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Greetings to you all from a warm & steamy Tropical Queensland. As you'll probably gathered from the fact that we're now in Queensland we've done a bit of travelling since our last blog.

Our 8 days in Broome were wonderful; clear skies, 33 degrees every day and nothing better to do than lie on Cable Beach soaking up the sun and contemplating when the waves would be at their best for a bit of boarding. When our 8 days were up we decided that we could do with more of the same but as accommodation in Broome was scarce we decided to head further down the W.A. Coast to the Pilbara region.

80 Mile Beach is 360km south of Broome and 240km north of the other nearest town, Port Hedland. Absolutely in the middle of nowhere and literally nothing there apart from a beach-front caravan park on the edge of the desert. However, it was an idylic spot and very popular with people breaking the long journey north from Perth and also with sea anglers. Every morning we watched as 25-40lb Yellow Thread Salmon (about 1.2 metre in length) were pulled from the water with alarming regularity. We also witnessed a 2 metre hammer-head shark being landed (sadly) and a huge stingray which fortunately got away. Once the tide started to go out each day, the anglers would disappear and we were left with 80 miles of beach to ourselves.

Unfortunately, after a week of relaxing and enjoying our beach front cabin we had to move on as being in the middle of nowhere meant that we'd run out of supplies and anyway, we felt it was time to hit the road again.

Our destination this time was to be Queensland and specifically Cairns and the only way there was pretty much back the way we'd come. We allowed ourselves 2 weeks to get across the Top End, down through the outback and then across to the Queensland Coast.

It's fair to say that in the 2 weeks that we'd been away the outback scenery hadn't changed much but by then we'd grown accustomed to it and were able to appreciate its savage beauty more the second time around. The Kimberley region espescially was spectacular and driving through it was definitely a pleasure rather than a chore.

We'd generally aim to drive between 600-700km's a day and planned our accommodation stops accordingly. Feeling more adventurous now that we were familiar with the outback this meant that instead of staying in towns or caravan parks we'd stay at Roadhouses. Little more than a petrol station with a cafe, toilets and overpriced/grotty rooms, Roadhouses generally have a patch of bare grass or dust on which you can pitch a tent (if you're mad enough). We spent a few, less than comfortable, nights listening to Roadtrains thunder past and the late night whooping and hollerings of the local aborigines. However, we did enquire at one roadhouse about the price of a room and were informed that they were $95 or $85. When we asked what the difference was in the prices we were informed "There's less bugs in the $95 rooms". Bearing this in mind, sleeping in a tent under the stars wasn't so bad and was all part of the experience.

Just before the W.A./N.T. boreder we took a detoour to Wyndham Crocodile Farm. Nothing can compare you for the sheer size of these salt-water monsters. Tina's expression when she came face to face with a 5.5m monster called 'Gnasher' was a mixture of shock, awe and utter terror. Truly frightening creatures and at feeding time we were left suitably impressed at their use of stealth, guile and awesome power. The following day we stopped at a river with the idea of taking a refreshing afternoon dip but even though the signs proclaimed 'These waters are regularly checked for salt-water crocodiles' we found that we'd both suddenly developed an aversion to getting wet!

After a week of driving we decided to spend a couple of days at Katherine. This gave us a chance to visit the hot springs and attend the Katherine Horse Races. The races were obviously a highlight of the social calender and in a lot of respects similar to The Derby which we regularly attend back home. Everyone was dressed up (apart from us) with the ladies in summer dresses and hats whilst the men were dressed as cowboys/wranglers, replete with boots and stetsons instead of Top Hat and Tails. Tina's studying of the form paid off well as she picked 2nd place in the big race with an each way bet that covered our costs for the day. "What a shambles' a 9-1 outsider won, we should have guessed really.

