Overnight stops (in date order): Cairns (x11); Green Island (x4); Cairns (x2); Port Douglas; Myall Beach – Cape Tribulation (x2); Cooktown; Mount Carbine; Millaa Millaa; Flying Fish Point; Mission Beach; Wallaman Falls – Girringun National Park; Townsville (x3); Alva Beach (x3); Airlie Beach (x2); Sarina; Rockhampton; Tannum Sands; Hervey Bay (x2); Mooloolaba (x3); Caboolture (x2); Forest Glen; Bribie Island (x3); Caboolture; Clontarf (x12); Byron Bay; Nambucca Heads; Forster; Stockton (x3); Sydney (x5)
Cairns was a welcome break from the dry and dusty interior and an opportunity to rest and make some repairs to the vehicle.
The city is a Mecca for tourists; being a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. I made six dives on the outer reef; on one of the trips we had the bonus of spotting a couple of Humpback Whales.
We took a four-day ‘holiday’ on Green Island a rain-forest covered Coral Cay off the coast of Cairns.
The corals, tropical fish and turtles were great but the real highlight was sleeping in a proper bed and having a bathroom with a bath for the first time in six months!
After our break at Green Island we took the coast road north stopping at Port Douglas,
where we visited an animal sanctuary which housed specimens of the local wildlife including the exotic cassowary,
jabirus,
colourful parrots,
tawny frogmouths,
more salt-water crocodiles,
a tree kangaroo
and some inquisitive and greedy wallabies.
North of Port Douglas, a ferry crosses the Daintree River and the road winds through the tropical rainforest and mangrove-fringed beaches of the Daintree National Park to Cape Tribulation – which was named by Captain Cook when his ship the Endeavour struck a reef off the cape in 1770 and almost sank.
North of the Cape the coast road becomes the four-wheel-drive Bloomfield Track, which winds up and down the coastal ranges with gradients as steep as one-in-three and the occasional fallen tree.
The track passes the Bloomfield Falls
on the way to Cooktown which is is as far north as any asphalt road goes on the east coast.
Cook beached the Endeavour in the sheltered Bay where Cooktown is now situated and spent seven weeks there making the ship seaworthy once more.
Heading south we took the inland route, up onto the tablelands around Mareeba and Atherton; a region with high rainfall, which accounts for the lush, green vegetation and the many waterfalls;
including the Wallaman Falls, the highest in Australia.
If we had to live anywhere in Australia it might be here!
At the aquarium in Townsville we came close to some of the creatures we had glimpsed on the reef
and others that we had eaten;
including the barramundi.
At Alva,
I spent two days diving on the wreck of the SS Yongala; a passenger ship that sank during a cyclone in 1911 with the loss of all hands.
The Yongala is rated as one of the top ten dive sites in the world and is as famous for the variety and size of its marine life (rays, sharks, groupers, sea snakes etc.) as for the wreck itself.
At Airile beach, which has a better class of pigeon,
we spent a day riding the ferries that criss-cross the Whitsunday Islands.
Australia is the third largest exporter of sugar and production is centred on the cane fields of the tropical coast of Queensland.
As we headed south into the densely populated coastal strip north of Brisbane we reverted to tourists; visiting historical villages
and local fairs,
watching the humpback whales that congregate in Hervey Bay at this time of year to mate
and walking among the Glasshouse Mountains.
At Mooloolaba Beach
I spent a day diving on the HMAS Brisbane, a warship scuttled in the bay to create an artificial reef. I was lucky that Len Zell, the author of the Lonely Planet guide to diving on the Great Barrier Reef, was also on the trip and kindly allowed me to display some of the photos he took that day. Thanks, Len (www.lenzell.com)!
We passed several weeks on the northern Brisbane beaches of Bribie Island and the Redcliffe Peninsula. During this time we started preparations for the south-east Asian leg of our journey; having the truck repaired and serviced and having a couple of new tyres fitted.
We also spent time in Brisbane
which, in the Australian springtime, has a perfect climate and is in full bloom;
its signature tree being the Jacaranda.
The final stretch of the Australian leg of our journey, which completed our 30,000 km circuit of the continent, was a three-day drive back to Sydney. We stopped for coffee at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast
and camped at a couple of other resort towns on the way.
We had time for a little more sightseeing during our final five days in Sydney, including a visit to the replica of James Cook’s ship the Endeavour,
and a final visit to the Opera House (thanks again, Jonathan).
I delivered the truck to Port Kembla for shipment and we took the plane for Singapore nine months to the day that we arrived in Australia. We had a last glimpse of Ayers Rock on the way (although you will need good eyesight to see it!).
Responses
Andrée Gagné says: Nice pictures of you two. We want to be on the beach!!! Andrée et Stéphane xx
Thérèse Lever says: Hi Danielle and Paul, Bravo, pour votre esprit d’aventure comme tes ancêtres Danielle, qui ont quitté cette vieille France., et le Perche en particulier.. Et vous qui nous faites partager, la beauté du monde que vous visitez et découvrez. Merci pour toutes ces photos qui nous montrent combien la nature is wonderful, very nice. Je vais continuer à rêver grâce à vous. Je vous transmets toute notre amitié et chaleureux souvenir, Abbé René DETOC, Annick et Philippe MAGE, Et moi Thérèse de Nantes.
Andrée Gagné says: Bonjour à vous deux. Hier, j’ai reçu la carte postale de vous deux. J’adore les photos que vous avez prises. Ma préférée est celle de Paul donnant à manger à un kangourou, le nez dans le sac. J’en profite pour vous passer une commande, je voudrais avoir un oiseau que je crois dans la famille des perroquets. Il est rouge flamboyant, bleu et marron. Aussi, dans la livraison, je désire un ou deux kangourous. Bravo à notre photographe qui prend toujours des photos aussi intéressantes à admirer. Andrée et Stéphan xxx
Simon McIlroy says: More great snaps!! We visited Cairns and Port Douglas some years ago. We remember a small church (in PD) situated on the beach, with an open window facing the sea. Delightful. We took a train around the Atherton area. Yes, I can understand why you would wish to settle there. Looking forward to your despatches from Asia. Bon Voyage.
Carole Furnivall says: Beach holiday looks like a welcome bit of comfort. Seeing you trying to shift that fallen tree brought home to me what an intrepid couple you are. Takes guts. But the rewards are clearly amazing.
Andrée Gagné says: Bonjour à vous deux. Les photos sont superbes. Paul est chanceux et je suis jalouse car il touche au kangourou et vous voyez de beaux oiseaux. Profitez-en car je vous envie de faire un si beau voyage. Continue à prendre de belles photos car nous adoront bien les regarder. Andrée et Stéphane xx
Simon McIlroy says: Those beautiful pigeons! In WW2 pigeons were used to pass messages, gather intelligence from behind enemy lines and plant false information. I have just been reading how the ‘Double Cross’ (XX) team were planning to attack the German Pigeon Service. Every German intelligence station in occupied France had a pigeon section and the idea was to infiltrate their pigeon lofts with British spy pigeons. It would throw suspicion on the entire German pigeon service and they would no longer trust their own pigeons. MI5 built up a force of 350 pigeons disguised as German pigeons. You have been warned!