Road Trip pt III: Too Easy

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The final 4 days in the van were a bit of a breeze. Most of the kilometres were in the bag, just a couple of hundred upto Townsville and Magnetic Island, then another couple of hundred upto Cape Tribulation before turning around and driving back into Cairns.

The road to Townsville was pretty uneventful. We parked in a truckers stop at a petrol station and had the joys of a 24hr service station. Great if you like Snickers. We hopped on a ferry across 8km of sea to Magetic Island, named by Captain Cook because he suffered a compass malfuction in the area and assumed it was due to a magnetic source on the island. Unfortunately for him there is no such source, and he discovered his compass was buggered. No hard luck stories, eh!

Maggy, as its known by the locals, is lovely. It houses one of the largest natural Koala populations in Australia, and also a family of Rock Wallabies that can be tempted to feed out of your hand. We had a couple of hours to explore the island before catching the last ferry back to the mainland.

The next day we travelled up to Port Douglas. This small town is about 50km north of Cairns and is delightful. Apparantly Steven Spielberg has just completed a motion picture starring Tomas "Tom" Hanks and Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe. We hoped to bump into them in the bar while we were watching the World Cup Egg Chasing, but to no avail. Luckily for us the Aussies didn't turn up either and we stole a place in the semi's, the chance of retaining Bill (the William Webb Ellis Trophy) still alive.

Cape Tribulation is one one of the only places on Earth where the rainforest meets the ocean. We had a night in the rain forest and a few hours either side to explore the beaches in the area. One of my favourite parts of the road trip as there are very few tourists in the area and you can get a fantastic beach all to yourself.

But that was the last day in the van. We handed the keys back with approx 2 litres of fuel left and got the bus into Cairns to grab a necessary shower and check out the town. We only had 2 days, which was just enough to get on a dive boat and head out to the Great Barrier Reef, somewhere I have dreamed about ever since my Grandad gave me a book filled with pitures of the reef about 20 years ago. The place lived up to all expectations: the water was crystal clear with visibility upto 30m. It was like swimming in an aquarium. The coral was fantastic and the fish playful. Certainly in the top 3 dive sites I have visited.

But that is it. We have been in Queensland for the last 7 weeks or so. We only have 22 days left to do the rest of Australia. It's time to pack the bag and jump on a plane to Darwin and then down the red centre to Adelaide and then Melbourne. Apparantly there's a big pebble in the vicinity.....

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Photos

Cape Tribulation
Where the Rain forest meets the reef!