Caloundra – 6 (Fraser Island)

No glitches this time. We were up at 4:45 and were picked up at the condo at 5:30 in a passenger vehicle. While we were waiting in the lobby the only living thing around was

– I think this is the Worldmark, Golden Beach mascot *lol*

The driver explained that we were the only pickups on the south end of the run – we felt bad until she said that she lives in Caloundra and has to go up each morning anyway. We met up with the tour bus

at Noosa. The bus holds 18 passengers and there were only 10 people on the tour so there was lots of room to spread out. Another really neat thing was that there are two seats beside the driver and everyone got a chance to sit in the front.

We started out by crossing the Noosa River on a small cable ferry that only took a few minutes to cross and then we were driving up the Teewah Beach.

The sun was just coming up when we started up the beach. The dunes were very exposed and the driver explained that there had been a huge cyclone in January and a lot of the sand was swept away leaving large rock exposed. The sand is coming back now but will take a while longer before the dunes are softened again.

There is a large camping area along the beach – you just need a permit to camp there (and to be self-contained). Ken, the driver (who reminded us of Gordon Nikirk – without the cowboy hat and with an Aussie accent) told us that at Christmas and New Years there can be up to 6,000 people camped along the beach. We had a quick stop at

the Teewah Coloured Sands

and then continued up the beach. We couldn’t go all the way to Rainbow Beach on the beach road because the tide was in too far to go around Double Island Point so we headed inland on the Freshwater Road – a 4 wheel drive track. We weren’t far along it when we spotted a road construction sign – no photo as it was hard to take photos on the bumpy road *lol* We were going to have morning tea on the beach at Rainbow Beach but Ken took a look at the sky and predicted a shower so we went to a picnic shelter at the park.

Not sure if you can see from this photo, but the spots are heavy rain.

The crossing to Fraser Island is via a barge which loads from the sand (like a double ended landing craft).

There is no set schedule – it just goes back and forth as required. The crossing only takes about 12 minutes and then we were off on the beach road. It was funny to see speed limit signs on the beach – and signs warning that you were sharing the road with a runway.

We left the beach at Eurong (a resort area) and travelled through the rainforest. Ken explained what the trees were and what they were used for as well as the history of the island. We stopped for a lunch break at

Lake McKenzie where we had the opportunity to go swimming. John made it in all the way but I chickened out at the tops of my legs. Lunch was fantastic – when we booked we were given a choice of steak, fish or vegetarian and we both chose steak. Ken bar-b-q’d while everyone else was relaxing and when we got back to the picnic area (fenced to keep dingoes out), the meat was ready, there were about 5 different salads out, and we were offered either beer, wine or soft drink. For dessert, we had fresh cantaloupe and pineapple. It was great to be able to eat what was offered (the second tour that has happened on).

Once back in the bus, it was time for John and I to ride up front. It was a good time to be there – we saw rainforest and the beach. On the beach road, the tide was starting to come in which made it interesting in spots – especially when other vehicles didn’t want to move over so that we were driving in the surf. We saw a dingo – who wasn’t interested in us at all – and a sea eagle who didn’t want to move and then reluctantly took off right in front of the bus.

Once back on the mainland, we took a short trip down Rainbow Beach (on the beach) and had our afternoon tea at some of the coloured sands there. Apparently it’s a good area for paragliders too – we saw one guy packing his parachute and another one playing in the thermals above us (we thought he might be checking out what we were having for tea and deciding whether to come and join us). We couldn’t stay too long as there was one spot the bus wouldn’t be able to manouevre over if the tide came in too far. The trip back to Noosa was interesting – we had a scenic tour past and through Queensland’s largest pine forest (planted) – the good thing was that John and I saw real, live wild kangaroos – they were in the distance but they were definitely kangaroos.

Ken dropped everyone else off and then took us for a tour of Noosa before we met up with another bus that was coming back towards Caloundra. It was filled with school kids who had been on Fraser Island on a field trip. We rode part way down on the bus and then transferred to the same vehicle that took us up.

I can’t say enough about Fraser Island Adventure Tours – they were very safety conscious, eco-friendly (not one piece of anything we took with us was left behind on the island or the beaches), knowledgeable and friendly. We had a really good day – just wish we could have got out and looked around more often but the roads really weren’t wide enough (even though the signs kept saying 2-way traffic) for Ken to stop safely. We did have a walk at Wanggoolba Creek that was really neat – it’s at Central Station which used to be a forestry camp. The information centre there is an old forestry worker’s home.

Temperature: 23 C – sunny with heavy rainshower in morning

King Fern

Chris and John at Lake McKenzie

4-wheel drive road

Wanggoolba Creek – there is water there, it’s just so clear that you can’t see it!

