Celia and John's Blog : Australia 2

Wonga to Atherton

Thursday 19^th April 2012

We set off south from Wonga to Mossman, picked up some provisions and started inland to climb up into the Tablelands, a rich farming area, with scenic valleys and hills full of orchards of mangoes and avocados. Green and cooler after the heat of the coast, but still sunny and warm in the day, with perfect gently warm evenings. Passed by beautiful Mount Molloy, stopping at Julleton and lookout points in the hills.

Detail of the Day: It was at a place called Granite Gorge, outside Moreba, that we paid proper money to go into our first tourist attraction and it was the only time we did it in Australia. It was run by a grumpy couple (probably been out there too long) with a small rocky gorge in their large back yard full of tamed wallabies that come and take food from your hand (which you had to buy in addition to your entrance fee of $15 each).

When we left 30 or 40 minutes later it was as if our camera focus adjusted and we saw clearly what we had just paid for, after we left. As the GB pound does not go far here we learnt a valuable lesson. Also, the marketing leaflets abound here, with the 'oldest' this and the 'largest' that and they are very well put together. We had a realisation that we didn't need to do all that stuff, we just wanted a look round the country and to meet the people. So, once we had that sorted out in our heads, we just got on with our journey.

Then we got happily lost for an hour or so on some back roads but eventually found the Atherton road again and camped just outside the town. The woman running the camp site had just bought it and she and her husband are from the Philippines She explained to us that she found it very hard because labour is cheap where she comes from and she had staff to do all the washing, cleaning, cooking and so on, whereas here, she has to do everything herself. However, she also said that they would have a better standard of living here, so the trade off was worth it.

The site had a mix of campers, permanent residents in cabins or caravans. Migrant workers come here to pick fruit or work in packing plants for the season. We watched everyone going to and fro as we ate dinner al fresco in the twilight and the place came alive with wallabies and rabbits, gently skipping round everywhere, and brush turkeys scuttling around, running in a similar way to pheasants. However, these birds are black with a fan of feathers at the back that stick up like a brush.

Best of all, that night the stars made a canopy over our heads that was luminous and exquisite and you could pick out stars and constellations, such as the Southern Cross and Orion, easily. We sat late, drinking wine and gazing upwards as the wallabies skipped by.

Atherton to Innisfail
Friday 20^th April 2012

In the morning we are approached early by a garrulous and rather pungent Polish man who emigrated here in the 1960s but whose English is still the same as it was then. He had no front teeth and a ruddy, drinkers face. Wearing a dirty white singlet and grey trousers held up with a belt. He also stood a bit too close. As with every other Queenslander, he asked where we were from and then proceeded to tell us all about himself and his life here; girlfriends, work, family. John had to almost prise his hands off the van door to get in so that we could drive away or we would still be there now.

We drove on up through Herberton and Ravenshoe, tiny towns up in the hills that still have butchers and bakers, thrift shops, libraries, and of course, these wonderful old hotels that have been there since the early 1920s and are often beautifully restored and maintained. Most of the buildings were constructed of wooden clap board and corrugated metal roofs and had balconies and sit-outs, and were painted an assortment of colours – we thought we were in the wild west . . . and I suppose we were.

At Ravenshoe, we made a picnic and took it down to Milla Milla Falls nearby. Just a gorgeous spot. These falls sit on an ancient aboriginal track that wove through this part of the country and they were of great significance as a landmark and spiritually. There is a road in now and the area around it is clear, so you get a great view of the falls, but it must have been amazing when it was more hidden by all the trees.

We carried on down the Palmerston Highway, stopping at the breathtaking Crawfords Lookout where you can see just how high you are on the Tablelands, and then on down long, long downward stretches of road towards Innisfail on the coast.

Celia wished that we could have spent longer in the Tablelands but we had to press on.

We reached Innisfail in time to get a headlight fixed on the van by the most friendly and helpful garage in the world – but then everyone is pretty much like that here. We searched around for a while looking for the Information Centre (there is one in most towns) only to find it was shut due to cyclone damage. However, the friendly builders who were repairing it let us in and we scooped up an armful of what proved to be very handy leaflets.

