25th January 2008: - 6.00am rise today so that we were able to catch a lift down to the Marina. For this was going to be the day that we explored the Great Barrier Reef. Our choice off vestal was a small schooner called Ocean Free; it normally took up to 20 people on board but today there were only 15 of us. Everyone else most probably had the sense to stay out of the water or had looked @ the long term weather forecast! As we were heading out of the security of the harbour we ran straight into a storm, one that our skipper Jason handled very well, I’m sure that he had seen worse & that this was just a minor storm. But for us land lovers it was not a very good feeling. I am glad to report that both of us were not sick, but believer me it came very close. Needless to say that because of the storm the snorkelling was not a fantastic experience. Because the seas were rough, the ocean was churned up & due to there being no sun the colours of the coral did not. We are also sad to report that quiet a lot of the coral where we were was bleached. Although it was not the best day to be out there I must say we tried to make the most of it & joined the whole group on Green Island. This is where we had a warm shower & wash away some of the salt before we headed back to the schooner to have lunch. Talking of lunch, it was fantastic & I was very cheeky & asked if I could have the left overs, but sadly they are not aloud to give this away due to potential food poisoning. So I was forced to watch them throw away salad that would have lasted a week in the camper van!
I was very happy when we started back to land & so was Drew as the crew were able to get the sails up & enjoy the natural power of wind. Once on land we thanked our crew, who were fantastic. We could not have wished for better, they were so friendly & made you feel so welcome. I would really recommend people to take this trip, but just to look at the weather forecast before you go out onto the reef!
Oh tonight @ the hostel we had a free wine & cheese night, so what the wine was cheap but it went down well with the free spread; crackers, cold meats, vegetables, dips, crisps & fruit. I tell you we did not go hungry tonight!
26th January 2008: - Well today we picked up our second camper van & to tell you the truth we do prefer Kill Bill. Even though it is for 3 people the extra space is just not evident, the only difference one extra seat in the front & the centre console has been ripped out.
Guess what for the first time we have been in Cairns, the sun was blazing hot. Which is good for all the locals as today is Australia day; so many people will be down the beach celebrating. Not us though as we are heading north to Mossman Gorge, a small tourist attraction just before Cape Tribulation. Hopping out of the van we are very aware of the increasing humidity. Lucky for us though @ Mossman Gorge it is safe enough to swim in the water & I tell you what it was extremely refreshing, although it was very short lived. Our nest destination is Daintree ferry crossing, where it takes 2 minutes to cross the croc infested river to get to Cape Tribulation. Although tonight we full short of Cape Trib & find a camp site @ Cape Kimberly called Koala Backpackers Resort.
27th January 2008: - We wake @ Cape Kimberly to a swarm of mossies outside the van due to the humidity in the atmosphere & the natural dark surroundings caused by the rainforest canopy. Last night the air was so humid it felt like we were trying to get to sleep in a sauna! After breakfast & shower we headed out to Cape Tribulation, we though that this was aptly named for our journey. As our van is slowly getting worse, the gearbox is awful & the back door decides when it wants to open. We called wicked & roadside assistance, but neither of them could do anything until Tuesday. It’s a good job we are not stuck here! Oh & later on in the day we find that the AC does not work when the weather is hot, go figure!
Cape Tribulation is known to have been the bay where Captain Cook ran the Endeavour aground to make repairs to the boat after hitting what is now known as the Great Barrier Reef. As we are getting no help from Wicked we decide to carry on our journey & head onto the Tablelands or known locally as the highlands of Cairns. We travel along spiralling roads with fantastic views. Our first town we drive to, Atherton is where we find the Giant Peanut standing @ the side of the road. However we only stay long enough to take a picture of the peanut & then drive onwards to our next destination, The Curtain Fig tree located just outside Yungaburra. Now this fig tree is amazing to see, it invaded its host tree (possibly a red cider) over 500 years ago, starting from a single seed that a bird most probably left behind. From this the seed grew into many branches extracting all of the goodness of its host tree & eventually making it down to the forest floor where it now picks the riches the soil has to offer. The tree looks unreal & would not look out of place on the set of Lord of the Rings.
Now today is very hot & humid so we move onto Lake Echam Tourist Park to book a site & then move swiftly onwards to the Lake. A quick dip & we both leave feeling refreshed. So with our new lease of energy we head out to the Giant Cedar Tree. However once we had navigated the un-made roads we decide against the walk to the tree as it is over 700m & the paths look very overgrown. I for one was glad about our decision as just as we left the car park; we saw a 5 ft black snake straddle the road.
28th January 2008: - There is a lot of driving ahead of us today, through twisting roads, all for a good cause though. Vis a town called Melanda we head to the National Park called Hypipamee (I love the name) where we view our first waterfall of the day called Dinner Falls. Water runs over a steady decline causing water to gurgle over the big boulders. A crater lays to the left of the path, which was created by a blow hole caused by volcanic activity thousands of years ago.