Caloundra – 5

While having breakfast this morning, we looked outside and discovered that it was raining quite heavily. We still weren’t sure what we were going to do today so we took our time with breakfast and when we were done, the rain had stopped.

We were debating between a 1 1/2 hour “cruise” along the Pumicestone Passage and driving down toward Brisbane and going to Bribie Island (the island you can see from our apartment). The drive won out and we hopped in the car to head south. First thing, though, was to fill the gas tank – at the first gas station we saw, the price had jumped 10 cents a litre overnight. We drove up the street a little further (two more roundabouts) and saw a station that still had $1.35 on their sign so we filled up there. That was the only place we saw at yesterday’s price so I guess they just hadn’t put their price up yet. Gas costs here are like in the United States – instead of all the prices in town being the same, they can vary up to 7 or 8 cents a litre.

On the way to Bribie Island, we saw the Glasshouse Mountains and they were so clear. We thought we would take a side trip to a lookout on Wild Horse Mountain and get views of the island and the mountains. Once we got to the parking lot, we realized that wasn’t an option – there had been a fire (turns out it was a controlled burn) and the hiking trail is closed until Monday.

Once on Bribie Island, we drove around to the beach area –

we had a nice view of Brisbane (across the water) from Red Beach (no idea why it’s called that – the sand is white) and then we drove to the east coast – the weather was beautiful, not even much wind; however, there isn’t much to see on the island as most of the area is a national park accessible by water.

We came back to Caloundra and went to Kings Beach for a picnic lunch and then walked along the rock shelves looking in

tidal pools. There were a few big ones that held some fish and crabs.

We also found an area full of crushed shells and small rocks and spent some time sifting through the shells looking for interesting pieces.

Then it was back to the condo to relax before our long day (and early morning) tomorrow. I probably won’t post until Saturday since I’m pretty sure we’ll be tired when we get back and there’ll be too many photos to sort through.

Temperature: 25 C – sunny with heavy rainshower in morning and some cloudy periods

John at King’s Beach

Flower

Blowhole

Caloundra – 4 (Australia Zoo)

The Australia Zoo is an amazing place. The employees are very helpful and obviously enjoy their jobs – the main message of the zoo is conservation. There’s a lot of opportunities to get close to the animals with showtimes, photo sessions, wandering wildlife (with a keeper), and the main show at the Crocoseum.

We arrived at the zoo at 9 (when they opened) and spent the whole day wandering around until we left at 4:15 p.m. (they close at 4:30)

Our first goal was to get my photo with a koala, so we went to the wildlife photo area after checking out the croc pens. I got to cuddle “Ash” – a 2 year old male koala and he was so soft and cuddly. Can you tell I really enjoyed the experience? I wanted to smuggle him home but the keepers were watching too carefully.

While we were waiting for the photo session to start, we spotted this

reticulated python in a pen nearby – she’s 7 metres long and weighs 150 kg. and she hasn’t finished growing yet.

After the photo, we checked out a few more of the enclosures and then headed to the Crocoseum for a fun-filled, informative show called the Wildlife Warriors Show. There were birds (flying and swimming), snakes, elephants and,

of course, a crocodile. John got too close to one of the crocs

– luckily he managed to escape. Actually we did get close to one croc – it was a baby that was being shown around by the staff – we had a photo taken but it’s in print form so you’ll have to wait to see it.

We finally found the wombats – one of the keepers was “exercising” one of them by playing tag.

He was so cute (the wombat in case you’re wondering which he I was talking about). The next animal we really wanted to see were the echidnas – and they didn’t disappoint. They kind of waddle when they walk (I took a lot of video with my camera but can’t post them because they’re too big).

Just before we left, we headed for the Cassowary enclosure again – they had been hiding in the back when we were there at the beginning of the day. We could spot one of them moving around so we waited (along with another couple who were from Sudbury, Ontario) and our patience was rewarded.

He came right up to the feeding bucket in front of us.

It was a great day and definitely a place to visit if you’re in the area.

Temperature: 21 C – sunny with cloudy periods

Wallaby

Tucker, a 4 year old koala

Sleepy kangaroo

The Irwin Family Statue

Caloundra – 3

Okay, I know no one was expecting a post today but….

The day started off beautifully – yeah I had to get up and going early but the sunrise was beautiful and made up for the early rising. We were on the road to Noosa at 7 a.m. and arrived there at 7:50. We had 1 hour and 10 minutes to wait for the Fraser Island pickup so we walked along the streets and window shopped and met these fellow window shoppers (there was more than one of them):

Bush Turkey

At 9 a.m. we spotted a 4-wheel drive multi-passenger vehicle and gathered up all our stuff. The driver asked for our names and then said – “oh you’re the ones booked for a 2-day camping tour. They had to cancel it but you can come on the 3-day tour for the same price.” That would have been fun except for the problem of my food allergies for 3 days – we had prepared for 2. When we asked why we hadn’t been notified of the cancellation, the driver just shrugged and said he didn’t know but that he could give us a full cash refund if we didn’t want to do the 3-day camping trip. (The company was Sunrover and I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone – they had our email address so it should have been easy to get in touch for a cancellation. Also, I had re-confirmed the trip (with the owner) on Sunday and he didn’t ask for a phone number or mention that there was a chance of it being cancelled.)

