All posts by rmadventures

Far North Queensland

The Final Run To The Top!

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Back in the mind set of 4WDing we coasted through the shallow Canal Creek where we had been camping to continue along the OTT.  The track from here increased its difficulty with a few serious climbs and ruts to dodge.  We had to cruise at a slow speed majority of the way as there was always a new obstacle around the corner.  During a moment of bush brain, Woody head downhill on a crazy angle.  As Nay was recording, she thankfully gave Mark a heads up and he took the smooth path.

Making it to Sam’s Creek, there was a major cliff we climbed down before entering the dogleg in the water.  It was always fun to watch Mark climb out with style as he put a little more throttle into it and occasionally managed to have a wheel in the air!  After Sam’s Creek, there was another deep river crossing.  This time throwing a tarp over him Woody powered through with no hesitation.  Following close behind, Buzz shot through with excitement as water once again, lapped over the bonnet.

Still burning through after a couple of hours we were unscathed by the northern OTT.  This changed quickly as we found Woody planted into a tree.  Stu had been distracted by the CB and didn’t turn, smashing his bullbar!  Making it to the famous Nolan’s Brook there was a sigh of relief after discovering there was only knee deep water.  Finding out from campers,  the previous year this crossing was above the windscreen of cars and claimed the lives of 63 vehicles.  Taking a steep entry we slid down the muddy bank and dropped in.  With Buzz sliding against his box toward the end and Woody’s snorkel swollowing up some dirt, these was minor inconveniences.

Watching another convoy come through on a different entry, we quickly made friends with this group of blokes.  Getting back on the red wine as all of our beers were gone, we had another fire cranking.  As we had music pumping we went to another camp to recruit people to join us.  Big Red held the fort as we ventured out.  After stopping at the first camp we ended up staying there talking about the cape and 4WDs.  We still managed to have a seriously big night and may of crawled into bed at 1:30ish.

After waking up, jumping straight into a river and smashing a coffee, we were back in the game (Nay was struggling a little more).  As we left the last crossing of the northern OTT we had fully accomplished all challenges of this section!  Half of the OTT…ticked off the list.  Before we knew it the Jardine River Ferry was before us.  Stinging us for a massive $99 to cross, you can quickly tell by the picture why it was such a rip off!  

We only did a small grocery shop at Bamaga, as prices shot through the roof with packets of chips reaching $6.50 and a case of beer being $82!  Somehow we were lucky enough that petrol was down to $1.67.  We continued North aiming to reach Somerset, a recommendation of our friends at Nolan’s Brook.  Passing the Croc Tent (general tourist info on The Cape) we stopped in and had a quick chat.

Making it to our destination we had a very lazy arvo as we were still recovering from the previous night.  Mark even retired to the tent to watch a movie!  A relaxing night and early to bed fixed everyone up for the next days activities.  

As a lot happened around the area of Somerset and our free camp in the bush, the more immediate activities included going on walking trails and learning the history in the area.  Waiting for low tide to creep up, we scrambled over the rocks with Nay and Stu wearing shoes for the first time since Cairns!  We marveled at the Aboriginal Art that had been carefully painted with Ochre, hundreds of years ago in a cave.  On the return trip, we ducked into the sandy bush to look at graves of explorers that were barely legible, the oldest being in the early 1900’s.  Exploring the other end of the beach took us through mangroves where an overgrown abandoned windmill and well could be found. These had been decades since functioning last.

Choosing to spend a couple of nights by this coastal camp with its blissful surrounds, we had a few more adventures to go on while we were here.  Although in the back of everyones mind we knew The Tip of Australia was just around the corner…

​29/08/2016 – 01/09/2016

Far North Queensland

A Final Beach Bypass Before The Next Epic Saga

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Waking up in our dust bowl of a camp site at Palm Creek, we waved goodbye to the start of the southern section of the OTT.  We dropped back to Bramwell to get stung at the bowser for $2.05 for diesel (least it wasn’t as bad as $2.20 at Archer!)  Bypassing the southern section meant visiting a remote destination on the east coast, Captain Billy’s Landing.  This was a long draining 45 min drive with continuous large speed humps every 100m.  It was a sigh of relief when the road opened up and we’d made it to the lookout of our greatest beach camps ever!

We drove straight past the official camp ground, down a cliff and onto the beach.  Technically we weren’t allowed to camp past the designated area but when hide tide came in, we were all alone!  Being lazy at first lead to Buzz quickly becoming stuck in the soft sand.  Taking the time to deflate the tyres to 16 psi we were cruising.  Doing laps of the beach with no one around was freeing.  Nay went for a burn as well loving every minute!  Stopping under some palms we had some lunch before finding a more permanent camp.  Disappearing into the dunes under some trees, we dropped into 2WD to bog our rear tyres to level out.

We spent the afternoon using the bait we caught at Brown’s Creek to try our luck at fishing.  With no success it was still enjoyable to throw a line in.  We’d heard the fish ‘didn’t like’ Captain Billy’s Landing and we’re sticking with that excuse.  Even though we set up the gazebo for some shade on the beach, Stu still managed to find the sun while the radio was nicely protected!

