Karumba - Alice Springs

We have travelled over 1500kms since my last post, hit a roo, seen some amazing country, had plenty of fights and arguments, done lots of free camping and have finally, truly hit the Outback! The red dust coating everything proves it! We have arrived in Alice Springs and even the boys who usually say "But I had a shower yesterday" headed straight for the showers as soon as we had set up. But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let me take you back to Karumba...

The kite above our campsite

Poor Ella hit the wall the morning we left Karumba. I found her crying in the caravan, clutching the tissue box (the one with kittens on it - great marketing strategy Kleenex!) and wailing "I really miss Bonnie. She's just the right shape for my arms. Will we be near our house soon?" Bad news on that front, but she slowly cheered up with the prospect of adding to the road kill tally over the next leg of the journey!

Krys the Savannah King, shot in July 1957 near Normanton.

We hit the road and saw lots more brolgas and another enormous Wedge tailed Eagle on our way back to Normanton. We had spotted the replica of the largest crocodile ever "captured" (read "shot") there on our way in and were keen to check it out. Krys the Savannah King, let me tell you, is of PREHISTORIC proportions!!! It is apparently authenticated by the Guiness Book of Records and not surprisingly, is the largest saltwater croc ever recorded at 8.63m. Krystina Pawlowski shot this monster in the Norman River, just out of Normanton. Thank goodness this was not the croc cruising by while Lachie was fishing!

We know where the missing backpackers are now!

We headed south on the Matilda Highway and enjoyed the scenery, but not the fighting and arguing in the back of the Blunderbuss. You would think that with 5 seats we could separate the kids enough, but no. Some days no combination of two children works. Marcus and Lachlan even managed to fight with an aisle and a spare seat between them! There were termite mounds covering huge areas and we decided that they looked like tombstones, which nearly had to be used for the fighting children.

Burke & Wills Roadhouse was the next stop where we bought some expensive petrol and Jackson was excited to break his "wheels" record with an 82 wheeler measuring 51.8 metres. I was glad to meet this road train in the carpark, and not on the road! They are quite scary approaching at speed and not giving an inch - the number of dead stock on the roadside testimony to their speed and inertia!

We kept on driving, and the kids kept on fighting, and eventually we got to Cloncurry, where we camped at Wal's campspot for the night. Fortunately Glenda and Ron rolled in next to us, and they must have been missing their grandchildren as they got out a remote controlled car which kept the kids amused until dark. Glenda was in a wheelchair and their caravan was specially modified. She showed us around and I got a serious case of fridge envy. Our fridge is the size of a beer carton and I am really struggling on the catering front. Hers was big enough to live in!

Marcus distinguished himself by nibbling his bread into a pair of glasses at dinner. Jackson thought a monocle was the better bet!

After a noisy night, with road trains on one side and trains on the other, we were almost keen to hit the road again. We had seen a huge mob of cattle just outside town so we drove out to the saleyard, but they didn't have a yarding so we continued on to the cemetery. We have all enjoyed Ella's Audrey of the Outback stories recently and we wanted to see the graves of the cameleers (similar to Mr Akbar in the stories). There were only 2 headstones left in the Afghan section, but they did face Mecca! Amazingly, just out of town we saw 4 wild camels! Our wild animal tally is looking pretty darn healthy.

Burke and Wills camp at the Corella River on 22nd Jan, 1861

We missed the memorial marking the Burke and Wills Expedition's last camp spot near the gulf (due to 66kms of rough, rutted roads!) so we took the opportunity to stop and pay our respects to the explorers at their camp on the Corella River. Driving through this country gives you renewed respect for their exploits, although they didn't have 4 kids with them!!

The main ward in the Underground
Hospital.

We saw another 5 camels in the spectacular ranges before coming into Mt Isa. No doubts about the main industry here - the entire skyline is dominated by the huge smelter stacks of the mines. Lunch was a picnic outside the information centre, where Marcus made a new friend. The Underground Hospital captured our interest, so we decided not to tour the pretend mine but find that instead. After the Japanese bombings of Darwin, Broome and Mareeba in WW2, the hospital board thought that Mt Isa would be another logical target. They asked the miners to help tunnel into the hills behind the hospital to make an emergency ward in case the town was bombed. The miners all worked volunteer shifts (after their real shifts - they must have been hard men!) for 15 weeks to excavate the Underground Hospital. All the supports were made from local gidyea (a really hard, heavy wood) and the furniture was made from gelignite boxes and packing cases.

Gelignite boxes used as shelving!

Fortunately it never had to be used and it gradually fell into disrepair. A committee to preserve the historical site was formed in 1999 and with the assistance of the National Trust it was excavated and repaired to allow visitors. We all found it fascinating and were really glad we had visited.

