Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay

Day 26 - Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

There's not that much to write about today. We had basically always planned today as a travel day because Australia is a big place and one way or the other we had to come down the coast of Queensland. We could either come down gradually which would mean driving every day and moving on, or do a big chunk of it in one day which would mean we could stay one or two days in the same place and not travel every day. This is the option we went for. However, as I said yesterday, I hadn't quite appreciated how far it was so we spent all day traveling south down the Bruce Highway (A1). We had several short stops at Servos (service stations) to fuel up and buy iced coffee, a habit picked up from Jason, the man mountain. We played games in the car, sang Rolf songs, tested each other on what we could remember about our holiday so far and watched the Aussie scenery go by. We didn't see many interesting animals other than loads of dead ones by the road side. We stopped to check the pouches of a couple of Roos but quite honestly no one volunteered to touch them and so we soon gave up on that idea even though Jess had a little bag ready to put any Joeys we found in to. We saw quite a few Kookaburras on the telephone wires, and lots of cattle gathered round the water pumps which are driven by small wind-mills at the top of a tower, the water being pumped into round tanks at the bottom of the tower (as seen on Australia, the movie).

Wendy and I shared the driving and we kept to the speed limit (mainly).

Perhaps one of the most interesting things we saw was a Bailey Pageant Series 6 caravan, which caused great excitement because, as I expect you all know, they are manufactured in Bristol, which is a long way away, and we used to have one, although we now have a Pegasus (546).

We arrived into our booked site at 6pm and were shown to our family cabin, which was dreadful. The owner was in a bad mood as he was about to go out for dinner and we were holding him up. We asked to see a better cabin and were shown one grudgingly but this wasn't much better, so after all that we declined his cabins and moved on.

We had passed several camp sites and resort parks on the way and so it didn't take us long to find another one just down the street that was offering a deluxe family villa, three nights for the price of two, and cheaper than old Mr Grumpy's budget cabin down the road, so blaaaah (who said I was childish?) and we have checked in. It's very nice and clean, we have had tea (left overs from yesterdays barbie) and everyone is asleep as I write.

Tomorrow we are going to fix up whale watching. The lady in reception (I spent some time calling her Tracey until I got a bit closer and realised her name badge said "Trainee"; her name is Dawn) says the whales are "all over the place". I had a little joke and said I wondered if we'd see Scotland too, and then there was silence as the tumbleweed rolled across the scene.

Anyway it's time for me to get some shut eye too, will write again tomorrow.

I've just been out to check the milometer - 876km (just short of 550 miles). Not bad in a day, especially when you consider they don't have motorways up here, it's all single carriageway road).

	Our Mascot [Map]		Pageant Series 6 [Map]

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Airlie Beach

Day 25 - Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

We had a bit of a lie-in this morning, then went into Airlie Beach and had a coffee at Mcdonalds (Mcdonalds are on to a good thing as every McDonalds has free wifi and loads of people go there to use their laptops etc and then buy a coffee and a cake or burger, it's handy if your accommodation doesn't have wifi). We then did a bit of tourist shopping. I bought some thongs (no, I have not taken up exotic dancing to supplement our income although I'm sure the thought intrigues you; thongs are flip-flops in Australia as I'm sure you know), a tee shirt and a stubby (bottle) holder. The girls bought ice creams and sweets.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon lying by, and swimming in Airlie lagoon which is a big swimming area with sandy beach near but but not actually in the sea (there had apparently been a recent sighting of a crocodile on the beach in Airlie and so people were avoiding the sea, which unnerved me slightly especially in view of our Mission Beach blog because I really thought that that was too far south for crocs!)

We drifted home later that afternoon buying some chips and gravy to share on the way (you can tek t'boy art ov Yorkshire but you carn't tek Yorkshire art t'boy). When we got back we fired up the BBQ at the campsite and had a slap up nosh of burgers, ribs and kebabs. As you can see, Leonard is still with us and loves a barbie.

We got chatting to another camper (we talked to him, even though he was in a camper van and we are in a cabin) and he recommended a place to stay in Hervey Bay which is our destination tomorrow. I phoned them and booked a place.

After tea we retired to our cabin and got a fairly early night as we have discovered that Hervey Bay is a tad further away than we thought (about 800km) so we wanted to be on the road at 06:30. It's not good for the children to have too many lie-ins.

