Entries by Jocelyn Watts

Fraser Island Adventure

Attention travellers: Are you looking for a K’gari adventure? It’s no secret that K’gari (Fraser Island) is one of Australia’s top tourist destinations, and as such the world’s largest sand island is well-advertised across the world for adventure. But when 9-year-old Hayden gasped in awe of his K’gari (Fraser Island) adventure, you could be sure […]

Globe Hotel Bundaberg

Young couple re-open historic pub Arguably the youngest couple ever to run a pub in Australia, Emma Hurley, 21, and Hayden Rimmington, 22, wanted to run the backpacker hostel at the Globe Hotel in Bundaberg, but they also needed to be licensed publicans. So now they are! They quickly learnt how to pour beer and […]

Your Next Door Neighbour

Creations from her art and soul By Jennifer Champan, first published in the Fraser Coast Chronicle, 2010 Jocelyn, your next-door neighbour, is an accomplished artist and photographer yet her modesty is so great, not many of us would ever have known. That is if she didn’t allow her arm to be twisted so her talents […]

Tully hosts white water rafting title

Why hold world-class white water rafting championships at Tully? Watching all the adrenalin pumping action on the first day of the 2018 Pre-World White Water Rafting Championship on 11 May was certainly a highlight of my five-week house-sitting stint in Tully. Before visiting Tully, I knew the town of 2390 people and located 140 kilometres […]

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Discovering chocolate

Let’s discover chocolate: is it really a fruit? Chocolate lovers rejoice – the love of your life is a fruit! Well, that is according to Chris and Lynn Jahnke’s light-hearted theory. “Chocolate is made from seeds of cocoa fruit, so in my mind, that clearly makes chocolate a fruit,” joked Chris. “And are we not encouraged […]

Sashaying on Pure Spirit

Pure Spirit of adventure on the waves For a landlubber more used to hoofing it across cow paddocks than sailing, when ‘Captain Awesome’ spoke of jibing, I thought he was into dancing. You know, jiving! That’s the international ballroom dance style that originated in the United States from African-Americans in the early 1930s and was […]

Discovery Festival Fun

Discovery Festival: Rock Around The Croc When the 2017 Discovery Festival at Cooktown kicked off, even the wildlife put on a stunning show to welcome the deluge of visitors. Spotted on a bank of the Annan River just south of the town in Far North Queensland was Blackie, the five-metre male crocodile that rules the […]

Top 11 Things to do at Cooktown

Discover Cooktown in Far North Queensland There’s no shortage of things to do at Cooktown where in 1770 James Cook landed after his ship ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef. The old adage “Seen one rainforest, seen ém all” certainly doesn’t apply. Exploring Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula was just a blip on my travel […]

Native Title Declared On K’gari

K’gari (Fraser Island): ‘This land is our land’ Cheers and tears of jubilation filled a temporary federal courtroom on Fraser Island (K’gari) on October 24, 2014,  as Justice Berna Collier officially recognised the Butchulla people as the island’s native title holders. It was an emotional day for the 450 Butchulla people who gathered to witness […]

Vietnam shed joins military trail

Toogoom RSL opens restored Vietnam shed A shed destined for the Vietnam war is now basking in the Queensland sun after 45 years in storage at the Wallangarra Army base on the New South Wales border. The shed that was to be used as a soldiers’ mess hall on the battlefields of Vietnam now stands […]