Next we found the Mt. Isa School of the Air but it was closed, so we took the opportunity to stock up on groceries and find a camp not far out of town. For once, it was off the road a bit so we thought it wouldn't be too noisy. The boys went off to collect firewood and we built a campfire to roast some potatoes. Ella discovered a "camel poo" in the grass and spent the rest of the evening worrying about a camel bumping into the caravan in the dark! Our next-door neighbour Keith came over for a chat. He was travelling back the way we came, so we were able to fill him in on the good camp spots. He entertained us with stories and anecdotes for ages. Jackson was very amused with his description of his vehicle when a policewoman asked if he had a 4WD: "No, I have a 2WD. But it's a very clever 2-wheel drive. It won't go where it can't go." He brought us over half a pumpkin to the kids' horror, but most of them agreed it was delicious roasted in the coals! We played music by the fire under the stars until we were all exhausted. I then spent the night reassuring Ella that the movements of the caravan were not caused by camels until I was even more exhausted!

There were only 4 children at the Mt Isa School of the Air!

We were up early next morning as huge, rattling trucks drove down our supposedly quiet road from dawn. We easily made it on time for the School of the Air tour! Both Dave and I agreed it would have been a great place to work - sitting in a "classroom" talking to the class (maximum of 10 children) on the telephone, with mute button at the ready, for 3 half hour periods! The rest of the teachers' time is spent preparing lessons and marking. Where do we apply?

We've made it out of Queensland!

Wanting to make it into the Northern Territory, we headed West towards Camooweal. We stopped for one of our many pit stops by a WW2 historical site, which turned out to be an interesting piece of bitumen road. Until WW2, there was just a track between Mt Isa and Camooweal. During the War, up to 1000 Allied vehicles were passing through a day, which made the construction of a sealed road imperative. Although it was completed quickly, the road was made so well it was still in use until 1996. We also noticed Yelvertoft Station as we drove along, which was featured in the School of the Air promo video. The 4 children who are enrolled with the school live on the cattle station which runs 45 000 head on 2.5 million acres! We got to Camooweal where we filled up with petrol and also filled all the water tanks while we had afternoon tea. We crossed the border into the Northern Territory amidst much excitement so we took a photo to celebrate.

Almost immediately the scenery changed to a vast expanse of flat, grassy plain stretching as far as the eye could see. Spotted another Wedgetailed Eagle on some road kill at the side of the road. He was not in a hurry to move - I guess you can afford that lazy arrogance when you are at the top of the foodchain! Kept driving West, and the SH 400km signs were mystifying for a while, as we couldn't work out what town we were heading for. We finally worked out that the markers were informing us how far it was to the Stuart Highway juncture, which would take us to a town ... eventually!

We stopped at Avon Downs, which was a camp site opposite a Police Station in the middle of the plains. Ella and Marcus were so bored on the drive that they swapped outfits and emerged from the Blunderbuss dressed as each other! We were really pleased the Police were just across the road, as just on dark two guys set up in the next site and proceeded to laugh in a disconcertingly evil manner. They looked like extras from O Brother Where Art Thou? and they continued to laugh. Obviously they were enjoying life, but we started to worry about them and I got Lachie to put the axe away! Dave considered getting the banjo out to make them feel at home, but we thought we'd never get rid of them if he did. They didn't stop laughing until they fell asleep and started laughing again at dawn, but left shortly after that. Whew!

After watching a beautiful sunrise over the plains, we packed up and got moving to try to get a good distance in. We drove for 200kms to Barkly Homestead, where we refuelled. The speed limit in NT is 130 but the roads are quite good and very straight. We were trundling along nicely when I hit a roo. It was a large roo, already dead on the road, but I didn't see it until too late and there was no-where to go as the only other traffic of the morning was approaching from the other direction. I lined up the roo between the wheels, slowed down as much as possible in the short time I had, closed my eyes (I probably shouldn't admit that!) and hoped for the best. A terrible crunching noise announced the demise of the water tank under the caravan, but we were all OK. The boys retrieved the water tank and Dave spent an uncomfortable ten minutes under the van wiring up the support struts so we could continue on. We then used the remnants of the water in the holed tank to wash the contents of the roo's guts off the caravan. It was a subdued drive to the Three-Ways Roadhouse for lunch, after which we turned South. Just along the Stuart Highway I saw a dead horse on the roadside. Thank goodness I didn't hit that! Thank goodness Ella didn't see it!

The smoke from the fire made the
sunset spectacular.