We booked into the River View Camp site just down the road and got a spot looking out over the Johnstone river. Absolutely lovely . . . cups of tea and drinking in the wonderful air. Cooked dinner in the best equipped camp kitchen so far and chatted to a young Australian with a grey and white cockatiel on his head. This bird liked to sit on John's shoulder and whistle in response to being offered a drink from his glass.

This camp site has now set the 'Celia Standard' for the rest of the trip because the facilities were sparkling and new and perfectly maintained. We were told the owner (who was away) is a lady of formidable presence and tolerates no slacking from her guests in their treatment of her facilities. In return you get to stay in this perfect place, complete with plastic luminous orange palm trees at the entrance that light up at night. We want to send them home and put them up in Totterdown – they would make everyone smile who saw them.

The next day is Saturday and there is a morning market in town, and John loves a new retail opportunity, so off we go. It is a series of stalls in the park with locals selling their produce like avocados and pak choi, honey, home made preserves, crafts, second hand clothes, jewellery. The sun was out and everyone was having fun and so were we.

We visited Mourylan Harbour, not far away. This has a huge sugar cane processing plant, right on the water and the railway brings the raw cane straight in from the fields and it leaves by ship. It wasn't running though, so no smell of molasses. It's a beautiful harbour and there were just a few people with boats and a couple of fishermen. We ate lunch looking out at the view and watching for the crocodiles as per the warning sign – still no sightings.

Then it was back to the River View to cook in the company of young Italians who are here working in a banana packing plant and earning good money – enough to only work Monday to Thursday! Their food smelt wonderful and we were amused to hear them complain about some of the Assie tucker: “We donna wanna pineapple on the pizza!”

It was another glorious starlit night and we drank wine and Celia wrote the Vietnam blog, followed by a good night's sleep as it is a little cooler here. It was going to be a reluctant leaving of this place. However, this is a road trip and the nature of the beast is to 'get on' and so we leave in the morning to head further down the coast.

Innisfail to Townsville
Sunday 22^nd April 2012

It was the most beautiful morning as we set off at 7 a.m. We looked at a camp site at Rollingstone – it was free, but not enough facilities to meet the 'Celia standard'. However, it was a lovely spot to stop for some lunch under the trees. Took a stroll to Crystal Creek and saw turtles swimming and loads of fish. People said you could swim in it, but didn't see anyone actually doing this – so neither did we – after all there are still the crocodile signs!

We carried on to Ingham and then on to Townsville and booked in to the Rose Bay Camp site – rather institutional. However, a beautiful beach just over the road. We went down to Main Street and raided the bottle shop for some more delicious Australian wine and went into a pub which had an ATM to get some cash. It was a pastiche of an Aussie Sunday afternoon down the pub; lots of shrieking women, drunk men, a singer trying to make herself heard above the hubbub, pool games and people eating, all overlaid with the slight feeling that it might all kick off at any moment. So we made our apologies and left!

Just so you know it isn't all wine and roses, we then went to the internet café and spent 3 hours setting and loading the blog of Vietnam. It was very hot work so we went back to the camp site, cooked steak in the camp kitchen and drank some of what is known as 'cask wine'. This is wine in a box and was the first and last time we bought it because the headache the next day was not worth the money saved. However, the stars were particularly lovely here and the night was cool.

Townsville to Bowen

Monday 23^rd April 2012

Breakfasted off the 'last of the season' mangoes purchased from a red-faced farmer on the road yesterday,sensational! We then set off south, crossing endless cane railways that cut through all this sugar country, plus many oddly named creeks. We are on the Bruce Highway as it curves inland from the coast around mountains that rise up sheer from the flat lands all around.

In one very large stretch of plain we came to Mount Inkerman, sitting all on it's own. The Australians obligingly provide a good road up and viewpoints at the top with electric barbecue, in their usual efficient way. The views were fantastic and we had the whole place, for what seemed like forever, all to ourselves. This road is pretty empty and the feeling of space and openness is wonderful.

We stopped in Ayr briefly – it felt like a funny sort of ghost town - and then pushed on to lovely, lovely Bowen and stayed at beautiful Queens Beach on the Warangatta camp site. It is like a garden, full of a variety of trees and all sorts of birds, including parrots, kookaburras, topknot pigeons. It was like being in an aviary.

