William & Laura's Travels All our adventures tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-03-15:/blog/?domain=lauram 2008-04-14T07:38:31Z LauraM img/travel-blog-feed.png Airlie Beach tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-04-14:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=86124 2008-04-14T07:38:31Z 2008-04-14T07:38:31Z After leaving Bowen we headed to Airlie Beach. It was a really nice looking place, it had quite a buzz to it. Really busy with lots of shops and stuff. We decided to do a sailing tour of the Whitsundays so had a bit of a trail through the booking centres, tour companies and tourist infos of which there are many! Finally decided on one which offered two days and one night away and only took 12passengers. We didn't want ... After leaving Bowen we headed to Airlie Beach. It was a really nice looking place, it had quite a buzz to it. Really busy with lots of shops and stuff. We decided to do a sailing tour of the Whitsundays so had a bit of a trail through the booking centres, tour companies and tourist infos of which there are many! Finally decided on one which offered two days and one night away and only took 12passengers. We didn't want to go on a really busy trip with more than 40other people plus with this one we go two full days instead if the half days the two night trips offer. We had a few days to kill before sailing so we lazed about the lagoon, did a bit of shopping, wandered round the markets and William fished of course. He caught a beautiful big parrot fish from the pier at Shute Harbour. He put it back though as we weren't sure if it was a protected reef fish. The day before our sailing trip we went out for a drink and ended up hooking up with a local and had dinner with him. Got very drunk...oops! Had to be up the next day at 7am to be at the boat for 8am. Didn't help that we got a phone call from Dale R at 3.30am (he got mixed up with the time difference, thanks Dale.) We did manage to get up and drag ourselves to the boat and once we were out on the water the sea air did us good. It was the most gorgeous calm day so we had to use the motor to sail as there was absolutely no wind at all. It was beautiful. We sailed past North Molle, then in between Hook & Whitsunday Island. Spotting dolphins along the way. There were twelve passengers and two crew. Everyone was so friendly and we got on really well with them. An Irish couple, an American couple, a German brother and sister & 4 Koreans. We stopped in a cove off of Whitsunday and went snorkeling which was awesome. The water was so clear and the colours were amazing. We then went to Whitsunday National Park and got to see famous Whitehaven Beach which looks exactly like the postcards if not better. The water was incredibly blue and the sand was so white. We went down from the viewpoint to the beach and had a bit of a sunbathe and a swim in the sea. Back on Iceberg (our boat) we anchored for the night in a small bay and had dinner. We then had a few drinks with our hosts, Tristan & Jesse (skipper & crew) . They were a great laugh and I would totally recommend doing a trip on Iceberg. We all told a few stories before heading to bed. Had a fairly restful night.

Day 2- We went over to a small beach on the dingy, got to aquaplane, much fun!! We saw a few manta ray and stingrays, they were swimming close to where we were wading through the water. We had the whole beach to ourselves. Very secluded. William managed to knock a coconut out of the palm tree and we all had fresh coconut juice. Delicious. Back on the boat we saw whales and a huge turtle. As we were sailing back we saw a mother & baby whale along with a few other whales breaching. Amazing. One of the whales got so close to the boat we though we were going to collide. We did a bit more snorkeling before lunch then got down to some serious sailing back towards Airlie Beach. The boat was on it's side, it was so exciting. William was loving it. We all had to sit up on the edge of the boat that was out of the water. It was quite high up out of the water. We saw loads of dolphins on the way back. We also all got to help with the sailing e.g. hoisting the sail and holding all the many ropes that are involved in sailing. We all got a job at some point which was fun. Before we knew it we were back in Airlie Beach. We had had an amazing trip. At night we all got together again to say goodbye. We went out for dinner and drinks which ended up being lots of drinks, drinking games then cubbing. woohoo!! Great way to end a great couple of days. We stayed in Airlie beach one more day before getting on the road again.