I guess that we couldn’t expect the whole trip to go by without any glitches but we’d really wanted to go camping on Fraser Island overnight.

We took the refund and decided to drive down through the “Hinterland” (in Queensland, it means the land away from the coast). Our first stop was Nutworks – a Macadamia Nut factory. You can watch them cracking and sorting the nuts through an observation window and then browse through the shop. I didn’t know they flavoured macadamias with so many different seasonings – there was honey roasted, sour cream and onion, wasabi and more. They also had macadamia fudge, chocolate coated macadamias, and other candies. It was mind boggling – but John settled on some honey-roasted and some dark chocolate coated nuts.

After that, we headed on the Blackall Range Tourist Drive – through some small villages on the way to the viewing area for the Glasshouse Mountains. There is a really neat legend of how the mountains were formed.

This is Coonowrin, the son who disobeyed his father and

Beerwah, his mother.

When we got back to the condo, we decided that we still wanted to see Fraser Island but not with the same tour company so we have booked a 1 day tour with pickup right at our condo (at 5:25 a.m.!) with Fraser Island Adventure Tours for Friday. The tour was booked through the condo so there shouldn’t be any problems this time.

Tomorrow, we are going to spend the day (or most of it) at the Australia Zoo where I hope to get the chance to cuddle a koala.

Temperature: 22 C – sunny

The Glasshouse Mountains

Sign

Pumicestone Passage at low tide

Caloundra – 2

I slept in today – well, if you can call 7 a.m. sleeping in *lol* After that, we had breakfast (with me sitting on the balcony in the sunshine) and then made a picnic and started to Noosa Heads. We timed the trip – and found that it takes 55 minutes to get there from the condo. So now we know we need to leave between 7 and 7:30 to be sure to be at the pickup location at 9. There is a parking lot right near where we’re being picked up so we’re leaving the car there (and keeping our fingers crossed that it will still be there when we get back on Wednesday.)

We walked around Noosa for a bit – and found that it’s a really busy town. This weekend they are having their Mayfiesta – a food and wine festival, a boat race and a marathon swim challenge. Sounds like a good place to avoid – considering it was hard enough to find a parking spot today. Actually we just got an email today from the Blue Tongues Booster Club and there is an intersquad hockey game on Sunday, May 18 – and the rink is on the way to our next condo. So guess where we’re going to be on Sunday..

We drove back along the coast – and were a little disappointed that for most of it you can’t really see the beaches. But it was still a pretty drive and there

were some scenic views.

Once back at the condo, we packed our bags for our Fraser Island camping trip and made sure there’s no food left lying around the apartment. I’ve already killed a bunch of tiny ants and would rather not leave them a feast while we’re gone.

Next post will be after we get back from Fraser Island

Temperature: 24 C – sunny

Lifeguard stand at Coolum Beach

Very large pelican

Interesting root system on these trees

Caloundra – 1

The day started off interestingly – we were sitting in the room, making sure nothing was left behind when the power went off. It was light enough to finish packing though so we did and then headed to the reception office to check out. Another problem – the computers were down so the clerk couldn’t check us out – John told him the only charges were 3 local phonecalls (75 cents each) to the wireless internet help desk (the problem never was resolved), so he reluctantly let us leave. The cab didn’t take long to get to the hotel and soon we were at the airport – where the power was also out. They were working on auxiliary power and managed to get the check in done and our baggage checked. Another easy trip through the security screening – and you can even take water on domestic flights here. Of course, then we had over 2 hours to wait for our flight but we browsed through the gift shops (more expensive than the ones in Melbourne – maybe because it was the domestic terminal?) and had a cup of coffee and then our flight was called.

After an uneventful 2 hour flight, we landed at Brisbane, found our luggage and the rental car agency. We have another Toyota Corolla – not as nice as the last one but it will do. We headed north to Caloundra, got groceries and found the condo with no problem. We’re on the 5th floor and we have a nice view from here. I see now what Karen (my sister) meant about the bedroom set up. The louvered doors in the photos are surrounding the bedroom area – a different kind of set up.

To counteract that, the doors to the balcony open up completely so that you have an open fronted living area. It’s kind of neat.

We settled in and then went for a walk down Esplanade Street. The pathway takes you through

a mangrove swamp (on a boardwalk) and is quite sheltered from the breeze.

That’s it for now – tomorrow we’re going to look for somewhere to park the car overnight (in Noosa Heads) while we go to Fraser Island on Tuesday.

