Day 75: Townsville - Magnetic Island

We jumped on the ferry to Magnetic Island which took all of 18 minutes.

As we were getting off, a five year old boy whined to his mother "I don't want to walk" to which she replied "I know, I'll just pull a car out of my arse, mate". This has become our favourite retort to each other now, its amazing what we have managed to pull out of our...

As far as the islands we have been on go, Magnetic Island is pretty big. We hoped to cycle but it was far too hilly. Even the bus we caught really struggled.

Today, Friday the 13th, is the Full Moon Party and the island was heaving with teenagers and young backpackers. With that in mind we set off for the Koala Sanctuary in Bungalow Bay. You get to hold a salty (salt water crocodile), koala (for a small fee), python and at the end we fed the parakeets.

We didn't get to see that much of the island, by the time we got there it was around 1PM and we jumped on the 6PM ferry home. If we went again we would hire a mini moke to do a bit of exploring and probably stay over night.

Emelie

Day 68: Mission Beach

Lisa loved it here so much she stayed two months, Dave and Elaine from Port Douglas have purchased land and plan to move here in the near future. What are we missing that is so great about this place?

It didn't help that we were drenched in the night. It didn't stop raining (even I am getting bored going on about it). Our back door and side door was open for air circulation and the rain just poured all over us.

Dunk Island was on today's agenda. We took one look at the water taxi at South Mission Beach and decided today's churning ocean was not for us. Tomorrow we will get the catamaran, they didn't have any room on today's.

We successfully completed two rainforest walks where we had the joy of seeing two cassowaries before we retreated back to the van in the afternoon. Only then did the sun come out. By this time, we were resigned to staying in and doing "housework" on our laptops that we have "been meaning to get around too for ages".

We did pop over to South Mission Beach and it is much nicer than over here. There is nothing there but a camp site and holiday apartments, and it works. The beach was pretty good. It is quiet, calm and the view of the ocean and Dunk Island is a nice touch!

The fact that our camping ground is only a quarter full and South Mission Beach, Beachcomber Coconut Village, was straining at the seams does kind of confirm our suspicion that we are in the wrong place. (I bet it doesn't rain over there either!)

Emelie

Day 66: Cairns - Green Island

We scooted down to Toby who worked his magic and made us take back all those terrible things we said about retiring Henry and getting a fabulous camper van with a permanent bed above the drivers cab where we could nap when ever we wanted too!

The juddering was a loose wire to the idle throttle and the second gear issue was a corroded bush (I think I got that all correct, can't ask Oly as he is naping in the bed we have to spend five minutes putting together before we can nap). Its all fixed and Henry is a dreambus again.

I am a little sun-blushed today. We visited the beautiful Green Island just off Cairns. Henry was dropped off at 9AM and we had a day to kill.

We jumped on the Reef Rocket (Oly and I had alot of fun with that) and arrived 45 minutes later on the island just in time for our prepaid buffet lunch on the Big Cat (not recommended). Stomachs bursting we then tried to snorkel in 12 inches of reedy water. I lasted all of 10 minutes before I got fed up and sat on the beach. Oly persisted for a while longer.

There are two areas that you can snorkel, one is supervised and one is unsupervised. We went to the later as it was the first one we came across and the chap on the boat said it was a good spot. The second spot was much better, so Oly said, and his fab pictures are proof enough. I didn't go in as I had taken off my stinger suit and couldn't be bothered to put it back on. If I had maybe I wouldn't have a (nearly) all over blush right now.

We had a quick walk along the beach and board walk before we boarded our boat to take us back to Cairns and waiting Henry.

Off to Mission Beach tomorrow, I can't wait... we have heard so many good things about it.

Emelie

Location: Click Me!

Day 56: Cape Tribulation

We have had the best day ever...

Woke up this morning and the sun was shining

Went for a long walk on the endless white beach with crystal clear water

Climbed up to the boardwalk and walked among rainforest

Took in the view from the top

Waded out in the warm water to admire our setting

Remembered there were stingers

Waded back as quickly as I could

Ol went for a dip in the freshwater swimming hole

And so did I

Ol hunted and gathered a coconut

The sun set







We went to PK's Jungle Village had a glass of wine, felt tiddly, (no photo's of that!) walked along the very very dark beach back to Henry, fell asleep.

Emelie

Location: Click Me!

Taking a breather

It's been a bit quiet around here as I have not been very well.

We have changed our flight to the 23rd of December and are heading off to Cairns on the 22nd.

Hopefully we will be in Henry, but as he is not fixed yet (waiting for parts) it may be a long walk!

Either way, I am back...

Em

Day 19: Alice Springs - Tennant Creek

Two hours out of Alice, a hop, skip and a jump over the Tropic of Capricorn, we passed a hand written road sign:

"Mango Ice Cream, Yum!"

