State number 3

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns
April 20th 2006

Published: April 20th 2006

Hello peeps!
Well its thursday and i'm in Cairns and it looks like that ruddy cyclone wants to join me. They have upgraded it to a category 4 (thats bad). Its heading for just above Cairns but that means that we are getting the tail end which means the weather is pretty shitty right now. Still nice and warm but it won't stop raining. So lots of indoor activities i guess!
I got into Cairns on Monday after 4 days on the Desert Venturer. I'm really glad i did that instead of flying as i really got to see some of the remotest places in Australia.
We set off pretty early in the morning (don't we always?) and headed out of Darwin to the Adelaide River Inn where we saw Charlie the Water Buffalo. (Charlie is the one that Crocodile Dundee Hypnotises with his "whom" stuff in the movie - remember that! Unfortunately he is now stuffed and sat on the end of a bar but hey at least he's getting more than his 15 minutes) We then headed down to Katherine which incidently is no longer flooded but pretty much deserted so we only had a quick stop there. Few more hours on the coach and we were in Mataranka which has a beautiful natural hot spring which we swam in for a while before grabbing lunch.
Next stop was the Daly Waters pub. Those of you who have read Bill Bryson might recognise the name of that one. Its this crazy little place where people leave lots of things behind to show that they have been there. But completely random things like underwear, banknotes, i.d cards, stickers, flags. Oh yeah and an x-ray!!???? Great place with a great sense of humour.
Our base for the night was the Heartbreak Hotel in Cape Crawford. This is apparently the remotest hotel in Australia which kinda begs the question of why you need a hotel in the middle of nowhere but it seemed to attract plenty of business. Got chatted up by some really creepy Aussie in the bar who offered to pay for a ticket to Oz for me so i could come back in August and be his date to the Ball (I'm wearing cream apparently as that would match his suit - as if!). Anyway Heartbreak was a nice enough place and of course the fact that it was called the Heartbreak Hotel is gonna please any Elvis fan right?
Next day we spent most of the day driving through the middle of nowhere. You could literally pick a spot to stand on and turn 360 degrees and see nothing in any direction right out to the horizon, not even a tree - it was insane! That evening we crossed the border into Queensland and stopped for the night in a little town called Camoweal. Was very happy with the hotel, practically luxury for a backpacker. Soaps on the towels, tea and coffe making facilities in the room, t.v, double bed - sufficed to say i had a great nights sleep there!!
Next day was even more driving (didn't realise 3000km was so far!) Stopped for lunch in a little town called Cloncurry which can claim to be the hottest place in Oz. Last year it reached 62 degrees! Thats centigrade not farenheit - 62 degrees centigrade! Scorchio!!
The hotel tonight was at Hughenden which we can officially say is the unfriendliest place in Oz thanks to the owner of the hotel. When the driver rang up and booked us in for the night i think the owner misheard "Backpackers" and thought he had said "leper colony". We couldn't eat with the other guests, drink with the other guests or use the special guests bathroom. Was glad to get out of there!
Not quite as much driving on our last day. We stopped just outside Cairns at the rainforest for a walk through to some falls where we could go swimming. Unfortunately the rainforest has pretty much been destroyed by the last cyclone. What was supposed to be an area of lush vegetation was actually just lots of trees with no greenery and quite a few weren't even standing any more. Real shame cause it would have been amazing to see it as it should be. The guide reckons it will take hundreds of years to recover.
We drove on through Innisfail to see even more cyclone destruction. Definately don't want to get caught in one of those after seeing all of that.
We arrived into Cairns early evening, got booked into our hostels and then headed to the seafront to a restaurant called Rattle and Hum for a little farewell dinner with everyone from the coach. Was a great laugh and we continued well into the night.
Really like Cairns as a city but am gonna be getting outta here tomorrow to get out of the way of that pesky cyclone. Problem with the weather as it is, is that there is not much to do. Majority of the trips are getting cancelled so methinks Mission Beach is calling me.
Went to the Cairns Tropical Zoo yesterday which was great fun even in the rain. Got to cuddle a Koala, Feed the Kangaroos, avoid the spiders in the reptile house! Also went to the regional art gallery and saw some great stuff, so i have managed to keep myself busy.
Okay guys well sorry if this is a bit rushed (gotta go buy myself a new phone after the other one was stolen!) and apologies for the lack of piccies in this one but these computers are crap. I'll speak to you guys when i get to mission Beach!

Seeya!

P.S. Amy - thanks for the tip. Peter Lik Gallery is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! and you gotta love the woolshed!

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved