Turtles and history at Bundaberg

As we clamber up the sandy hill, the shape looming in the dark in front of us is far bigger than I had anticipated.

Around one-metre long, the dark shape rocks side to side, whipping her limbs around and throwing sand up in her wake.

We huddle closely behind, careful that she doesn't see us. It would ruin everything if she did.

Luckily Loggerhead turtles don't hear on the same frequency used by human voices.

It's really lucky she can't hear us as we've somehow found ourselves on a tour with 60 excited Year 5 students.

We arrived at Mon Repos beach, near Bundaberg, hoping to spy one of these fascinating creatures emerge from the ocean.

And we didn't have to wait long.

After barely half an hour exploring the well set-up education centre, we're told by park rangers that their beach sentinels have sighted a turtle and our group is ready to go.

The beach is closed at night but if you book on to a guided tour a ranger will provide you with a wealth of information as you watch the amazing display.

We are taken up in small groups and positioned behind the digging turtle so she can't see us. Turtles who are disturbed will often flee back to the ocean.

Using her flippers, she scoops away sand to make a pit to lie in before extending her back flippers down about half a metre to dig a deeper egg chamber.

After she drops 20 eggs – out of the 96 she lays – we're allowed to form a large, spectator circle, as she is now too deep into her task to be disturbed.

At first the action is obscured by an ocean of school kids but in the circle we finally get a good look at what's happening – and watching those eggs shoot out, sometimes three at once, was amazing.

The soft, leathery shells (we get to touch them later as they're dug up and counted for a research project) are as big as ping pong balls and bounce as they're laid.

The majority of these will be born female as it's the colour and temperature of the sand that decides the sex of hatchlings.

The dark, warm sands of Mon Repos produce more females, while the cooler, white sands of the Great Barrier Reef see more males.

When they hatch they will scurry towards the brightness of the ocean's horizon and embark on a three-day swimming frenzy that will take them along the currents and into the vast South Pacific.

For most males, this will be the last time they touch the sand.

The females will return to the beach after 30 years, the area's unique magnetic field drawing them back to lay their eggs here.

After our friend is finished laying, she scoots forward and the sand starts flying again as she covers the hole and then meanders back down the beach to disappear in the waves.

In a few months' time her offspring will emerge and make the same trek to the sea to the delight of spectators.

But the turtles' lifecycle – viewed from November to February – is not the only amazing thing to have happened on this beach. We're standing on a patch of history here.

In 1912, 19-year-old Bundaberg-born Bert Hinkler made the first flight of a long and illustrous career at Mon Repos beach on his home-made glider.

He was a man of amazing achievements, and visitors to the area can learn about them all at the nearby Hinkler Hall of Aviation.

Fascinated by flight at an early age, Hinkler studied the flight of ibises and tried to fly by strapping wings to his back.

Later, and after more study, he successfully flew his home-made glider to a height of 10 metres, achieving his dream to fly.

He moved to England and joined the Royal Naval Air Service as an observer-gunner before serving as a pilot.

During this time he proved his worth as an inventor to improve the plight of World War 2 pilots.

One popular invention was a machine gun adaptor to stop hot, ejected shells from burning the chests of gunners as they fired, directing them to fly off to one side instead.

After the war he worked for Southampton aircraft manufacturer A V Roe where he acquired an Avro Baby in which he broke flying records between London to Turin and Sydney to Bundaberg.

But his most renowned achievements were a record-breaking 15-and-a-half day solo flight from England to Australia in 1928 and his 1931 trip from Canada to London in which he overcame terrible weather to complete the first solo flight across the South Atlantic.

It all sounds very impressive on paper but it's even more impressive when you see the planes he made these flights in.

The museum holds exhibits of the Avro Baby as well as the light aircraft he made his monumental, record breaking flights in.

Imagine flying from London to Bundaberg in a plane without a roof!

In 1933, Hinkler left England in an attempt to break the then flying record to Australia of eight days and 10 hours.

Sadly, he crash landed in the Tuscan Mountains in Italy.

Hinkler, who had by now earned worldwide celebrity status, was honoured with a state funeral and laid to rest in Florence.

IF YOU GO

Stay at picturesque, seaside Manta Bargara which is a 15-minute drive from Bundaberg. Large, airy rooms are complemented by a sprawling wooden deck commanding fantastic views of the ocean. The five-star rooms are fully-self contained and the property is an easy walk to cafes, patrolled surf beaches and still-water swimming areas.

Turtle tours at Mon Repos are booked through Bundaberg Region Tourism. Adults are $A9.60, seniors and children and $5.10 and under 5s are free.

Hinkler Hall of Aviation is at North Bundaberg and is open seven days a week. Adult admission is $15, concession is $12, children are $10.

* The writer was a guest of Tourism Queensland.

- AAP