	The Island Gateway [Map]		Our Cabin [Map]
	BBQ area on campsite [Map]		Leonard is hungry [Map]
	Leonard is thirsty [Map]		Leonard butty [Map]
	Leonard gets ahead [Map]		Relaxing by the Lagoon [Map]
	Airlie Lagoon [Map]

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Whitsunday Islands

Day 24 - Whitsunday Islands

Whitsunday Islands

Monday, 15 August 2011

Today we got picked up from our accommodation by bus at 7:30, a bit of a lie-in for us and we were taken to Shute Harbour to pick up our ferry crossing to Hamilton Island. There was complimentary tea, coffee and toast on board and we tootled off to Hamilton Island. You probably know that Hamilton Island is a top quality resort island where the rich and famous go on holiday or own expensive houses. When we got there we were given various options for getting around the island and opted to hire a golf buggy (actually we had to hire two as they could only take a maximum of four people). We had them for a couple of hours and had fantastic fun cruising around the island. We went to a look-out for a general overview then cruised around looking at all the expensive houses overlooking the harbour. We stopped off at a resort and had a swim in their pool which was one of those massive pools round a central island with a pool bar in the middle. We strolled along the beach for a while then went up to look at a lovely little church which had an idyllic setting overlooking the beach. Lizzi says this is where she would like to get married one day. It was officially against the rules, but I let Jess have a drive of the buggy which she really enjoyed. Lizzi then had a drive too.

At 11:30 we returned our buggies and walked back to the harbour to pick up the next stage of our day which was a boat trip to Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island. Just as the boat was about to leave I went to take a photo and discovered that my camera was no longer in the case attached to my belt. It had been catching in the seatbelt of the buggy and I immediately suspected it had got tangled up with the seat belt when we got out. The boat staff were great and phoned the buggy people who confirmed it was in the buggy and arranged for it to be sent to the ticket office so we could pick it up on the way back. Phew.

We travelled over to Whitehaven beach, the sea had a big swell and we got soaked with spray, at times it was tricky just to hold on. We dropped anchor just off the beach. We then had a BBQ on board and after that were taken to the beach on a small shuttle boat. Jess and I saw a turtle swimming.

Whitehaven Beach is one of the most perfect beaches you could imagine. The sand is white and very fine (apparently it's good enough silica to produce the best quality glass without any additives, but mining the sand isn't allowed as it's part of a national park, and the sand is fine enough for you to polish your jewellery).

We spent a lovely couple of hours on the beach, swimming and generally lazing about although the staff had brought balls and volley ball nets etc if you wanted them. There were also Eskys with soft drinks etc. They provided sunscreen if you needed it.

After a few hours we went back on board for cake and tea and then were taken back to Shute harbour, changing boat at Hamilton Island on the way which gave me enough time to grab my camera. On the way back, Wendy and the girls spotted a hump backed whale in the distance, but I missed it because I was inside chatting to the captain at the time.

We have been to Coles supermarket and we are having Pasta Carbonara for tea tonight.

Not sure what we're doing tomorrow, probably a quiet one around Airlie, I think the family want a proper lie-in!

	Buggies on Hamilton Island [Map]		Lookout on Hamilton Island [Map]
	Pool Bar [Map]		Pool [Map]
	Chapel on Hamilton Island [Map]		Whitehaven Beach [Map]
	Whitehaven Beach [Map]		Sea Plane [Map]

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Townsville to Airlie Beach

Day 23 - Townsville to Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach

Sunday, 14 August 2011

Today we left our dodgy motel room and went looking for some breakfast. It was Sunday morning and so we decided to go for the works at Sizzler. It's basically eat as much as you can of everything for breakfast. We didn't disappoint you and ate our way through cereals, fruit, several eggs, half a pig, a couple of loaves of bread and a pile of pancakes drizzled (drenched) in maple syrup with ice cream on top. Being a caring dad, I even asked for a doggie bag so I could take some out to the rest of the family who were waiting in the car.

After we had eaten to the point of gluttony, we left and had a drive into Townsville, which looked a lot nicer in the daylight and without the stress of looking for accommodation. We found the site of the old hospital which is still there but empty and derelict and I treated the family to a few nostalgic and carefully selected anecdotes about my time there. As you can imagine, they love my stories of the old days although I'm always surprised they can hear me with their iPod earphones in, apparently it helps.

