Karumba

I woke up with a shocking headache - not enough water and too much wine! Caitlin & Cooper did a little school work. Rick went to enquire about fishing charters and booked himself on the afternoon one. The kids enjoyed hanging out with Grace and Kale. Rick arrived back at 5pm with 4 decent sized blue salmon. He had a great time and had thrown back a couple of 'grunters' and a sting-ray. We decided to go to the pub for dinner again with the Nixon family.

Croydon - Karumba

Croyden Visitors Centre

Queensland's oldest shop

'Krys the Savannah King'

The kids went for a play at the park while we packed up. The friendly owner of the caravan park had told us to check out the short documentary at the info centre which gave a bit of a run down on the history of the town - so we did. Croyden experienced a huge gold rush in the 1880s and during this time was a very busy town with 36 pubs. When the gold ran out most people left - these days it only has a population of 255. We checked out the Heritage Precinct including the police station, gaol, courthouse and town hall built from 1886. We visited the General Store which has continuously traded since 1884 and claims to be the oldest shop in Australia. We went for a drive to the nearby Lake Belmore which was built in 1995 to supply the town water. We continued on to Normanton with a quick stop at the huge replica crocodile "Krys the Savannah King" shot in the Norman River by Krystina Pawlowski in 1957. It is thought to be the largest estuarine crocodile in the world. We bought a not so fresh loaf of bread from the not so friendly bakery and had vegemite sandwiches for lunch. We continued driving the 75km on to Karumba. The roads were good but the scenery was very barren. We did see a couple of wedge-tailed eagles and lots of whistling kites hovering around the abundant road kill. It was hot. When we got to the caravan park I took the kids for a swim in the pool and we meet the Nixon family, who funnily enough lived about 500 meters from us back in Mt Martha and the kids went to the same school. They were traveling for a year having left in January and had come from the west. We went to the pub for dinner to watch the sunset and had a beautiful seafood platter. After we had put the kids to bed we had a drink with Karen and Greg and discussed trip highlights.

Undara - Croydon

Lava Tubes

We had to be at reception at 8am where we met our tour guide Tim, and jumped on the mini bus to drive out to the lava tube site. The volcanic lava tubes were formed around 190,000 years ago following an extended eruption of a single shield volcano. This massive eruption caused lava to drain towards the sea and while the surface of the lava cooled and hardened, hot lava continued to race through the centre of the flows, eventually leaving enormous basalt tubes. The tour was quite interesting and involved scrambling over the rocks through the massive caves - Cooper and Caitlin did well and seemed to enjoy it. Back at the campsite we finished packing up and collected our washing before heading out to Kalkani Crater on the way out. We walked to the rim of the crater for views over the surrounding area and a number of other volcanoes. We decided against doing the walk right around the rim because we couldn't cope with anymore of Cooper's whinging. I have got to tell you it is hot though - the last couple of days it has increased by about 10 degrees. We checked the weather stats on the phone and it said 36 and only 12 at home! Back driving along the Savannah Way the next stop was Mt Surprise where Caitlin caught on to the fact that there were gem stones to be had! We found the "Gem Den" and bought a bucket of wash to sieve for Topaz. Caitlin & Cooper both found a couple of decent rocks but Cooper had a melt down when he lost his as he was running back to show me. On the road again we kept going through Georgetown and decided to stop in Croydon when it was nearing 5pm (about 300km) We had certainly left the Wet Tropics now - it was hot and dusty and we were in Road Train country. The roads to here were generally pretty good. We were surprised to find some grass at the Croyden van park and also a lovely pool. The kids had a swim and a play at the park before dinner.

Millaa Millaa - Undara Volcanic N.P.

Undarra

It was drizzling rain which was quite nice since we hadn't had any for so long. We were a little slow to get going this morning after the continuing battle with Coops to do some school work. We did the waterfall circuit - Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinja Falls. A little further on we stopped at the Windy Hill Wind Farm to hear the 20 swishing wind turbines producing clean energy - needless to say it was very windy and quite cool. At Ravenshoe (Queensland's highest town at 916m) we spent some time at the fantastic info centre with friendly staff before stopping for lunch at the local park. It would have been good to spend some time exploring this area as I was keen to see a tree kangaroo but if you stopped everywhere it would take you ten years to get around Australia. We arrived at Undarra checked in, and booked in to do the 8am lava tube tour for tomorrow. After setting up we decided to do a short walk to the Bluff for views over the lava plains. The sunset was great but we watched it for a little too long and it got dark quickly and then started raining. We wanted to return they way we came but got disoriented and started walking the full circuit. We realized our mistake and found the right track in the near dark. Poor Coops was getting a little panicky. We made it back to the van in the pitch black and all sopping wet. We had a quick pasta for dinner.