Temperature: 23 C – sunny with some cloud

Cairns from the air

Worldmark Golden Beach bathroom – finally a bathtub!

Bedroom

Kitchen – it’s tiny

Living Room

View

Cairns – 2

THURSDAY, MAY 8

On the way to the Skyrail terminal,

we passed fields of sugarcane. Apparently they begin to harvest in June (the dry season). We were told that most rain in the tropics is in the summer months.

I did it! I went on the Skyrail without any (well not much) problem. I didn’t like the leaving from the stations or the going over the towers but otherwise it was great – and this is such a good time to go. It wasn’t crowded and we had the cable car to ourselves. Fantastic views – and the boardwalks at the two stations were neat. When we got to Kuranda we went to the Butterfly Sanctuary – it was a bit of a letdown. The zoo in Sydney had more varieties of butterflies but we managed to hit a “tour” time so we got a little more information than a normal visit would have. The butterflies were beautiful – I had one land on me but John wasn’t there with the camera.

After that, we wandered around Kuranda – can’t say I was impressed with most of the stores but I found what I didn’t know I was looking for. A little background – when I was born, my uncle gave me a stuffed koala that was made of kangaroo fur – I slept with it for years and it was bare when I finally put it away. Today we found a toy koala that is almost an exact replica – his toes are different but he’s made of kangaroo fur (and is so soft) and he wasn’t much more expensive than a plush koala.

There is also a “hippie” area in Kuranda – tie-dyed clothing, beads, etc. Looked just like a flea market or craft fair at home – needless to say, we didn’t buy anything there.

We were booked for the 2:00 train back to Cairns and found we were in the very last car at the end (and not beside a window). Shortly after we started out, the hostess came along and said that if anyone wanted to move – the #5 carriage was completely empty and we were welcome to move to it. When we stopped at the Barron Falls lookout, John made a beeline for #5 and got 2 window seats so that we were on the side of the train that overlooked the gorge. That was almost worse (at times) than the skyrail. *s*

Temperature: 25 C – sunny with some cloud

Tree Frog in Kuranda

Stoney Creek Falls

Tree at Red Peak Station, Skyrail

Poinsetta tree in Kuranda

FRIDAY, MAY 9

Awesome, Superb, Fantastic, Breathtaking, – there aren’t enough adjectives to describe the Great Barrier Reef. We had booked an all day (5 hours at the reef) tour withReef Magic with an added option of a 5 minute helicopter flight over the reef. The boat was a catamaran which docked at a platform on the Moore Reef. The cruise out was a bit rough (but not bad by BC Ferries standards) and there were quite a few seasick people. But not John and I! The water was so clear and warm (26 C) – although there were not many people who opted for just a bathing suit – most hired wet suits. On the way out, there was a brief talk by the on-site marine biologist and plenty of offers of “extras” at the site (most at an extra cost). I decided to take an introductory snorkelling tour as I have never snorkelled before and John decided to join it too. We were glad we did – Eric, the biologist, showed us how to adjust the mask (they even had prescription ones so that John could see underwater) and snorkel and then floated us around and pointed out various corals and fish.

John met Wally and

I met Sarah, both Maori Wrasse who live at the reef.

After the tour, we headed to the platform for lunch (a buffet – and I even found stuff to eat – including huge prawns.) There was lots of food – and the tropical fruit salad bowl was refreshed a few times over the afternoon. Our heli tour was booked for 1:10 so we stayed dry and looked at the fish through the underwater observatory and went to the sun deck for a look around.

Then it was time for the helicopter tour – we were tendered over to the heli pad and taken on our 5 minute tour – we saw eagle rays and sea turtles. Best of all though was the view of the reef from the air.

Back on the platform, we headed to the snorkelling area again for an hour or more of snorkelling, until we were exhausted. 5 hours wasn’t enough time for everything though – we had wanted to go on the semi-submersible but the times weren’t right for the activities we had signed up for. The crew was wonderful – the proportion of crew to tourists was about 1 to 5 – and most of them remembered names by the end of the trip. We bought a few photos of ourselves from the on-site photographer and she included 90 shots of the reef and the platform. We did take some photos with disposable marine cameras but we’re not sure how well they’ll turn out so it’s nice to have some good ones *s*

The trip back in was much smoother (although some people were still seasick). We passed a fire on an island and the crew called it in to the forest service so they could check it out.

Cairns from the ocean

We got back to port about 5 p.m. and wandered our way back to the hotel. All evening, we kept talking about the reef and all the things we’d seen. It was one of the best experiences ever and I’d recommend Reef Magic to everyone.

Sorry no pictures with our Caps jerseys at the Great Barrier Reef – we didn’t have room to carry them in a backpack as we had to take our own towels with us.

