Queensland Coral Coast

When we left Cairns for the second time, we set off South for Mission Beach via the Atherton Tableland.

Travelling inland we passed through lush tropical rainforest, sugar cane and banana plantations. We climbed up to over 1000 metres, twisty hairpin bends until we reached the Atherton plateau which was very fertile and mostly dairy farming. Stopped at Yungaburra, a quaint old fashioned town for lunch and where they promised 'free beer tomorrow'!

We then went on to see the famous Curtain fig tree which we first saw 36 years ago. Next stop was Malanda Falls and the Millaa Millaa falls where we saw terrapins and a beautiful kingfisher.

Arrived at Mission Beach late afternoon – such a beautiful beach and a good place to stay put for a couple of days. 4.00 a.m – 10.00 a.m. we had 6 inches of rain fall – a super electric storm to watch, but by morning all gone and dried up. So had a lovely walk along the beach.

It is difficult to comprehend that while we are beachcombing like this, in the local shops they are playing Christmas songs – heard ' Silent Night' and 'Sleigh bells ring' yesterday!!!.

Next day, we are on the move again through sugar, banana, mango and pineapple plantations, dairy cattle and goats. However, on Reaching Townsville the scenery dramatically changed from lush tropical flora to dry bush and eucalyptus trees. We went to the top of Castle Hill in Townsville and had a beautiful panorama 360 degrees overlooking Magnetic Island. Stopped the night at Ayr where we had fresh iced mangoes and a fantastic tropical thunderstorm.

Next stop was Airlee Beach. However it was 'Schoolie Week'. The town was packed with school leavers (a bit like Newquay in early July). 'Schoolies' are strange Australian creatures. They are aquatic mammals who invade the swimming pools with cans of cold drinks and they are nocturnal, listening to loud music and noisy all night!! Seriously though, Airlee Beach is a vibrant town with a beautiful freshwater swimming lagoon where we spent several hours.

But the 'piece de resistance' here was our trip to the Whitsunday Islands – so called because James Cook arrived here on that day in the 18 th century. We cruised on a catamaran to Daydream Island, where we walked through the resort and saw lemon sharks, manta rays and all sorts of pretty coloured fish including nemos, starfish and lion fish.

We had a swim at Hamilton Island and then a Barbecue lunch before we went to Whitehaven Beach. Wow!! Pure white silica sand and crystal, clear turquoise water. We had to wear stinger suits (see photo- don't we look cute) because of the danger of being stung by the irukandji jellyfish which are deadly. We had 3 hours of pure desert island bliss here.

We have now moved South to Yeppoon, where Peter and I got engaged 36 years ago and our next report will probably be after our camping trip on Fraser Island. The weather is still sunny every day and 30 deg C plus each, but not quite so humid. By the way, the climate suits us very nicely. In 4 weeks, I've lost half a stone and my hair is blond, bleached by the sun!! Bye for now.

- Sheila.

Captain's Log

As you may have realised, the blogs so far have been written by the First Mate, so I thought I would add a few words.

I really enjoyed returning to Singapore after a period of forty years. In those days when Malaysia and Singapore couldn't decide if they were one or two countries, Singapore still had the colonial air about it. Now Singapore has developed so much to become one of the major tourist centres and a commercial capital of the Far East. I was slightly disappointed that the sense of adventure has diminished somewhat. A shopping trip to Change Alley used to be an exciting experience, when you were relieved to arrive at the other end with your watch and wallet intact. Now it is probably safer than going to Lakeside. Orchard Road was once a road with lots of individual airconditioned camera shops owned by Asians, and it is now a street full of Bluewater type shopping malls, with most of the shops selling designer goods.

It was really good to have the opportunity of travelling around the NT Top End. The only part of NT we visited during the 70s was the Centre, when we got to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock (as it was called). Arriving at the beginning of November, we missed the peak season, which coincides with the "Dry Season", but were ahead of the Wet Season. This meant that the campgrounds were all pretty quiet and the roads were virtually empty apart from the road trains. It also meant that the crocodile cruises were on the smaller boats allowing us to get closer to nature!

