Queensland: The joys of camping

Happy New Year!! Finally managed to locate a reasonably priced internet café so I will sit here all afternoon until this update is complete – and since I haven’t written for a while I think this is going to be a long afternoon…warming up with a few finger exercises – something I’m sure Freya must have taught me!

23/12/06
Just a quick note here to announce that after 3 months of being on the road, today was our first laundry day….no, we are not THAT disgusting, it is purely because in Asia they do it for you – we couldn’t find anywhere where you could use machines yourself (any money-making opportunity is abused on that continent). Anyway, to complete this tale we washed our clothes and due to the fact that most of the stains had been settling in nicely throughout our time in Asia, nothing seemed to come out clean. Spent the rest of the day wondering around Cairns and playing cards in cafes and watched ‘The Queen’ at the cinema (very English!).

24/12/06 – Christmas Eve: Appalled that they don’t sell mince pies in the shops!!
Checked out of the hostel and walked 5 minutes down the road to a ‘posher’ establishment: huge room, ensuite, kitchenette, TV, sofas – complete luxury!! (NB - The shower is so powerful that you can feel gusts of wind when you turn it on, and it feels like millions of pins are stabbing you – although painful, very impressive as shampoo washes out of your hair in seconds. Our recent experiences of showers have been occasional drips, so although this may seem like a trivial detail it was the highlight of the day for us!) Put up our Christmas cards, stockings and our single decoration: a hanging star given to us by a little Cambodian girl. Watched Christmas crap on tv (1000 times worse than UK crap) and then went for a swim. In the evening we went to the hostel BBQ (the place we’d just checked out of – they didn’t seem to mind??) and participated in a Christmas quiz. We then jumped on their free shuttle bus into town and went spent the rest of Christmas Eve in Cairns Casino: Wayne transferred money from HIS account so that he could re-enact the latest 007 movie, as I wasn’t keen to hand over the rest of our travel money to an Australian ‘fat cat’! We actually had a really good evening, as there was a great atmosphere. Wayne even came out with winnings (probably because I kept hold of them so he couldn’t bet them away!) He recouped his $250 and made a further $100 – not bad! Needless to say I didn’t participate in any betting – I don’t have any money to loose L

25/12/06 - Christmas Day
Woke up early and made snowflakes out of paper ?!? Ate breakfast in our luxury room (usually we’d have to fight for some space in a shared kitchen) and then opened our stocking presents…we had both bought each other little souvenirs from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia to open on Christmas Day (ahhhhh). Watched a Christmas film (The Family Stone) before heading out for Christmas lunch at a nearby hotel. No music, no mince pies and no roast – bit disappointing as it was a buffet lunch, but there was a good atmosphere and we had a good time. Walked off the calories along the seafront: bright blue skies and scorching temperatures – very weird…spent the rest of the day on the internet and by the lagoon (Cairns public swimming pool). Once again, we went to the cinema (on Christmas day!!!) and watched ‘The Holiday’ – good English, Christmas chick-flick!

26/12/06 – Boxing Day
Hit the Christmas Sales: bought two bargain cardigans, suitable for wearing to work – once I get a job! Walked 45 minute journey back to hotel before realising that I’d left my new purchases in the internet café – I was sooooooooooo mad at myself!! Stormed back in the midday heat and luckily my bag was still sitting underneath the computer – phew!!

27/12/06 – 28/12/06
Back to the hostel, more film viewing (due to bad weather) and more window-shopping. I now have enough books to open my own library (despite the fact that I have exchanged and sold half of the books I’ve read) and Wayne could possibly open up his own dvd rental shop when he returns.

29/12/06 - Two dives around the Great Barrier Reef!
Got up at 5.30am and walked to the other side of Cairns to the Marina. Boarded Seastar and embarked on a very, very rocky ride to Michaelmas Cay (endured a 2.5 hour journey with numerous passengers spewing overboard. Wayne threw up in the toilet and I had to keep my head bowed between my legs for the entire journey to stop myself from joining the party.) We were advised to go snorkelling before our dive to restore our balance – I didn’t think I could get up, let alone swim! However, after a few minutes in the water we both felt fine and did our first 40-minute dive with a dive master (just the 3 of us = excellent!) Visibility wasn’t fantastic (8m) – typical, always seems to be the way when we dive – and because we weren’t wearing wetsuits the water felt a bit cold, but the actual dive was fantastic. We saw so much marine life: upside down jelly fish, clown fish (nemo), white damsels, parrot fish, longfin batfish, blue spotted stingray and a couple of giant clams (when you stroke their inside with your hand they clamp up – very cool!) Our dive master also handed us sea cucumbers: odd looking things that breathe in through one end (their mouth) and out through their bum?!?
After lunch we took a small boat to the outer edge of the reef (we were meant to go Hastings Reef but the conditions were too rough) and carried out our second (13m) dive, which was awesome. The coral was so much more colourful (pinks, reds, yellows, browns and blues) and we swam through massive coral walls and canyons. We also encountered a 2m long white-tipped reef shark!! It swam past us, rather than towards us, so I didn’t freak out and use up all my air. Other creatures of interest (well for us) were triggerfish, potato cods, a black-saddled toby and a spotted sweetlips.

