Monday 2^nd June 2008

After another night of wind and heavy rain, we were surprised to wake up to a cloudless sky and warm sunshine!  Well that posed a dilemma as we had made up our minds yesterday to move on.  We therefore asked a couple of people nearby whether they had heard the latest weather forecast for the area.  They both said the low had moved on to “Brizzy” (Brisbane) and that we could expect a reasonable day with perhaps a few showers (these did not materialise and the weather has been fine and sunny all day), we have therefore decided stay and to take a 2 day overnight trip to Fraser Island booking it through the Holiday Park as we can store the motorhome free for the 2 days and we can just return to the motorhome on Wednesday night, move it from storage and return to our previous pitch.  We  spent the afternoon walking miles along the beach to Urangan Pier a long pier built in the 1930’s for the exporting of sugar cane and Fraser Island timber its prime use now being for hoards of fishermen to cast a line.  We watched from the end of the pier for some time but nothing of any size was caught.  It is so much more peaceful in the motorhome now after the incessant drumming of the rain has ceased, only the chirping of the Cicada’s disturbing the peace and quiet and we will put up with them anytime.

Tuesday 3^rd June 2008

Happy Birthday to my brother Brian, Thinking of you despite the distance,

Best Wishes Alan & Jenny

Steve our guide for our 2 day “Wilderness Safari” arrived promptly at 7:45am for us to catch the early morning barge from Urangan Boat Harbour to Fraser Island.  We collected other people on the way so had the 16 people maximum for the 4WD coach. Our first stop was a  walk through the Yidney Rainforest with Steve giving us the first of his great informative talks on the Flora and Fauna on the island.  We then continued to Happy Valley, the small township were we had a superb buffet lunch. This was the first place where we saw the “Dingo proof” fence that has sparked a great deal of furore between the various political, conservation and other parties, needless to say the Dingoes don’t know what’s going on and one walked through the outdoor seating area whilst we were there.  These are the purest Dingoes in the whole of Australia having not been able to  interbreed with other dogs and  are said to be 98% pure Dingo.  Our next stop was going to be Eli Creek the largest creek on the Island and one we walked up last time we were here.  However, we had an opportunity to take a light aircraft flight over some of the scenic highlights so we, together with Clare and Roxanne decided to partake of the opportunity as this is one of only three places in the world were an aircraft takes off and lands on a beach (one of the others being in Scotland).  Suffice to say it was a great flight and something else we will remember for a long time.  We stopped at places of interest on the way up to “Champagne Pools” where we could swim in the pools if we wanted to on this occasion we decided not to, watching instead some other members of the group enjoying themselves in the powerful waves which swept over the pools.  After a photo stop at Indian Head (the “birthplace” of Fraser Island) we  returned along “75 Mile Beach” (actually 54 kilometres drivable beach) passing the much photographed Moheno shipwreck one of the stops we made on the way up, to our overnight tent accommodation at Cathedral Beach.  We elected for the fish meal cooked by Steve and hindered helped by Jenny, Jackie, Jenny, Kim and Therese,  I helped by sampling Steve’s delicious Kangaroo meat concoction.  After another great meal Steve gave us a lesson on the Didgeridoo, people who know me will be aware of my love of the sound of this instrument and Steve’s tips have made me more determined to be able to play my own.  The sound that Steve made from just a piece of plastic pipe (he cannot bring his own instrument) was just mind blowing.  After some chats with other members of the group especially with Jenny and Kim two young girls travelling in a “Wicked” campervan from Cairns to Brisbane, we retired to our safari tent complete with “queen size” bed.