We drove through Tennant Creek and Lachie spotted smoke on the horizon. We drove on, assuming it was a controlled burn-off. We were in the middle of the fire when we realised that it wasn't controlled in any manner and that it was a bushfire! Thankfully it had already burnt both sides of the road, so we made it through. We pulled over into the Devil's Marbles campground for a much needed gin and tonic! The kids raced off to explore the rocks, which were spectacular and covered a far greater area than I had realised. We took heaps of photos and climbed all over the rocks until dark.

Lachlan spotted a dingo a few metres away while we were having dinner, so Ella quickly retired to the caravan. Marcus didn't help matters by telling her that dingoes could smell little girls and would chew through anything to get them! (Actually, the dingoes would have smelled all of us, as we were on our 4th night free camping without showers!) There were warning signs about the dingoes, suggesting that you didn't leave small items like hats, shoes or jumpsuits about at night, so we packed everything away carefully before heading to bed. Ella woke terrified in the middle of the night and the kids all saw the dingoes outside the caravan, so I spent the rest of the night reassuring them all that a dingo could not gnaw its way into a caravan. Dave was sleeping in the Blunderbuss, and said that the dingoes did not move even when he shone the torch on them! Jackson reckons they smelt the dead roo plastered all over the bottom of the caravan!

Early morning light on the rocks

We were up early to climb the rocks for the sunrise, which was well worth it, and we took another zillion photos. This is a fantastic place, despite the dingoes, and we all agreed to stop here on our way back. Another day of driving beckoned us, so we packed up. Lachie gashed his knee climbing before breakfast, but made us all laugh as he announced "I know what UHT milk stands for. Utterly Horrible Tasting!" and we also solved the mystery of the gas fridge problems. I turn it on, check it is running before bed and it is always off in the morning. It turns out that Mr. Security, in his pre-bed routine, has been turning off all the gas bottles! So we may not have a water tank, but at least the fridge does work on gas! After surviving another uncontrolled burn, morning tea was at Barrow Creek, where we explored the Telegraph Station which was built in 1872. Ella was munching on an apple, which loosened her tooth. We found her distraught in the car. "I don't want this tooth to come out. I've had it there for a really long time!" She didn't appreciate the discussion about the Telegraph Station having been there for a really long time, so we cut our losses, put her in the furthest seat from the front and carried on.

Ella outside the Blacksmith's Shed

Reaching Alice Springs and showers became our number one priority as the day wore on, so we drove and drove and finally made it to Alice. We booked into the last site at the first van park we found, set up and hit the showers! Two huge loads of washing finished the day, and we are all looking forward to getting to bed!

Stay tuned ... 

Aye, Karumba!

Since we were in camp early, we cleaned the caravan and started repairing some of the damage caused by the rough roads. Our box of miscellaneous screws are diminishing rapidly.

We have been spotting Wedge-tailed Eagles and all manner of birds of prey in the skies on our journeys, although we usually can't see them well enough to identify them. You can imagine our excitement when a whistling kite landed in nest above our heads in the tree next to our caravan. There are young in the nest as well, but we haven't spotted them yet. Lachie is doing his best to communicate with them through his much rehearsed whistling ... I guess travelling with a 40 kilo budgie must have some benefits! If he can charm them into poking their heads over for a photo I will forgive him his incessant whistling. For a while. Pap, you have a lot to answer for! In hindsight, it may have been better to teach Lach to whistle after the 6 months of being cooped up in a vehicle with him!

We then had a swim - it is bloody hot up here. The water was cold, and the locals thought us mad, but it was very refreshing. Dave got bait and more bits and bobs for fishing, while Lachlan chatted to all the fishermen around camp. The fishing here is amazing - people are reeling in huge fish from charter boats, tinnies and off the beach as well. Lachie is determined to catch more - his total is 7 so far. And no, Neil, he isn't feeding us yet! Had to have another swim before we set off to see the famed sunset on the beach.

Marcus managed to sneak up on this
brolga which was near the road.

We saw more brolga along the roadside, and this time we were able to stop in time. They are big birds - 1.3m high with a wingspan of 2.4m.

Mouths too full to smile!

We all enjoyed the sunset fish and chips - the barra was delicious!

The beach was really just sandstone layers, which of course prompted a discussion about fossils and how they form. Ella found a pearly, white perfect cone-shaped shell, and spent the rest of the evening digging and trying to convince us that she had discovered the fossil record - hitherto unknown - of unicorns!

"They really are unicorn horns! There are galore of them here!"

Marcus took a series of photos of the sunset, which really was amazing and well worth driving out to the point for. We were thinking what a perfect evening it had been, when 2 whistling kites began circling our heads, just a couple of metres above us. We managed to snap a couple of photos before they left, then a couple of minutes later they came back and did the same thing. Just incredible! Luckily Marcus was in charge of the camera, as I don't think my reflexes would have been quick enough to capture the shots.

