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Published: March 13th 2007
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Flip flops on the beach
Emmas Lovely art shot at Cape Tribulation Here we are back down under and continuing the adventure in our much loved van Irvine. We really have developed something of an unhealthy attachment to this 23 year old Nissan Urvan ( hence the startlingly imaginative name Irvine! ) but he has served us particularly well over the past 4 years. I have a suspicion that if Em had to choose between me and the van then I might be shown the door.
We finally flew back to Oz on the 25th of February through the ever inefficient Heathrow and straight into Sydney after an unscheduled 5 hour holiday in Hong Kong airport. Thankfully we were greeted by fabulous sunshine and the ever beautiful city itself, not to mention the ever beautiful residents. This truly is an uplifting city to visit and sipping coffee in the shadow of the opera house gazing at the iconic harbour bridge made us feel happy to be back here.
Flew back into to the oppressive heat of Cairns to be reunited with the van who had been wonderfully looked after by the lovely Rheiss and Sarah. Unfortunately the last few wet seasons have started to take their toll and rust has set in good
Snake!
This frankly vicious creature was black with a green belly- that'll be the green bellied black snake then. and proper. I keep threatening to do the manly thing and buy power tools to fix it but as yet haven't managed.
Spent a couple of days reacquainting ourselves with the way of the campervan wanderer in Palm Cove, a favourite spot right on the beach just North of Cairns, before being treated extravagantly to a night in Crater Lakes resort. This was the lavish wedding gift from Andy and Debbie that we were more than happy to accept as the place has something of a reputation and having spent a night there we could see why. Having seen a snake earlier that day at nearby Lake Barrine, felt a little wary of creepy crawlies and so it was some little comfort that I spotted the massive Huntsman spider in our bedroom after we had enjoyed a restful nights sleep. I don't suppose we would have noticed it the night before anyway as we were both soused on fizzy wine.
Decided on a day trip to the nearby Granite gorge. This privately owned country park attraction is famous for 2 things namely it's population of rock wallabies and it's spectacular granite boulders. The rain started as we wound our way
Rock Wallaby
Not exactly getting swamped by the little fellas but they were cute! through a maze of roads to the gorge. Once there we were starving and keen to get on with our picnic before exploring but were delayed at the entrance by the most distracted, vacant and unhelpful lady I've met thus far. She seemed pleasant enough but was insistent on going through a map before we set foot in the place. Unfortunately she got sidetracked many times before she could complete this task wearing Emmas patience out as hunger took it's toll leading to us marching off to eat. Once fed and suitably calmed we returned for the briefing which again took some time coming and once delivered left me utterly bewildered as she wildly explained routes using a map that looked like a childs treasure map. Thus un enlightened we cracked on anyway into the gorge to find ourselves immediately lost. The rain poured as we clambered over slick granite and soon it became evident that it was a non starter. Even the wallabies were hiding from the rain but we did manage to coax one or two out with our special wallaby food. It was obvious that this was no place to visit on a wet day which was
Me in the briny
Braving it in shark and jellyfish infested waters just before the dive. borne out by the number of people with skinned elbows, grubby bums and sour expressions who clearly had struggled to stay upright on the boulders. On leaving I was left with the daunting task of asking the space cadet the best way to get to Mareeba and was given the brilliant answer of simply," Go left"
We did find civilisation again and made our way up to Cape Tribulation, stopping at Port Douglas for a night on the way. Our visit to Port, as the locals know it, was to watch a singer we have been watching in there for years now called Ben Jammin'. Now if there's one thing Emma loves more than the van it's Ben, but he can sing very well and is always smiling so I don't blame her. Cape Tribulation is where the rain forest meets the reef, as the advertising blurb is keen to point out and previously held limited appeal for me as it just seemed like a great big beach near some trees- pretty and all that but ultimately quite dull. This time, however, it seemed a lot more special and it made me feel sad that we will be leaving it
Picnic with Andy and Debbie
A Slap up lunch provided for us before our night at Crater Lakes. behind on our way South. Standing on the beach on a perfect day waiting to go scuba diving in calm warm waters I couldn't help saying to a friend- "It's horrible here, I can't wait to move South" but we both knew the truth. The diving was great, a bit rusty on the first one but expertly looked after by Andy. The second dive found us much more comfortable and we spotted some cool stuff but you'll just have to take my word for that as the camera steamed up.
All up we've had a great couple of weeks but it's time to pack up and get exploring. A big thanks to everyone who has made us feel so welcome on our return. We will return and now we're cheapskates we may well take you up on your offers of hospitality- you have been warned…
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Slinky
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Good work.
Excellent stuff Chief. Just looking through your blog and it's got my day off to a good start. Thankyou and keep it coming. Cheers buddy, Chris.