1770 to Cairns (Road Trip)

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So I headed off to the Town of 1770. It took me roughly 5 hours or so to get there. The journey was 369km or 229miles. I drove through miles and miles of pine forests again as I did on the way to Rainbow Beach, and the smell was yet again so intense but so nice and fresh. I think the area from Rainbow Beach all the way to 1770 is for Pine furniture production as it seemed that the whole town(s) or villages thrive only on the income from the trees. The towns were so small, blink and your though them yet they survive and all seem happy and content in their communities. When I finally reached 1770 I went to an information point where a woman advised me there is a forest campsite 1km down the road which charges only £3 per night. I was all over this! It was full of back packers in their campers. Camper vans from Apollo, Camperman, Wicked Rentals, Spaceship, AV and so on. As it was only midday I went for a drive and I established that I was not actually in 1770 but instead I was in Agnes Water which is the main town of 1770. I drove round, walked down the beach which was pretty much deserted and back along the main road, Captain Cook Drive. I hopped back into the van and drove north for 3km to 1770 where I found the monument which marks the point at where Captain Cook landed in the 1770. It was cool, quite weird to think back that far in time and history and to imagine what it must have been like back then.. Totally deserted and just scrub land no doubt. There wasn’t much else going on in this tiny town so I sorted my laundry to kill an hour or so and then went to the campsite where I spent the night. A campervan parked up next to me and as soon as the side door opened I was greeted by a girl playing the guitar and trying to sing. If smoke would have prevailed it would have been "Stars in their eyes".... She was German but singing in an authentic English tone but out of key and damn she thought she was good…. Kinda made my ears bleed a little ha! I slept with my ear plugs in that evening….

I woke up spritely at 6.30am as I knew I had another massive day of driving ahead of me. I got my shit together and headed out. Today’s road trip was to Emu Park, a 277km, 3.5 hour drive. The roads were starting to change the further north I headed, they were getting straighter and the landscape was changing too in that the spaces were becoming vast! When I arrived at Emu Park I popped into what I thought was an information point but it turned out to be a museum housed in an old tin shed with an old windmill outside. The chap in there was originally from Yorkshire, a helpful old chap with a curved spine and glasses on the end of his nose. I took some leaflets and checked into a campsite on the beach front. The manager warned me of noisy bats in one particular area and she was so right. I parked up in this “area” and went for a long walk down the deserted beach. It seems that most beaches in Oz are pretty much empty. The beach was probably 1.5 miles long so it was good opportunity to get some equal tannage. On the way back down the beach a chap and his dog had marooned their tiny little boat onto the beach as the “cork” as he put it had come out and the boat had filled with water, lucky for him he could drag this little boat back to his boat trailer, quite entertaining although I don’t think the pooch was to impressed. I went back to the van and went for a drive around the little town, and it was just that, very little. I went back and sunbathed and had to move the van as the bats were sooooo loud that I couldn’t hear myself think and the smell was gross! I did nothing for the rest of the evening other than chill out and watch the humongous Flying Foxes Bats leave the trees at dusk and go looking for food. (Emu Park was just a stopover rather than a tourist place)

I left Emu Park to head for Airlie Beach at 7.15am. This was going to be a 6 hour, 506km journey #MISSION! The roads were definitely changing, even straighter, wider and less traffic. I saw lots of dead kangaroos on the road but other than that there was no wildlife in sight. I was amazed at the landscape as it’s the first real experience of Ozzie outback that I had experienced. Hundreds of kilometres if totally flat planes with enormous mountain silhouettes in the far distance which surrounded these flat planes. The trees were sparse, the grass was golden and short. The wildlife were cows in small numbers churning their way through the huge amounts of grasslands available to them. I passed only 5 gas stations on route. The towns and stations were literally 100km apart. Rest areas would appear every 70km or so but that would be the only form of human civilisation I would see for the majority of this road trip. I a fellow camper overtook me early into my journey, I was going to try and keep up but instead fuel preservation took over my mind so I let them head into the distance. I met two French girls at a petrol station who were also going to Airlie beach, I had overtaken them about 80km ago as they were going even slower than I was and that was slow, 50mph in fact. I finally arrived at Airlie Beach. Airlie Beach isn’t a beach at all. It is a marina where tourists catch different boats to the Whitsundays Islands which are the most photographed islands and beaches in Australia. Airlie beach is a nice little town with some great shops but without the tourists it definitely wouldn’t exist. Its full of surf shops, bars and hostels. It was really clean and well-kept with a nice little lagoon where 90% of the tourists were sunbathing. I found a campsite just outside town, checked in and went for a drive to the lookout where I took some photos of the marina and it became apparent how blue the sea was… Totally beautiful and the rainforests came all the way down to the water. I chose not to go out on the boats to the Whitsundays Islands purely because of the cost. This was a mega cash cow and I have seen some amazing islands in Thailand which cost me peanuts so I thought what’s the point. The concept is snorkelling, drinking and sight-seeing and it would have cost me around £250. Just after I checked in the campervan that over took me earlier in the day which I contemplated keeping up with pulled in. There was a French girl who lived in Melbourne and her French friend who was visiting her from France for two weeks.. He was pale, looked like Casper haha. We had a few drinks and ate some good food! We discussed what our plans were and she mentioned going to Bowen which was 40 min drive so I decided that I would do this in the morning.



