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Our final installation of Australia is being written with us still in the country. Organised, I think so. We arrived from Rainbow Beach after a day time bus which lost us much of the day, but saved us from another night trip, coming into 1770 Town at 6pm. We met our shuttle person who said that the hostel was 100m down the street. He wasn't far off. The droms were quite nice with a cnetral outdoor eating area and very relaxed atmosphere. We were looking forward to a few lazy days after our excursion to Fraser Island. The town is named after the year that Captain Cook sailed along the coast mapping and generally exploring and is situated close to Agnes Water that we had thought of visiting prior to our trip. The next morning we found that the Town itself is very small, consisting of a shopping parade for essentials and a couple of hostels and camping sites between town and the beach. We found a small surf shop selling some good gear and spent the day sending photos home, washing clothes and buying needed provisions. We were told hat surfing was a no due to lack of surf. The
next day we spent mainly on the beach, the sun darting in and out of cloud, but the weather being warm. We watched a surf lesson, viewing some spectacular spills. We also saw some dolphins swimming not too far out from the lesson. The beach was quite empty and it was nice to have some peace and quiet after the relative hubbub of Australia life. Melons were on special so our fruit count was up.
That evening we had a night coach out of 1770 going up to Airlie Beach. Roughly 750km north. The coach was full. No spare seats meant that people slept little and made small distractions. Our driver stopped a lot and the warm floor meant that feet got really really hot. Quite uncomfortable. We arrived into Airlie Beach with Suz having slept well, and Mark shattered. We both had swollen feet due to heat and lack of mobility. Airlie Beach is the port town used to propel tourists into the island haven of the Whitsundays. The town consisted of a shopping strip with wealthy people living slightly behind town in the hills or around the corner on the beach front. A market was on and
as we were not able to check in until later we headed back to our drop off point to trawel through the stalls with Suz sipping milkshakes and buying bracelets and Mark back on his bookworming after a month off. We spoke to the company we booked the sailing with and checked into our hostel. Although the hostel was very cheap and had a nice area oiutside with bars and places to grab something to eat; the kitchen was massively undersized. For a hostel of 500 guests there were 4 hobs, and couldn't find a fork in the entire place. However, it was very cheap. The town is pleasant and busy but driven by tourism leaving shops filled with lots of plastic souvenirs. As stingers are present up in the north especially in the summer months a lagoon provided tourists the chance to go for a swim without being nibbled or tickled. We again met up with the Swedes from Fraser Island among a few others and the atmosphere was friendly.
The next day saw the begining of our sailing adventure. We walked down to the marina with just a small bag of belongings including a toothbrush, spare t-shirt
and cider. Quite the bare essentials. We met our shipmates and crew of three - Kate, Elena and skipper Ash. We cast off and set sail with the guests hoisting the sails, which is quite a difficult job. Our boat Siska which was in its day a record holder of various sailing competitions had enough room for 22 guests. We found oursleves a bunk area which was comfortable enough for boating life. Our cook Kate prepared all our meals and Elena the deckhand made sure evrything was ship shape. (hahaha) Ash told us about safety and lifesaving teaching us about knots, "if you don't know knots, just do lots!" We set off towards the north and Hayman Island. Mark went snorkling off a fringing reef, Suz decided that as the sea has nothing but sharks in it, she should watch from the cruising dinghy. She fed the fish with food attracting huge numbers including one enormous Maori wrasse about 3ft long with a grumpy face. It is named after the facial markings that adorn the tribesmen of New Zealand. The coral was amazing but the water as slightly cloudy, making sightseeing difficult. We returned to the boat where lunch was
ready and were able to jump off the boat a few times before dining. After lunch we again set sail heading through the straight tat divided the two main islands. We stopped off at a beach of Langfard Island that was a small stretch of beach with a small area of national parkland at the head.
We parked up and set anchor, in tongue bay having watched the sun setting and just around the corner from Whitehaven beach. We had some Nachos to keep us going before dinner and had a few beverages after with the rest of the team. The boat had quite a rock on it even making Mark feel rough, but sleeping horizontally was fine. We awoke fairly early and had breakfast so that we would beat the other boats to Whitehaven Beach. We took the little dinghy to the island and had a short walk through the bush to the lookout. As it was high tide it wasn't as impressive as it might have been, but white sand, various small islands and dense tree life made for stunning views. Another short walk down to Whitehaven beach, which consisted of a long white sanded beach with
crystle clear waters. The water was full of small fish and we also saw a few stingrays and a small, well camouflaged shark. Someone brought a ball so we played volleyball in the water. The sand was so pure that silver jewellery could be cleaned aswell as it acting as an exfolliator which we both used to make oursleves silky smooth. We had another prepared lunch before seeing some turtles not far from our boat and a Manta Ray before setting sail back to the mainland. The weather was great throughout and despite the camera playing up a bit reducing our photo stock we had a fantastic time. It really was a picture perfect place, with lots of beautiful scenary, great wildlife and good people to make the trip even more enjoyable.