Temperature: 28 C – sunny with high cloud

Chris and John boarding the Reef Magic cruise

Nemo (photo from Reef Magic photographer)

Parrot Fish (photo from Reef Magic photographer)

Coral (photo from Reef Magic photographer)

SATURDAY, MAY 10

It was a scheduled lazy day today – the only things on the agenda were waiting for Lizz and Erik to call, getting the films from the disposable cameras developed and figuring out how to pack everything we have with us into the 3 suitcases. We’ve decided that after Brisbane we can fit everything into 4 bags as we’re each allowed 2 on the flight back.

We walked into town along the promenade along Esplanade Street – still hoping to see a saltwater croc *g* We didn’t see one but when we got down to the pool area, there was an open air market with lots of craft stalls. We decided to find a store to develop the film and then browse through the market. Luckily we went looking for the shop when we did – a lot of the stores (not the souvenir shops) close at 1 or 1:30 on Saturday afternoons – actually the town was pretty empty except for tourists.

There were some interesting craft stalls – one that was impressive sold boulder opal necklaces. They were gorgeous. John learned a lot about them when he was talking to the people who made them. Oh – and there was a stall selling natural products including a tropical strength mosquito repellent – it was very similiar to your Camper Cream, Lalena. Soon it was time to go back to pick up the photos – we weren’t holding out much hope that they’d be very good but we were surprised – there are quite a few good ones. Unfortunately, they are in print form so you’ll have to wait until we’re home to see them.

We puttered around in a few more souvenir shops and then made our way back to the apartment where we ate the juicy, fresh local grapefruit we had bought at the local fruit and vegetable market (Fridays and Saturdays only). They had all kinds of fruits and veggies that are grown just northwest of Cairns in “The Tableland” area. We saw passion fruit, dragon fruit, melons – did I mention that cantaloupe are rockmelons here?, papayas and something that is like a lychee nut. For veggies, there was everything from lettuce, cucumbers, carrots to asparagus, bokchoy, and fresh corn. There was even one stall selling sugar cane – both raw and as juice. John found the macadamia nut stall right away – the fellow running it recognized our accent as Canadian and we had quite a chat about travelling and tourists.

One thing we’ve seen a lot of is Wicked Camper rentals. They are wildly decorated and usually have some weird sayings on them – today we saw this one:

but we’ve seen a lot of others – like Homer Simpson, the Beatles, anime and some that I don’t even want to mention.

Off to do the laundry – well some of it anyway and then to pack up everything we’re not going to need in the morning. Next stop – Worldmark, Golden Beach in Caloundra where there is supposed to be internet access *s*.

Temperature: 30 C – sunny with high cloud

Lorrikeets

Flower

Alice Springs/Cairns

TUESDAY, MAY 6

Alice Springs was much busier today – since it wasn’t a public holiday. We managed to get a noon checkout (instead of 10 a.m.) so we headed to town in the morning and browsed through the souvenir shops and other stores.

Todd Mall isn’t a mall in our sense of the word – it’s a street that is closed to traffic with a lot of open air stores and cafes.

Apparently, Alice Springs downtown district is a “dry” area (in public spots). Most of the signs simply say – No Alcohol Zone but this one caught our eye:

After browsing for the morning, we went back to the hotel and checked out – leaving our luggage in a locked luggage room (but carrying the laptop around in the backpack). On our walk, we had spotted a Reptile Centre so we decided to spend some time there before it was time to leave for the airport. What a neat place – they do tours throughout the day (and on our tour there were only 8 people) and bring out some of the “residents” for a show and tell and holding session. The guide started with 3 lizards – a bearded dragon, a blue-tongued skink and a shingleback (sorry no picture). The skink likes to “give kisses” – we took a lot of photos trying to catch him with his tongue out but no luck so I had the idea of taking a video which managed to capture him with his tongue out. Wish I could post it but we haven’t figure out how yet.

Chris with the blue-tongued skink

Then she brought out Olive, the olive python. She also likes to be held and she feels so smooth and it tickles when she moves around you. She moves until she finds a comfortable spot (she likes the heat of backs) and then she just cuddles. She really liked John’s hat and actually got it off him when the guide was taking her off.

John with Olive

The Centre also had a fossil room with some really neat looking fossils and skeletons.

They also had some green tree frogs (must be cousins to the ones you have Lalena *s*), some perentie lizards (the biggest in Australia) and a saltwater croc. It was a good way to spend a few hours before heading back to the hotel. We still had a little time to wait for the taxi, so we sat by the pool (in the shade) and talked to a man from Perth. The other thing we learned was that Thorny Devils are like snowflakes – no two are exactly the same.

We had asked for the taxi to pick us up at 2:50 but were still waiting at 3:05 (I think that taxi company runs on manana time) – when John tried to call them to find out where the taxi was, all he got was a busy signal so the receptionist at the hotel called a number for him to talk to the cab company. It turned out that she called a different company and the taxi was at the hotel within minutes – just before the other one arrived.