Airlie Beach remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Bowen tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-13:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=86122 2007-11-19T00:55:18Z 2007-11-14T05:46:07Z Got down to Bowen and headed straight for the tourist office to see if they had info on fruit-picking and farm work in the area. Figured we should work a while seen as we had been away for 11weeks! They had loads of info which was good and advised us to drive round the farms and ask if they had work or to check out the local notice boards in town. We also got to see the 'Big Mango'. Feeling ... Got down to Bowen and headed straight for the tourist office to see if they had info on fruit-picking and farm work in the area. Figured we should work a while seen as we had been away for 11weeks! They had loads of info which was good and advised us to drive round the farms and ask if they had work or to check out the local notice boards in town. We also got to see the 'Big Mango'. Feeling quite optimistic we set about going round the farms. We drove up to quite a few only to discover they didn't need any labour. It was mostly tomato picking at the time of year we were there and apparently the season had been terrible and there wasn't much work!! Just our luck. A couple of them reckoned if we waited until the weekend we might get something then. We decided that was a good idea seeing as we'd been round so many in one day with no luck, chances are the rest would be the same. Therefore we few days chilling out, exploring the area, fishing. All the usual stuff. It was quite a nice town and it had beautiful beaches. We got booked into a campsite, pitched our tent and we were all good. One of the days we were at Queens Beach and William caught a massive stingray. Very exciting. He cut his line though as he didn't want to get to close.

The weekend came and we headed of on our job hunt again. Passed a few farms that didn't need labour. Then we came upon this big farm and went in to ask. Turns out they needed staff in the packing shed and could we start the next day. Ye!! All good, especially since it was inside as the picking of tomatos is back breaking work bending down in the hot sun. Turns out it was a corn packing shed and our job would be working on a line to feed the corn into a machine to cut it to size (had to feed 60 a minute), stripping the dirty leaves off the corn (strip 20 cobs a minute) , then packing it in the small plastic trays to go to the supermarket (pack 15trays a minute). It was long days, in the first week we each did 66 1/2 hours. And were very sore by the end of it. 6 days on out of 7 with 10-12hour days starting at 7am. However, it wasn't to be as Williams hayfever flared up and he got a really bad rash. Not good so it wasn't feasible for us to stay any longer. We did two weeks and made some money which was all good. Although, the swollen legs, sore back and aching arms and legs weren't so good. We did meet loads of great people though. The line we worked on was a good one and we made friends that we will probably always stay in touch with. We also attended a few nights out with our workmates, one of them was a charity hawiian party which william wore his kilt too and caused quite a stir. We also had a bit of a leaving do as there was another couple who had been there for 4months leaving the same day as us and they had a big night out planned with the staff which we also got invited to. It was a good night.

We shall have happy and not so happy memories of our cron packing shed work. We also now know good and bad corn, dirty leaves, long stems, over-trims, if the corn has been water deprived etc...haha. We shall not miss the earplugs, rubber gloves and hair nets

We spent a few more days in Bowen with some good friends we had met who were on the same campsite as us before moving south again.

Bowen remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Townsville tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-06:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=85243 2007-11-07T07:57:59Z 2007-11-07T07:57:59Z Arrived in Townsville during the day and had a bit of a nosy about. At first glance there didn't seem to be much to do. Went down to the esplanade to discover the big pool was being refurbished and was out of use. Continued along the strand which was quite pretty and discovered that there was a cultural festival to be held over the next week. Excellent! We had a drive up Castle Hill which from the top offered great ... Arrived in Townsville during the day and had a bit of a nosy about. At first glance there didn't seem to be much to do. Went down to the esplanade to discover the big pool was being refurbished and was out of use. Continued along the strand which was quite pretty and discovered that there was a cultural festival to be held over the next week. Excellent! We had a drive up Castle Hill which from the top offered great 360degree views of Townsville and out to sea. At night we went to an Irish pub for drinks and food. Sitting at the bar William reckoned he recognised the girl at the end of the bar. She wasn't familiar to me but then he decided he had heard her say Pitlochry and so went over to ask! Turns out she was from near Dunkeld and they knew some fo the same people. Small world!!! She was doing the same as us. It was so good to hear a familiar accent.

Over the nest few days we went to the reef headquarters aquarium which was really good although not as good as snorkelling in the real thing. It is the largest indoor living reef in the world. We also spent some time down at the waterfront fishing where Willie caught a big catfish. Pretty ugly looking thing. It got chucked back in. The cultural festival was really good too. we got to see dancing, entertainment & singing from lots of different cultures. One group called the Suwon Korea Cultural Group were excellent. They played music while dancing and birling long ribbons attached to there hat around there body. They were something else!! Also got to see a big carnival with lots of fancy floats associated with the festival. And try different foods from around the world...mmmm.

