Last Thursday Conny, Rob and I went for a day trip to Nth Stradbroke island, with a bit of fun (of all kinds) in the preceding afternoon.

Wednesday arvo Conny and I drove up to Rob's place. Rob showed me how to stick-weld, I showed Conny how to ride a dirtbike, and Conny showed me how not to get off said bike.

Rob's son Michael has a small 4-stroke dirtbike, which Conny very very very much hoped she might be allowed to ride. It has a proper gearbox and so riding that was a big first for her, which she loved - until both I and she made stupid mistakes. My mistake was not to insist on heavy trousers, hers was to ride it into a bush on turning (actually very very slowly) and to not get off the fallen bike immediately.

Net result: a big burn on her leg. Exhausts are hot and not pleasant when you press your leg against them, even if only for 2-3 seconds.

After a cold shower, some soaking time in Rob's pool and a burn bandage (both aloe and melaleuca are pretty good on burns) things looked sufficiently up for the island trip the next day. So we went.

First we saw a few humpback whales just off the tip of the island, then came a bunch of playful dolphins and a bit later we caught views of some huge manta rays floating past - but when one of them came up to the surface all of us had their cameras stowed (ah well, experiencing things is more important than photographing).

This is the pic I was supposed to send to her mom which I've avoided so far.

A place called the Blow Hole, but the waves weren't high enough to produce more than a bit of a spout.

Huge mantas.

Conny loves to close her eyes whenever somebody tries to take a picture of her (and what she was snacking wasn't bad at all).

Conny at the Brown Lake, which was a tad too cold for swimming according to her.

...and of course some beach pictures. It was quite blowy at the time.

Back home, before going back to school this week.