Road Trip and Water

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I write this sitting in the car in cape tribulation, after a barefooted man wielding a chain saw chopped down a huge fallen tree which had blocked the road due to the treacherous 24 hr rain storm. But before we tell you more about Cape Trib, lets go back to our road trip from Sydney.

The Beginning

We left Sydney on Tuesday 18 Dec and managed to easily navigate ourselves out the city, crossing the harbour bridge and heading up the east coast. Our first stop was spent at a sleepy town called Forster, so sleepy that the youth hostel had closed down and we stayed in a cabin in a caravan park.

Kute Koalas

The following day we decided to try driving the scenic route to port Macquarie. It was only 1.5 hrs as the crow flies, however our not so scenic route took us over 3 hrs, that will teach us to follow the brown signs. After a brief lunch stop we visited the koala hospital. Where we saw many a furry bear with yellow bottoms and Chlamydia - they really should stop having sex with strange partners. The east coast is famous for pies, so we had to have one, so we stopped in a small town called Frederickson, and each sampled the local delights with unusual fillings, one with sweet pumpkin and the other with apple and custard, before heading off to the south west rocks. This was a beautiful area with great lookouts. We decided against staying in the area, as besides the lookout there was nothing. we headed directly to Coffs Harbour, where although their was a youth hostel, it was full. A bed that night was hard to come by at a decent price, we eventually found a small but sweet cabin in a caravan park and had a late dinner.

Beautiful Byron

The next morning, we waded through the lonely planet to find accomodation for that night as we did not want to sleep in the car. It was expensive, but it was right next to the beach. We drove straight through to the famous Byron Bay We had a stop for lunch at the local beach and then headed straight to our hostel. It was by no means the best and not the worst, but one very redeeming feature, it was 2 min from the beach. That afternoon we spent walking along the beach into town to get some supplies and then back to the hostel along the beach.

Paradise continued as the next mourning we woke up early and went for the most wonderful swim in the sea. The waves were kind enough to even dump us a few times. After breakfast we headed off to surfers paradise. We think that in its heyday, this was a gorgeous spot, but it is now so built up with high rise buildings and tourists, this once peaceful spot has become a spoilt tourist mecca. Nevertheless we still managed to have a good swim in the surf and then we drove to Brisbane.

Where is the meat?

It was Friday, so finding a chabad house became a little bit of a priority for Steve as a meat craving was calling. After checking into one of the worst hostels on our travels, spot the trend, as aussie hostels are not great, we headed into town, to get a feel for the surroundings and look up were chubby house was. It appeared to be in the burbs, so that’s where we headed after showering and dressing up.

Once at our destination, there was a problem, there was no sign of chubby house, we had checked the address, the lights were on, but there was literally no-one home. We attempted to drive to the main shul, but by the time we got there, shul had finished and they had locked up. So it was veg stir-fry for dinner. Steve’s craving would have to wait.

On Saturday, we spent the mourning walking around the Southbank area and went to the new modern art museum. And then caught a plane to Cairns.

Cairns

Walking out the plane, was a true shock to the system, due to the wall of heat, that literally whacks you in the face. We had booked a transfer with the hostel and arrived around 5.30pm. The hostel reception was extremely friendly and helped us book our dive, car hire and acc in cape Trib. They also had a great deal with a pub, by giving u a free meal voucher. The meal was small and basic, but u could upgrade for very little and u would be sitting in the bar and so buying drinks was obvious.

We Found Nemo

The following morning, we got up really early (6am) as we were going diving. We had not dived since doing our course in Thailand over 3.5 yrs ago, so we were both really nervous. The boat had loads of people on it, over a hundred but only 10 certified divers, so we had our own section. It took us an hour to get to the first reef, by this time we had had our safety briefing and refresher. We decided to go on the second dive of the mourning, so we could snorkel, to get a feel for the masks and fins etc. The fish were so colourful and pretty, but we had loads more to come. When our turn came, mid mourning, 6 of us suited up, the water was 29 degrees so no need for wetsuits and in we went. Diving is like riding a bicycle, once you are back in the water you don’t forget what to do. Within a few minutes we saw a white tipped shark and a turtle. I even put my hand in a giant clam. Our first dive only lasted 30 min, which was quiet good since we had not dived for so long. We were addicted again though. After a lovely lunch of salads and veggie burgers, we headed off to the second reef. This dive was longer, but not so deep, we saw awesome reefs, just like Disney producers them and many nemos, but no huge fish at this reef, but it was still beautiful. I had still not had enough, so after drying off from the dive, I went back in the water to snorkel again and only got out at the last possible minute. It was time to give up my flippers and head back to land. We did have one little injury, on Steves first dive he burst a blood vessel in his nose and when he surfaced his face was full of blood, it gave me quiet a fright, but we were told there was nothing to worry about as his nose was big enough and he has plenty in their to keep him going for a long time. However that evening he did have a craving for Sushid clown fish! Our evening was spent at a bar catching up with some of the people we had met during the day.

