Full Moon Mania

Full Moon setting September 1 2023

“It is the very error of the moon.
She comes more near the earth
than she was wont. And makes
men mad.”
—William Shakespeare, Othello

ACROSS THE CENTURIES, many a person has uttered the phrase “There must be a full moon out there” in an attempt to explain weird happenings at night. Indeed, the Roman goddess of the moon bore a name that remains familiar to us today: Luna, prefix of the word “lunatic.” https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lunacy-and-the-full-moon/

Even today many people think the mystical powers of the full moon induce erratic behaviors, psychiatric hospital admissions, suicides, homicides, emergency room calls, traffic accidents, fights at professional hockey games, dog bites and all manner of strange events…. In 2007 several police departments in the U.K. even added officers on full-moon nights in an effort to cope with presumed higher crime rates.

So if the lunar lunacy effect is merely an astronomical and psychological urban legend, why is it so widespread? There are several probable reasons. Media coverage almost surely plays a role. Scores of Hollywood horror flicks portray full-moon nights as peak times of spooky occurrences such as stabbings, shootings and psychotic behaviors. …As a result of our selective recall, we erroneously perceive an association between full moons and myriad bizarre events.. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lunacy-and-the-full-moon/

According to Raison, the lunar lunacy effect may possess a small kernel of truth in that it may once have been genuine. Raison conjectures that before the advent of outdoor lighting in modern times, the bright light of the full moon deprived people who were living outside—including many who had severe mental disorders—of sleep. Because sleep deprivation often triggers erratic behavior in people with certain psychological conditions, such as bipolar disorder (formerly called manic depression), the full moon may have been linked to a heightened rate of bizarre behaviors in long-bygone eras. So the lunar lunacy effect is, in Raison and his colleagues’ terms, a “cultural fossil.”

However…..personal observation and experience has shown more disturbing behavior in some individuals during the full moon. I love the full moon and feel the moon energy at this time is very strong and powerful. The energy of the moon can be absorbed into water by placing containers full of fresh water in the moonlight for the 3 full moon period. I also have personal experiences with people who always cause trouble in this time as the power of the moon can disturb those who cannot handle it’s power.

The September Full Moon has been very beautiful. I watched the rising moon the night before and the setting moon this morning…both an amazing experience.

Walker Bay Cooktown

Walker Bay Beach runs for about three and a half kilometres. It begins on the North side of the mouth of the Annan River and finishes at the rocks on the Southern end of Monkhouse Point. Beachsafe.org.au lists it as ‘Golf Course’…due to the Walker Bay links at the Northern section. If you search the Beach Safe site, it is beach number qld0644. https://thegreenbus.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/a-visit-to-walker-bay-beach-cooktown/

Getting to Walker Bay beach is pretty straightforward, but you’ll need a 4WD unless you intend on walking. Head South out of Cooktown and turn left onto Quarantine Bay Road. Head down a km or two and hang right onto the golf course road. About 500 metres or so you’ll see a well worn track going off to the right. Head down the track and eventually you’ll end up on the beach. Take care on the track and drive slowly. It is very narrow and has many blind corners and crests. You shouldn’t need FWD, but you will need the clearance due to ruts, tree roots and stuff. We got down to the end of the track to the beach, which then splits two ways. You can drive North to the point, or head South to the mouth of the Annan River. The Southern end is a favourite for kite surfers and board riders when the swell allows. 

OK, so we went to the beach. Our art installations are still standing! We’ve had some big tides this week, so I expected they’d be washed away. We also just missed a beach loving crocodile. See the pics of the tracks below. Jack the dog found a 30 centimetre Seahorse exoskeleton too.  Oh, and compare the big stump pic to the one in our previous Walker Bay post. This beach is very fluid. Last time we went there were two creeks flowing into the sea, but now there is just the one. That’s where the croc tracks came from. https://thegreenbus.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/another-walk-at-walker-bay/

Walker Bay is at a latitude of -15.55317 decimal degrees and a longitude of 145.29046 decimal degrees (GDA94 datum, which is for many practical purposes equivalent to WGS84).

