KEY POINTS:
By Andrew Stone
Dolphins Mystique and Patch pop into Tin Can Bay for a snack in the mornings.
The hulking figure in the Queensland bar fixed on Steve Walker. "I know you," the giant said. Walker, a bear of bloke from Otago, looked round for the nearest exit.
The big man came closer: "You're a Walker." Then it dawned. Beneath the beard lay Keith Murdoch, the exiled All Black who recognised Walker from faces in South Island scrums. They talked briefly. Murdoch sculled his beer and left the bar.
The next time Walker saw Murdoch was in the papers when the reclusive wanderer was questioned over the body of a young Aborigine found down an abandoned mine shaft in the Northern Territory.
That's by no means the only excitement Walker has had in his life. After crossing the Tasman 30 years ago he drove interstate rigs before eventually settling in Tin Can Bay.
This sleepy backwater now has a budding tourist industry thanks to the visitors who come to handfeed a pair of wild dolphins. Walker had to fight the bureaucrats to keep the business afloat after the Queensland eco-nazis declared the Indo-Pacific dolphins, Mystique and Patch, were wild animals and off-limits to humans.
Authorities hit him with fines. Walker kept feeding the dolphins. "What was I going to do? They'd come in every morning and people would be here to see them."
The bills mounted. At one point he reckoned the cafe and tourist business he runs with his wife Elona had run up $250,000 in fines. There were stories in the papers. Steve figured if anything, he was being exploited by the creatures because the feeding was free. Then he got a phone call and the next thing State Premier Peter Beattie drove up. Beattie told him: "Mate I'll fix it. We'll wipe the fines. Feed the dolphins." So he does.
Up close the dolphins have sharp baby teeth and nicks in their fins from fighting. One, or sometimes both, idle in for breakfast around 9am. They each get 2kg of fish daily so they don't lose their hunting instincts in the balmy Tin Can Bay waters, jumping-off point for the Great Sandy Straits, a safe stretch of inland sea used by fishers in tinnies, sailors and houseboats. Prawn trawlers chug into their harbour base, bringing their bounty back for freezing and export.
Dolphins, dugongs and sea turtles thrive in the straits, which has endless little bays and safe anchorages. For the moment, Tin Can Bay is a laid-back stretch of southern Queensland. Look for the charming wildflower walk beside Snapper Creek, watch the pelicans flap over fish and take a stroll on the foreshore bird walk. Within a few kilometres it is possible to see 100 species, spoonbills in the shallows, honeyeaters pecking in banksias for nectar and cockatoos perched in blue gums.
A big new marina may alter the ambience though Walker doesn't think it will change the habits of his prize attractions. "Look, they don't seem to mind the trawlers and pleasure boats. A few more won't worry them."
Checklist
Getting there
Air New Zealand, Qantas, Freedom Air have daily flights to Brisbane. Oneway tickets from $219. Rental cars and vans from about $A30 ($34.45) a day available from Brisbane Airport.
Where to stay
Plenty of options, from backpacking rooms at $A10 a night to self-catering apartments, beach houses, eco-villas and bed and breakfast style homestays from $A100 a night.
For more information
Go to Tourism Sunshine Coast.