Within hours of arriving in Darwin we were joined by our Navigator, Bruce (well actually TomTom). Just round the corner from our campervan pickup in Darwin, there was a Dick Smith Electronics where we bought an Australian satnav. Having already down loaded a lot of Australian POIs, we can readily find our next campsite or Coles Supermarket. Interestingly it appears that some of the Australian mapping has been simplified or is still being developed. When we travelled North along the tortuous route along the coast, from the Daintree River Ferry, to Cape Tribulation, the satnav would suggest that we should Turn Right in 80 metres. This was a bit worrying as any right turn off the twisting coastal road would have taken us over the cliff into the sea. The satnav has also been very useful for planning the different legs of our journey, working out our daily itinerary.

During my stints at the communal BBQs cooking the evening meal, (when Sheila says I am networking), I have met several interesting characters. At Hayes Creek RoadHouse Campground, I was chatting to a Road Worker, who drove a Grader. He was complaining about the fact that the Wet Season would mean no work in the Top End of NT for three months, so he was travelling to Alice Springs to find continuous employment.

At Katherine Gorge campground I met an Asian from Sydney with a Kea 4wd camper on some relocation deal that meant he had to get from Cairns to Darwin in less than five days. It is strange to hear the Chinese guys with a strong Aussie accent.

Then in Ayr I joined a lot of Japanese students who were envious of my Sirloin steaks as they cooked their noodles and beans.

During our trip, we have met many different nationalities. The people we meet travelling appear to fall into one of about four different categories. Firstly there is the definite backpacker brigade with vans or station wagons of varying vintage, or Wicked campers.

At the other end of the spectrum there are the Grey Nomads who may or may not have a fixed base somewhere. These Aussie pensioners have often either sold or rented out their home and taken to the road. Most seem to have come from the South and travelled North to benefit from the warmer weather.

There is another group of Australian travellers who seem to be economic migrants, like the road worker above. These are generally young families where the menfolk are often working close to the campsite, and in a couple of instances are hoping to get a house locally.

Then there are the SKIers like ourselves, recently retired and are taking time out. I think some of the Grey Nomads are SKIers who have already spent their kids' inheritance. Like the old chap at Hayes Creek who has told his children that all they will inherit is a clapped out Winebago.

- Peter

Far North Queensland

Having arrived in Cairns we had a few days of luxury in an apartment. Cairns is a very nice city well laid out in grid lined streets, but even I lost my bearings once or twice. As there isn't much of a beach, there is a man-made lagoon which was very much appreciated for swimming.

After a couple of days of sightseeing we picked up 'Vicky 2' our second campervan and headed north to Cape Tribulation, stopping off at Trinity Beach and Palm Cove on the way, beautiful palm fringed, white sand beaches but because of the deadly stinger jellyfish (some only the size of one's little finger nail), you have to swim where there are stinger nets. Moving on through the Daintree Rainforest to Cape Tribulation and crossing the Daintree River on a ferry, we passed sugar and tea plantations and the dense forest and mangrove swamps which come right down to sea level.

We camped at Myall Beach near to the Cape and managed to eat some fresh coconut which had dropped off the palm trees on to the beach. Felt like Robinson Crusoe! Cape Tribulation was so called by Captain Cook when his ship the Endeavour nearly floundered here in 1770. He went on to find a natural harbour further north which he called Cooktown. We walked through the mangrove swamps to the Noah river outlet, lots of vines and rich tropical flora.

On our return from the Cape, we headed for Mossman Gorge and had a very invigorating cool swim (coldest water yet) in the waterfalls - along with some very large jungle perch fish! The day ended at Port Douglas, a very upmarket resort and home for Australian TV stars. From here we set sail for the Great Barrier Reef, to the Agincourt reef which is part of the outer reef, on the edge of the continental shelf. We visited three reef sites and snorkelled at each one wearing our stinger suits. Wow! We saw amazing coral formations, nemos (anemone fish), butterfly fish, angel fish, parrot fish, pretty blue fish and some called many spotted sweet lips! Best of all though were the giant purple clams and the reef shark which swam right below us! What a fantastic day.