Being so remote, a fire on the foreshore was a necessity.  Kicking around the flames telling stories as the sun disappeared over the horizon, it wasn’t long until the stars came out.  There were some great skies in the NT and we’d have to say this was right up there, absolutely stunning!  Discovering plenty of small crabs along the beach another NMBWE was in order.  This time after a few beverages, we ran rampage and chased after these little guys.  Trying to catch them only lead to them nipping us.  Relentless in our unknown goal, Mark even dropped his torch in the ocean to not let one escape.  Finally grabbing the crab the torch then failed to work – a little drying out and it was back in business!

Departing this coastal paradise, we made way toward the northern section of the OTT.  Arriving at Fruitbat Falls was the beginning of this adventurous 4WD track.  Spending a couple of hours here, it was fantastic to cool off in the freshwater as we couldn’t swim at the croc infested ocean.

Before setting up camp for the night, we had one final river crossing to achieve, Scrubby Creek.  We knew we were in for a challenge as the people before us had water lapping over their bonnets.  With Woody leading the charge, the engine died about three quarters of the way, with water filling the car at a rapid pace.  After a fair amount of cursing, we were lucky to have the blokes in front of us unhitch their trailer and pull him out!  Watching water drip from his car and later Stu explained ‘My thongs were floating around my knees!’ showed how much water entered the beast.  The same blokes that helped him explained tarping the front of his car and using WD40 on the spark plugs will stop this problem on future crossings.  A gift of VB cans as a thanks left our saviours with cheers as they departed.

After what had happened, Mark was becoming very nervous as he was next with Buzz.  With Nay’s head out the window there were frequent updates relayed to Mark and at one point the water was an inch from the window as we slipped into old ruts.  Keeping momentum and a bow wave in front, Buzz kept powering through to the other side!  

Finally making it to camp we set up next to Canal Creek.  As it was a great spot, we spent a couple of nights here and went for a day trip to Elliot, Twin Falls and The Saucepan.  These were amazing waterholes that could be walked to from the main carpark.  Swimming up the main waterway at Elliot, we had torrents of water smashing on us, giving a great massage.  At The Saucepan we did countless bombies in the ridiculously deep river.

Back at Canal Creek as night came, we all went on another Nocturnal Marine Biology Wildlife Expedition (NMBWE).  This time discovering dozens of smalls yabbies and bucket loads of cane toads!  Helping the Australian Wildlife, the cane toads did’t last too long with the shovel we had in tow.  On our woodfire trip that evening we had goosebumps after peeling back some bark from a big log to discover a couple of scorpions!  Back around the fire, Mark pulled a chisel out and carved a face and shredded rig in the log of Big Red, he was now a real boy!

After our two nights here, we continued through the infamous OTT.  Hearing cars have been towed out in previous years on the final crossing at Nolan’s Brook, gave us anticipation of what was to come!  Our goal to conquer this track would then lead us to the Jardine River where just on the other side, was the tip of Australia…

25/08/2016 – 29/08/2016

Far North Queensland

A Wild 4×4 Challenge – Frenchman’s Track

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Chucking a u-turn back on the main drag, we were noticing that nothing was well sign posted on the cape.  The trail for our days goal was a small off shute that could be easily overlooked.  Our faithful WikiCamps saved the day once again and helped pinpoint this location.  A small brief from Stu beforehand had comments mentioning this 50km stretch of track could possibly take up to 5 hours (we thought 3 would be generous!)  Straight into it, we took the route and were met with a sandy corrugated path.  Thin beach like trees took place of the standard redgums that sheltered us at camp the previous night.

Starting to reach some obstacles of rather large ruts we slowed down our pace.  The track ahead was starting to become a minor challenge with some slow descents and carefully maneuvered angles.  As Buzz and Woody navigated through the obstacles with ease, their surroundings were ever changing.  Opening up to a desolate landscape lead to magnificant views.  Some areas would have been great campgrounds if there had been shade!  As the bush engulfed our path once again, the first major river crossing was upon us.

Making it to the Pascoe River was a thrill.  Having just watched the path a convoy with 5 vehicles had just taken, our excitement levels increased knowing we were next.  A steep rocky entry that the previous cars had made slippery was the first challenge.  After both vehicles successfully crawled down they plunged into the Pascoe.  Having to snake through the water as it was just shy of our bonnets, we dodged some serious holes and a boulder.  Taking turns through the crossing, both beasts emerged from the other side!
The equally steep climb out was just as fun as the entry.  The occasional rock slipping under the tyres and cars bouncing in the ruts had us jeering and grinning all the way up until we had found flat ground.  Pascoe River was conquered.  As Nay was the perfect camerawoman, she nailed all moments which provided a good laugh over a beer that evening at movie night.

Burning along with the windows down and plenty of jokes over the CB, everyone was loving being in the bush on this adventure.  The next crossing was approximately 50m long with some deep pockets.  The alternative track to the side only meant crossing 10m of water.  After examining the crossing, the shorter route was the one to take.  Buzz shot in first, slipping into the boggy ruts with his wheels spinning on the exit.  Not being able to go forward of back, Buzz was stuck.