30/12/06
Took a bus to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Centre, where we spent a few hours learning about the Tjapukai Tribe. Visited the History Theatre (film), Creation Theatre (aboriginal performance with holographic images and music), Dance Theatre (where one of their toddlers joined in the performance – so cute (hence numerous pictures!)) Also listened to a Bush, Foods and Medicine talk, learnt about how to make and play a didgeridoo, threw spears and threw a boomerang (well I TRIED to – my attempt was just embarrassing! Someone actually shouted out ‘at least the kangaroos are safe!’) I dismissed this failure: hardly a vital life skill and if needs be at least I know I can crush a few ants/worms with a boomerang.

31/12/06 – 150 km (nothing)
FINALLY!!! Picked up our new home for the next 6 weeks: a small campette. We are now living with no electricity (no fridge, charging devices etc.), no water (toilet/shower) and no mirror!!! But, we can finally get out of Cairns, which can only be a good thing after spending over 2 weeks here. First stop, supermarket to stock up on groceries (we can now cook our own meals) and then headed south, down the Bruce Highway. Destination: Mission Beach. The drive through north Queensland highlighted the beauty of the area: lush mountains, sugar cane fields, banana plantations, waterfalls and hundreds of creeks. It also highlighted the enormity of this country! Where as in the UK towns merge into each other, or at least crop up every 5/10 minutes, here in Australia you drive for hours to reach the next settlement!
We arrived at Mission Beach mid-afternoon and set up camp in a basic park: no cooking facilities and just 2 toilets/showers for the entire campsite. But, we found a beautiful shady spot right next to the beach so were happy. Wondered into town but upon realising how small it was (and that most of the shops were shut, due to the fact it was New Years Eve), we headed down the beach for ½ km to the safety of the stinger nets and swam in the warm bath-like waters. Spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening reading on the beach as the sun began to set for the last time in 2006.
Headed back, showered and started chopping vegetables for our Mediterranean Chicken Pasta dish, then realised that we had no light. The electrician therefore got to ‘work’ and managed to orientate our al fresco kitchen in front of the campers’ headlights. With a little torch and a blinding headlight we cooked dinner on our portable gas stove. It tasted good so we just sat in the dark and prayed the chicken was properly cooked! Celebrated New Year with a few beers and walked along the beach (where some people had lit fires). Although quiet, it was a New Year’s Eve to remember!

01/01/07 – New Year’s Day – 560 km
Our first night in the camper was hot and stuffy – we had to open the side door and therefore got eaten alive. Due to the chorus of thousands of horrendous birdsongs we were woken up at 5am and briefly saw the most beautiful sunrise across the ocean. We then managed to doze back to sleep and got up at 7.30am. Upon opening the Esky (Oz Ice Box) we realised that the ice had completely melted and all our fresh supplies (fruit, veg, cheese etc) were soaking!! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Spent about half an hour drying off saveable items and then had to boil water in a saucepan to make a cup of coffee – oh the joys of camping….and this was day 1!!
Although beautiful, Mission Beach is a very small, quiet place and we decided to move on since we had wasted valuable time in Cairns. Headed back down the Bruce Highway: long straight road that seems to go on for eternity. We keep seeing mirages in the distance – the first time I saw it I shouted at Wayne because I thought he was heading at full speed into a lake!!
After 560km and possibly 560 McDonalds Advertisement Boards, we arrived at Airlie Beach: gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.

02/01/07
Moved campsites as we needed a fridge and were in desperate need of a socket so that we could charge up our camera batteries (the previous place didn’t have any electricity). This new site is massive and a bit too up-market for our little campervan (half these people have converted coaches into moving homes and the other half have the latest campervan models that probably cost more than the average house!) We just hid our van and headed straight to swimming pool.
Later in the afternoon we attempted to wonder around Airlie Beach town (pretty but a bit touristy) but gave up and went back to the free swimming pool to sunbathe!

NB. Have forgotten to mention, since writing up about Australia, the incredible number of free BBQ’s that the Aussies provide – they are literally in every public space imaginable…town parks, national parks, local swimming pools, highway rest areas etc. etc. (and they are always in use!)…Its quite amusing to us Brits as it is such a stereotypical Australian image.

Ok, I have been on this computer for over 2 hours so I’m going to have to give up – I know I said I’d sit here until it’s complete but my bum has gone numb! We are currently in Brisbane for those of you I haven’t e-mailed/spoken to…it’s a high-rise city – completely different to Cairns. Weather is a bit poor so haven’ t done much, but we’ll head out now and see if its improved? I’ll try and add to this tomorrow…Hope all are well? E and W xx