Once back in the camper van we started to head along the Kennedy Highway to Millstream Falls National Park. Now this is reportedly the widest falls in Australia. However with seeing Vic Falls early on in your travels, you compare all the falls you see with that, which is not good.
Although we had already seen two falls we head onwards to drive the falls circuit. Our next stop along now the Palmerston Highway is Millaa Millaa Falls. These are very picturesque, with a long drop into a small pool of water @ the bottom with lush tropical rainforest surrounding it. We decide not to take a swim here as there is a sign warning you about unhealthy bacteria being present, yuck! A short drive through the stunning tablelands & we come to Zillie falls, they looked gorgeous from above, but we were slightly disappointed that you were not able to see the view from the bottom. We did however make friends with a large spider spanning a couple of trees, not harmful I believe, but we only got close enough to take a pic.
Our nest stop was Eliniae falls, this again had such a picturesque setting like Millaa Millaa, but no nasty bacteria as the water flowed into a river. I must say @ this moment in time we had both had a life time of falls, but on our scenic drive back to Cairns we stop @ Munalli Falls. Here we just sit back with a refreshing Ice Pole & listen to the running water beside us. Tonight was also the night that we had to break into the van as I had shut the keys in doors; I think the less said about that the better!
29th January 2008: - After waiting @ the Wicked depot for about an hour we then had to take our replacement van to have new tyres fitted. We eventually got on the road @ about midday. We are travelling down towards Ingham today, which is a long drive. We do not stop @ anything along the way & decide to get to our destination as quickly as possible. Although that is easier said than done, as the rain is coming down so heavy & we have to reduce our speed as speeding Lorries are very kindly throwing up stones onto our windscreen. Our camp for the night is a lovely private van park called Palm Groves. It has an inviting pool, so we dive right in to try & cool ourselves down.
30th January 2008: - We leave Ingham & take a short drive along the Bruce Highway to Townsw\ville. Now today was a bit of a washout, the rain just would not stop. Therefore our visit to Jourama falls was just not possible as the road was flooded. However all was not lost, on our way back to the Highway Drew spotted blue up in one of the trees ahead of us. At first we thought it was a Kingfisher, but once we got the camera out & took a picture we were able to confirm that it was a Blue Winged Kookaburra, this bird we later found out is only native to the North of Queensland.
On the road again & this time we wanted to go to Little Crystal Creek & Big Crystal Creek of the Paluma Range. The rain stopped us again here & we only made it half way up o Crystal Creek as the road was very windy & wet. We thought it safer to make our way back down although the views halfway up were fantastic, so we could imagine the view from the top would have been even more impressive.
31st January 2007: - Woke up this morning, having been a midnight snack for an army of mossies. I thought that if you had alcohol in your blood they do not like to bite! However these little rotters obviously could not get enough judging by the size & amount of bites. Maybe I should try drinking a little bit more!
Feeling a bit tired we drive into Townsville & visit the museum of Tropical Queensland. This place is very informative & interesting; we spend almost 3 hours in there. They have a fantastic exhibition on Pandora; a naval ship from the 1800’s which famously went in search for the mutinied ship The Bounty. However Pandora never made it home to England & was yet another ship to be taken by the Great Barrier Reef. There have been many dives to the shipwreck, which have uncovered & excavated many items, which are now on display here; china plates, pistols, pendants & fragile navigating equipment. I was also intrigued to find out that there was a Thomas Hayward on board & a Peter Hayward who legend has it was a member of the mutineers on the bounty, although once he returned back to England he received a pardon, I wonder if they were distant relatives.
We move on to our next campsite & try one of Queensland’s National Parks, Bowling Green Bay. It is great value for money @ 4.50GBP for a site with running water & showers. As yet we have not gone out on one of the walks as it has been raining on/off since we arrived. So we have been sitting watching the Agile Wallabies & Rock Wallabies grazing on the grass & barks of trees in front of the van. They are so cute, but I did notice as they eating that they have quite large teeth, so I think I will keep my distance.
1st February 2008: - Our Night in @ Bowling Green Bay was fantastic, if only there were more of these places within the National Parks. Showers & loos were clean & modern & the environment was a delight to wake up to. Unfortunately we missed out on the swimming hole as we had a long journey to complete, but it did look inviting & it was croc free!
Today our drive took us further south along the Bruce Highway to a place called Prosperine NP just 50kms west of Airlie Beach, however we were a tad bit naïve & did not call ahead. Once there we found out that the majority of the park was flooded & that they did not hold a valid permit. So to our disappointment we did not stay the night. Therefore we headed straight into Airlie Beach & found a family run campsite.
2nd February 2008: - Must admit we had a bit of a lazy day, we both read our books & I tried unsuccessfully to turn a pair of ¾ lengths into shorts (took me forever). Got talking to a couple who we found out were from Felstead, it’s a small world!