On our last day there we went to say bye to Lorna from the Irish pub before heading South to Ayr then Bowen thinking we should get some work.

Townsville remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> The Overlanders Way tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-06:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=84875 2007-11-07T07:43:25Z 2007-11-07T07:43:25Z We left Mount Isa in the morning, william with a bit of a hangover from the rodeo, and headed towards the coast. (about 900kms away) Found out that Crocodile Dundee's pub was a detour of 200kms off our journey so decided to go and pay it a visit. So off to McKinley we head, nothing but long straight roads and flat land again. Got to McKinley in good time as there was hardly any traffic on the roads. The only ... We left Mount Isa in the morning, william with a bit of a hangover from the rodeo, and headed towards the coast. (about 900kms away) Found out that Crocodile Dundee's pub was a detour of 200kms off our journey so decided to go and pay it a visit. So off to McKinley we head, nothing but long straight roads and flat land again. Got to McKinley in good time as there was hardly any traffic on the roads. The only thing there is the walkabout creek pub and a few houses. Very Outback! Glad we went though. Its got lots of photos of the filming taking place at the pub inside. After we took some photos we headed back to the overlanders way to drive to Julie Creek (the next town). About 20kms from Julie Creeks william heard an unuasual sound from the van. We had a puncture and were losing daylight fast!!! He managed to get it changed just before the sun had completly set and we decied to stay in Julie Creek for the night instead of going on to the next rest area so we could get to a garage on the morning to replace the flat tyre. Stayed in the worst caravan park over-run by beasties of all sorts!! No Like it!

Up early the next day and away from the park asap, we got the tyre replaced so all good. Back on the road towards the next town of Richmond, famous for dinosaurs. Richmond is a very good place to go fossicking being the 'fossil capital of Austrlia' but we decided to give it a miss and kept on going to Hughenden. It was a nice wee town. There was a national park only 70km North of the town which is descirbed as the small grand canyon of Australia so we thought we go and stay there for the night.

The drive was on unsealed road but it was ok just a little bumpy! The camp ground was very basic but it was all good for one night. William got up during the night needing the toilet, torch in hand he ventured out into the darkness only to discover a scorpion!!!! Mental!!! The next day we were up early and headed on a bush walk down into the gorge. The scenery was spectacular. Once down at the bottom there is a huge pyramid shape which is the rock face of the gorge side. It's amazing. The colours of the rocks were like we had never seen before. The climb back up almost killed me but it was worth it.

The next couple of days we drove to Charters Towers, nice looking plce, then onto Townsville. We made it back to the coast in one piece having throughly enjoyed the Queensland outback and meeting lots of friendly peeps.

The Overlanders Way remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Mount Isa tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-03:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=84873 2007-11-04T00:42:25Z 2007-11-04T00:42:25Z Made it to Mount Isa and managed to find accommodation which was pretty lucky as the town was almost fully booked for the Rodeo. It was really nice to be in a big town again after being in the outback for a week. Once settled in we got ourselves to the tourist info for information on the forthcoming rodeo which we quite fancied going to. Also bought the obligatory cowboy hats (which william has had on huis head since!) Turns ... Made it to Mount Isa and managed to find accommodation which was pretty lucky as the town was almost fully booked for the Rodeo. It was really nice to be in a big town again after being in the outback for a week. Once settled in we got ourselves to the tourist info for information on the forthcoming rodeo which we quite fancied going to. Also bought the obligatory cowboy hats (which william has had on huis head since!) Turns out it is the biggest rodeo in Australia and was on Fri, Sat & Sun. Found out that Sat & Sun were the best day as all the events before that were qualifiers. On the Friday night they had a huge carnival with around 50floats which made their way through the town to the rodeo grounds. They also had lots of fireworks, stalls & show rides. It was a good night.