Wednesday 4^th June 2008

Woke to the sound of the “Laughing Jackass” the Kookaburra at 6:00am  an early start required because of the lowest tide of the year and the need to be at the barge harbour at 3:00pm (more later) for our return later to Hervey Bay.  First stop after breakfast, (after a re-fuel at Happy Valley), Lake Wabby a lake at the end of one of the many “sand blows” on Fraser and  about 2 kilometres from the beach.   As it was rather early and although quite warm we elected not to go for a swim, instead just relaxed by the side of the lake.  We returned to the coach a different way, which was a lot easier than the walk across the sands, I walking and chatting with young Jenny and old my Jenny walking with Kim.  We continued our safari with a drive to Pile Valley and a walk along Wangagoolba Creek (Whispering Creek) which we had walked along on our last visit, still being amazed at the crystal  clear water and white sand bottom.  The group also saw some “wildlife” along here including Catfish, Eels, a snake and Kim unfortunately finding a Leech attaching itself to her leg,  Victor a Swedish member of our group removing it  with the old solution of a lighted cigarette on it’s bum.  A further drive along the sandy track to Lake Birrabeen for a picnic lunch, disturbing a large Monitor Lizard who was about to have his meal at the picnic site of some unidentified eggs (possibly turtle or snake) buried in the sand.  He proceeded to climb up a tree near us and watched us (with envy) as we devoured Chicken Wraps, Cheese, Salad, Fresh Fruit and Tim Tam Biscuits. After a relax and swim at the lake it was time to board the coach for the journey back to the barge terminal, however when we arrived the barge was nowhere to be seen.  A great thought went through my head that perhaps an extra night on the island may be on the cards.  However Steve investigated and found that the barge had been retimed for 4:00 pm, sure enough at about 3:45 pm the barge made it’s way up the very narrow channel and because of the low tide an extremely shallow channel to the landing ramp.  The captain having the passengers and vehicles moved to the bow to lift the stern higher to ride over the water (it getting grounded at one point as it made it’s way up the channel.  The captain explaining  that the crossing would take approx 40 minutes unless we got stuck, in which case it may take us 3 hours and 40 minutes and if anybody fell overboard not to throw them a lifebelt as they could walk back across. We did make the crossing without any incidents and were also lucky enough to catch a stunning sunset just before disembarking at Riverheads.  To sum up, a great trip made special not just because of the  attraction of Fraser Island but also of the people we met, Jenny, Kim, Steve, Steve and Therese, Kathleen, Fergal and especially our tour guide Steve.  We did not think this trip would surpass our 1999 one, it did!

 Thursday 5^th June 2008

Yaamba Rest Area (436 Km). After saying goodbye to Fergal and Kathleen who were staying at the same holiday park as us, we needed to catch up some of the time that we had lost staying the extra day at Hervey Bay.  So with just a short stop in the morning at a road side fruit stall (we have Pineapples in every nook and cranny) and at Woolworths for some Milk and Bread we motored on until lunch time stopping at a rest area at Gin Gin and then just having the one stop in the afternoon at Bororen.  For the first time in Australia we are staying over night in one of their Rest Area’s having got here just as the sunset.  We are sited just off the main Bruce Highway so we are hoping the sound of the traffic does not disturb us to much.  Anybody got a recipe that includes both Ginger and Pineapple?

Friday 6^th June 2008

Mackay (299 Km).  An early start from the rest area, deciding to have breakfast a little later  and despite a bit of fog on the highway we had travelled 130 kilometres before 9:30 am, in fact today has been the easiest drive since being in Australia the long straight road and little traffic to Sarina, plus 110 instead of the usual 100 kilometre per hour speed limit helped and we reached Mackay just after lunch.  We were lucky in getting on this campsite as it was full, however the reception staff found us an electric hook-up site behind the reception (a really great site as it just looks over grass land) where we are watching Ibis, Whistling-duck and Rainbow Lorikeets grazing.  Laundry time again and Jenny has had some good exercise walking to and fro from the laundry room. I helped by pegging out a handkerchief (and I got that upside-down).  Tomorrow we go to Eungella National Park but we have some doubt whether the camp-site we have used at Finch Hatton twice before is still open, as the lady at the Information Bureau seemed to think it had closed so we may have to look for an alternative, which because of the remote location may not be easy.  As long as the Hideaway Café at Eungella is still open so we can have Suzanna’s delicious home-made Apple Strudel whilst gazing out at the wonderful view  I don’t really care. 