Culture

The following day, we felt we should have a little aboriginal culture. So after getting our car we headed for Jabukai an aboriginal cultural centre 15 min outside of cairns. The whole experience was a little disappointing as it was very touristy and lacked atmosphere, but I think it was because we had done quiet a lot of Maori things in nz and they r generally more interesting tribe of people. After our experience, where Steve did learn to throw a spear and boomerang, we headed off to palm cove beach. Unfortunately due to a croc sighting that mourning, the beach was closed. The other beaches along the coast were also closed due to stingers. So back to the hostel we went for a swim and suntan.

Christmas Present

It was Christmas Eve, which we thought would be huge. But after getting some dinner, in a bar and then going to another, town was really quite and we went back to our hostel to nurse a bottle of wine. Un be known to us 10000 miles away someone was having a great time as Nathan Freeman was born, a true Christmas present to all. However traveling wilberies aunty and uncle only found out the following mourning.

Christmas Day

Now normally in the uk, we spend Christmas day having friends over for a bbq. We knew this one would be different, but we did not realise how different. We headed off to cape tribulation, with the aim of getting their before 1pm when the hostel closed. We stopped off at a gorge and then passed Mossman were there was a ferry crossing, which we knew about, however what we did not know was that the ferry closed from 10.30am - 2.30pm for xmas. In fact all the people who were there did not know it. It was 12 when we got there, so instead of moping around, we met this wonderful aussie woman Kate, sat on her blanket and drank a bottle of wine, which luckily we had in the boot. Nothing like a true aussie experience, drinking on the side of the road with a total strange, but hey it sure passed the time. We eventually got to our hostel around 4pm and headed straight for the pool as it was steaming hot day.

The evening was a quiet one, albeit a short thunder storm around 6pm, which was a taste of things to come.

So Thats Why it is Called a RAINForest

Being Boxing Day we were told the attractions were shut, so a good walk was in order. After an hour or so walking in and out the rain forest, with the sweat dripping off us, losing kilos by the second, we stopped at the beach house another acc place. As we stepped inside the heavens opened up, and what we thought would be a passing shower ended up being a 3 hr down pour. We managed to get a lift back to our car and we went back to the hostel and played scrabble to pass the time.

The afternoon was not a total waste, as we went to an exotic fruit farm and sampled 10 diff weird and wonderful fruits, some were yummy others were odd. We also managed a walk on the broad walk. We got back to the hostel and had a great game of water volley ball with about 8 people. The rain held off till after dinner and once we got back to our room and then the storm started. I know we were in the rain forest and in the start of the rainy season, but this was a little ridiculous. We hardly slept because of the noise.

Troubled Journeys

We woke up early, in the hope that the rain had stopped, but we were greatly disappointed. But hey what’s a little water mmm... After packing up and a quick breakfast, we headed back to cairns as we had a flight to catch to Melbourne. After half an hour, we had a slight problem. A massive tree had fallen over and blocked the road. After Steve moved a few branches, he realised he was no match for this tree. By this time a few other people had come by and the chain saw was called for. So a few minutes later a barefooted Australian arrived and sawed the tree away. That is where we started this blog and we thought our troubles were over. We were gravely mistaken. Another 20 min down the path the river had flooded and there was no way we could safely cross in a small hire car. The 4 x4 were sailing across , although with some it was touch and go, we were going to have to wait this one out. We drove back to the nearest phone and called the airline, as there was no way we were going to make our flight, they postponed it to Friday and then we went back to the crossing. We had hoped after been gone a half an hour the river would have gone down, however it was still 40cm which was not safe for a small car, we were going to have to wait till it got to 20cm, which could be a while. We were lucky enough to see the guy who owned the fruit farm; he had a 4x4 and rope. So we decided to take a chance to be towed across. We crossed our fingers and toes, held our breath and we got across without any damages...

When we arrived in Cairns we managed to secure a room in our old hostel and returned the car to the car hire place, who not so politely informed us that we should have just crossed and there was no problem with the crossing and absolutely no flooding…tossers!

To recover we decided to treaty ourselves to a 40 minute Chinese massage and one of the best veggie burgers we have ever had.

Off to spend another day in cairns before we get to Melbourne, life could be worse!

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