Blogs from Australia, Oceania - page 4339

In case you’re wondering, we left Katherine on 20/7 and we headed to the Douglas/Daly River area which was 186 kms up the highway and then 60kms west. It was a nice short drive for a change and we booked into the small bush caravan park called Douglas/Daly Resort (Resort was a bit of an overstatement), got set up and went for a walk along the river which ran along the rear of the park. It may not have had resort facilities and was stuck in the middle of nowhere, but the river was really pretty. There are a number of designated bush camping spots for about 1km along the river at various pools, one of which was a hot springs which we intended to swim in, but when we got there, there were 4 kids ... read more

We just picked everyone up from their homestays this morning. Although they were glad to see each other, they were sad to leave the famillies. From what I have heard, they all had a great time. Right now we have some free time before we go to feed kangaroos and hold koalas, so everyone is shopping in a small town called Karanda on top of the Tablelands. We had to drive through a rainforest to get up here. It is the dry season, so I don't think it was as tropical as most of us thought (although still very tropical!). Tomorrow we go to the Great Barrier Reef. I think the students are very excited about that. We have had perfect weather up until today. It is a little cloudy, and everyone (Australians) seem to think ... read more

The next day we grabbed some supplies from the nearby filling station and got the bus to Kings Canyon for the 6km walk. My wife quite anxious about taking our son and daughter on this walk as many of the pictures she had seen of the canyon showed the steep shear drops, however it wasn’t too bad and we made sure that we kept them on a tight grip for certain parts of it. The pace was quite slow, given the AAT Kings usual clientele, but at least that meant that it wasn’t too hard for the children. We took a stash of chocolate with us to keep them going and our guide, Jenny, was on hand during the walk with her usual fantastic commentary. There was an optional diversion to the Garden of Eden, so ... read more

Mon 7 Aug. Late start out of Townsville. Got copy of July 12 article in 'Sun'. South past cattle, fruit and veg. Got copy June 30 article 'Bowen Independent'. Bloody bloomin' blowin' in Bowen. Nice but. Walked pier in 25 knots. Came back with $7 and a bottle of beer from sticker uptake. Gave one on promise to display. Stopped to have a beer. Still Bowen. Blowin'. Rolling hills in the distance. White caps on the waves. Lorikeets in the air. Galahs. Tue 8 Aug. Up early Bowen. First thing I see is a car with a sticker! Next car another!! Drove to rock bound resort beach for walk, spruik and swim. Airlie Beach - another car with sticker. Two young very pretty very female sheilas tell me they saw me in Eden #*! Four months ... read more

We were all inspired by our fascinating stay in Cape Tribulation and decided to try and venture even further north to Cooktown in the Cape York Peninsula. We checked first with the locals at Cape Trib whether the 4WD only Bloomfield Track was open. This track was built in 1983 and is impassable during heavy rains. We followed Cris and Claire in their Toyota (this is the sort of drive you don’t want to do on your own). Although it is a much shorter route to Cooktown in terms of distance than the Venture Mulligan Highway (300k’s) it still took us 3 hours to travel approx 100 kilometers. This journey was an adventure in itself; the extremely steep, single track twists and turns as it weaves it way through beautiful tropical rain forests in Daintree National ... read more