A quick recovery brief by Stu and we shot into action (after Mark got over the car being bogged).  Attempting to gain traction with MaxTrax was unsuccessful as the mud was too intense.  Without having used the winch properly before, there was a team effort to set it up on Buzz and hope for the best.  With everything in place the winch hauled Buzz forward to solid ground so we could continue.  

With Woody next in line and knowing the difficulty, he punched it!  With the MaxTrax still in place and the extra momentum had him making it look easy.  It wasn’t until the very end that the wheels started to spin, flicking dirt up all over the car.  With great force, the mud flew over his car, dropped between the frailer (front trailer) and the roof, hitting the windscreen with enough force to crack it!  Gaining traction again, Woody was out.  Later we discovered a Prado had been stuck the previous day for 6 hours in this same spot and unfortunately flooded the interior of his car! 

The last river crossing said to be the nastiest and most challenging, was simply a little puppy.  As it was so dry the water levels here were very low.  Smashing through with ease we had a late lunch and ended up swimming in the shallows which was very refreshing after a big morning!  Directly after this river was a steep dusty incline to get us back in it.  Not long down the track of corrugations and Woody’s horn was going off every time he turned!  Annoying the hell out of Stu, a bit of bush mechanics and electrical tape temporarily solved this problem.  

Another shallow but long water crossing between the final low range obstacles kepted us on edge.  As the adrenaline was pumping from a serious sandy path that put both vehicles on serious angles (probably at their limit) we knew the end was near.  Popping out at the Developmental Road 5 hrs later from when we started, we all had victorious grins with the self accomplishment of making it through The Frenchman’s Track!

Hitting 100km/hr again, Mark was devastated to see a surfboard fly off the roof of his car, only to realise the other had already gone missing with the recovery tracks.  Both boards were repairable right-offs, they hadn’t even seen a beach this trip!  The strap had snapped along the last leg of the corrugations on the Frenchman’s Track as we found our missing belongings 20mins back the way we came.

As this disaster had us behind schedule, we shot up late in the arvo past Bramwell Junction.  Making it to Palm Creek, the first crossing of the Old Telegraph Track (OTT) we found ourselves in a dustbowl with no fire as it was stinking hot!  Totally spent from the days events lead us to lounging back, watching the movies our famous camerawoman had taken.  Anticipation followed, knowing there was more of this action to come in later days as we braved the OTT… 

25/08/2016

Far North Queensland

A Coastal Snippet In A Great Bushland

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Finding ourselves crawling out along the 4WD track from where we had once been, we all had a chuckle while crossing a rut.  Both Buzz and Woody’s wheels became airborne!  After emerging from the bush we were greeted once again by our good friend corrugations.  Reading about and creating much hype, the ‘famous’ Archer River Roadhouse burger was on the menu for lunch.  Probably being so long since a decent burger it was rather delicious, unfortunately nothing compared to the Buxton Burger. 

We travelled along the Developmental Track taking us further north until reaching an unmarked road.  WikiCamps had shown us this was a 4WD trail to an old abandoned gold mine.  Cruising along a path of moderate difficulty, a small descent appeared in front of us.  Dropping into low range we took it slowly.  An ever so small ditch at the bottom and both Buzz and Woody went ‘bang!’.  Woody hit his undercarraige and recieved no damage but after a further inspection on Buzz, a rear box had 4 out of 6 of it’s bolts sheered off and was hanging by a thread!  A quick strap to hold it place for the time being and we were off again. 

The gold mine itself was very fascinating as much of the machinery was still intact although heavily rusted.  Amazing at how it was all just left in the bush as the cost of removing and selling it must of been more expensive.  It would of been great if it had some info boards describing some machinery but we couldn’t expect it all!  

Back on the main drag we were heading toward the very popular Chili Beach.  Along the way was a 70m walk to a lookout of Mt Tozer, this gave a beautiful sight of the heathlands surrounding us.  Making it to our destination late arvo we were greeted with a stunning view of a pristine beach!  It wasn’t until we disembarked from the car that a pungent smell of rotting fish hit our noses.  Having already booked the camp we sucked it up not letting it ruin our time here.  Mark took this opportunity before dark to screw Buzz’s underside box back on, with the hope it wouldn’t happen again!

That night a few quiet beverages turned into several and before we knew it the smell had vanished!  Mucking around the fire with the music cranking we ended up drinking a fair amount of the traditional Fruity Lexia.  With the sun’s rays baking on our tent, the terrible odour of dead fish returning, we were over the moon when Stu volunteered to cook bacon and scrambled eggs on the hotplate!  What a great way to recover!  

Close by we visited an airstrip built in WW2 that was still used to this current day.  It was very interesting with an abundance of information.  One info board depicted how a nuclear bomb being detonated in a rainforest environment would compare to a standard situation.  Using enough TNT on a stragically built tower, the test was conducted and the bombs were detonated.  Scientists scrumaged through the aftermath and recorded their results, discovering such a blast would have positive results if needed in the war.  Just before leaving, the old grounds keeper had a serious go at us all for parking on the grass in some shade.  Apologising as there were no signs he was relentless to let us know we were in the wrong!