Next morning saw an early fishing expedition, where the boys spent 4 hours fishing (with about 300 others!) along Karumba Point. Marcus took a video for me as he didn't think I would believe how many were out fishing. I tried to upload it, but it was too long.
Lachlan caught (and released) a skipjack but the catch of the day were 2 "blue salmon" which the very successful fisherman in the next position donated to the boys. They were absolutely delicious for lunch! Our Omega-3 levels have never been so high!

We spent the afternoon in and out of the pool as it was stinking hot, and the kids played with Alister, Claire and Bridget. Ella really enjoyed playing with some girls for a change, although they all played tiggy, capture the flag and water tiggy together! They had another great game until it was way too dark to see.

The fishermadmen went off again to try their luck on this morning's high tide at 9 a.m. Lachie was up at 6, making sure everything and everyone was ready. Ella and Marcus had a game of Monopoly, while I cursed the fishermen as I cleaned the smelly bait juice off everything in the fridge. I even had to wash the carrots individually! I was in a better mood when they returned with more fish (mostly donated!) although Lachie did catch another one, which he couldn't release, so it added to our fish feast.

After another couple of swims we put the kids to bed early as they are all exhausted. Our plans for the next few days include a lot of driving, heading to Mt Isa and Alice Springs, so better to have them all well-rested!

Stay tuned ...

Cooktown - Karumba

We set a new record in packing up, to the kids' delight, and left our Cooktown campsite at 7:57 a.m. We drove back in to town to see the spot where Cook beached the Endeavour, as the fishermen missed it the day before. We also spent some time playing another musical installation in the shape of the Endeavour. As we drove south we stopped to see Black Mountain - a hill of fractured granite covered in black lichen. The mountains are a place of cultural significance for the Kuku Yalanji people, who call them Kalkajaka, or 'place of the spear'.It was a spooky and strange place - apparently the local tribe have 4 sacred sites here, but they also have many taboo areas where no-one enters. You can feel why! The granite sometimes explodes after rainfall, and there are stories of men, horses and mobs of cattle disappearing in the black labyrinth.

Black Mountain

We were surprised to see pawpaws and bananas growing around Lakeland as the burnt, barren savannah continued to be the main scenery. Worried about the grocery prices for the next part of the trip, we decided to stock up in Mareeba.
We pulled in to Rocky Creek Memorial Park between Mareeba and Atherton to free camp for the night.  The Memorial Park is situated where the laundry block of a 3000 bed WW2 hospital once was. Over 60 000 patients from all theatres of war in the South-west Pacific were treated here, and the complex was the largest in the southern hemisphere during the war. In fact, this whole area was the largest military base in Australia, with up to 100 000 troops stationed across the Atherton Tablelands at 160 sites. We were very happy to make a donation to help preserve the area and continue erecting the monuments to honour those involved in the war.

After our history lesson, Jackson and I spent about an hour and a half trying to find homes for the $400 of groceries. As we were stashing things away, we heard something that sounded like karaoke. Well, it turned out we had parked next to a travelling karaoke devotee - set up with her laptop, microphone and speaker! Her reasonably tuneful warblings were OK for the first hour, but after that we were starting to plan an operation to knock out her generator. We were just applying the vegemite to our faces for the sortie when she decided that she was karaoke-d out and mercifully unplugged!

I'm not sure spies advertise!

We had no trouble getting up early the next morning - the kids were super excited to go to Herberton and visit the Spy & Camera Museum. It was set up by a guy who was in the Special Forces in Korea and he had used and collected some of the spy stuff (technical term!) on display. The boys were in heaven, and Marcus loved it so much that he had to have a Spy & Camera Museum Tshirt. We had a personal guided tour there for an hour and a half, then reluctantly agreed to move on.

Kitty cats ...

and peeping Toms!

We had decided not to visit the Herberton Historical Village (having seen the one in Miles recently) but it just looked so good as we drove past! We are all suckers for history, so we paid up and went in. Wow! We spent 4 absorbing hours there, with even the kids' excitement and interest levels remaining high for all that time. Harry Skennar, a Herberton local, started the collection when he was 6, continuing his passion until 75. Most of the collection came from the Herberton tip, where he would cry "You can't throw that away! That is history!" Time has proven him correct, and he fortuitously sold the village to Craig Kimberley (founder of Just Jeans) who has obviously pumped a lot of his fortune into the village. It was outstanding - go there if you ever get the chance! We had hoped to get a little further along the road, so although it was already 3 p.m. we drove to Millaa Millaa to see the falls. After a reviving coffee there we thought we would keep going so as not to miss another spectacular waterfall just out of Ravenshoe. (Thanks for the tip, Bob and Yvonne!)