I set off for Bowen at 7.30am. I was thinking in the back of my head that I may have a long journey ahead of me as Mission Beach, my next stop was 6 hours 20 minutes away, another 515km drive. I reached Bowen, Nothing there! Deserted beach, not a nice beach either so I headed straight out and north to Townsville. Again, not much there. (Townsville was half way). I stopped for a cuppa and some food along the esplanade which was nice. Apparently the town is dead by 9pm at night. Townsville has a port which is its main source of revenue, import and export or Sugarcane, the main produce in North Queensland. For miles and miles and miles the roads are cut between fields of it. The sugar cane in some areas is 12ft tall. I wondered to myself “If I walked through there would I know how an Ant feels” as Sugar Cane looks like really tall grass essentially. The areas alongside the sugarcane fields are kept so tidy. The farmers are always out and about cutting the verges, the grass is really green and well-kept regardless of where I seem to go in Australia. I was doing alright for time so I continued my journey to Mission Beach. On the way there I passed loads more kangaroos that had fallen victim to road kill, I also passed a dead massive black and white pig that was so swollen it could of popped at any time. I also saw loads of Emu’s roaming out in the wilderness. I reached Mission Beach. There were warning signs everywhere for Cassowary Birds… They are massive but I didn’t see one, I was driving like cautious carol too! I found a campsite directly on the beach and I managed to find a fence post next to the van that I could attach my hammock to. Needless to say I stayed in the hammock pretty much all evening until it started to rain. Mission Beach doesn’t have anything significant about it. It’s a tiny little village with a nice beach which is used for Skydive Landings and a bay area in order to get to the neighbouring island. Mission Beach was hit hard, full on, by Cyclone Yarsi in 2011 so I think that may be which there isn’t anything there. I slept like a baby even though it was quite windy and my van was taking the brunt of it being on the beach.



In the morning I decided to head off at 8am and make my way to Port Douglas. This meant going through Cairns which is my final destination, further north by another 65km. The scenery had changed dramatically, I was now in “Wet Tropics”. From Innisfall, 50km south of Cairns onwards is pure mountainous rainforests. On the way to Cairns the mountains dominated the landscape, huge rain clouds capping the tops of the mountains making everything dark and damp. The roads becoming wetter and wetter and the verges becoming greener. I saw some kangaroos hopping around in the lush long grass but I couldn’t stop to get any pictures. I blasted through cairns and headed onto P Doug (Port Douglas). When I was down in Surfers Paradise roughly 2 weeks ago a woman from Victoria (South Australia) said to me how beautiful P Doug was and that the road to it is mountainous with great views. She certainly didnt disappoint me. As soon as I was passed the northern beaches of Cairns the roads started to wind their way around the coastal path at the bottom of the rainforest. At some points, in fact most of the way from the northern beaches in Cairns to P Doug the sea was only 25-50 meters from the road. I couldn’t believe the sight I saw when I drove around one corner and saw the little coastal sandbanks with palm trees in the middle with little streams of sea water flowing in and out between them. There was a car following me so I couldn’t stop but I couldn’t let that perfect photo opportunity pass so I turned back to get the photos. Typically my camera batteries had died so I had to use my phone which wasn’t idea but still got a great shot.