Even if it was only 10:30AM, we thought it would be rude to pass it by. We stopped at Red Centre Farm and picked up some hot mango chilli and, of course, a teeny tub of mango ice cream... yum YUM! It was delicious and so is the chilli. Who said never trust advertising?!

A few km further up the road, we went to the Red Sands Art Gallery where we spent two hours browsing and then trying to pay for the two pieces we chose (there was a problem with the debit card swipe). The gallery is wonderful and definitely the best indigenous art we have seen, I would love to go back one day and buy some more.

Oly was having a nap in the passenger seat when I noticed aliens running towards the road. We had arrived at Wycliffe Well, the UFO capital of Australia. We popped in to have a nose, under the guise of buying a drink. Oly blew our cover as soon as he walked in and said... "so when was the last time you had a UFO here?" the man in all seriousness said the 1st of October was the last time they had extra-terrestrial visitors. Now that was one weird place.

Our intention was to stay at Barrow Creek. Ol took a quick picture inside of the bar and left, we just didn't fancy it. About 10km north of Barrow Creek is where Peter Falconio went missing. It was very quiet for the next 30km.

Our next stop was Karlu Karlu, the Devils Marbles. These formations are over a million years old and were once a solid mass of coarse grained granite caused by molten magma. Over time they have cracked and then eroded to form round and oval balls. There are so many strange rock formations in Australia and these are just as fascinating and awe inspiring as Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We did the short 400m walk around a cluster of them and moved on to Tennant Creek.

And here we are...

Em

Miles: 500km
Time: 8 hours
Location: Click Me!
Temp: 36c
Music:
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
Audio book - Artemis Fowl - The Arctic Incident, Eoin Colfer (We like the narrator)

Day 15: Kings Canyon - Alice Springs

Up early again for the five hour drive to Alice Springs.

We did have to go back on ourselves at first to avoid the unsealed road that would have saved us around 200km. We did think about it for a few minutes as we approached it, and then thought "Nah!" and flew past in case we changed our minds.

We made sure we changed drivers every hour, whether or not we felt we could carry on. It did make a huge difference and kept us quite fresh. Good practice for the final slog over to Queensland.

Somehow, by the time we got to Alice Springs I was one thong (flip flop) down... it must have fallen out of the van on the last change over of driver. There is some one legged emu out there sporting a very fetching green gold Haviana.

We met a Dutch couple that we had seen in Uluru. They were making their way to Cairns a few days ahead of us. We looked longingly at their camper van with its air-conditioning until Sylvia explained she had caught a cold from the constant changes in temperature getting in an out of the van... we were more than happy to go back to sweating it out in Henry after that. It's good to hear we aren't the only ones that are suffering with the heat.

Oly and I went into the town centre and had a walk around. Alice Springs is large town in the centre of Australia. It is home to The School of the Air which is a correspondence school catering for the primary and early secondary education of children in remote Australia. The Flying Doctors also have a visitors centre here.

We had a quiet night in trying to catch up on the blog as we had a communication blackout in Kings Canyon. Its nice to have a break but its like putting off homework.

Em

Miles: 441km
Time: 5 hours
Location: Click Me!
Temp: 42c (still)
Music:
Manu Chao - Clandestino
Coldplay - Parachutes
Eminem - Curtain Call
Lisa Loeb - Tails

Day 14: Kings Canyon

Up again at 5AM. Today we visited Kings Canyon and completed the rim walk.

This walk begins with a 100m steep climb to the top of the canyon which the locals call "heartbreak hill" or "heart attack hill". I know what it felt like to me... then a 7km walk with a gradual decent back to the bottom. Climbing up I had to use my hands as blinkers so I would not see the bottom. Once at the top I kept my eyes firmly away from the sheer drop edge. I don't know how people can stand on the edge, it scares the life out of me!

It was very eerie, there was no sound or animals except for the occasional bird. Even the insects were in very short supply. The birds showed no fear, I guess up there they have no natural predators.

The rim is littered with strange beehive domes of rock and enclosures that make you feel like you are in an amphitheatre, this is known as The Lost City. It was not until after our walk we found out the name of these formations and suddenly it all made sense.

Half way through our walk we descended to The Garden of Eden, this is a waterhole with lush vegetation and very brave swimmers... Oly being one of them. After seeing him surrounded by yellow water it made me even more determined not to go in. The only down side to this oasis was the climb back up to the rim.

That afternoon a wily-wily picked our tent up and rolled it over. The tent was ripped and a mess. We had to hold it down whilst trying to empty and dismantle it, during which storm winds decided to build. I wouldn't mind if it brought rain!

We are getting a bit braver at night now and letting a few toes poking out of the back door curtain. One day we are really going to regret it when some eagle eyed bird thinks they are worms.

