Earlier in the year I read a book that definitely took my fancy.
The House between Tides…..Sarah Maine.
Her debut novel and one I’d definitely recommend.
Set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides it’s centred around an old family home, a ‘crumbling mansion’ on an island that is only reached during low tides. Two timelines a century apart, two stories about the earlier inhabitants and the ‘last in the line’ who has come to explore the possibility of renovating and restoring the house to its earlier state only to discover it’s not as easy as she thought. Tucked into the storyline of an artist and his young wife, house parties, wildlife colonies, forbidden love, belligerent crofters, property rights plus a mysterious dead body are descriptions of sights and sounds of the island which catch you by surprise
“The sand steamed slightly as the re-emergent sun turned the shallow pools into ripples of quicksilver”
so much so that they have you turning back the page to reread and savour again
BUT it was the access to the house at low tide that interested me.
Now most of you know that whenever possible we ‘winter in Queensland’ – Far North Queensland…… at a place called Bowen. Just offshore from Bowen, well within sight of the town is a small island, an island with a lighthouse – one of Queensland’s oldest!
A couple of times during winter the day time tides are low enough for a very special event – Bowen’s Walk to the Lighthouse. Read all about it HERE. It has become a well organised community event, a yearly fixture on the town’s calendar enjoyed by locals as well as many of the seasonal visitors.
The start is always at Dalrymple Point – where you can wander down and begin the trek across the sandbar or just stand around, explore the foreshore and watch the others enjoying the experience. Whichever you choose don’t forget the coral can be rough on feet so shoes of some sort are needed….not your best Sunday ones because your feet are going to get wet at some point .
What do they do once the walkers have reached the island – wander round the base of the hill, scramble up the hill to enjoy the view, take in their surroundings and
explore the lighthouse!
Turning around to come back to the mainland you meet up with streams of walkers young and old all coming the other way.
The walk takes about 2 hrs – a bit more if you stop along the way
You never know who you might meet and what you might see
These giant Red Starfish are a favourite find for those who look around and explore the shallows. But then they are not hard to find as they are there for all to see
when the sea level drops
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Some years we’d try to visit other parts of Queensland
spend time in places we’d normally just pass by on our 4 day drive north from home
or plan an actual road trip to places unseen before …off the beaten track
where you never know what’s round the corner
Places you decide ‘you must go to’
ones to get to – to explore – to appreciate- before it’s too late
Like the trip we took in 2012
I know this isn’t my usual ‘words only’ Monday Musings post but for me it fits in
perfectly with the suggested topic for Life this Week.
EXPLORE.
In some ways this pandemic is reminding us of roads previously travelled and places previously explored – I think it’s nearly time to start thinking about finding new ones.
Given the chance what are you up for next?
In the meantime perhaps you’d like to dip into some of those days.
https://cranethie.com/2012/09/12/so-where-do-we-begin/
https://cranethie.com/2012/10/03/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/
https://cranethie.com/2012/10/10/butterflies-flowers-volcanoes-and-kangaroos/
https://cranethie.com/2012/11/28/who-got-a-surprise-at-mt-surprise/
You should find the photos will open/enlarge with a tap/click
Oh and pop over to Denyse Blogs to see how others are exploring
Still Waters 
What a truly amazing place this is! We would have loved to do a walk like that to the lighthouse and explore all the creatures in the shallows.
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It really is a great day Kay. A real community day, with local groups setting up stalls near the beach, food stalls, emergency services (fire police water rescue) having booths. Yes a fun day
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Explore (whether it is literal or metaphorical) is such an exciting, albeit sometimes frightening, word.
Thanks for sharing some of your journeys. And of course I would walk to the lighthouse if I could. And it would take a lot longer than two hours as I savoured the experience.
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It’s a few years since our last walk EC – each time we’ve out on the water much longer as well. What with looking about and chatting to other walkers – I’m looking forward to this year, that is if we manage to get up there
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Look at the size of the starfish! Great photos and although I’ve lived in Queensland for over 30 years I’ve never been to Bowen. I do know the area is famous for Mangoes. Exploring is such an adventure isn’t it? We are hoping to be able to explore Tasmania if the borders stay open. We are planning a trip in October so fingers crossed. Thanks for the book recommendation and another to add to my growing list. At this rate I will never get housework done again because I’ll be busy enjoying reading. Have a lovely week. #lifethisweek
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A lovely, interesting post, Cathy.
I used to visit Bowen and its wonderful beaches often when I was working out at Collinsville. I always stayed at the Rose Bay Caravan Park in a little cabin right on the foreshore. The cabin was called “Laguna”. For a while, I also managed a resort at Horseshoe Bay.
Bowen’s beaches are beautiful.
Take good care. 🙂
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I think of you each time I go down to Rose Bay Lee. The little caravan park is still there, no cabins though and it’s used more by backpackers…..think small vans not caravans…. than ‘regular’ travellers. Expensive suburb now with lots of biggish properties overlooking the Coral Sea. Hopefully we’ll be back up again this year….unless ‘you know what’ stops us.
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Nice to meet you, Cathy, coming to you from #lifethisweek. You do live in a beautiful area. Australia is certainly a country I would love to visit someday! Amazing shot of the starfish; the kids look pleased with themselves!
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How fascinating is your country.
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Big as well Joanne. Takes us 4 days to driup there.
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love the starfish and of course the rest of your photos
do I want to explore?
right now it’s not on my list although there is a recurring dream – somehow I’ve got into being a bit of a homebody this last year. I remember it was about this time last year, when I had planned to explore more of the SI (NZ) but friends advised against it – things are going to get bad-ass. And it did get bad-ass…
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You need to get yourself fit and well again Cathy so you’ll be comfortable (and confident) making those plans to go visit faraway places that got put on hold.
Hopefully we’ll (neither country) never have those same troubles again…well in our lifetimes that is
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The walk is interesting and clearly many people make the walk. Alas the article mentions ‘fitness’. We hoped to travel to England via Prague this August for my partner’s sister’s 70th birthday but I can’t see that happening, vaccine or not.
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With the vaccine programme rollling out, now is the time to think of where to go. For us we have barely scratched our new area having been in restricted times pretty much all the time since we moved here, so just 10 miles away is an adventure. can’t wait. Happy plans.
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That sounds such fun to do.
When we lived in France we would visit theisland of Noirmoutier where at certain low tides you could walk or dive along the causeway. There were refuges along the way…all labelled ‘Entry forbidden’!
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It’s like another life – looking at what we ‘used to do’. F comes from Dunedin where on lowest spring tide each year they held a cricket match on the exposed sand (read ‘mud’) bank. Humans seem to be drawn to the margins of land and water. (Cats know better.) xxx F & Mr T
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The walk to the lighthouse is amazing. Even if I was there, I would sit in a chair and watch the walkers because I would be too lazy to join them.
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Gosh I feel for you (and many) who have been unable to have their respite from winter in warmer climes. Thanks for sharing this one of yours from other times.
Once Dad retired in 1983, he and Mum spent 6 weeks each winter on the Gold Coast (from Sydney) for them to meet up with friends who had retired there. It was a lovely tradition for them only stopping when Mum became ill in 2005. She died in 2007 and Dad did the trip solo in 2008 to stay with a friend but found the drive not great and it was literally not ‘like the old days.’
Thank you for linking up your blog post for #lifethisweek on Monday 22 Feb 2021. Next week, it’s the first optional prompt of Taking Stock where I am using my own prompts for the first time. Hope to see you there, on or off prompt. Take care, Denyse #lifethisweek #linkup #Australia
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