Our main reason for visiting Katherine was to see the Gorge. We booked onto a breakfast cruise and headed off to meet the boat at dawn, dodging the wildlife as we went. Once on the boat we enjoyed a spectacular cruise through the first 2 of the 13 Gorges. At day-break the mists rolled back off the water revealing spectacular chasms and silent, tranquil waterways. The rocks that make up the Gorge are 1,650 million years old (As old as Tina's Dad's jokes apparently) and the whole setting made it possible to appreciate what an ancient land Australia is.

After Katherine it was the long road south to Three Ways through outback. It's hard to describe the Outback and to do justice to the scale of the place to anyone who hasn't been there but it is beautiful and we have both found the vivid colours (Red , Black, Blue Gold & Green primarily) incredible. A few observations from driving;
Roadtrains These 55 metre lorries (length of 3 uk articulated lorries) snake and weave all over the roads. Overtaking is a matter of finding a straight enough bbit of road and then blind faith. This has certainly lead to some'lively' discussions between Tina and I.
Roadkill We haven't actually hit anything (living) yet. The nearest we came was when a 2 metre black snake came slithering towards us along the tarmac one early morning in Katherine. However, the Roadtrains seem to wipe out everything from cattle to kangaroos. Big kill means big scavengers and the first sign of an approaching road kill site is the huge hawks and eagles (up to 2 metre wingspan) which sit astride the corpses and play 'chicken' with your approaching car.
Saluting After extensive research we can confirm that the most popular way of saluting an on-coming driver is to slowly raise an index finger in the manner of an Umpire giving an England opening batsman out.

By the time we arrived in Queensland we'd done over 16,000 kms and when you add that to the 8,000 we did in NZ it's more than enough to have driven from the southern tip of NZ back to London !! Fortunately the car has been fine (subtle threats of the crusher and being turned into tin cans seems to have worked). We wouldn't say that we look on it with fondness but we've been through a great road journey together and shared some great experiences so maybe we'll just sell her on at a car market.

Our plan now is to stop moving for a while. We've an appartment booked in Cairns for 2 weeks so we can do the Great Barrier Reer and Atherton Tablelands as well as trying some deep sea fishing. After that, we've a beachfront appartment booked at Mission Beach for 1 month where we plan to become part of the human race again instead of smelly backpackers ! No more tents for us - Yippee!!

Take care until next time and enjoy what you do
D&T

Finally by special request from a few people, we have another calamity corner:
This months is a joint effort, although led by Tina and has since been named by us as the "Lasagne Incident"

After a long days driving we finally pulled into a roadhouse at Turkey Creek, tired and hungry.
In Tina's hypoglycaemic state she got it into her head that the blackboard for the roadhouse cafe has lasagne on it - unfortunately it did not. On reaching the front of the queue, Tina placed her order:

"I'll have the lasagne please"
"We do not have lasagne" The manageress kindly replied
"Well whats that?" Tina enquired pointing at a dish
"That's cottage pie" came the answer - less kindly this time
"And that?" Tina pointing at another dish
"That's spaghetti bolognese"
"And what about that one?"
"Thats chicken curry"

Ignoring the lengthening queue and the increasingly agitated manageress, Tina decided to push on as she was sure there was lasagne somewhere, and her heart was set on it.
"And this one, whats that then if its not lasagne?"
"That's still cottage pie" replied the now pink faced manageress

At this point Daren arrived at the counter to find some sauce for his chicken and chips and picking up a bottle, which he thought was B-B-Q sauce he proceeded to shake it and give it a firm squeeze - unfortunately as it was in fact Soy Sauce he actually covered the counter, the floor and a passing aborigine in it!

Tina, feeling that discretion was the better part of valour said:
"Forget the lasagne, I'll have the cottage pie"

Now this should have probably been the end of it, but we returned to the cafe the next morning for breakfast to be greeted by the same lady who not recognising us asked cheerfully
"What can I get you for breakfast?"
To which Daren jokingly replied
"I dont suppose there's any lasagne?!"

At this point the manageress did look more closely at us and on recognising us launched into a sentance, which we could not possibly repeat on a public website - but on reflection Daren is unsure whether it is feasible to place a lasagne there anyway!

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