After that we set off for Airlie Beach, about 250 km south. It was a straight drive, navigation isn't difficult as there is basically a choice of one road and you can either go north or south. We listened to Rolf for a while (I am allowed it on once/day) and then to iPod music which it seems can come through the car's wireless, marvellous! The journey was uneventful, although we did stop at a dead kangaroo as Brolga had said we should check it's pouch to make sure there isn't a live joey in there. Thankfully it was male and no checking was necessary as I had been elected as the checker. When Jess got back in she did have a stick insect attached to her which we have added to our list of creatures spotted.

We arrived in Airlie at about 3 o'clock and went to the tourist information to enquire about accommodation and to book a trip out to The Whitsundays tomorrow. We took a drive out to the accommodation she had arranged for us but it was located just outside the car park of a big supermarket, not what I had envisaged. We set off in search of something else and dropped in at a couple of campsites that have cabins for rent and after rejecting one for being too smelly, we have found a lovely cabin at The Island Getaway Holiday Park. It's like a little home from home and I am currently sitting on the verandah writing this blog. We negotiated a pretty good rate too so we're all happy. We've been shopping and the girls are tucking into nachos while I write this and then we're having beef in black bean sauce. We also went through a drive-thru bottle shop which is an off licence that you drive through. We filmed the whole thing, explaining that we don't have these in England, and even asked the girl to put our 6-pack in the boot so that we got the full drive-thru experience.

Tomorrow is our trip to the Whitsundays, we are going to Hamilton Island for a few hours then on to Whitehaven Beach. The forecast is good and so we should have a good day, I'll let you know!

	Townsville's Old Hospital [Map]		Stick Insect [Map]
	Drive-thru Bottle Shop [Map]

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Mission Beach to Townsville

Day 22 - Mission Beach to Townsville

Saturday, 13 August 2011

Off to Townsville today but before we headed south we were going to visit Millaa Millaa falls which is about an hours drive north west, up onto The Tablelands. Just before we set off Jess spotted our first Kookaburra sitting in a low branch in a tree just outside out motel. We got really close before it flew away.

The next piece of excitement was when we met Keith (Preston). He was a nice man who stopped us for a chat. Unfortunately he was wearing a uniform and had a car with flashing blue lights in it's radiator grill. 112 km/hr in a 100 km/hr limit. I tried every trick in the book from the ignorant tourist to my wife's having a baby, but he seemed very keen to give me a ticket. He did do it with a smile though, and asked me all about our trip so far. That was when I tried my next plan - bore him to death, but it didn't work. I even promised to put him in my blog but he astutely pointed out that he would probably feature anyway. We eventually agreed it was a fair cop and I will have to pay the fine. Boo hoo.

After that we got on our way at a steady 99 km/hr and made our way past banana and tea plantations and sugar-cane fields up to the top of The Tablelands to Millaa Millaa falls, having stopped at Innisfail to get some breakfast from a bakery on the way.

Milla Millaa falls is a beautiful high waterfall with a pool at the bottom that it is safe to swim in.This is when the next bit of excitement occurred, which you're not going to believe! I was getting ready to swim in the pool and we noticed a small piece of wood floating near the bottom of the waterfall. Then the piece of wood disappeared and reappeared at the other side of the waterfall. On closer inspection.....guess what....it was a DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS. How cool is that? There is no doubt that is what it was and we were amazed. We had read that it might be possible to spot one here but we didn't think it was very likely.

Anna, Lizzi and I got changed and went in for a swim (chilly), and I swam out to the bottom of the waterfall. The duck-billed platypus was swimming at the surface about 2 metres away from me and didn't seem bothered at all. Anna had warned me that they have a poisonous spike and so I tried not to bother it too much and swam around in the pool beneath the waterfall. I imagine it must eat stuff brought to the pool by the river above. There were some yellow catfish in the pool too. When We got too cold We got out and dried off and headed onwards to Townsville, stopping at Milla Milla tea rooms for some drinks on the way.

we cruised to Townsville listening to my Rolf Harris CD until there was an in-car rebellion and we switched Rolf off (I have him loaded up for tomorrow, but don't tell the girls).

When we got to Townsville, I couldn't believe how much it had changed, and grown. I worked at the hospital here as a medical student in 1987 and I took the family to have a look at where I worked, only to find that the hospital has been demolished and apartments built in it's place. A new hospital has been built just out of town.