The gorgeous Millaa Millaa Falls

Part of Australia's widest falls, Millstream Falls

Millstream Falls were also spectacular, but the light was fading fast so we skedaddled to our next free camp spot along a creek bank, arriving just on dusk. 

It was a cold night but we were up and moving in World Record Time - 7:38 a.m. I believe we may have awoken some of the other campers with our victory cheer as we left. Perhaps the Karaoke Lady was there! We drove through the last of the forest before hitting savannah country again, making it to Undara Lodge too early to even check in, so we booked a lava tube tour and had morning tea while waiting to get into our camp spot.

The Undara (meaning a long way) Lava Tubes are renowned in the geological world as the best and longest example of lava tubes anywhere in the world. They are not well known in Australia, and have only been open to the public since 1990. That explains why they are still in such pristine condition. That, and the fact that you can only view them on a tour as they are a protected part of the Undara National Park. The Undara eruption occurred 190 000 years ago, and the lava flows extended more than 160kms! There are 8 tubes you can visit - conditions permitting - and we opted for the tour where you could wade through the flooded tube. We saw plenty of wallabies, wallaroos and kangaroos driving to the tubes. First stop was a partially collapsed tube, where the remnant rainforest covering it made it completely distinct from the surrounding savannah. The tunnel was huge - 25m across and 19m high. The second tunnel we visited was flooded, but we all chose to wade through the water further into the tunnel. It was an amazing experience. One other guy came with us, but the rest of the party stayed behind! Expecting to get wet and muddy, I didn't take our good camera in, but we took a few shots with the compact camera. The last tunnel we visited was dark and long, and we needed torches (to Lachie's delight!) to get to the end. Inside we saw cave coral and a colony of microbats.

The flooded tube - not the one we swam in!
This one was full of dissolved guano.

A cool 19 degrees - wading in the lava tubes

After returning to camp, we had a swim in the pool to cool down (where Jackson patted a Pretty-faced Wallaby) and then played some music before bed.

The Lava Tubes are located under the green line
of remnant rainforest

Our guide told us the Kalkani Crater walk was well worth the effort, so next morning we stopped to climb the crater as we drove out of the park. Dave's leg was still sore (from the croc attack!) so I took the kids up to the crater rim, where we circumnavigated the ancient volcano. There were spectacular views from the top - you could see a number of the 164 volcanoes that had erupted here around the time of Undara. You could also clearly see the remnant rainforest (or semi-evergreen vine thicket) marking the lava tubes in the surrounding savannah. Ella made us all laugh as she put her car into first gear and drove carefully back down the steep slope to the bottom, complete with steering actions and very realistic car noises!

This is a good section!

Dave got into the back with the kids for a music session while I drove to Georgetown. The roads were appalling! One lane of bitumen in awful condition and soft shoulders on either side was not fun to drive on, particularly not when a huge road train was approaching! Jackson took a few photos to show what it was like. I was pleased to make it to Georgetown for lunch, and pleased to hand over the wheel for the next stint!

The roads improved (of course!) as we travelled further on to Croydon, where we got a couple of things at the local supermarket, including some iceblocks which were enjoyed on the slide! Milk was $6.50 for 3L, so we didn't include that in our order. We decided to travel on to Leichhardt Lagoon, just outside Normanton, to camp for the night so we could reach our booked site at Karumba early the next day.

Cold iceblocks much needed after
 a long, hot day! 

We pushed on with everyone on high alert for wallabies and kangaroos on the verge (and we saw lots!) and made it to Leichhardt's Lagoon late in the afternoon. Lots of free camps allow fires, so Lachie and Marcus had a "Bear Grylls Firestick Challenge" to light our fire. We toasted a few marshmallows after dinner, and Dave played guitar for a while, but were all too tired to sit staring into the fire for too long!

Deodorant partly overcomes this problem!

The birdlife here at the lagoon is staggering, so I got up early to take some photos before the last leg of our journey to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Our bird identification book is getting a serious workout!

Imagine this for 360 degrees

We trundled on towards Normanton, and were surprised at how small it is, given that it is the service centre for the Gulf! Milk hit a new high here at $7 for 3L. We were all really excited to see our first brolgas just outside Normanton, and saw about 20 from there to Karumba. We drove through mostly savannah until just outside Karumba where the vista suddenly unfolded in front of us, and we could see why this area's catchphrase is "Where the Outback meets the sea". Photos don't do the view justice.

We arrived in Karumba (pop. 600) mid-morning and set up camp to maximise our time here. The boys are already chatting to the fishermen in the neighbouring camp spots getting tips for the next expedition!

Stay tuned ...

Cairns - Cooktown (& a CROC experience!)