We returned to terra firma and were rocking into the night. Our coach left the next evening for another night trip. Although it wasn't fully booked it was still fairly full. Suz this time struggled to sleep but Mark did much better. Again having a few too many stops and having breakfast at 3am. We arrived into Cairns at 6am feeling a bit better than the previous
bus and waited for our shuttle to take us to our hostel. The comfy beds and crisp white sheets were very welcoming. Agine we weren't allowd to check-in until 1pm due to a computer problem so we went into town to have a look around. Like Airlie, Cairns has a lagoon for swimming safely, however unfortuantely it was shut for repairs. We had a stroll around and went back to the hostel.
The next morning we began our Cape Tribulation adventure. We were picked up nice and early and our guide, Katie was really good, talking about the landscape, history and crocodile presence of the area. Our first stop was at a walkaround zoo where we could explore amongst the animals. Again we got to play with Kangaroos and saw Koalas aswell as a python and small crocodile that we could touch. It was a good zoo and as we weren't entirely sure we had it included when we booked evrything in Brisbane we were pleased. Cape Tribulation is named as it was where Captian Cook crashed his ship on the nearby reef. The cape of trouble. It is now protected as a nature reserve, made famous by its
rainforest meeting the reef. We were in a heavy duty vehicle and the going was tough at times. We crossed on the pully ferry over the croc invested Daintree River. A short drive led us up through the Cape, stopping off at a fruit farm and the main town consisting of 3 shops. We had no phone signal and were truly in the wild. We went passed our hostel all the way to the top of the Cape where we went for a swim in a swimming hole. These are natural areas between rapids where it is safe to swim. We had a short walk through jungle to the ppol and luckily there was not a croc in sight. Mark went for a breif swim, and Suz got half in. Mark had a full body scrub with the mud from the banks that we were told was benficial to our skin. He certainly felt the benefits. We returned to our hostel that was small, well equipped and covered in wildlife including a few enormous Orb Spiders. There was a bistro for food, a swimming pool and a pool table. The beach was quiet very picturesque and tropical. We went rock
pooling finding a few crabs, many fishes, a small water snake and large, fat, squidgy, water slugs. We also found a crab in his hole. When he was lightly poked he shot out, scarpering towards Suz. Luckily she was brave and didn't scream and didn't disturb the entire beach.
We left the next day and returned to Cairns. We have changed our flights and are flying out 31st May. We have also arranged an internal flight to Chiang Mai a few hours after arriving in Bangkok. We have had a great time in Australia especially in and around Sydney with the family as wll as our excursions that we booked in Brisbane including Fraser, Whitsundays and Cape Trib. We are both looking forward to our trip to South East Asia, starting with Thailand tomorrow.
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Thank you for enjoyable blogs
Dear Suzanna and Mark, We have just finished reading your final blog from Australia. As with all of them it was very descriptive and thank you for keeping everyone so well informed of your activities. Reading them took priority over all else and Granny even abandoned the ironing to read your adventures. It all sounds so very enjoyable and we are glad you have had a good time on your journey. Thank you also for the photos which portray your adventures very well. We send best wishes for the rest of your tour. Our overseas trip this year will be across the Solent to the Isle of Wight when Alan comes over from Canada in September and we have a few days in the Bembridge hotel. Other than that, we anticipate trips out such as our local sea front and country behind. Litlehampton Harbour has a very good cafe and plenty of places where Granny can ride her scooter. A recent highlight for her was a shopping trip to Sainsburys where she was able to bowse the isles on her scooter. Oh for some warmer weather. After the recent brief spell of hot weather, it has turned cold again with wind coming from the north. Yesterday we had much needed rain for the first time in ages. This coincided with a visit from Mum and Dad and we had a enjoyable day. Molly stayed at home with Jenni, but we were able to send her some "Molly meat". Mark, this is small pieces of meat left over and frozen until such times as we meet witrh Mum and Dad. Again, enjoy the rest of your trip. Love from Granny and Grandad/Glenys and John.