Leaving Iron Range National Park we set up next to Browns Creek.  Not being 100% sure if there were crocs or not, swims were kept short in this freshwater creek, there were plenty of bait fish though!  Trying our luck again with the net, we jagged about 8 small ones to use as bait!  Going for a wood run after such success we stumbled across a large redgum trunk on the ground.  Cutting a few decent logs from it, we unknowingly at the time gave birth to Big Red (one hell of a travelling companion).

After having leftover stew in the jaffle iron on glowing coals, meant bedtime for some and a night expidition for others.  During their walk along the creek, Mark and Stu discovered the nocturnal wildlife!  Spotting a couple of turtles Mark quickly delved into the water and caught one.  Showing Nay his find in the tent he gave it a little kiss before releasing again.  Seeing some interesting frogs and other types of small fish we talked about having to do more Nocturnal Marine Biology Wildlife Excursions (NMBWE) in days to come.

The following day we were up early and quick to get on the road.  Our next big goal in the 4WD catagory was just ahead of us.  A famous trail by the name of The Frenchman’s Track was only 2km down the road, it was on our to do list…

23/08/2016 – 25/08/2016

Far North Queensland

A Bypass Through An Untouched National Park

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Straight back onto the bumpy corrugated road we slowly became immune to the rattle of the car.  As long as we kept up our momentum, it lessened the pain.  It was almost like being in another country compared to Cairns, blue skies were out and the weather was a constant 31 degrees every day!

First stop off after Isabella was the historic site of Old Laura Station.  The remains of this old homestead were very much in tact.  Being able to freely walk through the grounds and buildings at no cost was something unusual for us since the east coast!  Taking photos of the blacksmith and stable yards in the winter, it was unimaginable of how tough it must of been in summer when Old Laura was flourishing.  Especially as it is so remote!

Arriving at Lakefield National Park we detoured past a lagoon blanketed in lilies.  Hearing this site had a residential croc, Mark was quick to spot it and we all had a perve on this impressive beast with Stu’s $6 binoculars.  Our first choice of a camp site that evening was at Kalpower Crossing.  After we were wrecked by the National Park booking system at the Ranger Base, we went for our second favourite spot at Hann River.  This was still an unbelievable spot to crank out a fire and relax.

Throughout this northern section of Australia there were copious amounts of termite mounds, majority built by Magnetic Termites.  These fascinating creatures build their enormous homes in a North to South direction.   After leaving Hann River we drove through the Nifold Plains.  Found here was a ridiculous amount of these mounds.  Hundreds upon hundreds in all directions.  A fine drop of our cask red on the car roofracks while watching a sunset behind these silhouettes would have been incredible.

One last stop in Lakefield for lunch at Sweetwater Creek, we were truly lucky to have great scenery surrounding us.  Unfortunately, upon departure a freak accident occured when a stick flung up under Buzz’s side step, smashing into the underside of the car.  With a bit of panel beating we were lucky enough to push it back into place!

Burning out of the National Park, we quickly found ourselves at Coen (Stu had been chanting “Co-en the saints!” theme song everytime this town was brought up).  After a short pit stop to restock on fuel and groceries we ducked beside a small river only 5km north of the township.  Having the 4WD luxury, we drove through the river and set up on the sandy banks.  By doing this, we were away from everyone else with our own private freshwater swimming hole.

Relocating to another river camp further along our corrugated nightmare of a road, we arrived at Archer.  WikiCamps pulled through with the goods again and lead us down a serious 4WD trail.  After hitting a pretty ordinary camp down one path, we decided to venture down the other where we lucked out and hit an amazing, beautiful oasis.  Another sandy waterhole that was even better than the one at Coen!

Pulling the hammock out for the first time we tied it to some trees over the river and had a great relaxing afternoon.  We even tried catching some small bait fish with a net but didn’t have much luck. Grabbing some firewood and using some red gum previously collected from our last spot, Stu got some coals cranking for dinner.  Putting on a delicious mouth watering chicken stew cooked in the camp oven, we were living the dream.  

In these past days, we made the most of our freshwater swims to clean ourselves up and escape the blistering heat.  As a change of scenery was on the itinerary, we were about to embark on an exploration that was to take us to a saltwater croc haven…

20/08/2016 – 23/08/2016

Far North Queensland

The Next Episode – Northward Bound With Buzz and Woody

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Saying goodbye to civilisation for a while, we couldn’t resist going out for one last big night in Cairns with our new recruit Stu.  Once fully recovered, we stocked up with bucket loads of tinned food, cryovaced meat from the butcher (Stu’s idea) and long life consumables.  We dropped back down for two days at Babinda to wait for Stu’s custom made 4WD snorkel to be installed (worst destination to wait as it poured rain the entire time!)  Once the snorkel was on, we were off on the next episode, departing the Cairns region which gave us so many unforgettable memories.

Sadly, Brook was still very waterlogged from not having a break while we dived and the torrential rain at Babinda didn’t help.  She found herself back in her home on the roofracks.  The next couple of nights we snuck in car parks where a late night tent set-up was required.  Doing a dodgy with these camps we still had great views of the beach and daintree rainforest as we made way to the Bloomfield.  That night sitting in the Cape Tribulation car park before bed, we were chatting excitedly at what the famous 4×4 track had to offer.

