Australia Zoo

We spent the day at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. It gives visitors the opportunity to see a lot of Australia's wildlife (kangaroos, dingos, koalas, cassowaries crocodiles, and all those venomous snakes) in one location. For a zoo, they try very hard to keep the animal enclosures spacious and as natural as possible. The Crocoseum is an amphitheatre that holds 5,000 people and the location of their two daily shows. Craig, feeling uninhibited, won the grand prize for his ape impersonation and was selected to repeat his performance in front of everyone on the Jumbotron. A small prize was awarded. For the rest of the day, we endured his new found celebrity status.

Lynda's mission was to get her picture taken, up close and personal, with a cute, cuddly koala bear. Interesting facts: koala bears defecate approximately 160 times per day and are rather smelly. Need we say more?

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Noosa/Coolum Beach

We had a rather extensive stay at the caravan park outside of Noosa on Coolum Beach, partially because we liked it there so much, and because Craig got sick (what's with that?) and had to recuperate. During that time we outfitted ourselves with new beach apparel (bikinis and surfer shorts) and got up early to run on the beach. Craig bought himself a boogie board and was very stylish as he attempted to master the waves. We also camped beside some Calgarians and together we cooked a sumptuous meal of Moreton Bay Bugz. Yes, Jim, we finally did it and they were to die for! Our cooking skills on the Aussie hot plates/barbeques are becoming more refined. We have moved from steaks and bangers to the aforementioned Bugz, garlic and rosemary lamb chops and Red Emperor in a coconut, chile Thai sauce. Not bad for camping.

One of the best walks we've been on so far was 6.9 km through Noosa National Park. It was one of many walks, but it took us through wetlands and along the coastline. The views are spectacular. We saw the usual birds (scrub turkeys) and some bigger lizards, but the best part was that we saw our first wild koala bear fast asleep in a gum tree. How unusual! We've been told they sleep 18 to 20 hours a day.

We were very lucky to connect with some friends of Bryan and Katherine's upon our arrival in Noosa. All of the Watts were very hospitable and welcomed us into their homes. We appreciate all of their travel advice and hope to meet up with them again one day (Canada/New Zealand ?)

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Tin Can Bay

Leaving Rainbow Beach our travels started with an early morning stop in Tin Can Bay where we observed a daily ritual that has been going on for 30 years. Every morning after the high tide a small family of wild Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins comes into the bay to be hand fed by anyone willing to part with a small donation. The donations go towards buying the 3 kilos of fish eaten by each dolphin, plus some extra to lure the pesky pelicans away. The senior battlescared male dolphin called Mystique determines who can and cannot eat. Currently, it is him and his son Harmony. There was a female called Patch who was visible just off-shore, but she knew her place and kept her distance.

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Fraser Island

Well friends, we broke down and went to the dark side. We joined a tour of 30 other holiday-makers and headed over to Fraser Island. It is not our preferred style of travel, but it was an enjoyable trip and it gave us a good overview of the island.

We were picked up early Thursday morning by our driver Mark, a fast talking Aussie version of Harrison Ford, equipped with a vast repertoire of one liners. The vehicle? A bus chassis mounted on a 5 ton Man diesel truck frame with "true" 4 wheel drive with locking hubs all around. A real machine. (You know what I mean girls?) The first test of our driver and his machine was at the end of the road where he had to cross the dry, sandy beach at full speed and launch us onto the ferry which was waiting at the water's edge.

Once we were on the island, most of the travel was done on the hard sand at the edge of the water. There are so many vehicles traveling the beach, the Australian government has designated it as a highway with road rules and police enforcement. Several attractions took us on inland roads that were a real mess. The men were put to work pushing out vehicles that had bottomed out in the soft sand.

There were many amazing sights along the eastern coastline: 75 Mile beach, the Maheno shipwreck, and the champagne pools. We elected not to join the throngs and climb to the top of Indian Head. Instead Craig headed for some surf fishermen on the beach and struck up a conversation. Within minutes an offer was made and Craig was casting out into the ocean. Before the big one was landed, it was time to get back on the bus and head to Eurong Beach resort for an overnight stay.

On the second day we went to two very different lakes. At Lake Mckenzie, a rainwater pocket, the sand is bleached pure white and the water is crystal clear. After a 4 km trek across the Hammerstone Sandblow we arrived at emerald green Lake Wabby. We were happy to dive into the cool water and swim with the resident catfish (and three fellow Canadians.)

As well as all of the scheduled events, we were lucky enough to see some native wildlife: an Asian dingo, a mother and baby humpback whale, and a dead sea snake (a casualty of the highway traffic.)
Fraser Island is definitely at the top of our "places to return to" list.