Cooktown Golf Club is a nine hole course with dual tees. Locally constructed on the coastal dunes, the course has been built in and around the tropical bushland that boarders Walker Bay and the Annan River. Located beside Monkhouse Point, with the imposing Mount Cook as the constant backdrop, the natural beauty of the surrounds make this links type course a must for golf adventurers and holiday makers alike. However, there is a catch to all this beauty. This is the most northern golf course on the East Coast, and the wind blows from south east around 20 knots most days.

Quarantine Bay Beach Cooktown

Quarantine Bay owes its name to the fact that it was first used as a quarantine section for passengers of ships with diseases. Covered with pebbles and shells, this beach is fantastic for fishing and swimming thanks to its warm and shallow waters. Quarantine Bay is located just seven kilometres south of Cooktown, off the main Highway to Cairns.

So say all references online, however, in actuality, there were no quarantine locations here..as the bay waters were too shallow for Quarantine vessels, and also the threat of being able to walk ashore at low tide. Quarantine was at Leprosy Creek in Cooktown, not at Quarantine Bay. There were leprosy cases at Cooktown in 1897 to 1908. You can do a tour up Leprosy Creek with Riverbend Tours

https://www.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au/articles/cooktown-beaches/

Captain Cook Re-Enactment at Cooktown

James Cook arrived in what is now known as Cooktown on Cape York Peninsula in June 1770 and remained there for 48 days while repairing the Endeavour after it ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

June 17^th 1770 ENDEAVOUR RIVER

Cook spent seven weeks here in 1770, the longest land base during Cook’s East Coast expedition. The major task was to repair the Endeavour but Banks and his team of botanists spent their whole time exploring and discovering many botanical and natural history wonders which were totally new to science at the time. They discovered many new species of insects, fish, bugs and butterflies. They saw, for the first time in this country, a crocodile, dingo, flying fox, and many species of lizards, snakes, fish and insects.

The crew fished and collected giant clams and turtle for food. They found green vegetables and yams to supplement their diet. THE KANGAROO: The mysterious animal [kangaroo] was clearly sighted, shot by Lt Gore and eaten by the officers and gentlemen. It was sketched by Sydney Parkinson, named and closely examined by Banks and his botanical team. FIRST CONTACT: When the Guugu Yimithirr people from north of the harbour finally decided to make contact with Endeavour’s crew, the name of the mysterious beast was found to be ganguuru which was interpreted as kangaroo. https://www.cooktownandcapeyork.com/do/history/cookslanding

This was the story Re-enacted each year on the very location that it took place in 1770. Here they created a scene with bark huts and aborigines on one side, a middle with a background of the ship and stage exit; and a fireplace and clothesline on the other side with a drunk wandering through every action as if this would have happened for 48 days and became part of history.

130 words and phrases of the Guugu Yimithirr language, including the names of nine individuals, were recorded by Parkinson in his Journal which would surely have to be the first written record of an Indigenous language in this country during the first meaningful contact between Indigenous people and Europeans. FIRST RECONCILIATION: Six meetings between Endeavour’s crew and the Guugu Yimithirr took place with one visit ending in an altercation after Cook refused to share the turtles found on the Endeavour, with the local inhabitants. They were chased away after twice setting fire to Cook’s camp, burning all around the camp and killing a suckling pig. Cook wounded one man with musket shot and followed the group until he caught up with them on a rocky bar near the end of Furneaux Street, now known as Reconciliation Rocks. The British Flag was hoisted accompanied by Muskets firing with a big bang and lots of smoke making an inspiring finale….

Sunset from Riverbend Tours

Riverview tours collected me and 30 other travellers at the Cooktown Wharf for a cruise along the Endeavor river and up the Jetty and back to watch the sunset and then the Fireworks as part of the Cooktown Festival. I was the only single and shared a table with 2 couples and it was very relaxed and friendly.

We went around the wharf area as the sky darkened, and Nick who ran the tour spoke about the buildings on the wharf and some of the history of the area. Then we went down the river spotlighting the mangroves. We saw one fish jumping out of the water reflected in the spotlight. Somewhere down the line we moored and shared a cheese platter with the tables lit with bottled cork lights. It was very pretty

Then we returned to the wharf are and watched the fireworks and that was the end. I walked back along the shore after to the RSL and waited for Bethne to pick me up.

