Well we can't believe it but not only have we now been going for 5 months but we're also about to leave Australia!
After departing Airlie Beach we headed north to Mission Beach where we stayed for 1 night. A nice small seaside resort that is in rainforest and famous for the nearly extinct Southern Cassowary. We saw one from the car which was quite rare in itself so that was another 'animal seen in the wild' box to tick! We can't believe how much wildlife we have seen in Australia, it's incredible. No point going to the zoo because you can see so much of it on your doorstep here.
After Mission Beach we headed to Cape Tribulation... This really is a spectacularly beautiful part of Oz. Rainforest meets the sea here and it's very very lush and exotic. Well we are in the Tropics after all! We stayed for 3 nights here and just chilled out and read books and took walks in the rainforest. Got bitten by lots of midges too..! No surprise there - I am a walking buffet for anything that bites!
From Cape Trib we drove to Port Douglas for a coffee stop - a lovely place if you have money but like most backpackers we don't so we walked around and did some window shopping instead! Saw a pretty church called St Mary's by the Sea, built in 1911 it's a white wooden timber church backing onto the beach and has a 2 year waiting list for weddings! I can see why!
After Port Douglas we drove south to Cairns where we checked in to our final campsite for 3 nights. Cairns is a nice place but there's not much to do... There is an amazing public lagoon right on the ocean front where you can swim and sunbathe for free.. Weds we cleaned out the van and packed into our backpacks, something we haven't done in 2 months! Then we returned Wile Coyote to Wicked... Sad to see it go but we got our $500 bond back so that was good!
We flew from Cairns to Brisbane on Friday... It was a really clear day and you could see the Great Barrier Reef out of the window which was incredible. It's the only natural wonder that can be seen from space...
And so we're here in Brisbane now. We went on a wander around the city yesterday. It's a compact city which means it's easy to mooch around and isn't too tiring! We had a BBQ at the hostel last night because it was 'Switch Off' here where the lights in the city go out for 1 hour.. I think it's happening in 60 cities around the world..?
We're in another hostel now for our remaining 3 nights and we don't plan to do much more than enjoy some meals out and do a bit of shopping before flying to Auckland on Wednesday and then celebrating the 'old mans' 30th on Thursday. Yes, he truly is old now!
So here's a little summary of our likes and dislikes of Oz:
Likes: Weather (when it's sunny), people, wildlife, scenery, National Parks, very efficient Tourist Info Centres, Cherry Ripes,
Dislikes: Weather (when it's raining), Australian Drivers who can't drive, useless road signs, driving around trams in Melbourne,
Books read: too many to count but Bill Bryson's Down Under was pretty good
Wine and Beer consumed: too much... My name is Rebecca and I am an alcoholic. Goon (wine in a box) for $10...
Food eaten: too much pasta and rice cooked from the back of the van! Lots of fresh fish and chips!
Miles driven: about 10,000km we think!
Things unknown about Oz: One of the biggest things that Carl and I have learnt about Oz, and one that has saddened us the most, is the story of the mis-treatment of the Aborigines by white people. So few people on the other side of the world realise that the Aborigines are still counted as second class citizens here, the children don't go to school and you rarely see Aborigines out and about here. Until 1967 Aboriginal people we still counted as 'Flora and Fauna' on the census. Also in the 60s and 70s there was the systematic stealing, by white people, of children from Aboriginal families in a effort to try and teach them the 'white ways and customs'. However these children were looked after for a short while and then turned out into a society they didn't really understand or tried to go back to their families who found it difficult to receive them back. Things are slowly changing here with the new PM, Kevin Rudd, but it will take a long long time for there to be a society where Aborigines and White People live happily side by side...
Love to you all,
Becs and Old Man Haines xx