On the Saturday morning we were up early to make our way to the rodeo grounds to get good seats in the arena. Donned in our cowboys hats, william in his kilt and me in my jeans. We sat with a family we had met on the camp ground which was great. They told us about the events and what was all happening. They were really good company. The arena was massive. We got to see cowboys on bulls and horses, bareback riders on horses, rope & tie, barrel races, steer wrestling and the awesomely hilarious wild horse race. It wasan amazing event where teams of 3cowboys have to catch a wild horse in the arena, saddle it , then one of them has to mount it and ride over the race line to the finish. Soooo funny. The rest of the events were brilliant to watch too. Who knew 8seconds was so long to stay on a bucking bull or horse. Its ages!! The cowboys looked like little puppets being flung about trying to hold on with one hand waiting for the 8second buzzer. It was such a good day we went back on the Sunday for all the finals. It proved to be just as good a day, if not better. We sat with sharon, dave and family along with their friend laboure. Had a few drinks and stayed at night with laboure to watch The Bostocks band play. Had a bit of a dance before heading back to the camp ground. William is in so many photos as the aussies were quite taken with his kilt.

It was a great week and great experience. After sad goodbyes with our new friends we got back on the road again deciding to head back to the East Coast to Townsville.

Mount Isa remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> The Savannah Way tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-09-01:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=77515 2007-09-02T04:50:03Z 2007-09-02T04:50:03Z We said goodbye to Cairns and drove down to Innisfail then inland towards Ravenshoe. We drove passed Australia's largest windfarm. We were so close to it as we took the back road to Ravenshoe. The turbines were huge. Went for tea in the hotel in Ravenshoe which is the highest pub in the highest town in Queensland. Stayed just outside town for the night and went to see the Millstream Falls the next day which were pretty. They are the ... We said goodbye to Cairns and drove down to Innisfail then inland towards Ravenshoe. We drove passed Australia's largest windfarm. We were so close to it as we took the back road to Ravenshoe. The turbines were huge. Went for tea in the hotel in Ravenshoe which is the highest pub in the highest town in Queensland. Stayed just outside town for the night and went to see the Millstream Falls the next day which were pretty. They are the widest falls in Australia. From there we went along to Innot Hot Springs. They are naturally heated springs, heated by the earths core then the water comes to the surface. You can see the steam rising from the creek, at one bit the temp reaches 72degrees. It's roasting. Even the sand you walk on is warm. The caravan park beside it channels the water in to pools so you can go and bath in it which is meant to be good for you. So in we went. We both managed in pool that was about 35-38degrees, you should only stay in for about ten minutes before going into the cold pool which feels great after being in the hot one. Willie managed to go in the hottest pool, 40-47degrees but it was far to hot for me and he only managed a couple of minutes. Good though. That night we stayed at Undara Campsite which was very nice. Got an excellent buffet meal. I had kangaroo which was verrrreeee tasty.

Undara is famous for the Undara Lava tubes. The longest lava tubes, caused by volcanic lava flow, in the world. We were going to do the tour but it was really expensive so decided against it. Maybe next time. Instead we headed further along to Georgetown. The roads are so long and so straight and dusty and there is about 150kms between towns. Even when we were in the towns they were no bigger then Alyth but mostly smaller. Also a lot of the roads are single track bituman with dust track at either side to move onto when there is a car coming in the other direction. Not so good when face with a road train with 3-4 arctic sized trailers. They are so big and they ain't moving for anything or anyone.

Anyway we got to Georgetown and went south about 90kms to Cobbald Gorge to stay the night anddo the tour of the gorge the next day. The campground was really nice and we went for a dip in the pool as it was roasting before building our campfire and having tea. The tour of the gorge was brilliant. We got there in a huge 4wd bus. Me and William got to sit up front with the driver..woohoo. To get to the gorge you have to cross a really wide sandy riverbed which is dry in the winter but a raging river in the wet season. (we still can't believe the rivers & creeks can be so dry just now but so wet in a few months time) We did a walk to the top of the gorge which was great. Got to see some aborginal art along the way and then look down into the gorge from the top. We saw 14 freshwater crocs. The colours of the rock were beautiful reds and backs and crean sandstone. After the walk we went dowm to the bottom of the gorge and did a boat trip down it. It was so peaceful and we sailed passed the crocs, a baby turtles, a brown snake and numerous st andrews cross spiders. Our guide was excellent. At some points the gorge is only 2metres wide with 30 metre cliffs. It is very narrow most of the way along. It was only discovered in 1990. Mantal!Very memorable day out. That night we drove to Croydon and stayed in the caravan park there. On the way we saw a big sand guana on the road.