Saturday 7^th June 2008

Eungella (89 Km).  The lady was correct at the information bureau at Mackay, Finch Hatton Caravan Park had closed, such a shame it was a beautiful little park and a useful stop for Eungella National Park.  We were lucky to get a site in the Eungella township itself and the view from it is spectacular as you look down on the Pioneer Valley which we drove along before the very steep and windy climb up the Clarke Range. First stop after booking in? The Hideaway Café, Thank goodness that Susanne was still there AND she remembered us from our other visits, so Ham, Cheese and Pineapple Pasty for me and Chicken and Mushroom for Jenny with  salads, followed by Apple Strudel with Fresh Cream and it was still as delicious as we remember it. When we had finished we were again invited to see her garden and it is quite remarkable what she has achieved in it with scores of native plants and trees on a steep site.  Because we stayed talking for so long we did not do the intended walk we had planned so we drove to Broken River and walked along to the Platypus viewing platform.  Two hours later plenty of Turtles but no Platypus and as it was getting to dark for photo’s we made our way back to the campsite.

Sunday 8^th June 2008

Murphy’s Law, a German man who we saw last night at the Platypus viewing platform told me this morning just 5 minutes after we left a Platypus was spotted!  The weather this morning is very misty (as we are quite high up)  so again we have changed our intended walk, instead descending down the Clarke Range to visit Finch Hatton Gorge instead and walk to Araluen Cascade and Wheel of Fire Falls, we had planned for this to take a good part of the day, however the track to Wheel of Fire Falls was closed because of flood damage (in January) so we drove back up to Eungella earlier than we had anticipated. Dilemma!  How could we get to the Broken River part of the National Park without going past The Hideaway Café?  Answer, we couldn’t so we drove up the short track for Tea and …………….Yes you’ve guessed it Apple Strudel.  As it was such  poor weather Susanne was very quiet in the café so we were chatting again for  a long time.  She is a lady originally from Germany who has lived in the area for many years and her observations of life are very interesting and unique.  Eventually we arrived at Broken River and decided to walk the Granite Bend Circuit.  Murphy’s Law came into play again, I only took my camera with one lens (yesterday I took my camera holdall) and what did we see but a Platypus, so while Jenny sang to it to keep it occupied (not really) I walked back to the car park for my camera holdall.  We did manage to get a photo of it although the light was poor and we did have the bonus of watching and photographing a  Azure Kingfisher fishing from a rock close by.  By this time it had started to rain heavily so we decided to just walk to the river crossing before turning back to the car park.  Tomorrow we continue North towards Townsville and the Tropics!

Monday 9^th June 2008

Ayr (344 Km).  Because we woke up “in cloud” or very thick fog we thought we would descend the Clarke Range before having breakfast and we guessed right as soon as we were in the valley the weather was clear although cloudy and despite moving further North the weather did not improve until we reached our stop for tonight in Ayr.  We found out this morning that it’s a Bank Holiday, why?  It’s the Queens birthday, now if I were you lot in the UK I would not be happy with this, why is it a holiday in Australia and not in the UK?  After all the last time I heard she was still living there, if I were you I would write to your MP, the Prime Minister and Her Majesty and if that doesn’t work contact The Sun.  With the weather being a bit “iffy” we have decided not to go to the Whitsunday’s instead we will have an extra day on Magnetic Island where we can snorkel on some “fringe coral reef” from a beach which Jenny prefers to do rather than from a boat.  Yesterday on the way up to Eungella we bought some large Mandarin Oranges at 10 for $2 from a stall outside a house, (they just leave an “honesty” box to leave your money in, try doing that in the UK).  They are delicious, this morning on the way past we bought 10 more, anybody know a recipe for Ginger, Pineapple AND Mandarin’s?  It’s a good job that Mangoes are out of season!