Atherton Tablelands

Rick had to go into Cairns to find a part for the car so we didn't get on the road till about 10.30. We were leaving the coast and heading inland today although with all the mucking around over the last few days we hadn't really worked out where we were going exactly. We headed out to Mareeba and I did some grocery shopping while Rick looked over the maps. We decided to give Chillagoe (limestone caves) a miss and continue on towards Atherton. Just before Yungagurra we did a quick detour to see the amazing 500 year old Curtain Fig. After a picnic lunch at a nearby park we continued onto Malanda where we drove out to the Nerada Tea farm mainly because someone along the way had told me about the high chance of seeing a tree kangaroo which frequented the surrounding forests. We had a cup of tea - the kids tried an iced tea, but unfortunately the tree kangaroo hadn't been sighted for a few days. It was getting late so we decided to stay in the caravan park in Milla Milla. The amenities were very basic but the sites were grassy and amongst the rainforest. It was very misty and drizzly. Caitlin and I saw an endangered Northern Beetong hopping about the undergrowth as we were coming back from the toilets.

Cairns Coconut Resort

We had toast for breakfast at the camp kitchen with the other tent dwellers. At 8.30am Rick went into Cairns to pick up the new tow hitch (which had been sent from Brisbane) and set about installing it back at our tent site. It was a hot day which was great for me as the kids could be entertained at the water park. I took the kids to the park and Rick had the new tow hitch installed in about 40mins. He took off at about 10.30am to pick up the van from Mossman - a three hour round trip, and we hit the pools. When Rick returned we set up the van on another site and packed up our tent site. I spent the rest of the afternoon re-packing while Rick took the kids back to the water park. After dinner I drove into Cairns to catch up with Jenny who was staying a few nights in Cairns.

Cooktown

Endeavour River

Bloomfield Falls

We were out and about exploring Cooktown by 9am. We drove up Grassy Hill for views over Cooktown, the Endeavour River & Coral Sea. The very small lighthouse was shipped to Cooktown from England in 1885. We drove down to the wharf which was once one of the busiest ports in Queensland during the Gold Rush of the 1870s where there were an estimated 15000 miners on the Palmer River, of which ten thousand were Chinese. In 1770 Captain James Cook and his crew spent 7 weeks here while repairing the Endeavour which was damaged after hitting the reef. Along the waterfront was a James Cook statue and monument and also a cairn marking the spot where he beached the Endeavour. The kids had a play on the musical ship and the playground. We then walked up to the James Cook Museum which was a restored convent orginally built in 1889. The highlight of the museum was the orginal anchor and canon from the Endeavour which had only been found in 1971. From there we had a quick walk around the botanical gardens and a bite to eat before heading back down the Bloomfield road after deciding against going the inland road because we had to go back to Mossman where the van was stored. We stopped at the Wujal Wujal (Bloomfield) Falls before continuing on to Cape Tribulation. We did the short boardwalk at Kulki to a viewing platform and Myall Beach. Cooper and I saw a lace monitor on the way back to the car. Before heading back across on the ferry we had to visit the other ice cream factory where we sampled the flavours of the day which were wattle seed, blueberry and mango. Back in Mossman we picked up the tent poles out of the van and continued on to Cairns Coconut Resort. Rick had to pick up the part for the car in the morning so we decided it would be easy to keep the kids entertained here while he sorted the car out. It was nearly 6pm by the time we checked in and it was a bit of a job trying to put the tent up in the dark especially only having only erected once before. We got there in the end but then we had trouble with our dodgy airbed and Rick had to rebuild the motorised pump!

Cape Tribulation - Cooktown

Our tent!

