We Have No Egrets, The Horses Have Them All

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DAY 273


We awoke early, it was still chilly from the night air, but it was time to get up and get the kettle on. The first thing on my mind this morning was Cowes Week, back home in England, and the fact that my girlfriends would be heading over this Saturday for our annual day out for lunch, a bit of a laugh, a few glasses of Pimm’s and a dance in the Haven in the evening. This year will be the first year that I have missed in a long while, yes I will be sad at not being there but they know I will be with them in spirit.

Last year they gave me a good send off knowing I would not be there this year, it absolutely poured with rain so we had to take refuge for an afternoon in a nice pub where we ate lunch, I hope that the weather is better for them this year.

Andy logged on to check email, there is an email from a close friend of mine, Barbarba, she is telling me it is time to come home as she is bored with me being away and asks if we are bored with camping, my eyes fill with water, we are not ready to go home. Andy says how can we be bored with camping when we go to sleep under the stars and the moonlight and wake up under the sun. Barbara reminds me that it is Cowes this weekend, strange really that I woke up with that thought first thing this morning, things like that do make me miss home. She says that they will have one or two toasts for me, I will have to make do with that and will toast them with a gin and tonic or beer in the evening.

Pulling myself together, we have to get on with the day, as we had power we knocked up a breakfast consisting of toast and as supplies are now getting low we rely on Bovril spread on our toast.

We allowed some time for the tent to dry out the damp morning air settled heavily on the canvas we learnt a harsh lesson before not to put the tent away while still damp as it makes the bedding inside very damp.

Andy and I like this site, there is a nice swimming pool a great big camp kitchen an area to have a camp fire and the Fred and Wilma amenities are great.

Andy finishes the packing while I go and have a shower, he said I could so don’t think that I just wandered off in a world of my own. When I got back it was like the Marie Celeste, the doors of the Patrol were open there was an Ipod charging on the bonnet, this is strange as Andy would not generally leave everything like this and go far, I looked around as I thought he may be talking to a neighbour, but no, he was nowhere to be seen, I looked around the Patrol as I thought he may be hiding, but no he was not there either. I thought I would just busy myself he would come back soon. A moment or two later I noticed something move behind the trailer, I crept round the back and found Andy crouched down hiding from me. I knew he had to be close but he must have kept moving around as I was looking for him.

As we leave site Andy popped into the camp office and told them that he thought it was a lovely site, the owner was there and he was very pleased to hear such a complement.

We head out of Mount Surprise to resume our journey to Cairns, if all goes well then we will easily make Cairns today. Andy tells me he has seen a snake but he is not sure if it is dead or alive, we swing the rig around and go for a look a snake is partially coiled in the middle of one of the carriageways, it has been injured but it does look very dead, its body is a little flatter in places so it must have been run over, it is sad to see a snake like this.

I start to read some of the tourist information and find the brochure on Undara, where the Lava Tubes are, we really wanted to see those, however we didn’t want to spend time messing around today. In the brochure I find that they have refurbished railway carriages used as bedrooms. They look great in the brochure and how novel to sleep in a railway carriage, I guess this is the next best thing to the Ghan.

Andy came up with a great idea, it is our Wedding Anniversary on 18th, we celebrate 19 years of marriage, he says why don’t we book in for a couple of nights of luxury here to celebrate and treat ourselves as we have done it tough for 9 months and 2 days of luxury won’t bust the budget.

So instead of driving past we pop in and investigate, we look at the carriages and decide it would be great, we are soon booked in for a couple of nights on our Wedding anniversary, then 4 nights in the camp ground just chilling out, though it does mean coming back here but we decide that it would be worth it, we always like to do something different on our wedding anniversary and this would be a perfect opportunity (It sure beats camping on the Isle of Man in torrential rain, however a billy can of hot water cooking our packet curry washed down with a bottle of champagne and a side of crisps nearly does it, Andy really knows how to treat a woman!)

On the road again the terrain starts to change, yet again we find that we are coming into a heavily forested and mountainous region, with lush green vegetation, it is so different to what we have been used to in the Northern Territory and up around the Kimberley’s which were vastly dry areas.

On the journey so far we have seen a lot of road kill and a number of those elusive Wedge Tailed Eagles, each time they fly away along with another photo opportunity, Andy even grabbed me on the arm and yelled “Wedge Tails, 3 of them!” But I declined the offer to turn around and go back as they would undoubtedly fly away.

A while later Andy suddenly slows up the truck and pulled across the road, another Wedgy, he was sitting like a cherry on top of cake, i.e. sitting on top of the road kill, he takes flight but only as far as the tree, giving me time to grab my camera whip the zoom lens on and take chase. He sits and poses for me while I get as close as I can, one step too many and he flies away.

It is a hot day, and we are enjoying the journey, we stop for a sandwich and get back on the road, when suddenly the sun disappears, we are shocked there are looking black clouds in the skies above us, this is a strange phenomenon this we have not seen in a while, maybe months, then a few wet drops appear on the windscreen causing Andy to use the wiper blades, they grumble at having to be used as they have not been used for so long. This is not good, we did not expect to come into rain so soon, it even feels a little cold outside, we are high up but that is no excuse.

Arriving in Atherton we are suddenly plunged into an unfamiliar civilisation, a bustling town, fairly modern with Woolworths, car dealerships, fast food restaurants, MacDonalds we have not seen since leaving Darwin which was some 2000 kilometres away from here. You do realise how much you enjoy being out in the bush fending for yourself and how isolated some of these places really are. However towns like these are still necessary because we still need to stock up on necessary food supplies.