Tuesday 10^th June 2008

Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island (220 Km, excluding barge).  The original plan was for us to stay overnight at Townsville, but we made such good time that we were there before lunch and having stopped at the information bureau to check on the barge times found there was one at 12:35 pm. We drove to the terminal and managed to book on that crossing, after confirming with the campsite on Magnetic Island that there was a site available.  We are staying at a “Bush Camp” and were lucky enough to find a site with some shady trees as the weather now is getting quite hot despite the occasional rain shower.  We have also purchased a Mosquito Net (one of those that you would normally fit over a camp bed) and with a bit of ingenuity  and Jenny’s deft cutting and sowing have made a screen for the motorhome door, it allows us to keep the door open when we are sitting outside in the evenings eating our meals or as we did tonight read and listen to music.  We were pleasantly interrupted  by first of all watching some large Fruit Bats fly over and some smaller ones “whiz” around the trees and then a furry creature which we cannot identify at present was obviously attracted to our Chicken Curry and sniffed around us while we eat, he went away and after a short while came back with a friend and proceeded to sit in the tree waiting for a tasty morsel.  Left overs  of one of Jenny’s curries, no chance!

Wednesday 11thJune 2008

The morning started off a bit damp, so we caught the island bus to Nelly Bay to check on car hire, the previous times we have been here we have hired a Mini Moke which was great fun, the complete distance you can drive on the island only being approximately 13 kilometre. However a piece of road we wanted to travel to Radical Bay hire cars are not allowed so we have decided to either use the bus which drops you close by or drive there in the motorhome.  This afternoon we spent walking to Balding Bay a quite hard walk across the peninsular to a lovely beach.  It is only now I have realised how appropriate the name of the Bay is.  Hands up those who have sat on a rock on a beach and had their hair cut?  Not before time I might add as the last time I had a hair cut was in the South Island of New Zealand and it was starting to curl!  We returned to Horseshoe bay as it is renowned for it’s fine sunsets, (sunset is around 5:45 pm) but with little cloud it was rather disappointing, so we returned to the campsite for a shower before our evening meal of Sweet Potatoes, Chicken and Salad, our little cute furry friends again come to see what they could scrounge.  Today’s long walk had given us both an appetite so they had better be careful they don’t end up on our plates.

Thursday 12^th June 2008

As we were finishing (a rather late) breakfast,  a couple (Pat and Brian) approached us at the motorhome having  seen our Union Jack on the window and asked us where we belonged in the UK as they had emigrated  in 1967 and were originally from Hull. After a chat they invited us to their motorhome “Poppy’s Jalopy” (a fantastic self-build coach) for a cup of tea, which they had parked at a friends a little way up Horseshoe Bay Road.  After 2 cups of tea, biscuits and toasted raisin bread we left at lunchtime after having a lovely talk with them. Pat and Brian used to live on Magnetic Island and were visiting some old friends and some of their favourite places from their home in Tasmania (actually Bruney Island a small island near Hobart).  We have invited them to our motorhome tomorrow for a drink and chat in the evening.  We drove all of 12 kilometres today to Picnic Bay and  after a short walk we decided to drive back to Arcadia to see the Rock Wallaby’s which reside there, after asking them to pose for photographs and as it was getting late in the afternoon we thought we may be lucky enough to see some Koalas on the Fort track (the remains of a  WW2 defensive gun emplacement), however they were not as cooperative as the Rock Wallaby’s  and we failed to spot any.

Friday 13^th June 2008

Brian and Pat arrived just after breakfast to return Jenny’s hat which she had left in their motorhome yesterday (it’s an age thing) and they stayed for a cup of tea, Brian was very brave having his tea without sugar (must pick some up at the next tea shop we stop at).  After they left we decided to drive down to Florence Bay a steep winding road full of large  potholes, the Mini Mokes that are used for getting about the island are not allowed to use the road, I guess if one went down one of those potholes they would have difficulty climbing out the other side even in 1^st gear, in the motorhome with its high clearance we had no problems.  Brian and Pat accepted our invitation for drinks in the evening, Brian arriving with a sack of sugar and Pat with proper milk (we only have skimmed, that watery stuff coloured white).  We had a lovely evening showing photographs of each others travels and we will hopefully see them “on the road” again as we are going in roughly the same direction at the same time, before they return to “Tazzy” later in the year.