Next morning we drove to Normanton where we saw the 'big barramundi' and a model replica of the worlds biggest croc, Krys, shot by a lady in the local area. It was proper massive. Headed North to Karumba for a couple of days relaxing and fishing in one of the best fishing towns in Queensland. Karumba was a nice town although not much to do apart from fish which is what we did. William caught an estuarine cod which was pretty big. Quite exciting. Saw lots of kangaroos by the ponds. After a couple of days though we got a bit bored and decided to go South towards Cloncurry. A town 400kms South of Normanton with only a roadhouse in the middle. Mental distances in the outback. It's so remote and dry. Loving the experience. Made it to the roadhouse and then stayed at a rest stop for the night instead of driving all the way to Cloncurry. Along the way we saw a snake on the road (not sure what it was), lots of kangaroos (dead and alive), emus, and hundreds of cattle from the nearby stations. We are seeing lots of wildlife along our journey which is very exciting.

The Savannah Way remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Cairns tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-09-01:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=77512 2007-09-02T04:10:42Z 2007-09-02T04:10:42Z Got back down to Cairns and it bloody rained for almost a week. Just our luck. Although it was much warmer than the tablelands. On the good days we headed to the beach, when the weather wasn't so good we lazed about in the van or went to the shops. A couple of the afternoons we headed to Palm Cove to sunbathe and fish off the pier and Willie caught 2 reef sharks, a hammerhead shark and a sea snake. ... Got back down to Cairns and it bloody rained for almost a week. Just our luck. Although it was much warmer than the tablelands. On the good days we headed to the beach, when the weather wasn't so good we lazed about in the van or went to the shops. A couple of the afternoons we headed to Palm Cove to sunbathe and fish off the pier and Willie caught 2 reef sharks, a hammerhead shark and a sea snake. Very exciting. We also bought didgeridoos to amuse ourselves. Great fun although they are quite difficult to play. Willie has been practising though and is getting some good sounds out of it.

The weather finally brightened up a bit towards the end of the week so we went up to Kuranda on the Kuranda scenic rail. A beautiful train journey up through the rainforest and mountains passed waterfalls and through tunnels. Kuranda is quite a snall town but has loads to do. We went to the heritage markets and then to the Venom Zoo which was awesome, We got a guided tour of some of Australia's most venemous creatures - spiders, scorpions and snakes. It was fascinating. We now know that in one drop of venom from the Tai Pan can kill 250 000mice. Mental!!! We also had a look round the shops and while in the jewellers William bought me the most beautiful pink diamond ring. It's gorgeous. We got the skyrail back down to Cairns which is a cablecar ride over the tropical rainforest mountains with views out to the ocean. It was great to do but about halfway through the journey it got drizzly rain so couldn't see a great deal until we got further down nearer the coast. Well worth doin though.

Eventuall got out on the a reef trip and it was definately worth waiting for. We went with a smallish company and the crew were great. We went out to hastings reef to two different reef sites. It was a beautiful calm day and on the way out we seen whales near the boat. Wow. Amazing sight. They were blowing water from their blowholes and there was also a baby whale. We snorkelled aat both the sites which is a truly amazing experience. The colours and the fish were like nothing we have ever seen before.. We were swimming through shoals of all different sizes and colours of fish. We didn't find Nemo though but we did have a fantastic day out.

After doing the reef trip we decided to head inland, not wanting to go south as it was still quite cold. So we decided to do a trip along the Savannah Way towards Normanton and take it from there.