We were at the airport early but could check in about 15 minutes after we arrived and then we whipped through security. We thought we would get something to eat but the grill in the restaurant was closed so we bought a snack and some beer and sat in the outside area until the flight was called. As for the flight, Qantas is tops in our books. It was only 2 hours and 20 minutes but we were served a snack, immediately followed by a dinner. John had beef, rice and veggies and I actually got a fruit platter. I was so impressed that there hadn’t been a glitch.

We arrived in Cairns at 7:50, found a cab and were regaled by stories of man-eating crocs and staying away from the mangrove swamps. Reception at the Cairns Queenslander was closed but we followed the late arrival instructions (and noticed that the taxi driver had waited to make sure we got in ok – what a nice guy). The apartment here is more than I expected – there is a hot plate as well as a good sized fridge and microwave. I thought we would be making do with just the microwave and a small fridge. It is also a lot larger than we had thought – it’s a great deal for $105 a night.

Our first impression was that it was warm and humid – a nice change after the dry heat of the desert.

Temperature: 27 C – sunny

Pygmy Mulga Goanna

Bearded Dragon

Bedroom

Living room area

Kitchen

Dining area

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7

No activities planned for today so we had a “lazy” day. We walked the 1.5 km into town by way of the pathway along the waterfront. It’s a well maintained path, with lots of information signs along the way. On the way we saw

a few of these exercise stations (all with different exercises)
and this sign:

Cairns has a large saltwater pool near the waterfront. It looked inviting but was closed for cleaning at the time we were there. We kept walking and found a coffee shop in a fancy hotel. I ordered a coffee and John had a mocha – word of advice – if you’re ordering a mocha in Australia, it’s not sweetened. Next stop was the information centre to find out about Great Barrier Reef cruises. There are way too many choices. The receptionist at the hotel had a few suggestions and the girl at the info centre had a few others. In the end, we narrowed it down to 2 different choices and then finally chose the one with the short helicopter ride included. We booked it for Friday and on Thursday we are going to Kuranda via the Skyrail and return via the train.

Our choice finally made, we wandered into the downtown area to browse and have lunch at a Mexican restaurant (and yes, I did have nachos as usual *g*). Cairns has lots and lots of souvenir stands – some good, some tacky. We didn’t buy anything today because we thought we would check out the Night Market first. So, after dinner we walked back downtown and found the market. The prices weren’t any better than in town and it seemed like they were more a lot of the time. The store owners seemed disinterested and we were disappointed. We didn’t buy anything and will probably shop in town on Saturday.

Hopefully the internet will be working on Thursday – the date on the server is out of synch (or so the tech support guy said – it’s showing January 1, 2000 right now) so it won’t let me buy time.

Temperature: 29 C – sunny, but humid

Sculptures in the saltwater pool

Palm tree

John and the Blues Brothers

Masked Lapwings

Kings Canyon/Alice Springs

SUNDAY, MAY 4

At 8 a.m. when we left the campsite, it was already 20 degrees. We stopped at Kings Canyon to do the Kings Creek Walk – a walk up a dry creekbed to a viewpoint at the end. There were a lot of people starting off on the 4 hour Kings Canyon loop – some of them probably should not have been. They were having difficulty with the first part of the trail and were having to pull each other up.

This is the start of the Kings Canyon Loop

The Kings Creek walk was mostly in the shade – and not too bothered by flies until we were almost finished. It was the first walk we’ve done that has had signs along the way, explaining what you are seeing in the creek bed.

This area must have huge flash floods – there were large trees washed up against other trees. You can see the water markings on the rocks – they are black in places where the water washes over them. The viewpoint at the end was pretty – and you could see hikers doing the Kings Canyon loop on the rim of the canyon. Another reason I wasn’t going to be hiking there.

After the 45 minute hike, we headed for Alice Springs. Our original thought was to stop at Erldunda again – but we were there about noon and it seemed to early to stop. We decided to continue on to Alice Springs and look for a campsite at the MacDonnell Ranges campsite – even though we were here at 3 p.m. we were lucky to get a spot – this is a huge campground and it was almost full. It’s a nice spot for families – there are lots of kid activities. They even had internet access so I managed to upload all the photos and blog entries. After dinner, I decided to take advantage of the on-site laundromat – they even have clothes lines for drying. (Actually all the campsites we’ve stayed at have had clothes lines).

On the road outside Erldunda – we spotted a thorny devil (a lizard) on the road, sunning himself (no, he wasn’t flat – he was bobbing up and down). We wanted to turn around and take a photo but figured he’d be gone by the time we got back *g*

This is John’s favourite road sign – too bad the vehicle we had wasn’t capable of doing that speed.