(without the bus and the 30 holiday-makers, of course.)

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Rainbow Beach

We decided to take the advice of two English girls we met in 1770 and use Rainbow Beach as our jumping off point to Fraser Island. The idea being that we would avoid the crowds and the backpackers. After driving down the Bruce Highway for a ways we exited at Maryborough and navigated some back country roads. The most startling feature of the journey was that there were miles and miles and miles of Canadian pine trees, all planted in perfect rows. There was no evidence of pine beetle either. We also encountered logging trucks similar to those back home, fully loaded and hauling lumber to the mill. (Get out of the way!)

Rainbow Beach is a quiet beach community that hasn't yet woken up to resort development. Even though we were not camping on the beach, Craig was very happy to be at an excellent beach - white sand and good surf. He was able to have some success at body surfing. We walked up to the Carlo Sandblow where we were treated to unbelievable views and entertained by the para-sailers. Possibly a new adventure?

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MacKay to Bundaberg

The primary purpose of our stop in Mackay was to visit Lynda's cousin and her family. We were feeling rather somber, but we were happy to have some company, and the distraction of a busy household. We are very grateful to Julie, Mike, Jordan and Mason for making us feel welcome and feeding us so well.

The road heading south from Mackay is a long, long, straight stretch that runs through coastal cattle country. Numerous Aussies we met along the way informed us that there was nothing to see between Mackay and Rockhampton. It is not surprising that many drivers fall asleep on this road out of sheer boredom.

For the first time on this journey, Craig had to put in a full day's work. So much time in the campa forced him to design his own version of Aussie Cruise control as a way of preventing a severe case of heal numbing. And to think we were going to throw away our 2007 issue of the Mackay phone book on our way out of town!

Our travels south have taken us away from the protected waters behind the Great Barrier Reef. We finally found some surf at Agnes Water. People, young and old, are at the beach at 6am trying to catch a wave. We do not envision ourselves out there, but it is fun to watch, and we plan to pick up some boogie boards when we see them cheap enough.

We arrived in Bundaberg and stopped by another world famous sugar mill where they have found a creative use for their primary waste product - molasses. We had a very informative and tour with our host, Drop Bear. Then it was on to Elliott Heads, about fifteen minutes outside of town. After spending several hours on the beach we experienced a bizarre phenomenon. A clear, tasteless liquid fell from the sky (apparently for the first time in three months.) It was delivered with great crashes and flashing lights. It sent everyone scurrying for their campers.

We will recuperate here for another day and then head down to Rainbow Beach. We are hoping to find a reasonable trip to Fraser Island, since our little campa does not have the 4 wheel drive capability needed to traverse that terrain.

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Sad news

It is with extreme sorrow that we must share the announcement of the accidental death of our beloved cat, Picabo - adventurer, entertainer and friend. Many thanks to Irene and her neighbours for taking such good care of her over the last two months.

Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays

We left Townsville and headed south along the Bruce Highway. The winds were strong and our little campa, with its high top and short wheel base, was blown all over the road. Both the driver and the passenger were feeling a little frazzled. These vehicles are not at all aerodynamic. We were wishing we had rented the Kea camper van with the pop up (therefore pop down) top instead. After a quick lunch on King's Beach in Bowen and a photograph at the giant mango, we decided to press on to Airlie Beach which was a mere 45 minutes away.

We were rather disappointed to find out that Airlie Beach's beach is only 200 feet long. There is a beautiful marina filled with expensive boats and a giant man-made swimming lagoon, but the beach itself is minimal. Airlie Beach's claim to fame is that it is the gateway to the Whitsunday islands. The only way to access the Whitsundays is by boat. We had not factored a sailing expedition into our travel plans, but we quickly realized that we would be making a big mistake if we cheaped out and kept on going. So on Thursday we went shopping ("Here we go again," says Craig) for a sailing trip. There are dozens of companies on the main street selling dozens of sailing trips. Our options were limited by the fact that we were booking at the last minute, but by noon, we had secured ourselves passage on the Whitsunday Drifter for 3 days and 2 nights. Our biggest fears were backpackers and bed bugs. Backpackers because the town is full of them and they are all going on sailing trips, and bed bugs because the literature on the boat informed us that we weren't allowed to bring bags with zippers aboard because that's where the pesky creatures hide. ("Great," says Lynda. "I've been eaten alive by sand flies and now I have to worry about bed bugs.")