Sunset at Cooktown Wharf

Finally I stayed at the waterfront walk on the esplanade for the sunset. The sun sets over the water here and you can walk along the esplanade viewing the sunset

Calculations of sunrise and sunset in Cooktown – Queensland – Australia for June 2023. Generic astronomy calculator to calculate times for sunrise, sunset… https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@2170658

Keatings Lagoon Queensland

Keatings Lagoon, known as Mulbabidgee to the Waymbuurr people—the Traditional Owners of this park—has been used for thousands of years for the collection of a variety of animals and plants for food, medicines and raw materials. In more recent times, this place became known as Keatings Lagoon, after a family who built and lived in the area. Waterlilies, sedges and algae grow in and around the lagoon which is fringed with paperbarks and shrubby wrinkle pod mangroves. Tropical woodland and small thickets of vine forest surround the wetland.

The wetland is a refuge for thousands of waterbirds, especially in the dry season (May to October) when they congregate to feast on the rich aquatic life. Birds include the magpie goose, the black-necked stork, the strikingly-marked Radjah shelduck and the comb-crested jacana—slender agile bird with large feet that is able to walk across the surface of water lilies. Aquatic wildlife in the lagoon includes rainbow fish, snakehead gudgeon cod and freshwater shrimp. The wetland is also an important nursery area for juvenile barramundi which instinctively swim upstream into the lagoon during flood periods. To help protect these fish, fishing is not permitted within the park.

Innisfail Queensland

I drive to Innisfail Via Cairns. Innisfail is about 90 kilometres south of Cairns. Innisfail is the major township of the Cassowary Coast Region and is known for its sugar and banana industries, as well as for being one of Australia’s wettest towns. Innisfail’s town centre is situated at the junction of the Johnstone River and South Johnstone River, approximately 5 km (3 mi) from the coast.  It is located near large tracts of old-growth tropical rainforest surrounded by vast areas of extensive farmlands. Queensland‘s highest mountain, Mount Bartle Frere, part of Australia’s Great Dividing Range, is 15 kilometres (9 mi) to the north

Innisfail is a prosperous, colourful town, situated on the North and South Johnstone Rivers, and is surrounded by rich green landscape. Lush sugar plantations flow from the dense rainforest coastline to the thick jungles of the Palmerston National Park to the west. Sugar has been grown here since the early 1880’s. Tea, bananas, pawpaws and other exotic tropical fruits are also grown. Aquaculture also plays an important part in the area’s economy ranging from prawn, barramundi and fresh crayfish to crocodile farming.

Innisfail, town, northeastern Queensland, Australia, at the confluence of the North and South Johnstone rivers, between the coast and Mount Bartle Frere. It is located in a region of heavy rainfall (144 inches [3,658 mm] annually), mainly supporting sugarcane, dairy products, and tropical fruits.

We drove to Silkwood and visited the Murdering Point Winery where wines are made from various tropical fruits. Set amongst fertile cane fields and lush tropical rainforests of North Queensland, Murdering Point Winery offers a range of high-quality red and white fruit wines, ports, liqueurs and creams that are uniquely Australian and deliver an exciting tropical taste experience. Murdering Point Winery is located on the Canecutter Way in Silkwood east, North Queensland Australia, and is a key attraction of the Great Tropical Drive.

Quarantine Bay Beach

I decided to brave the steep road and walk Quarantine Bay beach. The tide was half out so we had a rocky walk as I was not willing to walk the little dog too close to the water because of crocodiles. We walked up to the rocks and back along the rocky shore

This is not a safe swimming area as there are crocodiles here. I saw a wind surfer trying to fly and wondered at his stupidity, not only because he was here alone but also for disregarding the notice boards warning about crocodiles. There is a sign clearly saying No Camping, but again I have seen sites saying there is free camping here. There is a toilet and rubbish bins and only a narrow track along the beach not enough for safe camping at all. Its a small cove beach and many bring dogs here or come for a walk at Sunset. My dog loves it as there must be great sniffing spots along the parking area.