We are now back in Cairns having stopped off at Kuranda on the way. Tomorrow we head south for Mission Beach and Dunk Island. Watch this space!!

Crocodile Dundee Territory

Further to our brief Kakadu update, we now able to get on line with Wi-Fi at our Darwin campsite.




Well what an experience the Northern Territory Top End has been. We have met so many like - minded travellers from different parts of Australia, Far East, Europe as well as UK.

"Vicky" our campervan is very comfortable, the fridge is a godsend and so is the fan at night because it has been very hot, 40 deg C plus by day and nearly that at night. By the time we have had Happy Hour and a Barbecue, it is dark by 7pm. We download the photos onto the laptop, and get an early night. We are awake by 6am ready for the new day.

After Jabiru, we went to Nourlangie Rock and saw fantastic aborigine art work on the rocks. At the top we surveyed Arnhem Land and could see the deliberately lit bushfires (to burn off old undergrowth). Next morning, having watched two dingoes close to our van, we set off on the 2hr Yellow Water cruise at 6.45 am. Saw about 20 crocodiles, some huge ones 4 metres long and loads of bird life – sea eagles, sacred ibis, dacta birds, whistling kites, little azure kingfishers and 'Jesus' birds that appeared to walk on water.

Next day was at Katherine, swam in the thermal pools. Every campsite has a swim pool, so my aim is to swim at least once every day, the temperature of the pools though is like a warm bath about 37 deg. Next trip was the 4 hr cruise up 3 of Katherine's gorges, starting early morning. On the way up we saw aboriginal rock paintings dating back 8000 years. In the wet season the gorge can flood up to 20 metres depth – a lot of water! In the second gorge we climbed the cliff to see more paintings, this time yellow ochre rather than red and even older. At the top of the 3rd gorge we walked to the vortex holes, where you can see how the swirling waters of flood water have worn away the rock. Coming back down to the first gorge we pulled over to the bank and had a swim in the river. I also had a go blowing the Guide's didgeridoo. He said I was making a 'buffalo' call!!

Left Katherine after lunch and stopped for another swim in the Edith Falls, no crocs! Charlie the buffalo was standing (stuffed) on the bar at the Adelaide river roadhouse (Crocodile Dundee fame). While we were there a coach load of people arrived for breakfast before joining the Ghan train. There had been a derailment South of Darwin earlier in the week. Yesterday we made our way to Litchfield Park, very lush tropical palm and pandanus trees. The park has more undulating bushland than Kakadu. Saw the magnetic termite mounds, all aligned N to S (a living Stonehenge). More swimming at Wangi Falls where we saw lots of bats in the trees, and finally dipped into the Buley Rock holes, waterfalls with deep swimming pools, a bit cooler water. Peter is enjoying 'networking' with the other cooks at the barbecue every evening while I write the 'blog'. We visited Darwin beaches which were deserted on account of the stingers (lethal jelly fish). The Darwin Art Gallery has an excellent display of Aborigine Art and explained some of the art which we have seen during the last few days. The Darwin Museum exhibits relating to Cyclone Tracey (which wiped out Darwin, Christmas Eve 1974), were particularly interesting as I had received refugee children at my school in Melbourne at the time.

All in all, a brilliant start to the trip. See our photos in the Gallery.

Flying to Cairns tomorrow. Catch up with us again in Queensland. Sheila & Peter

Update from Kakadu

Jumping crocodiles! It is extremely hot in northern territory. So far
we have fed crocodiles on the adelaide river, lost our dinner to some
crows and fended off dingoes with the same idea! Have visited
aboriginal art rock paintings and climbed the lookout to see across to
arnhem land. Have cruised yellow water and seen more crocodiles and
everything from eagles to kingfishers. Each day we have managed to
stop at a campsite with a refreshing swim pool followed by a barbq.

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