10 Minutes later I arrived at P Doug, Instantly I fell in love with it. It looked like a movie set from LA. The streets are lined with established big green palm trees, the grasses look like golfing greens, the roads were smooth and straight and the buildings were all in keeping with the surrounds, gleaming in the sunlight and really tropical, appealing to the high end Australians who vacate from the south to go on holiday there. I managed to find a campsite in town and a 5 minute walk to the beach. It was called Dougies Backpackers. By far the best campsite I have stayed on so far and also the cheapest. I met two guys who were parked next to me in their camper. Nick and Ollie. Nick is a Geologist who lives in Perth who is now travelling instead of working and Ollie is a model for ASOS (I found this out when I asked him how he has over 4000 followers on Instagram). These two guys were by far the nicest and most laid back people I have met in Australia. We hung out in the bar at Dougies, played numerous amounts of pool. Ollie and I had numerous deep conversations about life and he the following morning he gave me the book "The Power of Now", its amazing and has made me a lot aware of myself and my thoughts. We made friends with a woman from New Zealand, Rachael, who had just moved north and was living in a tent on the site. People from the south of Oz tend to travel north for work during the first half of the year. Its hot up north, cold down south so its busy with holiday-makers. P Doug has a 4 mile beach. The sea is off limits this time of the year due to stingers (Box Jelly Fish) although you can still paddle as your walking along. I ended up spending 4 nights in P Doug as I loved it so much. Every morning I would go for a run down the beach, up at 7.15 and out barefoot running by 7.30, perfect. I would generally sunbathe on the green which is surrounded by palm trees and looks over the bay and Mossoman Gorge. One evening I went on a boat cruise, the boat was called Lady Douglas. In fact, this was my birthday. I wanted to see some wild crocodiles but unfortunately I didn’t see any which kinda sucked! Whilst on the boat the skipper mentioned about the stormy weather that was forecast (Tropical Cyclone ITA). This was the first I had head of it. A few days later I drove to the Mossoman Gorge, this is a huge gorge where water runs from the top of the rainforest canopies. It was fast flowing and spectacular scenery. I drove further to the Daintree River, this is south of the ferry that is required to go any further north and ultimately on to Cape Tribulation. I decided not to go to Cape Tribulation as I was saving this for another day so instead I went crocodile hunting along the Daintree River but again, no joy! I headed back and a dreadlocked guy called Luke had pitched up next to me in the place where Ollie and Nick were. Luke had just split up from his rich girlfriend and decided that he, like Rachel, would go north and work during the tourist season. We spoke about the cyclone and it seemed that tension was building. The following day most people were a little edgy as Cyclone ITA was now a Category 4 which is super strong. At 5pm that evening the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) advised that the Cyclone had been upgraded to a Category 5 which is the worst possible scenario so I made a mad dash back to Cairns. I was concerned that I may get stranded in P Doug (Wouldn’t be a bad thing) due to the coastal roads and landslides. I made it to Cairns in 45 minutes and checked into Cairns Caravan Park where I met 5 guys and 2 girls from Germany. This crew was awesome! We toasted some wine (Goon) and they headed into the city for drinks, I stayed in my van. The next morning we all woke up to the campsite being nearly empty. I went to reception to find out what’s going on and they were in a state of panic. Most people had checked into hostels and were not going to sleep in their vans. We all decided that we would also leave but instead we would go to Cairns Central Shopping centre which has a 3 story concrete car park. We ended up staying therefor 2 nights. The car park had lots of people camping in it. It was actually good fun although a little stuffy at times. On the first night we decided that we would go out and go to a bar and watch an NFL Game in one of the sports bars. It was two for one on pints…. Bad news! But good news as it was cheap rounds. We left and headed back to the car park when we stumbled across a big pink hippy bus parked just inside the car park. I went over to get a photo of it and a guy with dreadlocks pops his head out the window and shouts “Hey Man, come on in for a party” so we went and rounded up the troops, got some more booze and went on in. It was like a labyrinth of hippyness inside. Psychedelic blankets draping across the windows for curtains, a big sofa, bongos and some quite amazing music. I learnt how to play the bongos, I was determined not to be beaten and my friends tell me that I was really good by the end of the night…. Hmmmm, yeah sure I was. I have no idea what time I got into my camper but all in all, another epic night in Australia! I woke up the following morning with bruised fingers and thumbs from the bongos, must have been playing them for hours.



Today was the day the cyclone was due to hit Cairns. We moved to the centre of the car park which was a good idea but it also meant that we couldn’t hear or see anything of what was going on outside. The guys went out on the 4x4 and said the roads were deserted and said there wasn’t much going on. Everything was shut, it was like Christmas day at home. There were a few homeless aborigines in the car park and man they have got some voice boxes on them! One woman was shouting “Fuck Off” for hours and really loud too, not sure what was going on there. I slept like a baby, earplugs have been the best purchase so far!



