To the Outback

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Today we leave Port Douglas for Undara and the outback bush. We packed our bags and had a last breakfast of egg, sausage, baked beans, fried tomato, and toast before we got going. We drove on a small winding road up into the highlands that lay only a few kilometres from the coast. Once up on the Atherton tablelands we headed southwest and past through Mareeba and stopped for lunch in Atherton where we also visited the Crystal Cave. It is a nice shop and display of all type of stone and crystal materials. As we continued the landscape changed and the soil got a strong red colour, the vegetation changed to a savannah type with open grassland doted with trees. The distance between houses and fuel stations got longer and it was clear that we were entering the outback. The road got smaller and smaller and finally it ended with a dirt road close by the Undara Experience. We checked-in in our accommodation, which was old train cars, and slowly settled in to the bush. It was very different from what we have done so far, more still and close to nature. All around you hear the sounds of the bush reverberate. We hope to have some nice encounters with the Australian bush here.

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