We had a bit of difficulty getting a room and we are staying in a budget motel which is pretty basic and we are not planning to stay more than one night. We had thought of staying in Townsville tomorrow but I think we will shoot through Blue, when the sun arise early in de mornin' and go to Airlie Beach and stay an extra night there, sport. Two little boys.....

	Kookaburra [Map]		Millaa Millaa Falls [Map]
	Duck-billed Platypus [Map]		A bit chilly! [Map]
	Swimming in the pool [Map]		Millaa Millaa Falls [Map]

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Mission Beach

Day 21 - Mission Beach

Innisfail

Friday, 12 August 2011

Weather-wise another lovely day, bright blue skies and temperatures forecast to be late 20's, slight offshore breeze, Dogger westerly 15 knots. A quiet beach day planned for today. We wandered down to the beach from our accommodation and had a toasted sandwich from a beach cafe and sat on the edge of the beach under the coconut palms. Did you know that more people have been killed by coconuts than by snakes in Australia? In fact the order of dangerous things here from top to bottom goes coconuts, cassowaries, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, sharks. Apparently sharks are actually quite friendly and people often keep them as pets. Just so you don't quote me, I made the last two sentences up but I am told that falling coconuts are responsible for significant mortality.

In fact they have a tree de-nutter out here that strips the trees before the coconuts fall. The tree we were under was loaded with coconuts and when I asked the cafe owner why, she said that there was a big snake in the top of the tree and the de-nutter was too scared to go up there. That's fine then. We ate up and moved on.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the sea. Although we knew we would be safe, and we had been told it was too cold for crocs this time of year (this wasn't entirely convincing as we'd seen them a few miles north of here), I couldn't help feeling a tinge of anxiety and none of us were brave enough to venture out of our depth, which is silly really because I think that a crocodile can get you in a few inches of water. Lizzi, Anna and I spent much of the time working out a strategy if one of us was grabbed. I took some comfort in the fact that we have been told they take the smallest person first and my strategy mainly centred on running away. Of course not. I wouldn't just run away. I would trip one of the girls up first, then run away.

Apparently the Koalas are vicious too and swim in the sea with snorkels and flippers on, but I sometimes think that the locals are making these stories up just to frighten us Poms.

Anyway we had a lovely beachy day and all got a little bit sun kissed.

The beach is about 4 miles long and perfect, but I would be surprised if there were more than 50 people in total on the beach. A bit different from European beaches!

The beach hut cafe had some sand yachts for hire and we hired one to share, but she ended up giving us one each as it was the end of the day. The girls really enjoyed it but the wind had dropped to virtually nothing and we hardly moved. The lady gave us our money back which was kind.

Then......disaster......pause for effect......Leonard was lost!! He had dropped (or maybe jumped) out of Anna's pocket and disappeared on the beach. We spent some time combing the beach and re-tracing our steps and then, to our relief, we discovered him sitting by the edge of a little stream on the beach. We think he might have been claimed by some other children but they had left him and we re-claimed him - hurrah!!

We then headed back to the motel, changed and went out for dinner. I had red snapper which was very nice.

We are moving off tomorrow, probably down to Townsville.

	Rainforest Motel [Map]		Motel room [Map]
	Mission Beach [Map]		Coconuts [Map]
	Beach cafe [Map]		Breakfast [Map]
	Sand Yachts [Map]		Dunk Island at sunset [Map]
	Random horses [Map]

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Cairns to Mission Beach

Day 20 - Cairns to Mission Beach

Innisfail, Babinda

Thursday, 11 August 2011

Set off for Mission Berach today, left at about 10, popped into Coles supermarket for some supplies and stopped at McDonalds for a coffee and to access their free wi-fi.

Then we headed off through Cairns and it wasn't until we were just through Cairns at the other side, that Wendy asked me if I'd collected our passports from the hotel's security deposit box, which I hadn't and so we had to do a u-turn and drive all the way back to the hotel. Very annoying!

After that we set off again and headed for a place called Babinda which had been recommended to us by the hotel we and been staying at. There is a lovely stream there with a swimming hole, but a little bit further downstream there are signs everywhere saying how dangerous it is to swim because of the undertows and currents. We had a walk down the riverside and took some photos. We went just far enough for me to lose yet another pair of sunglasses. I put them down because I couldn't see the screen of the camera and guess what...didn't pick them up again. This is the second pair I've lost and I wasn't happy about it. I don't think I'm destined to keep a pair of sunnies more than a week. Don't worry Cathy, they weren't the pair you lent me.