In the previous days to the build up of our adventure, we read about the Bloomfield alternative, the CREB 4WD track.  Hearing this potential route had swallowed over a dozen cars in the past week and closed by the council, our path up north could be interesting.  With the first river crossing being the most serious, the rest was rather smooth sailing.  The Bloomfield was well looked after, although unsealed, it was in good nick.  After a few serious climbs and descents the trucks were having no trouble.  All round it was a fantastic adventure with great sights.  We were awestruck by mother nature, cruising along our surroundings went from lush, thick rainforest to instantly transforming to open forest (like that of the High Country)!  We were even lucky enough to see a sunbaking croc from the lookout!

Reaching the end of the track, we went to the Aboriginal town of Wujal Wujal which had a sign advertising ‘The names so good, you say it twice!’.  Stopping by another waterfall, Queensland clearly had a surplus of these cascading wonders.

After hearing about its great history and being the last major town to have sealed roads, we stopped off at Cooktown.  A breathtaking view from the lighthouse lookout and one last petrol refuel (before prices started getting ridiculous) we hit up Battle Camp Rd.  Waving a final goodbye to the bitumen, we started our brutal relationship with corrugations (previously reducing tyre pressure to 32 psi to ease the pain).

An hour and a half in we hit a pretty camp spot called Isabella Falls.  Here there was also a perfect fresh water swimming hole with an added bonus of no crocs!!  This little hideaway was awesome.  We took the opportunity to relax in the bush and stayed a few days not knowing when the next fresh swimmable waterhole may be.  Having decent fires to cook up a storm we enjoyed swimming through the day and refreshing beer in the arvo.

This next part of the story leaves a sad chip on the shoulder.  As Brook finally had the chance to see fresh air, we pegged her out to dry.  Unfortunately she had an awful gut wrenching tang to her.  We could only put it down to our diving in Cairns that she had been locked away for so long in humid wet conditions.  Sadly her fur was falling off and her time with us was over.  One last Kodak moment and we placed her back in the tub to dispose of her…RIP Brook.

As the days at Isabella Falls swept by, we watched cars burn past returning from the northern roads all caked with red dust and mud.  During a deep philosophical chat one evening, Stu with his cleverly depicted number plate suggested calling his car Woody.  A quick lookover of our car with all doors open and the rooftop tent out, it was looking like a spaceship and was quickly dubbed Buzz.  As Buzz and Woody were back on the road, we were keen to shoot down the main drag where these filthy red cars were coming from.  We were keen to see what Cape York had to offer…

Coastal Queensland

A Deep Exploration On The Great Barrier Reef!

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Waking up that Monday felt like we were back at school again.  Waiting out the front of Cairns Holiday Park, our bus arrived to take us to Cairns Dive Centre.  Upon arrivial we met our wacky diving instructor Ethan, who was up for a good yarn.  With only 3 other students in the class, we smashed through the morning theory/videos, with Ethan’s out-there stories about past dives helping our labourious paperwork.  Before we knew it we were in the pool completing some basic swimming and treading excerises before the next stage.

The time had come when we were introduced to our diving equipment which was incredibly exciting.  All geared up for our first test, we were to go against all we have been taught, breathing underwater.  It was simply inhaling and exhaling through our regulators but without goggles on.  As Nay soared through flying colours with no hesitation, Mark on the other hand shot up after 5 seconds as his mind was playing tricks on him.  After another couple of tries, we were all under and having a blast.

The second day we completed a few more basic exercises underwater in the pool.  This included removing our regulators and replacing them, removing our goggles and clearing them, removing our BCD (lifejacket) and some emergency procedures.  Once these were ticked off by Ethan, he then taught us how to became neutrally boyant (practically zero gravity).  From here he made sure we all swam at an even level and once confident we were doing laps 4m below waterlevel!  After having a blast underwater we had a little more theory to tick off and before we knew it our final exam was complete!

The next day was what we were here for, diving in the ocean at the Great Barrier Reef!  We had set ourselves up for 3 days on the Kangaroo Explorer (KE) with CDC having 9 dives which included a night dive!  After Ethan ran through the basic induction with his usual fan fair humour, we sat patiently like excited kids for two hours until it was time for our first ocean dive!

Gearing up and running through the necessary buddy check before diving, we performed a ‘giants stride’ from the diving platform into the ocean.  We were beside ourselves as we slowly descended from the back of the boat as a mixed emotion of fear and exhilliration took over.  The first sight we saw as we dropped below sea level was a great big barracoota!  Upon calming down, we continued to descend and put everything we’d learnt in the pool into practice.

As part of the course, we had to accomplish the skills learnt from the past two days in the ocean.  Once a few were done in each dive we spent the rest of our time underwater looking for cool sea creatures!  During the first dives we were lucky to see a little manta shrimp in his home (a deep hole about 50mm wide), a feather star (starfish with feather like points) and even a frog fish!  These were all pointed out by Ethan as most of the time we were distracted by the vast sea life and the pure amazement of diving in the ocean!!