3rd February 2008: - Today we woke up bright & early for our trip on the Raggamuffin, a maxi that had won the Sydney to Hobart race 3 times. Now I don’t mind saying I was a bit nervous about this as since we have been travelling down the coast the weather has been miserable. However to my delight we woke to brilliant sunshine & little breeze. Drew did point out to me that this was not a good day for sailing, as every yacht needs wind to get the sails up & we only had 4 knots of the stuff.
We had a 2.5 hour sail out to Whitehaven Beach, reportedly the no.1 beach in Australia & one of the top 10 in the world. This is where we put on our very fetching stinger suits (all in one Lycra suit) & entered the brilliant topaz sea & that is where we spent most of our time whilst on the Island. Lunch was great & we even got some to take back for tea, thanks to Helen our hostess. All in all I could not fault the day, apart from not having enough wind to fully sail the Maxi.
4th February 2008: - We left Airlie beach feeling rather shattered from staying put for 3 nights. After a quick visit to the supermarket to stock up on food for the next few days we are one the road to Eungella NP. This NP is 50km off of the coast road, but it is well worth the detour, as here they have the biggest population of Platypus in Australia. As soon as we climb the very steep road to Eungella we start out to Broken River lookout. We arrive @ about 14.30 & do not leave until 17.30. During this time we are lucky to see 4 Platypus. They are incredibly shy creatures & invariably dive deep down under the water once they hear the click of a camera. However saying this we managed to get many pictures & snippets of film to show you how graceful they navigate the waterways. We feel so privileged; it is fantastic seeing native animals in their natural environment.
5th February 2008: - Our campsite in Eungella has the best view possible, as we are top of the hill; we are able to take in the view of the valley below. Clouds disperse in the heat of the morning sun & kookaburras were laughing & flying from one tree to another, we counted five @ one time.
We did a lot of driving today from Eungella & ended up @ a servo campsite about 35k from Gladstone. It rained for the majority of the afternoon & @ one point we were surrounded by thunder & lightening & that was the point that I handed the driving over to Drew. You could not see more than 20m in front of you & still there were nutters trying to keep up with the 100km speed limit, including the lorry drivers who liked to completely cover our van in the standing water.
6th February 2008: - We were on the road today by 8.00am & the skies looked promising today. Our journey ends after midday as we pull into Turtle Sands Caravan Park located next to Mon Repos Conservation Park. As the site name suggests, we are here to try & get a glimpse of turtles, the gentle giants of the sea.
As we check in we get talking to Pos, who has been @ the park for a couple of weeks & told us that the turtle tour, we have booked ourselves on this evening is amazing & we could be in for a late night.
So hearing this we make our way to our pitch situated about 15 meters away from the surf, have our lunch & have a little kip. @ about 16.30 when both of us were asleep Pos knocked @ our van. We were delighted to hear that a loggerhead turtle had come up on the beach to lay her eggs. This of course woke us immediately. Just 100 meters away the turtle was moving sand so that she could lay her eggs. It was such an experience to see this event during the day, as normally turtles only come up on shore under the cover & safety of darkness. She may have been enticed out of the water because the afternoon was overcast & the temperature had dropped. What a sight to see, she was beautiful, her shell (carapace) measuring 93.5cm & from what the volunteer told us, we understand that the loggerhead turtle was new to this area, would be about 30year old & this may have been her 1st year to lay. The volunteer then had to tag the turtle’s flippers so that she would be easily recognized next time she came ashore. As everyone around watched on intently, she laid over 100 eggs & was soon awkwardly making her way back into the surf. Her big black eyes were so captivating & you just felt so privileged to witness such an event.
After our sneak preview of what could be in store for us tonight we head back to the van to get ready for the evening. 19.00 & we have just been sorted into groups @ the Mon Repos conservation centre. There are about 70 people in one group & there are about 2 groups. However by the time the call comes in @ 21.40 that Loggerhead & Flatback turtle hatchlings have been discovered many people have already headed back home. So both groups are added together & about 100 people follow a ranger down to the beach. We crowd around a Loggerhead Turtles nest that is being dug out by a volunteer. He is basically digging out the egg shells & any turtles that are still within the nest. Once the hole has been dug out we are informed that 126 hatchlings had emerged form this nest.
Now comes the fun part, rangers ask for volunteers in the crowd who have torches to come forward. Both Drew & I have a torch as thankfully Pos informed us that we may be able to be part of this experience earlier on. Basically you form what they call the tunnel of light, so that the little hatchlings can follow your torchlight into the ocean safely. This was an incredible moment, having dozens of little hatchlings stumbling past & over your feet heading for the inviting surf. They are so cute & it is so sad to think that only 1 in 1000 hatchlings actually make it ti adulthood. This is why this research & 1,5km of coastline is so important.