One of the local radio stations in Alice Springs is Sun FM – now I know of 3 of them.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Alice Springs Desert Park and the National Road Transport Hall of Fame before we return the van. We stay Monday night at the Best Western in Alice Springs and then fly to Cairns in the afternoon on Tuesday.

The campervan has been fun – but definitely costly. Fuel for the 2,664 km has cost $437. Actually it’s a little more than that as we don’t have to fill it up when we return it as we prebought a full tank (at 1.64/litre which is definitely cheaper than we’ve been paying). We thought the propane had run out but John checked it over and discovered the tank wasn’t hooked up properly and it was sucking air so he fixed it and then the stove worked well again. It’s been great being able to cook our own meals – and the best purchase we’ve made has been the frying pan (so I don’t use one that might have had eggs cooked in it). We did well with the food buying and don’t have much leftover – and only had to buy one loaf of bread after we did our initial shopping.

Temperature: 29 C – sunny

Chris and John at the end of the walk

Kings Creek Walk

Hikers on the rim of the Kings Canyon Loop

MONDAY, MAY 5

Didn’t do too much today – when we got up we cleaned out the campervan and then went to the Alice Springs Desert Park. It’s a fantastic place and well set up – we ended up spending 3 1/2 hours there and decided that we didn’t have enough time to spend at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame. They have an audio tour (free of charge) that you can use in the park. The park has various areas including Desert Rivers, Woodlands and Sand Country. There were a number of enclosures where you could see animals (mostly birds – except in the nocturnal exhibit). We really enjoyed the park – and were amazed that there weren’t many tourists there. One thing that I really liked were the signs on the various trees and plants, explaining what they were and what the natives used them for.

John got to see a thorny devil up close (and not just sunning on the road) – they are really strange looking.

We finally got to see kangaroos too – and this guy looks like the card I got from work.

After we left the park, we headed to the Best Western Elkira Inn at Alice Springs to see if we could check in there before we returned the van. We were in luck so we left all the luggage in the room and took the campervan back to the Maui dealer. We had to wait quite a while for a taxi back to the Best Western, but once there we went out for a walk.

The town itself seems to be the size of downtown Duncan – and with the same sort of problems. Lots of aboriginals on the street – some asking for handouts, others just looking “down and out”. One thing that’s noticeable is the security in all the stores and a lot of the homes – there are screens on the windows or high fences or guard dogs. It was really quiet in town, and then we found out that it’s a holiday – May Day. There were a few stores open in Todd Mall but we’ll have to go back again tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we’ll try to get out exploring in the morning before we have to check out at noon but the hotel has a luggage room where we can leave our luggage until we get the shuttle to the airport. The flight to Cairns leaves at 5:10 p.m. and we’ll arrive at 7:45 p.m.

Temperature: 30 C – sunny

An Australian Dogwood

Flowers at the Desert Park

Kangaroo grass

Kangaroo grass sign

Coober Pedy

THURSDAY, MAY 1

I think the clouds are following us – we woke up this morning to overcast skies and a cooler temperature. Even the driver of the tour bus commented on the fact that it was cooler than usual. For a change, it didn’t get blamed on the Canadians – there were a few couples from Victoria State on the tour and the weather was blamed on them. *s*

The tour driver was a lot of fun – he was knowledgeable and had a lot of interesting anecdotes. First stop was the Underground Serbian Church – there are 3 underground churches in Coober Pedy – two were made from old mining caves, but this one was built specifically as a church. It was beautiful inside – the walls and ceiling look almost like marble because of the veins of different rocks.

After the church tour, we went “noodling” – searching for opals on the ground. The only rules are no mechanical equipment – we were shown what to look for – and what not to look for (gypsum) and sent off for 15 minutes of exploring. Surprisingly, John found a small rock with the colour of opal showing – he thinks it was because of the rain the day before, the stones were a little cleaner. Most of us didn’t find anything – I did find some potch – which is an indicator of opal but not actually coloured opal.

Next was the

Coober Pedy 18-hole golf course

– the first thing we saw on the way in to the course, was a sign saying “keep off the grass”. Everyone was laughing then because this course is made of dirt and the “grass” around the holes is oil covered sand. The first tee is at the top of a hill –

it has a good view of the town.

. We drove through an active opal mining field – and George, the tour driver, explained that there is no obligation for miners to fill in the test holes. There are piles of sandstone taken out of the test holes all over the place.

They are cone shaped and varying colours – the lighter piles usually indicate that there is no opal there – the opal usually is found in the darker coloured rock. Apparently, a claim costs $160 for a year – the only stipulation is that you must work at mining it for 20 hours a week for 9 months of the year. The initial hole is done with a machine, and you can use dynamite and machines in the caves but if you find opal, it will blow the opal to pieces so the actual extracting of opals is done by hand with a pick.