Having Ethan knock on our door at an ungodly hour the following day, he was suprisingly already up and about in his bouncy mood!  Learning a second way of entering the water, we dropped in backwards off the boat (this definitely woke us up!)  Having a camera man on the Kangaroo Explorer, he joined us for a couple of dives while we continued our skills.  The previous night we were given some slate to draw on and take under water with us.  While being 14m underwater, we took turns in showing our slates as they were filmed.  It was a nifty idea and fun showing our creations!

While completing the skills of removing our goggles and regulator, we had an opportunity to wear sunnies and drink from an empty beer can.  As you can see Nay was looking super fly and Mark was getting jolly deep down at the Great Barrier Reef.  Having each dive last between 30-35mins it was always exciting once the course components were done and we cruised around.  At one stage Ethan showed us a brittle starfish.  Being ever so gentle, it floated onto our arms, crawled around on us and then made its way to the next diver.

It wasn’t long before our first 4 dives zoomed by and we had our open water certificate!  This allowed us to dive up to 18m without an instructor.  In our first free dive, as we buddied up with another classmate Mathieu, we were thrown literally, in the deep end.  Achieving a 44min dive, 16m deep, we were incredibly lost by the end and had no idea where to find the boat.  It wasn’t until we resurfaced that we found we were 150m away and we had to snorkel our way back as we’d run out of air in our tanks.  During the dive though, we had the best experience, seeing a stingray, copious amounts of fish (including nemo) and even two white tipped sharks – Mark unfortunately missed them.

Next up was the night dive!  Absolutely packing ourselves as we were briefed, there was still a rush of excitement among us.  With only a small handheld torch, we descended into the dark with only 5m visibility.  Close beside our buddies we went searching!  An amazing activity during the night was to shine our torches on little bait fish.  This points them out to the larger fish and there was neverending enjoyment watching these big boys chase their dinner.

Feeling like we were ‘lost in space’ with darkness surrounding us, we luckily found an epilept shark.  This small ground dwelling shark nests on the coral beds and has a secondary set of fins which enables him to crawl.  During our eerie night time exploration we spotted a green sea turtle swimming around us too.  With these two great sightings and the thrill of floating in ‘space’, the night dive was definitely one we were going to remember.

As all good things must come to an end, the final day we were looking like zombies.  Deciding to complete our advanced open water dive coarse (allowing up to 30m dives) which involved late night briefs, had our eyes glazing over.  Once we dived back in the water, we were alive again!

On our deep dive that took us to 26m we had a couple of fun activities.  Ethan brought an egg down with him and cracked it open.  Due to the density of the water at this depth, the egg yolk was intact and we took turns passing it around the circle.  It wasn’t long until the cheeky fish caught wind and snapped the egg out of Nays’ hand!  Also taking a tomato and apple to this depth turned them green (as the colour red doesn’t carry this deep through water).  We also had a small game of down ball with the apple and bounced it around on the sand!  After blowing up a decompressed 1.25l bottle of coke and banging it around, Ethan made a loud thumping noise with the bottle.  This apparently attracts sharks as 4 white tips came in to check us out!  The thrill of attracting these beasts outweighed being scared.

Two final dives remaining lead us to navigation skills and one final free dive.  The dive site we were on was unbelievably fun as there were tunnel systems throughout the bombies.  We swam through and navigated the wildlife and coral formations.  Being neutrally bouyant we took full opportunity to do flips at a depth of 18m.  It was mad fun!  Going through so many tunnel systems we definitely didn’t put our navigation skills to use as we lost the boat for a second time having another 100m swim back.  All part of the adventure!

There was a sad realisation on the Friday that our time was up.  Having to catch the charter boat back to Cairns we departed and left our newly found diving friends and hilarious instructor Ethan.  As holidays were ending for these new friends, ours was still continuing with a new companion.  Stu had arrived to join us on the road just as we left to go on the Kangaroo Explorer.  The next great achievement for us on the horizon was the tip of Australia…

Coastal Queensland

The Calm Before A Deep Adventure Into The Reef

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Aiming to complete the final sections of the Atherton Tablelands, we shot down the east coast.  Being late departing Palm Cove, we camped at the Babinda Rotary Club which was a vast area filled with grey nomads also looking for a free spot to stay for the night.  With the luxury of being so small we reversed into a gap and tucked in for the evening.

We had a few days up our sleeves so we continued a little further down to Josephine Falls.  A small 1.2km walk took us to the top section of the falls where swimming was prohibited.  After seeing so many waterfalls, we weren’t tiring with the sights we continued to discover.  On the walk back a path took us to a swimming hole where there was a natural wide waterslide.  As icy cold as it was, we still had a crack!  Around the corner we found a camp at Golden Hole.  With our croc mates still in the area, swimming was also prohibited here.  Besides this, we had a great spot on the grass to watch the sunset over the mountains with the luxury of bottled red wine.

The following day took us back to Babinda and we found a magical tourist destination, The Babinda Boulders.  Arriving early we camped 200m away from the main area.  Prime position had us on grass with only a handful of other campers around and a small walk to a river when in need of a cool off.  This was a great spot to spend a couple of days.