The day after the Cyclone….. I was up and ready at 8am to get back to normal. I went to Coles, the supermarket and got some food in preparation for the next 4 days in my van on the campsite. I headed back to the campsite where I had originally stayed a few nights ago only to find that it wasn’t open and wasn’t going to open today.. I drove through the exit and was soon chased down by the aggressive owner who came over swearing at me and told me to get off site.. I said “Why are you swearing” which confused him slightly, I obliged his request, asked for a refund and left their ill prepared site and checked into Cool waters Campsite 8km down the road. On the grand scheme of things Cool waters had been hit so much harder than the other site, it had flooded with 3 feet of water from the creek invading half the site. Trees had come down and they had lost power yet they had prepared for the aftermath and were well on the way to getting things back to normal by the time I had arrived there at 10.30am. I messaged the guys and girls from Germany and they came down too. We all spent the first day in the pool, it had a lot of leaves and twigs etc in but we were bothered as the humidity was insane! It rained hard that night, we all fell asleep with our windows open so all our vans were wet inside. The following day I went to Crystal Cascades which is a gorge 10km from the campsite. The waters were still so high and so powerful, quite a scary experience being there on my own. I went to a few waterfalls, went to the beach and sunbathed for 1 and a half hours, burnt my bloody eye lids and then came back for dinner with the peeps! Burgers with Garlic Bread, nom!



Today I went to Barron Falls, the most incredible waterfall I could ever imagined seeing. The downside to the cyclone was the drama, the upside had been the amazing scenery and landscape it has carved and left behind. I went to the Atherton Tablelands which are the mountainous regions 2 hours in land. These mountains were generally not rainforest but big green rolling hills and it resembled home just on a larger scale. I did a loop around the Tablelands and on the way back I had to come down one of the mountains. The road has 213 chicane bends in the space of 12 miles. It was awesome, had to go so slow though as it was really steep with straight drops to my right and towering rock faces to my left. It took me nearly 30 minutes to get to the bottom but it was so worth it. Right now as I finish this and bring it up to date I am having to witness a drunk husband and wife going hell to leather at each other. They are both drunk as two skunks, all I can head is “You’re a fucking liar” “Ill tell you about it in the morning” “Yeah you do that your fucking liar” stomp, bang, shake, bustle lol….



I saw the neighbours the day after, they were kind of skulking around, probably embarrassed by their drunkenness.

In the morning I drove to Cape Tribulation as it was always on my plan but I never got round to going their due to the cyclone. It was further north past Port Douglas. Took me 1 hour 45 minutes to get there. You can only get to the far north of Oz by ferry at Daintree River and this will take you to Cape Tribulation and beyond. When I reached the ferry there was no one collecting money which I thought was strange. I waited for 15 minutes for the ferry to come back across the river only to be told that I couldn't cross as it was still unsafe due to tree and flood damage from the Cyclone 4 days ago... OH MAN!!! I turned around and headed south towards cairns. I stopped in Port Douglas for an hour and had some lunch at my favourite place of the town and then carried on down to Trinity Beach which is one of Cairns northern beaches. I stopped there for a few hours and read my book and then headed back to the campsite. Phillip, Fabian and Mathias, the guys from Germany had left to head for Darwin. Sebastian, Hannah and Zac were still on site so I chilled out with them for the evening.

Today is the day, 17th April that I have to hand my campervan back... I have covered 4938km in 25 days and seen some amazing sights and been to some amazing places. I've seen dead kangaroos, dead wallabies, dead pigs, dead birds, and a dead cockatoo. I've seen live Emu's, Crocodiles, Koalas, Kangaroos, Cassarworys, a ginger cat, numerous kookaburra's which make the most amazing noise, parakeets, thousands of wild turkeys, dolphins, turtles, dingo's, crabs, a cat fish. I was in and survived the worst Cyclone to hit Australia since 2011. I slept in a car park for two nights. I have met some amazing people which I will definitely keep in touch with and I got to see Danny New again for the first time in 4 years #creamovermytits lol.

Tomorrow I head out on a boat for two days on the Great Barrier Reef and then fly to Darwin on Sunday.

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Photos

Aboriginie Kids playing in the Mossoman Gorge
1 day before Cyclone ITA