While packing up the next morning Andy discovered a redback spider making a web on our roof. This had been our first sighting of Australias poisonous creatures - well it was a sighting for Andy. I am very grateful that he dealt with it first and told me about it later! We drove the short distance to Mossman Gorge. We walked through the forest and across the Rex Creek Bridge before finding a crystal clear river to have a paddle in. There were some very inquisitive fish in the river. They swam right up to us and looked at us expectantly waiting for some food. “If only I had my fishing rod” Andy sighed “ I bet they wouldn’t take much catching” I’m sure I could detect a look of relief from the fish…. I guess ... read more

We had planned to visit a Chinese temple in Atherton this morning but on our way we decided to take a road signposted the scenic tourist road. It was also signposted unsuitable for caravans. We were unsure if this meant us as well but Andy decided to go for the ‘try it and see’ method and we soon found ourselves on a single track road with nowhere to turn round. This was starting to remind me of the time we got stuck on a single track road in Molly the caravan back in the UK because Andy decided to ignore the road signs and the navigator (me). Thankfully this time it all worked out fine. The views were of rolling hills with sheep grazing in the distance. Had we driven into the Cotswolds we wondered?? We ... read more

We were going to leave Townsville lots of times, but we were enjoying the rest so much that each morning we would wander over to reception and book another night. Travelling in Hilda is lots of fun but we had covered al ot of miles to make sure that we would get to Cairns in time for Christmas. Doing hundreds of kilometres every day can take it out of you. On Tuesday we finally left. We drove around Townsville looking for a tent and some chairs for Gemma and Kieran. Walking to the shops proved tricky for Andy. He has never been the greatest fan of flip flops, but out here there is no other option if you want to keep your feet cool and not wear Jesus creepers. Learning to walk in them has not ... read more

When we woke up at 8 it was already over 30°. Today we would leave the Stuart Highway behind. We would drive to Tenant Creek then just a few miles past that was our turning and we would be heading towards Queensland. On route we made a stop at The Devils Marbles. These are huge granite boulders which are balanced on top of each other. They are the remnants from a solid mass of granite which has broken down over the years. Some of them are almost perfectly round. If we had something like this back home it would be a constant hive of tourists, but today we were the only people there. Another 100km down the road and we reached Tenant Creek. A local tale says that the town was founded on beer and that ... read more

After returning back to the resort for a couple of hours sleep we were soon back on the road and on our way to Alice Springs. The plan was to find somewhere half way to camp for the night and finish the other half of the journey in the morning. We ended up making such good time that we arrived in Alice Springs at 5pm. Andy had read about an Indian Restaurant in the guidebook and even though his last choice of eatery was, well shall we say awful, we decided to risk it and eat dinner there before finding a campsite. When we found the restaurant it didn’t open till 6pm so with some time to kill we found a supermarket to stock up on water. When we walked out of the supermarket with our ... read more