After our walk we had a barbie at one of the public electric BBQs that are scattered all over Australia - I wish we had them at home but I suppose we would only use them for 2 days/yr and there'd be a queue. That was fun, and there were bush turkeys running around our feet. We have found a lizard which we have named Leonard and the girls have decided that he should join us on our journey. Leonard enjoyed the BBQ.

Wendy and I left the girls at the car when we went back to look for my sunnies and while we were away they saw a Cassowary in the undergrowth. They have photographic evidence! The Cassowary is the most dangerous bird in the world, and Anna bravely stayed in the car, but Lizzi and Jess got out to have a closer look. They can get really nasty and aggressive...the Cassowary wouldn't stand a chance!

After we were fed and coked and had given up on the sunglasses, we set off for Mission Beach. We drove past loads of banana plantations. Each banana tree had a coloured bag over the bunch of bananas - not sure why - google it. Apparently the banana crop has been devastated by the recent cyclone and the price of bananas has gone mental. They are $2.00 each or more in places (£1.35). The sugar cane crop is being harvested and there were trains with hundreds of carriages to carry the cane along low level, narrow gauge railway lines to the processing plants. We had to let one pass across the road and it took ages.

Arrived at mission beach at about 6pm, and started looking for accommodation. Found a couple of adjoining rooms in a motel which is very nice, the rooms are surrounded by tropical plants and palm trees. Mission beach is a sleepy resort with coconut palms lining a long beach, just right for chillin' which is what we intend to do for a couple of days. It's quite popular with hippy types. It has been affected by the cyclone (cyclone Yasi Feb 2011) which came ashore around here and the tourist industry is just getting back on it's feet. We had come her with the intention of visiting Dunk Island, but it is closed completely. They are not even sure it will re-open. Apparently we are lucky to find a room as a lot of contractors are here re-building the place. I must say we didn't see much evidence of destruction ourselves, everything looks very nice. We wandered down to the beach this evening and had a drink at a sea-front bar which was lovely.

Not sure what we're doing tomorrow, I'll let you know. Feeling layed back already, must be something in the air. Off to listen to some Bob Dylan now. Night night.

	Anna and Lizzi [Map]		Babinda Boulders [Map]
	Babinda [Map]		BBQ Aussie style [Map]
	Leonard [Map]

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Great Barrier Reef Trip

Day 19 - Great Barrier Reef Trip

Great Barrier Reef

Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Another early start, up at 5:45. Got ready quickly and headed off for Cairns Marina. Perfect weather - bright blue, cloudless sky with no wind, 28 degrees. Checked in at the Silverswift terminal and then went to board the boat which was moored at number 11. We were welcomed on board with a cup of tea and a selection of cakes. Went out to the reef. The girls and I were booked onto an introductory dive and so at the first stop we got kitted up with our wetsuits and diving gear and the four of us went for a 30 minute dive with Ryo our instructor.

It was a fantastic experience and we saw loads of different things such as Barracudas, Clown Fish, Giant Clams and loads of colourful fish and coral. We even saw a shark, thankfully sitting quietly at the bottom.

After the dive we moved on to the second reef location and after a smorgasbord seafood lunch we all went snorkelling and saw more of the reef and fish and this time we even saw a turtle. I had brought a waterproof case with me for my camera and so I could try it out for the first time.

We moved on to the third reef location with more snorkelling and after afternoon-tea, headed back to Cairns. It was still hot and sunny and we dried off on the for deck. We arrived back in Cairns at about 4:30 feeling weathered and tired. We went back to our apartment and then after getting showered and changed, we went up to Port Douglas for dinner.

We had a table booked at the Salsa restaurant, but when we got there we didn't fancy the menu and so we went to a Thai restaurant instead and had a very nice meal sitting out on the terrace. Good move.

The girls fell asleep in the car, the minute we set off form Port Douglas as it really had been a full on day.

Tomorrow we will be setting off on the next part of our journey driving south towards Mission Beach.

	Silverswift [Map]		Getting ready for dive [Map]
	Snorkelling [Map]		Whale [Map]
	Underwater dude [Map]		Blue fish [Map]
	Nemo [Map]		Parrot fish [Map]
	After dive [Map]

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