Spectacled Flying Fox

Daintree Discovery Centre

Cooper's Creek

We woke up to the sounds of the rainforest and a large downpour of rain - at least we wouldn't have to pack up a wet tent! We went to the cafe for our all inclusive continental breakfast - I could get used to this. We decided to book the 11.30am river trip on Cooper's Creek and try and do the Discovery Centre before this which was back at Cow Bay. The Discovery Centre involved aerial walkways through the rainforest, a canopy tower and interpretive display centre. We had audio guides explaining points of interest along the way. Daintree N.P. Is recognized as one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world and in 1988 it was included in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The Daintree is the oldest intact lowland tropical rainforest in the world - it is thought to be between 110 - 200 million years old. The Discovery Centre was great and we could have probably spent more time there but we had to get back to Cooper's Creek for the river trip. The cruise went for about an hour and the kids got to see their first crocodile in the wild. We saw two younger crocs, a male about 3 1/2 meters long and a couple of smaller females. The guide (who didn't introduce himself) informed us all about the crocodiles and the surrounding mangroves. Back in the car we drove on to Noah Beach where you could really see where the rainforest meets the sea. We drove onto Myall Beach picnic area and cooked some sausages for lunch. We did the 1.2km boardwalk. It was about 3pm by the time we started heading up the Bloomfield Track towards Cooktown. The signage says 4WD only but a lot of the steep sections were concreted and there was even a small bridge over the Bloomfield river. Rick was a little disappointed as he remembered it being a lot different the last time he was here 20 years ago. It won't be long I guess and the whole way will be bitumen which will be a real shame. The conservationists lost the battle in 1983 to prevent the Bloomfield track being bulldozed through the rainforest but the very public blockade indirectly led to it's World Heritage listing. Was this road really necessary when there is a perfectly good access road inland? Let's hope the government continues to protect this area from further development. We had a drink at the Lion's Den Hotel and made it to Cooktown around 6pm and found a cabin to stay in at one of the Caravan Parks.

Daintree N.P. - Cape Tribulation

It was time to move on - we were planning to explore Daintree National Park for the next couple of days and were undecided whether we should take the van into Cape Tribulation. After speaking with the ferry company they said it would be no problem. We left about 10am after saying farewell to the Ingliss family (Brendan, Lucy-Ann and Coopers friend Matthew). We drove into Mossman and filled up with diesel at the fuel depot which was on a steep driveway. As we pulled out of the driveway we heard a huge crash and got out to see that the tow hitch on the car had bottomed out and sheared off so the van was only stopped by the chains from running into the back of the car. We chocked up the van and Rick managed to get the trailer brake on, before unhitching the car. Rex and Tony came across from the neighbouring property and offered to store the van while we sorted ourselves out. I took the kids for a walk while Rick made a few phone calls to to try and track down the Land Rover part. He located the parts he needed which would be shipped to Cairns and probably take 3 days. Thankfully we had organized roadside assist and RACQ came and took the van to the local caravan park where we decided to store it whilst we continued on. We hurriedly packed everything we would need to stay in the tent for the next couple of nights - sleeping gear, BBQ and cooking utensils, clothes, tent etc. We bought a bite to eat at the Mossman bakery before continuing on to the Daintree River where we caught the cable ferry across at about 2.30pm. The road was narrow and winding but all sealed. We stopped at Mount Alexandra lookout for views over the mouth of the Daintree River. We continued on to the Floravilla Ice Cream factory offering 26 flavours - from chilli chocolate to sweet potato. We stuck with strawberry, chocolate and passionfruit! A little further north we did the Marrdja (jungle) boardwalk through the mangrove community which was about 1.2km. We decided we had better find somewhere to stay so drove on to Cape Tribulation camping and booked a site. Rick got up on the roof to get the tent down and it was at this point we realized we had left the tent poles in the caravan. We enquired about the cabins but they were all booked out. We went and found a phone box, as there was no mobile reception, to find accommodation. We ended up at Ferntree Rainforest Lodge for $168 but they were gorgeous loft cabins set amongst the rainforest with the bats flying overhead. We had dinner at the cafe and had an early night - it had been a long day!

Mossman Gorge

Rex Bridge

Mossman River

After breakfast the kids had a play with their new friends and then we drove into town to see if Rick and Cooper could get a hair cut. Most of the hair salons were closed and the grumpy old barber didn't like cutting kids hair. We packed some swimming gear and picnic lunch and headed to Mossman Gorge. We stopped in the town of Mossman where the boys got a haircut at the local barber. We continued on to the gorge which is located at the south-east corner of Daintree National Park. It was very busy with cars parked along the side of the access road. A boardwalk provides access to a lookout on the bank of the Mossman River and another on the Rex Creek suspension bridge. We continued on to do the 2km circuit walk around the rainforest. Cooper braved the cold water and had a swim at the Wurumbu Creek. On the return walk Rick had a dip in the Mossman River. We headed back into Mossman to the local park and cooked some sausages for lunch. We got back to the van around 4pm.

Port Douglas

Cooper was very excited to find a couple of buddies to play with at the caravan park. There hasn't been too many kids along the way and I think they were both keen for some company other than each others. Rick had to do a bit more work on the computer. Mid morning we went into to the Sunday market (after dragging Cooper away) in Port Douglas which was local art and craft aswell as lots of sugar cane juice stalls. Caitlin was very excited to find a stall with loads of different rocks and gems. The kids had a play in the park on the waterfront and then we drove to the marina and caught the 1.00pm Ballyhooley steam train. The return trip took just on an hour. We came back to the caravan park and had a late lunch and Caitlin & Cooper spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the other kids. We cooked a BBQ for dinner.