Rex's Lookout on Captain Cook Highway

We got up early on Thursday 21st so we could hit the highway again. I was still feeling dreadful after the snorkelling experience, and did not enjoy the roundabout experiences leaving Cairns. The Captain Cook Highway north of Cairns is just amazing. The views cheered me up immensely and we took several photo opportunities.

Took the detour into Port Douglas and had morning tea on the waterfront, where the boys climbed right up into some huge trees. We tried to  drive away, but they saw us so we still have them!

Waterfront view at Port Douglas

We visited Mossman Gorge, part of the Daintree and walked in as the road was not suitable for caravans. Lucky we did, as we saw our 3rd cassowary!

The kids were enjoying the sugar cane harvesting as we drove on. We saw several crops being harvested. The bus driver yesterday told us it costs $7000 per day to harvest the cane. Contractors cut up to 60 tonnes a day, and the mill processes 60 000 tonnes per week. Ella asked "What do the sugar cane farmers do when they've planted the cane? Do they just put their feet up?"

Lunch stop at Newell Beach

The kids were very excited to reach the Daintree River Ferry. They spent the short trip glued to the windows trying to spot a croc!

We were all excited to finally reach our camping spot at Cape Tribulation in the Daintree National Park - another keenly anticipated highlight of the trip! We set up right on the waterfront and were almost able to see where the Endeavour struck the reef in 1770. The kids were thrilled to have a game of soccer with some other kids in the dark, using glowsticks as goals!

Peppermint Stick Insect

Next morning, we walked the Dubuji (place of spirits) through amazing fan palms. We told the kids we would buy them an icecream if they could spot some interesting wildlife, so it was a slow and thoroughly inspected walk! We found a large, green stick insect in a pandanus which we discovered was a fairly rare Peppermint Stick Insect when we visited the Daintree Insect Museum an hour later! The museum is the work of Stephen Lomond, who has discovered three new species in the area. Marcus was particularly interested in the Cairns and Richmond Birdwing displays, as he has studied them at school. As we were leaving, the lady pointed out a Big Greasy Butterfly, and was mystified when we all started laughing. Angus, you've obviously had something to do with that nomenclature!

We finally got to the icecream factory for the promised icecreams which were made from local cream and tropical fruit. The icecreams were divine and the location even better!

Back in camp, the kids found a huge rope swing on the beach so spent the rest of the afternoon playing there. Lachlan wanted to fish, so he went to the beach to wet his line. No luck with the fish, but he found 3 new friends in Tony, Charlie and Geoff who looked after him and said he reminded them of their grandsons!

Lachlan and his fishing friends

Lachlan was keen on more fishing the next morning, so he went out with guys at low tide and walked out past the reef. Dave went out too after a while, which he regretted as he fell into the coral on the way back and grazed his leg badly on both sides. Soon everyone in camp were checking in to see the guy who was mauled by the croc!

Not long after that the call went round camp that there were 4 whales just off the beach, so we went out to see them. You couldn't see much - a few waterspouts and fins, but it was cool!

Meantime, Lachlan had gone fishing again. I couldn't see him on the beach and I realised that he had probably gone down to the river. I was a bit worried about crocs, and although he was with Tony I went to ask at the office how safe it was. Apparently there are 3 crocs who live on the riverbank in the mangroves. Dave was laid up unable to move, so I bolted down to the mangroves to try to find Lachlan. As I slid down a mudbank towards the river, I realised that I was probably sliding down a croc slide. My heart was thumping when I finally found him, just in time to see him catch a Blackspot Snapper. I mentioned the crocodile situation with admirable restraint, since one of the guys was knee deep in the water. Lachie's eyes were like saucers as I explained how a croc could appear out of the water to grab something (or someone!) at the water's edge. Lachie said "Geez, I might not even have time to reel in!" We just turned to leave when the croc swam by ... about 3 metres from where we were standing!! He was about 4 metres long and cruised by, before swimming over to the other side.

After all that excitement, we were glad to light a fire on the beach and sat with another family chatting and playing some music. I am sure my adrenalin levels were still insanely high, despite the incredibly relaxed evening!

Slow down or else!

We packed up next morning for the long trip - not distance wise, but spirits wise - to Cooktown. The long trek through the harsh savannah was a bit demoralising after the lush rainforest and pristine beaches. Also depressing was the frozen bread we bought for lunch in Mt Molloy. Frozen peanut butter sandwiches in the hot sun by the side of the road was not a food highlight! Thank goodness for Old Crow Medicine Show on the iPod - their upbeat music got us to Cooktown. We checked in to the van park and the lady in charge reminded me of what "Gone Troppo" really means! A few roos in the top paddock, let me tell you. After giving us a site, she then decided to shift us on to another, all the while berating us for not being here last night (we only booked today!), telling us all about the other Church who had checked in and describing every piece of her many layers of night attire.