Cairns remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Atherton Tablelands tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-09-01:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=77508 2007-09-02T03:49:45Z 2007-09-02T03:49:45Z The tablelands were beautiful, they reminded us of Scotland but with palm trees. It's so different from the coast. It was also much colder than down at the coast, one morning we woke up and they ground was covered in frost!!! Coldest winter in 50 years. Great. Everyone kept saying to us you guys will be used to this though, coming from Scotland but we were frozen. Forgot to pack the woolly jumpers and socks! Silly us...haha. Anyway, had a ... The tablelands were beautiful, they reminded us of Scotland but with palm trees. It's so different from the coast. It was also much colder than down at the coast, one morning we woke up and they ground was covered in frost!!! Coldest winter in 50 years. Great. Everyone kept saying to us you guys will be used to this though, coming from Scotland but we were frozen. Forgot to pack the woolly jumpers and socks! Silly us...haha. Anyway, had a great time up in the tablelands, celebrated my birthday which was good. We lazed about at Lake Tinaroo fishing for barramundi with no luck because of the cold. We visited they huge curtain fig tree which was quite an amazing site, it's one of the most visited trees in the world. It is in excess of 500 years old and has 15 metre roots coming down to the ground from the branches. In Atherton we went to visit Atherton Chinatown where all the Chinese used to live at the start of the 20th Century in the goldrush. The only thing that still remains is the temple which we got a guided tour of. It was excellent. From there we went to the Crystal Caves. Haha, what a laugh we had. A guy has built an artificial cave to house his massive collection of precious gems and crystals and opened it to the public. We even got our own miners hard hats and a guide to all the crystals. Loving it! The tablelands also has loads of waterfalls, so we did the circuit of them which was good. Some of them were really impressive. At one of the waterfalls there is also a gigantic volcanic crater which was pretty cool to see.
After having a really good time in and seeing most of the sights we decided to head back down to Cairns "again" to try to get out on the reef..........

Atherton Tablelands remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Touring about North of Cairns tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-22:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=76568 2007-09-02T03:28:50Z 2007-08-23T00:54:45Z Since last writing we seem to have done loads of things. When I last updated we were still in Port Douglas. It was beautiful. We hired a small pontoon boat for the afternoon and went up the Dickson Inlet which was great fun. Needless to say Willie took the fishing rod but no luck. Fun all the same. After a couple of days sunbathing and fishing in Port Douglas area we decided to head up to Cooktown about 260kms North. ... Since last writing we seem to have done loads of things. When I last updated we were still in Port Douglas. It was beautiful. We hired a small pontoon boat for the afternoon and went up the Dickson Inlet which was great fun. Needless to say Willie took the fishing rod but no luck. Fun all the same. After a couple of days sunbathing and fishing in Port Douglas area we decided to head up to Cooktown about 260kms North. It was a great drive through the rainforest on a steep winding road which Willie loved driving. Once over and through the mountains we came out onto dry, arid land to take us North. It was so different from the lush greenery near the coast. Long straight roads. As we approached Cooktown we went throughthe Black Mountains which were huge mountains of black granite rocks. Very strange to see.

Arrived in Cooktown, which is a very historical small town. Went up to the top of grassy hill which gives you 360degree views of the town, sea and rivers surrounding. It was very windy but very beautiful. We stayed in Cooktown for a few days and did a bit of sightseeing and fishing. It is one of Australia's most historically significant towns where Captain Cook beached his ship in 1770 and the town is therefore named after him. Very interesting place. We also visited the Endevour Falls which were quite dryish due to it being winter and the dry season but we did see a family of turtles. Also had our first encounter of a HUGE SPIDER!!! It was on its massive web and was about 10cm. Got a couple of photos but they are so far away as we were both to scared to get close!! hehe. No idea what kind of spider it was. Exciting stuff.

From Cooktown we headed back down the road and turned off to visits "Laura" a town on the way up to Cape York (the highest point in Australia) It was 60kms of unsealed road, very dusty and bumpy almost all of the way. What an experience. Eventually got there and it was the smallest town ever and there wasn't really anything there apart from a hotel and campsite, so booked in to the campsite and had tea in the hotel. Had a good night though as we met four aussie guys on a trip and they were a good laugh, also the three girls working in the hotel were from England so got talking to them too. The next day once I had my photo taken by the "Laura" sign, we headed back down the road aftering deciding it probably wasn't wise to keep going North without a 4WD. We stopped off at Split Rock Art Site and walked up a hill to see original aboriginal paintings on the rocks. They were absolutely brilliant. They were still really clear even though they were thousands of years old. Each picture has a different symbolic meaning. Very interesting place and well worth a visit.