At 9:00 am Friday morning we headed down to the marina to board our sailing vessel. The Whitsunday Drifter is a 54 foot schooner made from Fijian timber. The crew consisted of our captain, Nathan, and our first mate/cook/scuba instructor, Liz. Once the correct passenger manifest materialized, the paying passengers included Irene and Riccard from Spain, Ben and Susie from Melbourne, brothers Peter and Mark from Brisbane and Sydney respectively and Julie and Raap (Oops, I mean Craig and Lynda) from Canada. We are happy to report that it was a group of "normal" people. There was not a backpacker in sight. An added note: it seems that Lynda (the rule follower) was the only one reading the rules about the zippers because we were the only ones who brought bags without them.

So, off we sailed. Craig was in his glory. He quickly shed his pluggers and was put to work pulling ropes, tying knots and hoisting sails. His dream of being a deckhand in Australia had come to life. We sailed directly out to the islands and our first stop was the world famous Whitehaven Beach. It is remarkable because the beach is made up not of sand or coral, but white silica, a mineral that comes out of crevasses under the water that are several hundred metres deep. This sand is so pure that it was used to make the mirror of the Hubbel telescope. It is truly a gorgeous sight. We spent our first night anchored in a passage between Hook island and Whitsunday island.
After breakfast on day 2 we sailed to the windward side of Hook Island to some secluded beaches with coral reefs where we had the opportunity to snorkel. Craig was the only one brave (or medically fit) enough to try his hand at scuba diving. Craig and Liz started diving just off the beach and worked their way out to bigger and more amazing coral formations. The deeper they went, the bigger the fish got. In the end they made it down to 12 metres.

After a lunch of sausage sangers, no one was energetic enough to snorkel. Nathan, Liz and Craig provided some free entertainment. Nathan, in the dinghy, and Craig and Liz in the water, swam and fed two large Maori Wrasse and a couple of Travalis. They are very gentle fish, but when they open their mouths and take your whole hand inside, it can be startling.We stayed on the north side of Hook Island that night and were able to watch an amazing sunset. Lynda was more interested in the 15 million dollar yacht that was anchored beside us

Early on the morning of day 3 we anchored off a beach on the exclusive (a.k.a. expensive) Hayman Island where we spent several hours snorkelling. We returned to the ship for lunch and then summoned all our new learned sailing skills, trimmed our sails for maximum spead and headed back to Airlie Beach. Even with our best efforts the backpackers in thier sleek racing yachts had a four or five knot advantage. We were all very sad to see the trip come to an end, even those of us who were anxious to return to our accommodation and take a long, hot shower.

Later that evening, we all met up

for a delicious dinner at Fish Divine. We must have been a tolerable group because even our Captain, Nathan, joined us.

Since the end of the sailing trip we have been slowly making our way to McKay to see another one of Lynda's cousins. We spent Monday night at a campground in Conway Beach and are currently at a campground in Midge Point. It took four weeks, but Lynda has discovered that 30 sunscreen really does work and failing to apply it does result in sunburn. Luckily her lips have returned to their normal size and she no longer looks like someone who has had an overdose of Botox. Craig, on the other hand, is waiting for the water to drain out of his sinuses so he can hear again. Perhaps he was not that medically fit after all.
Ahhh, life is an adventure. Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone!

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Townsville: Beaches to Bushland

We can't imagine ever being tired of the beautiful beaches in Australia. Craig is especially enamored. He frequently mentions the fact that we should be taking more beach days. It doesn't take much to convince me, but now that I have Diana Gabaldon's latest book in my possession we will be spending a lot more time at the beach.
After driving past field after field of sugar cane "we" decided to take a tour of the sugar mill in Tully. Craig was very keen. Lynda decided to be the "good wife" and support her husband's interests. This is no light weight tour. It actually takes you through a working sugar mill. Things became substantially more interesting when our tour guide handed out the hard hats, safety goggles and ear plugs. In the end, the sugar mill was enjoyed by all,
even Lynda.
Next stop: Townsville. We have enjoyed six wonderful days here. The hottest day being 37 degrees Celcius (eek)! Tanny and Graham are engaging hosts. We have learned many new Australian words and expressions, some of which are not mentionable here. Their residence is like a nature reserve. They are avid birdwatchers. Between all the bird species (bull finches, rainbow lorakeets, goshawks, ibis and those bully cockatoos) and the resident wallabies (Missy and 6-Pack), there is non-stop action. Graham's tours have taken us away from the coast and off the bitumen (Craig's new, favourite word) to mining towns, cattle country and airstrips, big and small. Lynda was happy about finally seeing a "living" kangaroo. It is difficult to say goodbye, but there is still so much traveling to do. Many thanks to Tanny and Graham, especially for their parting gift, our very own billy. For all you sticky beaks, go look that one up!

The Townsville Clan

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