop,‘
‘And let’s choose a tree, my dear’.

And soon you see couples perched in the trees and making renovations for the nest.

In the nests, on the ground, even right next to the walkways and the buildings there are parents minding fluffy chicks.

‘Will you just stay where I put you, junior.’
‘Don’t want to. It’s boring. I’m bored. Where’s Dad and the food?’

And many chicks are in nests on their own, waiting for their parents, insisting they are famished, that they are fading away, that they need FOOD NOW.

This very new fluffy little fella was right under our veranda! Shy though, understandably, and only peeked out briefly when his parent returned.

If you love birds you will absolutely enjoy visiting Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia – if any of us can ever travel anyway again. (As a travel tip, we suggest not looking at a rerun of Hitchcocks movie The Birds before you go to the island).

And that’s all we have for you from Lady Elliot Island.

Mark is guardian and blundering typist for Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published bears.

Birds, Birds, Birds at Lady Elliot Island on the Barrier Reef

BeeBear has regaled her friends with tales of Lady Elliot Island, her journey there, her explorations of the island, the corals she saw in the lagoon, and whether she saw turtles. But her bird friends at home especially want to know if she saw tropical birds.

She certainly did! Lady Elliot Island is paradise for twitchers (bird spotters.) On this coral quay which is so small that the air-strip cuts right across it (see picture above) there are thousands of birds. They come for the nesting season and peak around November.

It’s high density living here. Birds that usually nest on the ground get squeezed out by the earliest arrivals of the season and so take to the trees instead. They are all over every branch of every tree.

The birds in the picture above were in the trees three metres from our veranda. You can simply sit on your cabin veranda with a camera and take pictures of domestic life among the birds.

Birds that prefer trees have to find themselves a place on the ground. It’s all about high demand for premium real estate.

Everyone is making a racket. ‘Mummy, where are you, I’m hungry!’,
‘Harold, you’ve been ages. It’s your turn to mind your kid’,
‘Steady on, Mabel, I only just got back’,
‘You stayed out at sea deliberately, didn’t you, leaving me stuck here with this squawker’,
‘I did not, Mabel, you’ve no idea how far I had to go for fish ‘,
‘ Hah! A likely story’,
‘Its true. I blame those trawlers’,
‘Oi, you lot, get off my branch’,
‘Your branch? Hah! It so is not.’
‘It is, it is. Me and Narelle got it first, so get lost’.
‘ You did not, you great big liars, we got it first,’
‘You pinched it!’
‘ You get over here, mate, and try saying that, go on, go on.’
‘ Mummeee, Daddeeeeee! Where’s my fooooood!’

Screeches, calls, warnings, quarrels. On, and on, all night it goes. The resort even provides ear plugs so that guests can sleep at night.

Birds soar everywhere. Outgoing- traffic of the parents leaving chicks to find food in the ocean crosses through incoming traffic of food-laden parents in what looks like an air-traffic controller’s worst nightmare.

The birds are all protected from humans these days, of course, and completely at ease with people. They perch all over the cabin verandas and some venture hopefully toward the diners in the restaurant. They even raise their young right next to the walkways and buildings, including the most unusual bird you see below.

This is the rare Red-tailed Tropic Bird. It’s one of the world’s oldest and most elusive birds. Read more about them here and here. We had the most wonderful good fortune to see a young one and only hundred metres from our cabin.

Just look at this Red-tailed Tropicbird chick hunkered into its ground-nest waiting for its ocean going parents. It was enormous. It was bigger than a full grown chicken. . ‘Food”, it cried, ‘Gimmee foooooood!’ Of course, we didn’t- no feeding of the birds on Lady Elliot Island. But we did wonder how the parents could ever bring back enough food to satisfy this big lad. Both of them were out at sea trying to do just that.

In the next post, fellow Baffled Ones and Gentlebears, we bring you even more birds and more chicks.

You are at Baffled Bear Books, brought to you by Mark, guardian and blundering typist for Mawson Bear, Ponderer of Baffling Things and one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is writer bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and of She Ran Away From Love.

Turtle Dawn on The Great Barrier Reef

Welcome back to Lady Elliot Island, a coral quay on The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. We flew here with BeeBear (read all about it here) and walked around exploring (read it here.)

ComingIn1 — Lady Elliot Island at the southern end of Great Barrier Reef

Almost every tree you see on the island in the photo above has been planted in the past 30 years during the patient restoration process. The island was stripped for the guano in the years before that. But it is a conservation success story now, and safe again for the turtles to nest on.