Lachie had a nasty tumble out of the caravan and hit his head just as we were about to head into town for a look around. It was hard to tell if he had a head injury, or was just critically exhausted, so we had a worrying few hours!

There were squadrons of mossies - more than we've ever seen before. None on the waterfront though, where we had some hot chips while we watched the sunset and talked to some fishermen for some more tips. Got back to camp and had an early night!

Lighthouse on Grassy Hill

We continued our James Cook trail today visiting the James Cook Museum, which contains one of the jettisoned cannons and the anchor from the Endeavour. Ella discovered a children's novel about Pandora's cat which she just had to have! We spent ages there poring over the artefacts and stories surrounding the holing of the Endeavour on the reef at Cape Tribulation and their subsequent journey here up into the Endeavour River to patch the ship. We drove up to Grassy Hill for lunch, where the wind was strong enough to  blow a dog off the chain, and did blow the top pieces of our sandwiches away! The view up there was absolutely gorgeous. The lighthouse there was built in England and shipped over to Cooktown, a fact which bemused the kids. We took a quick detour to Finch Bay on the way back down to the jetty for the promised fishing excursion.

Yesterday was 4 weeks since we left home. We were all tired and scratchy, and for twenty cents I would have packed up and gone home last night. Fortunately today is another day and I am writing by the waterfront about 20 metres from where Captain Cook beached the holed Endeavour, the sun low on the horizon, the boys are fishing (with Tony, Charlie and Geoff, who are also here), Ella is here next to me reading "Pandora's Cat" and we have a bag of fresh prawns for dinner. Life is good!

Fishing on the jetty at Cooktown



A pause in our wandering along the waterfront


Although Cooktown is fantastic and we could all happily stay longer, tomorrow we plan to head Westward Ho!

Stay tuned ...

Expensive fun (and otherwise) in Cairns!

Waiting for the train at Freshwater Station

I am spending an inordinate amount of time in amenity blocks. Not in a George Michael way, you understand (sorry Gerry!), but because Ella has to go with someone, and that someone has to be me. However, occasionally it is worth it. On Saturday night, Ella spied a huge preying mantis above her on the ceiling of the loo. After an earsplitting shriek (for effect in the echoing block - she isn't scared of that much!) she said "Hey, Mum, that preying mantis is eyeing me down". I must admit I am also enjoying showering with her, as we wear our towels as "Cloaks of Invisibility" back to the van, and absolutely no-one can see us! Ella is also handy when I absent mindedly take a wrong turn and she says "MUM! That one is the Blokes!"

Our first foray into Cash Haemorrhage Territory was on Sunday morning as we drove to the Skyrail terminal, took a shuttle bus to the beautiful Freshwater Station and waited for the Kuranda Scenic Railway to arrive. We had a quick squizz through the little museum there, where the kids were amazed to learn that the men built the whole railway by hand. (With the assistance of some dynamite, which was not always judiciously used judging from the death toll.) And they had to supply their own picks and shovels to get the job! Construction of this ambitious railway project started in 1886. Up to 1500 men at a time endured terrible conditions as they perched on the edge of cliffs, swung from ropes hacking into the cliff face, toiled away in tunnels and bridged steep ravines. Some of the camps were precariously sited on cliff edges - and here whole families lived (or maybe existed is more apt) in the jungle! The 37 km of track ascends 327 metres and included 15 tunnels, 55 bridges and 98 curves! The budding engineer in the family thought all this tremendous and we now understand why Dave's dad Geoff enjoyed KSR so much when he visited. The train stopped at a veiwing platform so we all trooped out and duly admired Barron Falls. 

Barron Falls

We were also thankful we hadn't tried to walk there the afternoon before! The train then coasted along flat track to Kuranda, where we spent a lovely day wandering around the markets, listening to buskers and finding the rock and fossil museum to view the coprolites, recommended by Gonz. And yep, all the kids wanted to buy some fossilised dino poo! We also found the Kuranda Candy Kitchen, so of course had to watch them make their wares, tried some and bought some. We headed for home via the Skyrail, which is a 7.5 km cableway journey through World Heritage Listed Rainforest. The kids assured us it was spectacular - both Dave and I had our eyes closed a few times! We stopped twice on the way down, and met an ex-NZer at Red Peak Station who was our Ranger on a guided walk. He was incredibly enthusiastic and although it was raining we stayed with him for the whole 20 minutes. Got back to camp and the kids had a swim in the pool, practising their snorkelling for our Reef Trip on Wednesday.