A sad discovery during that morning was the loss of the camera!  Our number one wingman had sadly been left behind at Golden Hole.  Karma was definitely on our side as we shot back and met a couple of friendly backpackers that spotted us searching for it in the grass.  Fortunately they found it the night before and were excited for our companion to be reunited with us!

We quickly discovered that Babinda was one of the wettest towns in Australia with a ridiculous average rainfall of around 15m.  Before this discovery Mark had pulled Brook out to do a bit more work and she was looking prime.  That evening she was soaked as the rain didn’t let off even up until the minute we left.

It was finally time to pack up after ticking these last two places off to complete the Atherton Tablelands.  Dripping wet back in her tub, Brook was on the roof as we burnt back to Cairns.  Another strike of luck lead to blue skies at our new destination to dry things out.  We used the Cairns Holiday Park as our new home.  The next week we were to find ourselves in a classroom again, learning how to dive on the Great Barrier Reef…

Coastal Queensland

Day Trippin’ From A Paradise At Palm Colve

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​Arriving in our luxurious paradise appartment in Palm Cove we were happy to spend the first day lounging around the pool and exploring the main drag.  Unfortunately the heater in the jacuzzi didn’t work and not even the warm tropics made it bearable to sit in in the evening!  We used this cruisy day to have a group discussion and plan our day trip activities.

Day Trip 1 – Port Douglas & Mossman Gorge

After hearing numerous comments about Port Douglas we made way toward the town.  We could not believe the vast quantity of resorts along the main street into the busy shopping district.  Seeming to be a very up market tourist location we had a leasuirely stroll and even stopped for some brunch!

Making it up to Mossman Gorge we were stung with a bus fair along an exclusive road to the entrance ($9 return trip).  The gorge itself had rushing waterfalls flowing into a great swimming hole where we had some lunch.  Beyond this, was a fantastic rainforest walk with a bit of everything.  After checking out some more impressive figs we found another crystal clear swimming hole and mucked around with little fish.  Returning out from the rainforest we had a dip in the gorge and made our way back to paradise.

Day Trip 2 – Kuranda Railway & Skyrail

Highly recommended by several sources we went to check out the old historic town of Kuranda.  At Freshwater Station at 8:30am we were greeted by an old fashion diesel train with an antique interior.  The ride in was amazing with informative announcements over the P.A every few minutes describing how hard it was for the pioneers of this track.  Before arriving at Kuranda there was a quick stop over at Barron Falls where a well positioned lookout had stunning views – pity there wasn’t more water!

There were plenty of markets to browse through and fell in love with a local fudge store (had heaps of tastings!)  While here, we went to the Butterfly Museum which was a giant enclosure filled with hundreds of tropical butterflies.  Unfortunately the Ulysses wasn’t on display in the hot house, although later that day we spotted one at the skyrail which was being mobbed by asian tourists!  It was a great experience just having them flutter around and in some cases landing on us.  We even had a glimpse of the Hercules Moth (largest in the world) that sadly only lives for 48 hrs but can grow to a whopping size of 300mm.

The time flew by and before we knew it we were on the Skyrail home, after waiting an hour while repairs were made.  This was a total adventure compared to the train in.  Soaring above the Daintree we had magnificant views and this time we coasted over Barron Falls.  A couple of small stops and sights on the way back and we found ourselves on solid ground again.

Day Trip 3 – Indulgences of Mareeba

The following day Mark’s mum arrived, a welcomed addition to the crew!  Upon arrival, we had another lazy day catching up around Palm Cove.  Well rested, we followed Nay’s research into a small town 30 mins west of Cairns, Mareeba.  They are famous for their icecreamery, winery, brewery, coffee farms and chocolate – what a day we were in for!

Checking out the tourist information centre it wasn’t long until we were at Coffee Works, where a small fee of $15 each gave us free coffee tastings.  This included a variety of coffees, iced coffees, teas, chocolate and even coffee liquors!  After a small tour of how coffee was roasted and a visit to the coffee museum it was time for lunch at the distillery.  We devoured unbelievable gourmet style pizzas, followed by tastings of their house spirits, including their specialty marshmellow vodka for dessert – we were living like kings and queens!

A final stop at the winery included a variety of tastings but not from your everyday grape wines.  An array of different fruits and flavours lit up the taste buds.  From mango to melon, passionfruit and even others unheard of, it left us buzzing by the end.  Overall it was a day we spent eating our way through, as challenging as it sounds, we successfully came out the other end smiling.

Day Trip 4 – Snorkelling On The Reef

The final day was spent stragetically (calm weather conditions) on the Calypso boat snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.  Starting the day a little rough as the seas were choppy, we were lucky to see a couple of Hump Back Whales and have them swim directly under the boat!  

Spending over 4 hours in the water it was magical.  Stopping at 3 different sites on the Opal Reef, each stop gave us coral and wildlife more impressive than the last.  It was absolutely picturesque to say the least.  As you’d see in a documentary, some spots were similar to an underwater stadium made of vibrant coral and too many fish to count.  The colours (especially at the last stop) were breathtaking.

