Well, this is going to seem a bit repetitive, my little bandicoots. Problem is, we enjoyed last weekend’s tour so much we decided to do it again. In a sorry attempt to pretend we’re not merely seeking another rut to fall into, we had a Purpose. (Note the capital ‘P’ there). Our goal was:
- Embark on an expedition to find Ultimate North (of the cycle path)
- See if the Farmer’s Market was still there
- Go shopping at the vast shopping megalopolis we passed last week.
Executive Summary: Path goes 300m further than we’d already been, Market is once a month, and Hah! We suck!
Elaborating a little, we set off for Wynnum at a reasonable hour, with The Better Driver at the controls. We identified the Enormous Shopping Center, including lane changes, traffic lights and panic navigation modes. How hard could it be to miss such a vast megaplex?
On to Wynnum, bike out, and off to the Far North! A pleasant ride, some way inland from the sea with sports grounds to one side and mangroves to the other. After a few hundred meters the path ran out at a bird hide. The signs marked “Start of the Moreton Bay Cycle Path”. Our search for the Ultimate North had ended after four minutes. Franklin and Nansen never had that happen.
We pottered about for a bit, and stumbled onto the boardwalk through the mangroves. Once a party of interested, intelligent and very noisy children had moved off it was amazing. It’s a raised path through the margin between a tropical bay and the land. The sheer amount of biological activity is astonishing. Things hiding, hunting, growing, eating, escaping, and becoming lunch everywhere. Pictures below.
We pottered back past the car, along the foreshore and on to Manly, where there was no market. Oh well. We disrupted a wedding photoshoot a bit. This is a weird Australian cultural thing. On your wedding day, you exist as a prop for photography. They drive you all over the place, posing you in unlikely situations, inappropriately dressed, creating a portfolio of images for you to remember the magical day you didn’t have because you spent the entire sodding time being poked, positioned and abused by people with cameras. Smile!
After a lovely ride of about 14kms, we headed back to the Colossal Shopolopolis. Our navigation seemed a little off when we found it 3kms from the beach, rather than the 10 we’d expected. No matter – two excellent supermarkets, many other shops, and all the facilities you’d expect. Far superior to the central city one we’re used to. Shopping complete, we headed back home. Five kilometers later, we drove past the shopping center we’d intended to go to. Damn. The navigator’s credibility will take some repairing. How was I meant to know they had *two* huge monuments to Mammon five kilometers apart on the same bloody road? Not fair.
Anyway: Pictures.
-
- Swamp. Trees.
-
- But why should I?
-
- We own a tiny, tiny part of that train.
-
- I keep writing “Mangrove Swamp”
-
- We live here. You probably don’t. Not judging. Just Saying.
-
- A million magical stories start here. Bring wellies.
-
- 450 milliseconds earlier, this would have been perfect
-
- I welcome suggestions for improvements to the framing here. Not expecting any. Because it’s perfect.
-
- *Shloooop*
-
- Weird Sexual Selection Mechanisms
-
- Trees. Swamp. Swamp. Trees.
-
- This is our enormous truck. We love it.
-
- Low water
-
- Really. Pleased with this
-
- Serious sailors start here.
-
- It’s only mud! It’ll brush off!