 We booked in to get new car tyres on Monday, something we were expecting with the Blunderbuss for a change. Last week the kids were crying "Suckers" as we passed schools, but now this has faded to a more empathetic "Poor kids" as we passed by on our way to Beaurepaires! We were going to walk around the city, but the mechanics assured us the tyres would only take 45 minutes, and when they invited the kids to have hot chocolates, biscuits and sit in the airconditioned viewing bay, the deal was sealed. We proceeded to eat into their profits (literally) while the kids had a lesson in tyre changing and wheel alignment. It never ceases to amaze me how interested they are in things they have never seen before!  True to their word (or perhaps more than a little alarmed at the rapid rate of biscuit disappearance) we got moving in 45 minutes and went swimming at the Lagoon in town. It was 27 degrees, so all of us were glad to cool off. We got MORE groceries and Marcus was thrilled to spend his book voucher on a compendium of Gimlet books at QBD Books. (He won it in the Innovators of the Future challenge he attended just before we left.) We drove out to have a BBQ dinner at Trinity Beach where we shared the BBQ area with 2 cheeky Bush Stone-curlews, which Ella renamed the High Heel Birds. Marcus was reading his new book by torchlight all the way back to camp and thinks W.E. Johns is now his favourite author. Along with Jeff Kinney, and Jackie French, and J K Rowling and ...

No caption needed on this one!

Maths in the outdoor classroom!

Lachie & Marcus were on Tuesday morning dishes as punishment, as the accompanying photo will attest! Alas, another day misspent on the Blunderbuss. I took the bus in to get the front brakes machined which was only supposed to take a couple of hours, but it seems that Cairns Time and Turangi Time are rather similar! I ended up exploring Cairns by bus when I got sick of walking in the heat and got home late in the afternoon. At least the brakes worked and didn't shudder on the drive back to the van park. In camp fun included a couple of swims, some maths (Ella did 34 pages!), music lessons and reading. And more dishes, of course!

Franklin Island

Today, Wednesday, we took a shuttle bus to the Mulgrave River south of town to board a catamaran for a Reef Tour to Franklin Island. I'd like to report that we all had an absolutely fantastic time, as it has been one of the anticipated highlights of our journey, but that didn't quite pan out for all of us. The trouble started when our bus driver got lost looking for a late change of address with the last pickup. There were some wild U turns and lots of zooming through the winding and narrow streets which didn't make me feel all that chipper. Puddling down the Mulgrave River on the catamaran was fine and I started to feel better, enjoying all the prehistoric looking Tropical Rainforest, which we all agreed we should not be surprised to see a dinosaur poke his head through. Then we hit the open water. Dave and the kids really enjoyed the ride, but I found my way down to the back of the boat where movement was minimised. I made it to the island, but the swell of the boat as people unloaded into the runabout to get to the shore started making me seriously sick. I must have looked awful, as I got taken to the front of the queue for the second shore landing. After some water and a bit of ice, I felt up to snorkelling as that was first on the programme. We all listened to the Marine Biologist, then headed out to view the reef. Ella was a little scared, so Dave swam with her, but the boys were like ducks diving down to see as much as possible. I saw 2 fish and a clump of coral before the gentle swell of the water started to do me in, so I headed back to shore. Not fast enough. I don't know if anyone else has chundered into a snorkel, but I can tell you it is an experience I NEVER want to repeat. Dave wants to know if it came out the top of the snorkel. I am not sure, but I do know that I nearly drowned while struggling with a mask, snorkel, ill-fitting fins, deep water and puking all the while. I spent the rest of the day becoming intimately acquainted with 30 square centimetres of sand, face down in the hot sun, willing myself to die.



Slightly upright, feeling utterly awful
and dreading the return journey



They assure me that lunch was excellent. They tell me that the snorkelling was fantastic and the fish and coral lovely. Dave and the kids all had a wonderful time at Franklin Island. But all I could think about was the trip home. For the record, I threw up on the beach. I threw up on the runabout getting back to the catamaran. I threw up on the catamaran. Several times. I threw up all the ginger travelcalm tablets I was given. One of the crew helpfully told me that on rough crossings, everyone on board threw up. He hadn't seen anyone throw up on such a calm, beautiful day as this one, though. Made me feel heaps better!



Recently Mum and Dad took a flight from Brisbane to Birdsville and then on to see Lake Eyre filled for only the second time since the 1970s. Mum vomited her way around Qld and SA. I can sympathise even more now Mum!



Tomorrow we head out of Cash Haemorrhage Territory for a while (we hope!) to the Daintree and Cape Tribulation, where we have booked another beachfront site for a couple of nights. The kids left our hammer wherever they last cracked a coconut on Mission Beach, so perhaps the snack menu at Cape Tribulation will not include fresh coconut !

Stay tuned ...

PS I will edit this page and add some more photos when I am in more reliable Broadband territory. It is taking me 10 minutes to upload photos at the moment, and I REALLY need to lie down!