After a buffet lunch, we all found ourselves napping on the top deck of the boat on the banana lounges.  Before we knew it we opened our eyes and were back at the port.  Just to top the day off seeing so many fish, we chowed down on fish & chips by the beach.

Time had sadly come to an end with Eileen, Derek and Ron having to depart.  Their stay seemed to fly by so quickly even though we crammed in so many adventures and explored so much around Cairns.  We had a blast!  As we left the appartment behind we were back in the car.  Going down south again, we played a little waiting game until the reef called us back for the next adventure…

Coastal Queensland

An Ancient Lush Wonder – The Daintree Rainforest

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Departing from Goldsborough early in the morning, we cruised through to Cairns airport for the arrival of Derek and Ron!  It was exciting to see them as it had been a long time now since leaving home.  Catching up over some brunch and a stroll through the markets, we stocked up and headed to our accomodation.  Sharing stories over some delicious beverages by the pool (more espresso martinis), lead to the four of us going for a pub crawl down the main drag in Cairns.  There was even a cheeky 3am Maccas run!

You could only imagine the next day was fairly slow as we packed up, filled the car with groceries and made our way to the oldest rainforest in the world – The Daintree.  Taking the coastal road, we had lunch at Wangetti Beach along the way and Derek found his long lost stick mate!  Our accomodation for the first night at the Daintree was at Crocodylus.  This spectacular hide away in the depths of the rainforest really had you amongst nature.  Having to wheelbarrow our gear to a hut wrapped in mesh, housing beds with mozzie nets, this was one spot we weren’t to forget in a hurry. 

After a surprisingly good sleep with the animal sounds through the evening, followed by the loud melodious bird calls in the morning, we went to explore this 150 million year old baby of mother nature.  Starting with a small boardwalk trail we were amazed by the growth and variety of plants the Daintree had to offer.  The info boards along the way did not disappoint with facts throughout the walks – finding that mangroves can’t handle salt water (although growing in such environments) and have adapted by releasing salt into their dead leaves before falling off.  We also had a chuckle at the trees that were thriving through holes cut out of the planks of the boardwalk.

Wanting to spoil ourselves we made a much needed stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Factory where they make fresh exotic fruit flavours daily.  Ron lead us on a self guided tour through the fruit ochards – very informative!  Being slightly held up by a couple of local cassowaries strolling along the bridge, traffic had piled up on the way to another rainforest adventure.  It was amazing to see the enormous fan palms which grow up to 2m in diameter for a single leaf.  These massive palms not only give great protection from the sun but also keep you dry.

Along the road north to our camp at Cape Tribulation we stopped via the Daintree Tea Company where they harvest and make their own tea for a self serve road side shop.  Ron was so excited, he even took up a job picking leaves in the fields!  To escape the rain we decided to hit up the cafe for a much needed lunch.   We lashed out and ordered the native tasting platter of Emu, Croc and Kangaroo burgers.  What delicasys they had in this magical jungle.

The next day took us on a croc tour to see the soul reason for not being able to swim in these prestine waterways.  The tour guide had great bogan characteristics explaining to us that he cruises the river in his boat 2-3 times a day, 7 days a week for the past 30 years, up and down, up and down.  Going for approximately an hour we ended up spotting a few of these ancient reptiles each varying in size.  A small territorial female was found resting by the bank and another further up having a swim.  A month prior, the biggest local 500kg, 5m long croc was shot due to eating a drunk tourist.  Lucky for us a new big boy had just swam up stream from the ocean – this was the first time the tour guide had seen him!

After the thrill of seeing these beasts we relaxed by the pool back at Ocean Safari.  With Mark and Nay staying by the pool, Ron and Derek went canoeing out into the ocean at Cape Trib.  Having a blast their tour group lead them on a small land expedition where they learnt about the green ants having a zesty lime taste!

The final day in the Daintree Rainforest we woke to rain bucketing down on the tent.  Unfortunately we had lined up to go jungle surfing (ziplining) and with weather like it was, she was going to be interesting!  Accustomed to the heavy rain by now we pumped ourselves up and went for it.  With staff members suiting us up in harnesses we then all recieved helmets with character names.  After a briefing from the tour guides, we found we were going to reach heights of 20m and ziplines 78m long!  

To start the run we powered each other up to the first tree platform with a human hamster wheel.  Zooming along in tandems we clung onto our partners and smashed through the rain.  It was crazy fun!  Interesting facts were even told at each tree platform, i.e the average rainfall in the Daintree is 7m/year.  On the last few runs we went solo at faster speeds and even cruised upside down!  The exhillirating experience ended with a race between pairs from the last tree platform.  You can only guess who won!

While already wet and still raining we checked out Emmagen Creek water hole (just north of Cape Trib).  This was also the start of the Bloomfield track which was a tease to know we’d be back in a couple of weeks.  We chose to not swim at the waterhole as we were already cold drowned rats.

By this stage it was already late arvo so we made our way back over the ferry, after stopping for one last cheeky treat at the Daintree Ice Cream Factory.  We burnt back south along the coast where we were to recide at a luxurious appartment for the next 7 days in Palm Cove…