Wet Tropics

It might be considered to be the beginning of the dry season and it may have been one of the driest wet seasons in a while, but they don't call them the wet tropics for nothing. Like a lot of things, it's all relative.
Cairns was pretty low key as we composed ourselves before heading further north then into the middle of Australia. In fact I hardly have any photos to prove we were there. We travelled from Cairns to Port Douglas and found it to be very much to our liking. A really good vibe and we happened to be there for  their Festivale which added to the experience. A beautiful beach although once again, look but don't swim. A bit frustrating.

Charlie and I enjoyed our first crocodile in the wild experience whilst fishing from a bridge near our caravan park. We were pretty happy to be on the bridge and even though we did not come home with dinner, we were enthralled with the encounter.

We moved from Port Douglas up into the Daintree where we made it as far as Cape Tribulation. Now that is a wet place. We made contact with the Australian Rainforest Foundation while in the Daintree. This not for profit organisation aims to purchase land and return it to its original rain forested state. As an outsider seeing all the amazing rainforest which is intact, I came to naively wonder why it was necessary to bother. It is so lush and abundant up there. However, obviously the health of the Daintree is critical to our existence and it is has been significantly threatened over the years and continues to be challenged.

Looks like a nice spot for a crocodile

All covered up for the mozzies

We thought about heading through to Cooktown but have decided to give it a miss for now and have headed up to the Atherton Tablelands. It must be part of the wet tropics too as its pouring rain here. Our brief look around today made us feel like we were near home with some similarity to the Southern Highlands. Beautiful dairying country which we will explore more tomorrow. Then we will head off into the desert. Surely it won't be raining there.

Back in uniform

After a few days back in G'gong, back into the tropical action.

Great Spot

Visited a lovely spot this week . What do you think?

Who needs a beach

We had heard about the amazing swimming holes and waterfalls in Northern Queensland. After the threat of being killed by jelly fish and crocodiles as we headed north beyond the beef capital of Australia ( Rockhampton) , we were all pretty keen for a swim. The stretch between Townsville and Cairns has been a real highlight for us.

Murray Falls

Five Mile Swimming Hole near Cardwell

The Boulders near Babinda ( clearest water )

Josephine Falls

Despite swimming without the threat of imminent death from a deadly creature, Alison and Juliette discovered that when you are in Queensland, you need to be wary whether you are in or out of the water. They went close to treading on a brown coloured snake which thankfully thought as ill of them as they did of it and scurried off into the bush. No doubt it was one of those top ten in the world venomous snakes you see at Steve Irwin's place. You know the ones that have enough venom to kill a thousand strong young cane cutters. Why do they need so much venom? To make matters worse, a marsupial rat found its way into our portable BBQ. After her recent trauma, Alison was pretty sure that the tail poking out the end looked similar to what she had seen on the path. She has been a little jumpy since.

We dropped in at Paronella Park on the way to Cairns which was pretty amazing. An incredible vision by an inspirational Spanish fellow built back in the 1930's. Fascinating.

He used the force of this waterfall to create his own Hydroelectric plant which was  has been restored and provides all the park's power and feeds back into the grid. Pretty cool.

We are now in Cairns where we will be for a bit over a week as I return to G'gong for a few days and GaGa comes up to spend some time with the crew. Good times.

It's getting fuzzy.

I'm not sure when it started but things have become a little fuzzy in recent days, or is it weeks. Maybe tropical Queensland does something strange to your brain or is it just me?
Hervey Bay seemed like a real holiday where we really kicked back and didn't try to do or see too much.

We headed further north as has been the recent trend and stopped at Agnes Water for a couple of days. We had read that it is Australia's northern most surfing beach. Well a fat lot of good that was. As has been the general pattern, the surf was hopeless so my board will come home with me from Cairns. The last decent surf I saw was at Werri Beach when I was home in April. Another good reason to complete the lap and head home later in the year..
Thankfully, Agnes Water has other redeeming features and we were fortunate enough to enjoy a magic day on Lady Musgrave Island. I am pretty sure it is one of the islands visited by the Wishy/ Hyslop/Phipps etc. bus back in the late 70's, early 80's and I can see why they came back with some amazing tales. It was a real highlight for us all. That is, after the turbulent journey to the island. Approximately half of the one hundred passengers couldn't keep their brekky down. Half of our crew joined in the fun. Names withheld.

The turtles were incredible.

Our aim was to travel from Agnes Water to Cape Hillsborough in two days. However, we decided to continue on to our destination in the one day and spend some extra time there. Cape Hillsborough is a touch North East of Mackay and came highly recommended. It didn't disappoint, although the weather was not too flash. The other thing which throws you is the Marine Stingers. This beautiful tropical beach and they tell you to swim at your own risk. Alison is pretty risk averse so we stuck to the pool. Some lovely bush walks were right at our doorstep.

Nearly there.

I'm not much of a Harry Butler but I do like the butterflies.

Now we are in Townsville and will head towards Cairns tomorrow. We hope to take in some of the creeks, waterholes and waterfalls along the way. 

While in Townsville, we enjoyed a nice day on Magnetic Island. We even managed to run into Kac Medenis and her boys which was a nice surprise. Kac is living on Magnetic Island. It was especially fun to meet her new addition Elias with the girls all enjoying some lovely cuddles.

Maybe heading home for a few days work might clear up the fuzzy, vague feeling. Maybe not.

Black or Black?

Tough decisions in Hervey Bay. Do I wear the black or the black . This is what I've been reduced to. Out of one pair of black swimmers and into the next.

The weather has been perfect here and we are right on the beach so we are spending a fair bit of time in the water.
Off to 1770 next with a day trip to Lady Musgrave Island . Pity it's not for a week. Oh poor me.