Photo shows Mystique, the current 'alpha male,' or leader, of a dozen wild Indo-Pacific dolphins that come regularly to be fed in Tin Can Bay.

We are still anchored in Tin Can Bay after retrieving Matilda, our campercar, the long way round. The weather has been mercurial recently, constantly shifting each time we search the forecast. Tomorrow should be a good day to cross the nasty bar and head south into Moreton Bay.

Alison's younger sister, Mary, messaged us one morning, asking for a story about dolphins and photos of dolphins. She wanted something to show her Zimbabwean colleague at work at Luton hospital in England. It was a bit of a coincidence that we were here in Tin Can Bay, which has a reputation as one of only two places in Australia, perhaps the world, where wild dolphins come to visit humans on their own whim (the other place is Monkey Mia in WA).

The story of the Tin Can Bay dolphins started in the 1950s when a badly injured Indo-Pacific dolphin came in to rest near a sandbank at the boat ramp in Snapper Creek. It had been hit by a boat propellor. Locals looked after it and fed it with small, live fish until it was well enough to leave on its own. Then it rejoined its pod, but it kept coming back to the cafe near the boat ramp where it had been looked after.

The wild dolphins have been coming back nearly every day since. The current leader of the 12 strong pod is called Mystique, probably the grandson of Old Scarry, the original male. Of course, it has become a tourist attraction, and tourists line up to see the dolphins when they arrive early each morning and lucky ones get a chance to hand them a sardine. The encounter could have been tacky, but seems to be a genuine experience on both sides. The cafe owners make sure that each dolphin, whichever turns up, only gets a small percentage of its daily requirements, so they don't become dependent. Touching a dolphin is illegal and could result in a $1,000 fine.

When Queensland imposed Covid travel restrictions, the dolphins kept coming into the shore, perplexed at what was wrong as there weren't any tourists. Some of them, especially Mystique, brought 'gifts' balanced on their heads to entice the human friends to turn up! One of the dolphin volunteers told us that Mystique brought in over 20 'objects', mostly empty bottles he had found on the creek bed, one day! It's all back to normal now, so excited squeals from little humans mingle with quiet smiles from wild dolphins!



The pic from the ABC article (link above) showing Mystique bringing an empty bottle as a gift to the cafe at Tin Can Bay.

We have spent a week or more anchored up this relatively sheltered inlet, home to many dozens of boats of all shapes and sizes. Near here is the wide sandy expanse of Rainbow Beach and the coloured cliffs behind. There are a number of huge, spectacular, sand dunes called 'blows' along this coast, which we have explored as well as a few jewel like dune lakes like Poona.

We still haven't hiked the 5 day Great Walk that winds its way through wallum scrub, heathland and pockets of rainforest behind the dunes between Rainbow Beach and Noosa, but it is now too hot to do too much away from water!



Carlo Sand Blow above Rainbow beach looking north towards the Wide Bay Bar we cross tomorrow,



Carlo Sand Blow looking south east towards Double island Point that must be rounded before the 70 mile slog south towards and into Moreton Bay.




The Cooloola coast and Great Sandy national park area is a mixture of heath, sand dunes, wallum and Banksia scrub, eucalypt woodland and pockets of rainforest with some large trees like this one. This area hasn't been burned yet!




Poona lake is a small, dune lake in the Cooloola wilderness and a lovely spot for a dip in the heat of summer.

Not so great news is the huge fire still burning almost out of control in the northern half of Fraser Island. The island is now closed as the fire is threatening to burn all in its path. The fire is thought to have been caused by an illegal camper and is a deadly reminder of what is still Australia's greatest threat. When Covid is beaten, climate change will still be here as a far worse problem. For now, before La Niña brings much needed rain, the smell of death blows over us when the wind comes from the north.



Another Beneteau 473 came alongside us as we ploughed our way down the "Mad Mile" - the often rough 2 to 3 miles of water behind the rollers on the Wide Bay bar and took this photo - not a great shot and a bit grainy. Update - we are now moored in the Manly Boat Harbour near Brisbane after a 24 hour passage.