Saturday 14^th June 2008

We walked to were Brian and Pat are staying in “Poppy’s Jalopy” (an old neighbour from when they lived on the island) to take a couple of photographs and say goodbye, stopping for a cup of tea and a chat before we went our separate ways.  We decided to walk to Radical Bay which is even further than Balding Bay where we went to on Wednesday.  I walked along with Nils and Jenny with Eva a young couple from Hamburg who were camping at the same campsite and who had asked us the way to the Bay and decided to walk with us.  It is surprising how just chatting away the time and distance seemed quite short and we were there in a surprisingly short time.  We had taken our snorkel equipment with us but the water was quite cloudy so although I went around the rocky edges of the bay was unable to see any fish of interest.  We timed our return just right at Horseshoe Bay as the sunset was the best we have seen since being here.  As it is our last night on Magnetic Island instead of  me Jenny cooking tonight we went to Ferrari a Restaurant on Horseshoe Bay Esplanade and enjoyed a nicely cooked meal, Jenny having a steak and me Barramundi in the themed Red and Black décor and Ferrari memorabilia.

Sunday  15^th June 2008

Mission Beach (247 Km).  We were at Nelly Bay Barge terminal for our 9:55am crossing rather earlier than we intended and were  first in line in the “lorry” queue and I made myself useful by cleaning all the motorhome windows while Jenny sorted some paperwork.  When the barge arrived we waited for the cars to go onboard before I headed the queue of lorry’s on board (I lie, I was the only vehicle in that line, I might have been in the wrong lane), I was still 2^nd off at the other end.  We needed to stop to top up with a few grocery’s and found a Shopping Mall on the main road just outside Townsville that had a Woolworth’s and other shops. Jenny needed some new T shirts, she had bought some new ones for the trip, but they are now too big as she has lost weight since we left the UK, she is so pleased getting into a size last worn approximately 12 years ago and is now throwing away the larger ones never to be worn again, she hopes!  We have arrived at Mission Beach staying at the same holiday park as in 1999.  Good news!  The restaurant “Friends” that we liked so much last time (in fact probably one of the best restaurants we have ever eaten in) is still open. Bad news!  It has new owners, we have been told however it is as nice as ever, we shall put it to the test later in the week.

Monday 16^th June 2008

A really relaxing day in part due to the fact that the weather is quite grey and surprisingly cold, in fact speaking to our son Michael this morning the weather in the UK was sunnier and about the same temperature as here in the wet tropics.  We did move the motorhome to a different site which is nearer the games room where the WIFI transmitter is located.  Last night we could only get on the internet in the games room which although having a roof is open on all sides and a moth “thingy” was flying about which was that large it caused an eclipse every time it flew around the lights, plus, it was practising stunt flying over our heads.  We returned to the motorhome before it unleashed a salvo of Exocets or AIM-9’s on us.  We did walk to the information centre and purchased a 40 cents leaflet on local walks and  tomorrow we will go hunting for one of  the local endangered specie’s the Cassowary, it is one of the 3 creatures we want to see whilst in Australia having already crossed the Platypus off our list,  the last time we were here we only found Cassowary dropping’s!

Tuesday 17^th June 2008

Well no walking today as it is raining so hard, this part of Queensland does, because of the mountain range close by the ocean, get a disproportionate amount of rain and Tully is one of the wettest parts of the Wet Tropics, in fact 3 local towns compete for the “Golden Gum-boot” award for the wettest town.  I should be one of the judge’s. We have not been idle having done some housework, laundry, caught up with correspondence, written postcards and also sorted out what we are going to take on the safari next week.  We had some good news in a email from our Kiwi friends Brian and Judy in Wellington, New Zealand.  Brian has a conference to attend in Alice Springs in September and is taking Judy with him and they are having a short holiday there afterwards.  By a stroke of luck (actually skill on my part for accurate planning) we shall be there about the same time so hopefully we will be able to see them.  Come rain or shine tomorrow we are going into the Rainforest (with a capital R) to seek the elusive Cassowary, probably only see leeches.