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Published: March 20th 2007
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Motionless Joey
This little fella stood stock still while mum foraged for food. Well here I am actually holed up in Irvine waiting for the bloody rain to abate. I truly believe that we have brought the weather back with us from England but as they have been experiencing a very serious drought here then we probably shouldn't complain. That said, it is playing havoc with our camping. Anyway, due to technical jiggery pokery I am able to sit and write this and then simply upload it at an interweb café thus saving me a few dollars- watch the pennies and the boat payments will look after themselves and all that.
So to the travels so far. We have done this section of coast a number of times and so were determined this time to avoid the real tourist hotspots. Having waved a slightly hesitant goodbye to Cairns and any sort of stability we trucked down to a haunt of old called Etty Bay just south of Innisfail. It is a tiny place, which boasts only a campsite, shop and spectacular beach. The real draw card is the resident Cassowary. If you are not familiar with this bird it is hardly surprising as it is very rare and lives only in this
Cassowary Near the van!
What are you looking at? neck of the woods. It's kind of like an Emu but more colourful, with fatter legs and famously sharp middle claws. This is the Velocoraptor of the avian world rumoured to have disembowelled many a hapless tourist stupid enough not to have backed away in time. Probably urban myth but enough to get you on your guard when one comes sniffing around your van.
This brings me to my first bone of contention with this marvellous country. Everything here is lethal. Apart from the obvious sharks and crocodiles there are a myriad of critters here that can do you in and if not kill you then at least give you a bite that doesn't tickle! The East coast from Brisbane up is fringed with stunning beaches with water you simply can't get into during summer due to Jellyfish. It is shear frustration that as the temperature rises you can't get into the sea. So to the freshwater creeks and recently we have been swimming in one that no one was entirely sure didn't have a croc or two and another inhabited with fresh water Stone fish certain to make their presence known underfoot. Australia is home to nine of
Alligator Creek
The beautiful creek at Bowling Green national park. Not to be confused with Wolf Creek. the eleven most venomous snakes in the world. The most deadly is the Inland Taipan found throughout this region but, thankfully, very shy. They determine the potency of the snake in terms of how many mice one millilitre of its venom would kill. In the case of the Taipan, the figure is roughly ten thousand. No matter how hungry a Taipan you are there is no way you could eat ten thousand mice in one sitting which quite literally makes the bite of this snake- overkill. And so it goes with jellyfish and spiders and even trees! There is a tree called, unimaginatively but correctly, the Stinging tree. This is like a nettle on steroids and has been known to kill fully-grown humans.
While camping you tend to encounter these creatures slightly more often but we are still here with not a single story of death by nature and so it isn't so bad. We have seen them and the general rule of thumb is to steer well clear. Don't disturb them and they won't disturb you. Just like your teachers in primary school told you about wasps only much more serious. At times when larger and usually harmless bugs
Golden Orb spider
Despite appearances this is quite harmless- unless it bites you when it is liable to take a finger off. (not really) do make it into the van I am known to adopt my Dentist persona and calmly tell Em not to be afraid but to move away slowly. This invariably elicits a hysterical flapping response, which is only funny after the event.
After another night in a national park with the rain lashing down we make our way into Townsville ( Townstown! brilliant ) to dry out and visit some relatives for an excellent lunch and advice as to how best to fix the rust on Irvine. Onwards to Bowling Green national park and Alligator Creek camping ground. This is possibly my favourite site as it holds fond memories of a kangaroo getting into the van and refusing to come out forcing me to rugby tackle the bugger and also of a man chasing a bird eating spider out of his tent with a hammer. The place is also outstandingly beautiful with cracking swimming. Our previous visits have been on weekdays so we have had the place largely to ourselves but this visit was on a Saturday. With its proximity to Townsville the place was rammed. There were a good amount of Bogans ( local word for chavs. Picture a
Goanna
This handsome creature came to visit us just this morning. slightly more countrified ASBO ) proving their worth by leaping off ledges into rock filled pools then swearing loudly and drinking cans of weak lager. We had hoped this mob would clear off after dark but it wasn't to be as a particularly noisy bunch rocked up intent on spoiling everyone's night. I had a feeling that they were hell bent on being as irritating as possible when one of them produced a bloody megaphone. That is a masterstroke of pre planning. Suffice to say they didn't get quieter as the night went on prompting Em to tell me to go and tell them to shut up. Now I have been known to do some foolish things in my time (see silver mines, the worlds most dangerous road etc…) but telling 15 drunken young Aussie men to keep it down at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night was not going to be one of them. I probably could have taken them all but I was too busy reading, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Our next stop is the backpacker haven that is Airlie Beach. This is the jumping off point for the Whitsunday Islands. Although we
Cassowary and Sign
Here is a killer cassowary right next to a sign giving all of it's details so you don't confuse it with a 'Punk' Emu. have had a couple of trips from here previously, this time we are going a touch more exclusive and focussing on sailing rather than diving. This should prove to be a proper honeymoon activity for me and the wife!
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Slinky
non-member comment
It looks like I'm the only one with enough down time to be making dull comments! Very disappointed that you didn't protect your wife and give those Drongos a good thrashing Chief. Must have been a good book?! And who are you related to in Townsville? Take care, Chris.