Uncle Tyden and I recently took the troops - Eli, Alora, Oliver, Harrison and Charlie - to the sandbank. As soon as we arrived Eli had them all marching up and over the nearest sand dune and investigating whatever they could find. It was really very interesting watching Eli lead this merry little troop - they all followed his lead unconditionally.
Aside from a few crab burrows and some dune flowers, the dune wasn't nearly interesting enough, so off we went to 'stingray alley' in search of crabs and whatever else we might come across...and it wasn't long before Eli found a few crabs and I spotted this little fellow - my favourite tidal zone worm - the green paddle worm (
Phyllodoce novaehollandiae). All of the kids liked watching it move and burrow and all of them held it too (after Eli had done so).
After jumping in muddy puddles (which form in the depressions made by stingrays when they feed on the sandflat) for a while, the troops continued on their way. Since the tide was so
low Eli and I decided to test our luck in the 'real stingray alley', which is a deeper channel that connects to the original stingray alley. The name alone struck fear into a few of the
other explorers in our group, as you can see from their varied reluctance to wade into the water. Poor packhorse (er, I mean Uncle) Tyden then had the job of variously coaxing and carrying his kids so that our adventure could continue.
It turned out that the real stingray alley was perfect for the kids - it
was wadeable along it's length and after an exhaustive search Eli and I
were able to report that it was also currently stingray free...so the
other kids could relax a little. Eli and Alora found one bank that was a
little steeper than the rest, so they had fun running and jumping into
the water. All of the kids also enjoyed crawling/swimming along the
alley, pretending to be crocodiles or sharks, or some crazy combination
of both...
The only downside to this adventure was the fact that the boys (excluding Eli) got a bit tired of swimming, wading and treking around, so Uncle Tyden was once again required to 'saddle up' to get the boys back to the boat.
Finally, after chasing some seagulls (because I wanted photos of them in flight), Eli, Alora and I then had a lovely swim in the river before we headed back to the beach house - it had been another great adventure visiting the sandbank.
Uncle Tyden and I recently took the troops - Eli, Alora, Oliver, Harrison and Charlie - to the sandbank. As soon as we arrived Eli had them all marching up and over the nearest sand dune and investigating whatever they could find. It was really very interesting watching Eli lead this merry little troop - they all followed his lead unconditionally.
Aside from a few crab burrows and some dune flowers, the dune wasn't nearly interesting enough, so off we went to 'stingray alley' in search of crabs and whatever else we might come across...and it wasn't long before Eli found a few crabs and I spotted this little fellow - my favourite tidal zone worm - the green paddle worm (Phyllodoce novaehollandiae). All of the kids liked watching it move and burrow and all of them held it too (after Eli had done so).
After jumping in muddy puddles (which form in the depressions made by stingrays when they feed on the sandflat) for a while, the troops continued on their way. Since the tide was so
low Eli and I decided to test our luck in the 'real stingray alley', which is a deeper channel that connects to the original stingray alley. The name alone struck fear into a few of the
other explorers in our group, as you can see from their varied reluctance to wade into the water. Poor packhorse (er, I mean Uncle) Tyden then had the job of variously coaxing and carrying his kids so that our adventure could continue.
It turned out that the real stingray alley was perfect for the kids - it
was wadeable along it's length and after an exhaustive search Eli and I
were able to report that it was also currently stingray free...so the
other kids could relax a little. Eli and Alora found one bank that was a
little steeper than the rest, so they had fun running and jumping into
the water. All of the kids also enjoyed crawling/swimming along the
alley, pretending to be crocodiles or sharks, or some crazy combination
of both...
The only downside to this adventure was the fact that the boys (excluding Eli) got a bit tired of swimming, wading and treking around, so Uncle Tyden was once again required to 'saddle up' to get the boys back to the boat. 
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