Arrived back in Port Douglas all geared up to do a reef trip but it had gotten really windy and the tour operators advised not to go as the sea was so choppy. So instead of hanging about waiting on the weather to calm down we went up to the Atherton tablelands. First stop - Mareeba, which was a nice place.The area has many mango, tea and coffee plantations so we thought we had better visit. So we visited a Mango Winery and got to taste all the wines, ports and liqueers they produce. Very yummy. William bought me a bottle of bubbly for my birthday and some wine. We also visited the Coffee Works. A coffee plantation which did a fantastic guided tour and you got to taste all they coffees, teas, chocolates and liqueurs they produce. Delicious.

Touring about North of Cairns remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Arriving in Australia tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-07-08:/blog/?domain=lauram&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=70247 2007-09-02T03:28:07Z 2007-07-09T02:13:13Z Well guys we arrived in Oz on sat 16th June. Flew into Cairns. Weather was rainy and overcast for the first few days but the hostel we were staying in was really nice and comfortable. First night there went out to the woolshed and got soooo drunk on aussie beer and cocktails. Met some really cool aussies who ended up getting hammered with us. Also, got our photos taken and were in the local newspaper for being out in Cairns. ... Well guys we arrived in Oz on sat 16th June. Flew into Cairns. Weather was rainy and overcast for the first few days but the hostel we were staying in was really nice and comfortable. First night there went out to the woolshed and got soooo drunk on aussie beer and cocktails. Met some really cool aussies who ended up getting hammered with us. Also, got our photos taken and were in the local newspaper for being out in Cairns. Woohoo. Great!! Major Hangover next day though so very lazy. Next few days we explored Cairns, got ourselves familiarised with all the goings on with what to see and do and started looking for a campervan to buy. Went to a Cairns wildlife dome with is very odd. A rainforest in a dome on top of the casino, strange but very cool. Seen snakes, crocs, reptiles, kangaroos, koalas and loads of birds. After that we went and played some slot machines and broke even so all good.

William has been doing lots of fishing off the pier in Cairns. Only one big catch and lots of smaller ones. No barramundi yet but will keep you posted. Did catch a puffa fish with puffed out until it looked like it was going to explode. Verreee funny. Launched it back in the water. While he has been on the pier I have been wandering round the shops & galleries & sunbathing by the lagoon ( a beautiful big swimming pool at the beachfront with a fake beach). They made it as the beach in Cairns is mainly mudflats and inhabited by crocs although haven't seen any yet!

After phoning a few campers for sale we eventually got a Mazda Van. Very spacious, with a big double bed, loadsa storage space and an esky (fridge). Everything we need to start a road trip. Ye!! Therefore we started our road trip, only didn't get to far! Went up to Port Douglas which is about 60km North of Cairns. Its beautiful there so decided to stay a while. Lovin the van, so much cheaper than hostels and public transport. Port Douglas is quite small but if you have transport there is quite a few places to visit. Went to the rainforest habitat which was good. Got to walk through an enclosure with loads n loads of kangaroos and we got to feed them. They are lovely animals. Although I think they are quite scary & dangerous to meet in the wild. Did a bit of sunbathing on four mile beach. Chilled out a lot. Willie fished a lot. This is the life! The weather has been about 25-31degrees glorious sunshine everyday and the locals are telling us that this is the coldest winter they have had in ages!! What!!

After staying in Port Douglas for about a week we went up to Cape Tribulation where the rainforest meets the great barrier reef. Its amazing. Very scenic and picturesque. Stayed in a campsite in the rainforest, did quite a bit of walking through on the boardwalks they have made throught the forests and mangroves. went to the rainforest discovery centre and went up the 23metre canopy tower which took us above the top of the rainforest...vereee cool. Also, we seen a wild cassowary walk out in front of us on the road. Amazing. Sightings are very rare as they are endangered and you usually only see them in the zoo. While up this way we also done a river tour up the Daintree River and seen two wild crocs. Quite exciting.

Thats about it for just now. Will try to keep this updated. Going out on the reef this week so wil let you all know how that goes. Really enjoying just relaxing and exploring in our campervan. hehe. What a life!!!

Arriving in Australia remains copyright of the author LauraM, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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