We park up so that we can go and grab a coffee, as Andy walks away a lady appears and asks if we are having a good holiday, we replied that we are having a fantastic time. We passed the time of day and then went on. A woman in MacDonalds was complaining about her burger not looking like the one in the picture, she has a point, however the staff seemed unable to placate this woman and by no means did they offer any kind of explanation or means of recompense merely this is what we are given by MacDonalds to work with.

Why is it that that staff have to stand and argue with the customer? What happened to good customer service? Even when the customer is wrong they should be treated with more understanding and should be placated, treated with respect. It is wrong for these companies to engage in conflict with their customers, does that really hold their employers best interests at heart? The girl said that she would raise it with her manager, the woman said “I thought I was speaking to the manager, dressed in the managers uniform with a badge clearly stating “Manager” to which she responded, “I don’t work here”. We were puzzled by this statement, why else would she be standing behind the counter in uniform with a managers badge, because she had been asked to stand in for the manager and therefore assume responsibility for that position which she clearly misunderstood.

Coffee in hand we moved on from Atherton through the beautiful Tablelands and clearly now we are in the Wet Tropics of Australia, we see road signs warning us for Cassowaries being in the area, they can be quite dangerous so it is advised that you should not really approach them as they may feel threatened and react.

The vegetation becomes lusher we are so close to Cairns the Sugar Canes are very evident in the fields around us, the environment here is beautiful. This feels very tropical and now we are out of the mountains the temperature has come up again and the sun is out.

On route we have drifted in and out of mobile phone coverage, which is new, we haven’t had Vodafone coverage for well over 2 weeks and if we knew then what we know now then Vodafone would not be our choice of carrier in Australia, we might as well have gone back to the taught string and cans over here.

Still the good news is we managed to make contact with Jan and Ted, whom we met, way back in the Warrumbungle National Park, they are great people and have been a regular reader of Kangaroo Jacks adventures and regular messagers.

They are in Cairns as Ted “El Presidenty” is President of the Australian Table Tennis Federation and plays himself, so he has come to Cairns with the teams from various parts of Australia, and also has a few overseas players, one girl he thinks is definitely good enough to be in the Olympic squad, and is ranked 4th in Australia.

So we have made initial contact with them and will call them again when we have set camp.

The descent for want of a better word down the mountain is quite spectacular, very steep with magnificent views, all of a sudden we are at the down and in the outer suburbs of Cairns, and our first impression of the area was WOW!! It seems to be a vibrant city without too much bustle and the mountains surround the area, what a backdrop. As we descend we pass fields with horses, Egrets surround the horses, we wonder why they are so fascinated with horses, perhaps its an easy catch for flies.

We got to our campsite, which had been recommended, it is a big 4, and as much as we like them they are loosing their appeal as we would much prefer to be out in the bush, waking up with our natural surroundings. Don’t get us wrong, there is a place for these large Caravan parks, as they give you a little bit of comfort, a good hot shower and clothes washing facilities, but this is not the Australia we came to see.

We do have to mention, credit where credit is due, Crystal Cascades Big 4 is a must as it is so beautifully looked after and the staff are so friendly, and we would be happy to pass on the recommendation, you can tell them Kangarrojack sent you!!

Our trailer was unpacked, the first thing Caroline did was phone Jan and arranges to see them tonight, we were off to their hotel the Fig Tree in Cairns. We desperately needed provisions and had passed a large Woolworths supermarket a couple of k’s away, so we hopped in the truck, and set off.

Soon our trolley was filled up, and we were thinking about our bellies, as they were empty, the thing we seem to miss the most even though, we didn’t take to notice of them in the UK, was Pizza, and every time we get to a large town, its Pizza we want to fill the gap.

As we thought we were going to be at Crystal Cascades only for one night, we didn’t get the stove or the pots and pans out, as it was just a fleeting visit, we came in to Cairns to specifically see Jan and Ted and get the Canon Lens for Caroline’s camera then we were off again, most probably off to Cooktown then back to Undara 300 K’s inland for a week for our Wedding Anniversary.

We get back to the trailer, unload all our supplies, scoff our Pizza that we picked up from Eagle Boys, (Definitely the best), Caroline Skypes her Mum and Dad for 25 Minutes, then we change and drive in to Cairns.

We got to the Fig Tree Hotel, it was just fantastic to see Jan and Ted again, we originally met them on blog date 75, Coo -ee form Gilgandra 21 January 2009, the last time we saw them was blog day 81, A Blue Hew 27 January 2009, and as we just love all our friends its important always to stay in touch.

We had an excellent evening, Ted and Jan were fascinated about our travels, and just loved what we had to tell them, they told us about Charlie the Bull who starred in Crocodile Dundee, do you remember when Crocodile Dundee calms a snorting Bull? Well Charlie was that snorting Bull and he lived his life at the back of a pub, in either Adelaide River or Daly waters, we can’t remember which.

Sadly the evening went too quick and it was about 11.40 when we left The Fig Tree, though we know we will see them again even if it is not on this journey, there will be another day.

We got back to the trailer and flopped in to bed exhausted from a busy day.

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Photos

Our Hitch Hiker
Found in Cairns

all the way
From Mount Suprise

So sad - Taipan
Sadly this beautiful Taipan was killed on the road. Worlds No. 1 venemous snake (on land)