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Monday, 10 July 2017

Day 193 - Sunday 9 July - Golden Ticket


Day 193
Sunday
9 July 2017 –

South Mission Beach – Charley’s Chocolate Factory

I was awake early needing to go to the loo and once I was back I was up, so figured I should got for a walk along the beach. Paul was cosy in bed reading and I couldn’t convince him to join me, so I trotted off on my own.
There was a fair bit of cloud in this morning, which made for a good sunrise. I walked along the sand noting that the water was still a distance out due to the large tide experienced with the full moon last night.






I took some photos before returning, when the sun had risen above the clouds. Paul was still in bed so I lay on top and picked up the Ipad for an hour of reading too.
Just after 8am we pulled ourselves out of bed and enjoyed our breakfast, enjoying the view and the sound of the ocean just meters from our door. I was hoping there would be a cassowary call, but none came. 
At 10am we jumped in the Getz and made our way to Charley’s Chocolate Factory, where we had booked in for their farm, production and tasting tour. I was looking forward to checking out this cocoa farm, as they grow the product and then create the chocolate.
We were directed to a large shed, where we joined the others completing the $29pp tour. Chris, the owner, gave us a run down of their history and how they came about to be chocolate producers and then his wife Lyn, spoke to us about chocolate history before Jacquie took over and we walked to the shade cloth sheds where 4500 new plants were being nursed before being planted in a new area of land.


From here we walked to the trees that had been planted 5 years ago and were being shielded by willy willy poplars from Hawaii. The 5 year old trees have been yielding cocoa pods for all but the first 14 months of their lives and they fruit throughout the year, making them quite a profitable plant to grow.  
They grown their plants on a trellis, which gives them stability should a cyclone ever come through. This is also a world first way of growing the plant. It not only makes them cyclone protected but also provides a greater yield of fruit.
We saw some fruit on the plants in various stages of growth and then returned to the big shed to learn about the 13 step process required to create a chocolate bar. It was all very fascinating.
A ripe fruit was cut into and we were able to taste the flesh. Paul and I both enjoyed the taste and wondered what happens to this part when they extract the bean. Cacao beans were then passed around for us to smell and taste, once we peeled the husk away. After grinding the beans down, a bucket containing the nibs and husk was sent around, the smell was just divine.  


After explaining a few extra steps, we were finally allowed to taste the chocolate that they create. A number of tasting plates were brought out for us to sample the dark chocolates created from the beans of different regions and then we were able to try chocolates with additives like macadamia.
Following our tasting the buying started. We sat back and let the hordes go first before settling on three bars, but at $9 a block they aren’t cheap. We enjoyed our hamburger lunch, with Bingil Bay beef patties as we chatted to the mum sharing our table and her two kids from the UK. They were great entertainment.
Just after 1pm, with or bag of goodies we made our way back to the van for a quiet afternoon. I sat outside, enjoying the sun as I read my book. I was hoping to capture a photo of a Ulysses butterfly, as we had spotted so many on our drive back from the chocolate factory, but none appeared.
Having been inactive for much of the day, we took off for a walk along the beach, heading as far south as we could. Small mounds of sand had us fascinated. They were like coiled clay, some were more meticulous than others and there were hundreds of them dotted along the shoreline.




When we reached the end of the beach, we came across the Kennedy walking track, so we wandered along the boardwalk to Lovers Beach, enjoying the view. As we weren’t wearing shoes, we didn’t venture into the rainforest when the boardwalk disappeared and made our way back toward the van.
We caught a glimpse of a sea eagle, watching it descend rapidly to the water and extracting a fish with its talons and flying off into the distance.


Paul returned to the van, but I kept walking, wanting to ensure I put a decent amount of steps on the pedometer.  I walked to the creek before turning back. At this point there were many starfish on the beach slowly making their way back to the water. They were leaving interesting patterns and impressions in the sand as they moved and stopped.


By the time I returned, Paul had loaded the car up with our things and secured it to the trailer. We then sat down to have a look at where next. We were a little bamboozled by everything but in the end made a rough plan of the next two months, aiming to be in Bundaberg for the start of August, but things can always change. We are starting to realise we are running out of time fast and will need to leave some places for another time.
Paul sat reading some of the tourist brochures while I went through the photos for the day and set about writing up the day. He then cooked up dinner and we ate our meal before sitting back and enjoying the cool breeze wafting through our van.
We watched the full moon make its appearance. Mesmerised, we decided to sit on a park bench on the edge of the beach where we could watch the moon's rays dance over the water, when the clouds parted.
We returned to the van ready to crawl into bed and read until we couldn't stay awake any longer.


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