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Published: August 22nd 2010
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After leaving Noosa, we spent a brilliant fortnight travelling up the east coast to Cairns, stopping off at all the interesting sounding places. Half the time we stayed in good old backpacker hostels in dorm rooms, which were mega expensive and the other half of the time we slept in the car in camp sites to make our money go further. Can't say the car was the most comfortable but it did the job! We did most of our cooking on the free gas BBQs at the campsites but because we were in the car we had no cooking utensils or anything. We had to be creative and it was amazing what a good meal we could whip up with a roll of tin foil and a set of plastic cutlery taken from our Quantas flight!
Noosa to Fraser Island and Hervey Bay
Started our long journey north on the Bruce Highway (945km to Cairns). Drove from Noosa to tiny Rainbow beach, where we booked a day trip to Fraser Island, which is a huge sand island. We got transported around in a massive 4x4 bus because there are no roads only beaches and bumpy sand dunes. Our guide
was great, really knowledgeable (like the geography teacher you always wished for!) and Dee was his favourite for asking all the good questions. The island was very beautiful and we saw crystal clear blue lakes, loads of rare plants, dingos and miles and miles of rainforest. Some of the trees here were more than 2000 years old!! There was a ship wreck on the beach we could get up close to and we were thrilled to see a pod of 4 humpback whales just off the coast on their annual migration from Antartica. They were jumping out of the sea and blowing water from their blowholes, it was very cool to see! Next day we moved north to Hervey Bay, which is very famous for whale watching but sadly we didn't see any more.
Hervey Bay to The Town of 1770 & Cape Hilsborough
After Hervey bay we stopped at tiny beach village of Agnes Water and the intrigingly named Town of 1770. This is where Captain Cook first set foot on land and discovered Aus so it is a small place but quiet touristy. Dee braved the cold sea to do a spot of surfing as the
waves were mellow and we did some nice walks. There were loads of wild multicoloured parrots here, which were so noisy at dusk, poohed all over the car too little buggers. Next we camped at a wonderful national park called Cape Hilsborough. Right by the sea with a pretty beach, kangeroos and wallabies running around and loads of eucaliptus forest to walk in. The camp site we stayed in was full of friendly caravan owning grey-haired retired people and we were delighted to be invited to their Thursday morning tea and scone party. Couldn't refuse a good nosh even if we were the youngest there by a good 40 years!! Australia has an aging population, there are more people over 50 years old than under and 25%!o(MISSING)f the population is over 70 years old.......we saw a lot of these people on our travels and that explains why Australia is full of bungalows! Nanagedon!
1770 to Mission Beach
Another long drive through cattle farmland and sugar cane plantations. Stopped in Airlie Beach and Townsville, both nice if a little built up and touristy for us. As we were in cattle country we signed up to do horse riding
on a cattle ranch just outside of Townsville. Us plus 4 others saddled up and had a brilliant morning riding through the dry grassy bushland owned by farmers Fran and Peter. They told us they owned 9000 acres of land, 700 cattle, 30 sheep and 27 horses and their farm was a very small one compared to Aus standards. Still a lot of work for just 2 people. Lovely horses and Fran said Dee was a natural rider! Afterwards we enjoyed billy tea made over a fire and damper (scone bread) and played with their pets (dog, cat, sheep and peacocks).
Next we stopped in one of our favourite places, Mission Beach. A beautifully kept, low key village next to a sweeping beach and one of the closest places on the east coast to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Visting the GBR is one of the things we've always wanted to do so were very excited but also a little worried that it would live up to our very high expectations after snorkling in Asia. We did a day trip to outer Eddie Reef on a big flashy tourist boat (about 50 people in total). Saw humpback whales on
the way to the reef. We knew we were close to the reef when we could see the most magnificent turquoise, blue and green colours in the sea. We did a couple of hours of snorkling in the icy water without wetsuits and although it was chilly the reef was breath taking. The shelves of corals were the best we've seen and the best condition. Lots and lots of fish of all shapes and sizes and monster clams 1 - 2 meters in diameter. Just picture the movie Finding Nemo, this is clearly where they did their research! Great day. We were not disappointed.
Mission Beach to Cairns
Decided to travel inland for a bit as we were tired of the beach! Drove through the Atherton Tablelands, a lush green cool mountainous area populated by waterfalls and a few farmers. Stopped at picturesque village of Yungaburra where they had a duck billed platypus lookout by a pretty river or creek. We joined a keen American couple dressed in safari beige with big binoculars to watch for the shy creatures and after a short while we were delighted to see one swimming about. We seem to be really
lucky at spotting cool wildlife! Cairns was a nice city, great promenade along the beach filled with people walking and jogging. They also had one of the best skate parks Dee had ever seen but unfortunately his skateboard broke after skating for only 10 minutes! We didn't spend long in flashy Cairns as we wanted to see Cape Tribulation (further north)and we had a flight booked to Ayers Rock..............
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Brad Cheatham
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Whales? Sweet!
Wow, seeing the GBR and Humpbacks in the same day?!?! That must have been overwhelming!!! Glad to see you two are making it well in the vast wilderness that is Australia! Hope you are enjoying the bit cooler weather and water temps... it was 42C here yesterday... and has been over 40 for the last month!!! Even jumping in the lake or pool isn't refreshing... it's like taking a bath. :( Can't wait to see the Ayres Rock trip, should be amazin!!! Be safe and God Bless... Much Love, Bxxx