Extraordinary Queensland animal encounter you must witness

Just over four hours away from Brisbane, you can witness nature at its best in an experience you must see in your lifetime.

Under the moonlight, the waves lapping against the shore, we stand still and watch in awe-struck silence.

She hauls her 100-plus kilogram body out of the ocean and makes her way through the sand, fuelled by instinct and strength.

She’s travelled thousands of kilometres to find her way here, as nesting mothers do, to return to the beach where she was born decades ago to now lay her own eggs.

She finds a carefully chosen spot and begins to strenuously carve out a chamber in the sand using her flippers. We watch on, silent, stunned and emotional, as this magnificent mother, a loggerhead turtle, carefully buries her eggs in the sand.

We waited just over an hour at the Mon Repos Turtle Centre for her to arrive, the first turtle of the night to make the journey up the beach to lay her eggs.

Our group was called just after 8pm and we followed our park ranger to the beach at Mon Repos, on the coast near Bundaberg, which has the most significant nesting population of loggerheads in the South Pacific. There might be a long wait but when it comes to nature, there’s no rushing magic, and we would’ve waited as long as we needed to.

It’s the middle of turtle nesting season, which runs November to March, and the centre is busy with tourists, but on the beach it is calm and quiet.

Turtle at Lady Musgrave Island. Picture: Tourism and Events Queensland

Down here, there’s minimal light and no phones, nesting (and hatching) turtles prefer dark beaches, as artificial lights confuse their sense of direction.

Once the turtle is laying eggs, she is believed to enter a trancelike state and our guide says only then can we capture a quick picture. Our girl appears to not be impacted by what’s happening around her as we watch the eggs fall in the hole one by one. She’s calm, unhurried and deliberate, as she lays over 100 eggs.

Once she’s finished, with the laying process often taking turtles hours, she buries the eggs with the same fierce grit and slowly makes her way back to the ocean and swims away.

In this moment, I realise how this turtle has become an unexpected teacher of life’s deepest lessons in patience, purpose, determination and hope. It’s an experience that stays with me long after she swims away. It’s well worth adding to your list of things to see in your lifetime.

The best part for those in Brisbane, is this is all just over four hours’ drive away.

It’s a huge highlight of my five-day itinerary travelling to some of the best-kept secrets across the Bundaberg/North Burnett region and Fraser Coast/K’gari.

It’s a perfect driving holiday that will take you from turtle nesting, to the best of the reef, coral conservation, and onwards to heritage-listed gems and beach adventures.

After arriving in Bundaberg, it’s lunch at the unassuming Water St Kitchen, and it very quickly became one of my favourite regional restaurants. Then it’s onwards to our stay in Mon Repos, a 15-20 minute drive from central Bundaberg, via a stop into Monsoon Aquatics Coral Farm (10 minutes from Mon Repos). Our lovely guide, Meghan, takes us for a tour of the aquaculture facility, where tanks are full of more than 70,000 corals and 200 marine species from across the country.

Tiny corals in the tanks at Monsoon Aquatics Coral Farm. Picture: Tourism and Events Queensland.

The corals sit on tiny discs and shine under the lights making for a pretty spectacular sight, but even more fascinating was Meghan’s education in coral feeding, growth and their work in reef restoration.

What you’ll learn quickly when you’re in these parts of the state is how incredibly this region marries conservation and education with tourism and beauty.

It’s easily felt back at our accommodation, right next to the Mon Repos Turtle Centre, at Turtle Sands, an eco-conscious and turtle-focused haven.

It feels like a natural extension of the turtle experience, with the resort sitting right behind the beach and the only place on Australia’s mainland where you can stay metres away from turtles nesting.

Accommodation options include villas, glamping, caravan and campsites. There’s a turtle-shaped pool, communal kitchen, hire bikes and more. The best part though is how the turtles come first.

The beach closes at 6pm during nesting to allow clear access for the turtles and no beach umbrellas can be poked into the sand to protect any buried eggs.

With light affecting a turtle’s ability to navigate to and from the beach, from 7.30pm outdoor lights are switched off and you’re asked to close curtains and blinds, and position lights away from the beach.

As well as the resort’s sustainability and conservation education, Turtle Sands guests can experience the cultural significance of the area through the Taribelang Bunda Sunrise Cultural Tours, led by traditional custodians of the Taribelang Bunda people.

The tours, which run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays from 5.30am-7am, offer guests the chance to experience a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, lessons on local bushtucker and native flora and fauna, listen to Dreaming Story of the Saltwater Turtle and discover the cultural importance of Mon Repos. The storytelling leaves you with a strong appreciation for the land and sea, and it brings a deeper perspective as we explore the reef the next day.

We’re on a full-day tour to Lady Musgrave Island Lagoon with Lady Musgrave Experience on their luxury 35-metre catamaran.

Eco-certified pontoon on the Southern Great Barrier Reef offering day trips and luxury overnight glamping stays.

Out here on the water, you can swim, snorkel, cruise over the ocean on the glass bottom boat, or enjoy the guided tour of the island during turtle nesting season.
It’s truly Queensland in all its spectacular glory. Underwater, I’m swimming next to turtles as stingrays glide by and reef sharks dart below me. There are clams, corals, fishes and plenty more to see in the thriving reef.

One of the more impressive aspects is the tour operator’s dedication to education with the launch of their pontoon and hub called Reef Sanctuary.

In the middle of the ocean sits the pontoon, a floating classroom, where school groups or scientists can come and go from the water, sit on tables, collect data and learn while out on the ocean. There are even facilities for groups to stay overnight. As Brett, the owner of Lady Musgrave Experience, passionately explains how it works, it’s surely one of the best educational locations in Australia.

Back on land, we’re taken on a tour of Lady Musgrave Island and our guide sums it up best. “It is like watching a documentary out here,” he says.

From the carnivorous pisonia trees to the epic bird population where, from late August to May, about 40,000 birds, mostly black noddy terns, visit the island, it’s a fascinating place. It’s also, right now, “a big maternity ward”, says our guide, with up to 70 green sea turtles laying their eggs on the island each night. “The other night, we had 75 in two hours.”

Aerial view of Lake McKenzie located on K'gari

After basking in the beauty of the island, it’s time to hop to the next and continue our trip south to the Fraser Coast, where the landscape shifts to towering sand dunes, wild beaches and the untamed beauty of Fraser Island, or K’gari as it’s now known. After a two and a half-hour drive from Bundaberg to Hervey Bay, it’s a 50-minute ferry to K’gari.

Our accommodation, Kingfisher Bay Resort, is nestled between rainforest and beach, and is packed with things to do including the impressive Illumina light show in the evenings. But the highlight was a private four-wheel drive tour where
we bump along sandy tracks, weave through rainforest and cruise along the island’s beaches and stop at the clear waters of Lake McKenzie and Eli Creek.

Dingoes are often seen and, from afar, they’re a creature to behold, and trouble only usually strikes when tourists don’t follow the rules, our ranger tells us.

From turtles to the reef and on to the sand dunes, these magical places and experiences have found their way into my heart and I hope one day yours.

The writer was a guest of Tourism and Events Queensland

Turtle Sands

Powered sites from $46 a night,
three- bedroom beach villa from $339.

turtlesands.com.au

Kingfisher Bay Resort

Standard Resort Room from $199, Family Resort Room from $371.

kingfisherbay.com