Those buildings in the photo below are some cabins of the Eco Resort. See how close they are to the beach. We stayed in one of those. They are not fancy because this is a low-impact eco resort.

During our stay in November, turtles were heaving themselves ashore after years at sea. On our first night we sat by the seats you see above watching the turtle who made these very tracks. Ironically, she dug right next to the sign about turtles.

Laboriously she dug, then moved, then dug, and moved again, not satisfied with the particular holes. On and on she dug. We were exhausted, and we were only watching. We went to bed and left her still digging. In the morning we saw that she had not been happy with any of the holes. No eggs laid.

We rose before dawn and set off stumbling along the crumbly edges of the island peering for obstacles. We did not take torches because the lights can disturb the turtles. We were part way around the island at the point where the runway comes almost down to the water when we saw tracks. Our turtle seemed to have lumbered ashore, gone into the bushes, worked her way through them and circled back around towards the sea. It must have been a very long trek for her, and all of it over ground deemed unsuitable for laying in.

‘Our’ dawn turtle had been digging where the runway met the lagoon.

There was a mound by the runway edge that might be a successful nest. (We would report it to the staff who monitor all the possible turtle nests). But where was she? Oh no, Look there! Our heroine is that rounded shell in the middle of the photo being watched over by a heron. She had taken so long at her mission that the tide had gone out. She was stuck within the reef.

We watched over her for a while as the sun came up. Sometimes she circled hopefully. Most of the time she rested. She had worked all night to clamber up the shore, to dig, to lay, and to get back down to the water – she must have been exhausted.

We moved away to leave our “Dawn Turtle” in peace. On returning from our walk, we were delighted to see her checking possible exits through the rocks and coral. As the tide came in the water lapped higher and she got a bit further out. And then with a splash and a surge she made it over the big outer reef.

There she goes, one turtle taking on the vast Pacific Ocean. We were so happy to see her making her way out, but worried too. The scourge of plastic is out there, just waiting to uselessly fill her stomach. And the long nets of the predatory trawlers show no mercy. But if .. she can still find real food and if .. she somehow escapes entanglement, she will be return one day to Lady Elliot Island. Let’s hope so.

Swim, turtle, swim.

You are at Baffled Bear Books, the blog by Mark O’Dwyer, guardian of
Mawson, Writer Bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In.

Emma of FNM Book Reviews said of It’s A Bright World, “Comforting, like an old security blanket”.

The Lagoon at Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef

Welcome back to Lady Elliot Island, a coral quay on The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. The Barrier Reef, as everyone knows, is the mighty reef down which Nemo’s dad swam to find his little son.

We flew here with BeeBear (read all about it here) and walked around exploring (read it here.)

But what do you really want to see at a coral lagoon? The lagoon of course! The glass bottomed boats leave from the beach at the end of the runway that runs through the middle of the island (see aerial view.) Almost all the trees you see here have been planted in the past 30 years during the patient restoration process – it had been stripped down for the guano in the years before that.

Looking back from the boat at nearly high tide, you can see how clear the lagoon water is. Those buildings on the far left of the photo below are some cabins of the Eco Resort. See how close they are to the sea. We stayed in one of those. They are not fancy because this is a low-impact eco resort.

Our glass bottomed boat took us further out to just above the main reef where the water gets more blue and you can see the whole island from here. Out and out we went. In the deeper water above the reef we tourists went snorkling with the boat crew keeping on eye on us so we felt quite safe. The staff on Lady Elliot Island must have the best job in Australia, in the world.

We saw all kinds of fish and a huge groper and even briefly saw a manta ray. A large green turtle came up from under a coral shelf right in front of me. It was one of those moments that stay in your mind forever. I have no pictures – didn’t have that kind of camera. Besides while you are down there, you just want to experience the moments fully, right there, as you are.

And what of the coral? The coral is not easy to see in the deeper water especially as the swell builds, and from the boat itself this is about all you can make out (below). The startling blues of the starfish are clearly visible though. We saw lots of coral at low tide and I will show you that later.

Don’t worry, I won’t leave you without any photos at all of the wonderful animals in the lagoon, for once back on shore we saw this little fella. He was just turtling along right among the people! It is after all, a turtle’s home, not peoples’ home.

” I’m just a turtle,
Turtling along,
A happy green turtle,
Burbling a song…”

We settled on a deck chair as evening fell. Would the big female loggerhead turtles clamber up this very beach in the night? Yes, they did! But that’s for another post.

You are at Baffled Bear Books, the blog by Mark O’Dwyer, guardian of
Mawson, Writer Bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In.

Emma of FNM Book Reviews said of Bright World, “Comforting, like an old security blanket”.

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