Port Douglas

Happy 9th Birthday Nathan! We were a little slow to get moving this morning. Caitlin & Cooper did some school work and when Caitlin finally got out of her pjs we rode the bikes into town. We had some lunch back at the van and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. We went back to the van around 4 and headed to the Marina to witness the nightly ritual of feeding George the groper. It was a little hard to see but we couldn't believe how big & ugly he was when we finally caught a glimpse of him. We had a drink then went to the Surf Club for dinner which was a yummy meal.

Port Douglas

We organised a later checkout of 11 so we could do a bit of shopping. We packed most of the van up and headed to 'The Good Guys' to buy a new laptop. The one we brought with us is about 6 years old and ready to retire. We also got some crab pots from Rays Outdoors. We went back to the caravan park to get the van and check out. We stopped in at the Factory Outlets to get some new sunglasses for Rick and then headed out of Cairns to our next destination - Port Douglas, which is only an hour north. The coastal road, Captain Cook Highway is very scenic. We arrived at Port Douglas around 1.30pm and checked in to Pandanus Caravan Park - no Cairns Coconut Resort but close to town and walking distance from the beach. We had a bite to eat and drove in to town to pick up some mail at the post office and have a walk around. We did some grocery shopping and headed back to the van for dinner. Rick fired up the new computer.

The Great Barrier Reef

Marine World

'Wally' the Maori Wrasse

We were at the Reef Fleet Ferry Terminal (which is like an international airport) at about 7.50am and got onto to the tour without any dramas when the check in counter opened at 8.00am. The boat taking us out to the Marine World platform on Moore Reef was a smaller boat with a capacity of about 130 people. We rather liked the idea of less people - the larger boat which was out of action can take up to 250 people. The trip out was really cruisey with nice flat seas and Caitlin showed no signs of sea sickness. The 50km trip took about 1 1/2 hours. The crew came around trying to drum up business for all the optional extras including scuba diving, scenic helicopter flights, guided snorkel tours etc. On the way the Marine Biologist did a presentation on The Reef which was quite interesting. The reef stretches for 2300km from north of Bundaberg to the Torres Strait south of New Guinea. It's the planet's biggest reef system and encompasses over 2800 separate reefs, 300 cays and 600 islands. We decided to do the Glass Bottom Boat tour first which took us around the platform reef. There were lots of fish including surgeon fish, parrot fish and even a couple of white tipped reef sharks and a hawksbill turtle. There are over 400 types of coral on the reef. It was interesting to learn that for a few nights after a full moon in late spring or early summer vast numbers of coral spawn with tiny bundles of sperm and eggs resembling an underwater snowstorm. Next we did the semi-submersible tour. The visibility was amazing- to about 30m. By the time we got back to the platform, lunch was being served. After lunch we got our gear on and went into the water to get a close up of the fish feeding which is where we were very excited to meet the famous 'Wally', a huge marie wrasse. The powerful trevally were also jumping all over the place. Rick took off to do a snorkel safari trip so the kids and I snorkeled around the lagoon which was awesome. Caitlin and Cooper did really well and lasted nearly an hour. It helped that the water was a lovely 25 degrees and we were cosy in our full length wetsuits. We were out of the water by 3 and back at Cairns by 5pm. It was a great day!

Cairns

Muddy's Playground

Rick had to take the car to a local workshop for a service - it was only a few kilometers up the road so he road his bike back. Caitlin and Cooper did some journal writing and school work. I finally got mathletics up and running. I did some washing and Rick took the kids for a swim in the pool and then across to the water park which starts up at 12. After keeping a close eye on the weather and winds we decided that tomorrow was about the pick of the days for a reef trip so Rick booked the Reef Magic tour at reception. After toasted sandwiches for lunch we caught the local bus into Cairns and we walked down the esplanade. The lagoon was popular today and there were loads of people lying around on the grass. We continued on to Muddy's Playground. The kids had a great time on all the play equipment and it wasn't long before they were stripped off to their underwear and in the water-play areas. Rick had a call to say the car was ready so he took off to pick it up and we went for a walk around the shops and had an ice-cream (I am a little concerned about the number of ice-creams we are consuming!)Rick met us back in town and we had a drink at a bar along the esplanade an headed back to the van and bought a pizza for dinner. About 9pm we received a call from reception staff explaining to us that the Reef Magic boat had engine dramas and they would have to use their smaller boat which meant they were looking for people to change their plans and go on Friday or alternatively go with Sunlover a different operator. We were keen to stay with Reef Magic so we were told to get there early as it would be first in.