Em

Temp: 42c

Day 12: Yulara

Not wanting to miss the sunrise for the 3rd day running Oly got up at 2:30AM.

We were booked on a helicopter flight with Ayers Rock Helicopters at 5:15AM to watch the sun rise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta. I have never been in a helicopter before and I must admit I was petrified. Helicopters seem to go so slowly, judder and feel so flimsy. I sat in the back on my own and Oly sat in the front next to the pilot. I don't like heights at the best of times and I get an urge to jump, which really isn't good! I may try it again, maybe its something you just have to get used too.

Oly and I went back to Uluru to do the Mala walk at 8AM. We joined what we thought was the ranger tour and it turned out to be a tour group whose guide was Italian and was really hard to understand. We were quite relieved when she said she wasn't the ranger. The tour was really good and the aboriginal ranger was knowledgeable and had a sense of humour too. By the time that had finished it was too hot to do the base walk.

The nights are pretty bad here. The temperature is still in the mid to high 30's past midnight and there is no air, any breeze there is its hot. We sleep with the slide door open and the fly net curtain up, plus the back door open and drift in and out of consciousness in our pools of sweat. It feels safe to leave the doors open here, people in tents have less security. I am going to try sleeping the other way round tonight with my feet out of the back door...maybe that will be cooler! I can't wait to get back to the coast, cool sea breezes... its only 25c in Cairns!

Em

Temp: 42c

Day 11: Yulara

Missed the sunrise again, should have woken up at 4:30AM to go to Uluru but as the night was so hot we had terrible sleep again. We also got up to late to take the Mala walk at the base of Uluru so we went to Kata Tjuta, The Olgas, to do the Valley of the Winds walk.

We started the 7 1/2 km walk around 9AM. The walk goes between the mounds of Kata Tjuta so this involves a lot of climbing up and down on loose rocks and some of the climbs were pretty steep. By the end of it we were both bright red and knackered. We took plenty of water but after walking for 2 1/2 hours in the baking sun our water was hot and therefore not very refreshing. I got to the last climb, stopped halfway and sat down to try and subside the sick feeling. I think at that point I had drank the water instead of sipping and it was sloshing in my stomach. Everyone on the walk was really struggling towards the end, we gave each other moral support as we passed or stopped to catch our breath.

They have accommodation here at Ayers Rock Resort ranging from 5* hotel to tents. We treated ourselves to a meal at one of the restaurants in The Sails in the Desert. It was delicious. I had veal and Oly had Angus beef, we even stretched to sharing a desert of deep fried chocolate balls in a light batter with creme anglaise, yum!

Em

Temp: 43c

Hello from Hamlyn Bay (OJG)

Hi all (makes a change from everyone),

We have just spent a couple of magical days in a very small place called Hamlyn Bay. I think we were a little lucky with the weather as both days were gorgeous, but it really was an idyllic location for a break. The bay itself is 16km North of Augusta through beautiful National Park forests.

On our first day we got there quite early, so we decided to have a nice long bike ride in the afternoon to the 3rd bay along. After a brief walk in the water we headed back and Emelie thought it would be a good idea to take the bikes via the "Cape to Cape" path which should in theory be a more direct back to our camp site. More direct it was, however we had endless hills going up and down, and often with sand underneath us. As anyone will tell you going a steep hill on a bike with sand is no fun (brakes make no difference at all), and going up a hill with sand is even worse.... well basically impossible. I can't remember how many times Emelie moaned to me that she was "not having fun anymore" but it was a lot!

We did see some amazing sites (including a couple who thought they could get naked on a deserted beach, then suddenly see us and get dressed very quickly), and I am sure we got an amazing workout from all those hills, but after the 3 hour ordeal we were both completely drained.

Back at the camp site we were able to relax, as can be seen in the picture to the left. Yes those are my feet! And that is the view as taken by me whilst relaxing in my chair with a glass of wine and some of that Belgium chocolate! (Yes I decided to have my first bits of chocolate since arriving in Oz, and it was great).

I made friends with a few of the birds in the park (no, not those type of birds), and we sort of got to an understanding very quickly. They land on the bike handle bars, and I throw them a piece of bread. And so this carried every 30 minutes, until half way through day 2 Emelie saw how much bread we had gone through and had a small fit. So there was only one thing for it, top notch oatcakes imported from Scotland! And I can only judge that they frequency change to 20 minutes was a sign of how much they appreciated the new food.

Not sure what else to say about Hamlyn Bay, it was incredibly relaxing, and easy going, and I for one could easily let the days just drift by whilst enjoying the scenery, sunsets, wildlife.

As a final testament I share with you this picture of sunset (taken with a high zoom). When Emelie saw this on the computer she asked what effects I had applied to the image, I replied that I had done nothing at all, and in fact the image we were looking at was still the raw file on the camera memory card! And even then, the image does not do the sunset justice.

Oly