Celia insisted that we stay two nights because she loved it so much and John was persuaded because we had to start organising our USA and Canada trip and the wifi connection is good here. (balancing enjoyment of where we currently are, against organising where we go next, is tricky)

Bowen
Tuesday 24^th April 2012

Up at 6.30 for a walk on the long, wide, gently curving, white sandy beach. Bowen has several fantastic beaches and later we went to small and protected Horseshoe Bay where the sea is aquamarine. A few people were swimming but they were in stinger suits – so no swimming for us in the sea but the camp site had a great pool so we still got our swim.

We met a young German couple, who are are here planting tomatoes. They have their own camper van and much prefer this to staying in the backpacker hostels, where some sharp practice goes on with getting jobs and how much you pay them for this privilege, plus not returning deposits and so on. They also told us that the hostels for Europeans are much better than the hostels for workers from places like Vietnam, who are sharing tiny cabins with 6 bunks and one shared toilet and shower for about 40 people, plus no windows, fans or air con. They also said that this is not the case everywhere but it does happen, especially in the more remote areas.

Bowen has been absolutely gorgeous to stay in, so laid back and quiet, it is like a sleeping beauty and Celia wanted to stay longer but time is a demanding mistress and we have to go on.

Bowen to Airlie

Wednesday 25^th April 2012

It is Anzac Day, a national holiday and remembrance of all the people who have lost their lives in war. There are parades in the morning and church services, plus some fund raising We headed off for the 2 hour trip down to Airlie through trees and fields near the coast and the landscape started to change into rolling valleys and hills.

This is a wealthy town and also a big holiday destination that has managed to retain a sense of itself and community in spite of tourism. We booked into the Flametree site and, as we cooked dinner in the camp kitchen and night fell, a mother and baby possum appeared in the rafters and reached down and took pieces of fruit and veg from our hands.

We met Janet and Brian, on their Golden Wedding tour. They have a brilliant little camper van and are just seeing where the fancy takes them. They emigrated from Devon in the early sixties and still retain their accents. They were the most lovely and interesting company and truly intrepid travellers.

Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands

Thursday 26^th April 2012

Next morning we woke to the shrieking of flocks of huge white cockatoos the size of seagulls flying around in the very tall trees, plus a pair of very quiet but tall roadrunner/Godwit type birds that hung around in the nearby bushes watching and waiting for scraps from our breakfast table.

We met up with Janet and Brian at the pick-up point for the bus to the ferry at Shute Harbour, where we boarded the Fantasea Catamaran for our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Seasick tablets were recommended so Celia took them, John did not.

It was a choppy sea and catamarans are not that stable so some people started being sick straight away, but not in our party! We threaded our between islands and out to sea and two hours later we reached the pontoon that is anchored to the sea bed on the edge of this section of reef.

We took rides in the glass bottom boat and saw a bit of reef, but tricky to take pictures. Also, as it was not sunny and you could not see the colours well. We managed to see a Giant Grouper, the size of a Dolphin, and a sea turtle, which was great.

The high spot for John was taking a 10 minute helicopter ride over the reef from a nearby pontoon. He got the front seat and loved every minute of it and even got to see the famous heart-shaped island. He was definitely the boy with the new toy and had the biggest grin when he got back.

Then it was time to put on the matching baby blue stinger suits and get in to some snorkelling. Unfortunately, the wind was picking up and it was too choppy for Celia and she gave up rather soon, but it did give us a lot of amusement seeing each other in the suits. John made it out to the reef and saw great fish and corals but, like everybody else, 10 minutes was his limit as the waves were now breaking over his breathing pipe.

The ride back to land was very rough like a fairground ride and 80% of the passengers were being sick – but not us! Having said that, it was still a great day and we really enjoyed it.

Airlie

Friday 27^th April 2012

We were very tired after yesterday and decided to stay here one more night and just pottered about, doing the laundry and catching up with emails. This is really precious time when you are on a road trip. We went out for a half hour drive to charge up the leisure battery and had a look at the rather beautiful bays, littered with expensive houses.

Back at camp we met Canadians Bill and Sandra who had been on a fishing expedition and had too much fish and were giving it away. So we had a great dinner of Spanish Mackerel and Sweet Lip, sharing with everyone else in the camp kitchen, along with plenty of red wine and lots of stories from Bill as we fed the possums.