We drove through the town – which isn’t much to see as most residents live underground. They do have a radio station – Dusty Radio, a bank, a few gas stations and a hospital though. The next stop was the

Umoona Opal Mine and Museum.

There we were treated to a fascinating 10 minute documentary on the finding of opals in Australia before we were led on a tour of the museum and mine. The first thing we saw was an old dugout home – it was pretty bare and small. Then it was on to a modern dugout home (70% of Coober Pedy residents live in a dugout) – the walls and ceilings of the dugouts (which are inhabited by 70% of residents in Coober Pedy) are spray coated with a sealant and then are maintenance free forever. To wire the dugouts for electricity, they dig a gouge in the sandstone and run the wiring and then cover it with a mixture of sandstone and sealant so it isn’t visible. You can keep adding as many rooms as you want (as long as you’re within your hill), and if you’re really lucky, while you’re renovating you might find some opal. Then it was down into the former opal mine – lots of tunnels and the guide showed us where opal had been found – and then showed where there is still opal in the walls. It was really interesting – and gave quite an insight into living in Coober Pedy.

Oh – and about the spaceship – it was in a movie called Pitch Black. We were both wrong *s*

After the tour was over, we headed north on the Stuart Highway again. We made it to Erldunda – just inside the Northern Territory border where we stayed at the Desert Oak Caravan Park. This is a really nice set up – lots of space, pull through parking spots, tavern, restaurant, store and they had happy hour at the tavern there – so we went and had a beer and socialized with other travellers. We saw a

kangaroo in the caravan park
but I’m not sure it could be classified as wild – we walked right past and it didn’t move.

Temperature: 31 C (at Erldunda where we stopped for the night at 4:30 p.m.) – sunny except for the above mentioned cloud in the morning

At the Coober Pedy sign

John noodling for opals

Raw opal

FRIDAY, MAY 2

It might have been hot when we went to bed last night but it got cold during the night – guess it’s to be expected as we are on the outskirts of the Simpson Desert but it was a shock. It was 11 degrees and felt even cooler after the heat of yesterday. It soon started to warm up – we were on the road at 8:30 and by 11:30, the temperature was reaching the high 20’s. Our wildlife spottings for this drive included numerous wedge-tailed eagles and a camel – still no live kangaroos.

We reached Yularu (Ayers Rock Resort) at about 11:30, and checked in to the campsite before we did anything else – that turned out to be a smart move as the number of campers checking in after the sunset viewing of Uluru was huge.

After scoping out the campsite, we headed for Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) – it’s 200 metres taller than Uluru and is very impressive. We had thought about doing the Valley of the Winds walk but it was too warm out for a 4 hour hike so we settled for the Walpa Gorge hike – just an hour long. It was amazing to be walking beside such huge rocks – the trail ended at a thicket of ironwood trees and we stopped for a photo.

When we got back to the van, we drove to the Valley of the Winds for another view of Kata Tjuta and then started for Uluru.

What can you say about Uluru? It’s every bit as impressive as photos make it seem – the walk around the base is 10 kilometres. And it seems massive – but most of all the colour just keeps drawing you back to look again. Of course we stopped for a photo opportunity there too.

Chris and John in front of Uluru

We drove around the base and then went to the cultural centre for a while. It was interesting – but one story from the legends of the Anangu (pronounced arn-ang-oo) was repeated many times. I would have liked to hear other stories as well as we saw artwork depicting other legends.

Back to Ayers Rock Resort to look around the shopping center and then out to the sunset viewing area. We got there about 45 minutes before sunset and the lot was already filling up – can’t imagine what it would be like in the high season. Watching the sunset was phenomenal.

The rock seemed to glow just before it went dark.

John and I both took too many photos but it was so easy to just keep pushing the button. We talked to a girl wearing a Vancouver 2010 Olympics t-shirt – we thought she might have been from Canada but she was from Japan and plays ice hockey.

All in all, we love Uluru and Kata Tjuta (even though it’s pricey – campsite $36/entry to park $25 ea/diesel $2.06 litre) – but hate the flies (so if we have funny expressions on our faces, it’s probably because the flies were attacking). They don’t bite but do try to fly into eyes, nose, mouth and ears at all times. I see now why people wear fly nets over their hats.

Tomorow, back to Uluru to do a short walk and then off to King’s Canyon.

Temperature: 33 C – sunny

Camel on the side of the road

Morning sky at Erldunda

Sign

SATURDAY, MAY 3

Didn’t get up early enough to catch the sunrise viewing so we headed to Uluru at about 7:45 a.m. for a walk on the Kuniya (Woma Python) Walk – which was posted as an hour walk. It was a really easy hike along boardwalk to a

watering hole – probably took 25 minutes at most (and we stopped to look at the viewpoints) but it was in the shaded area and the temperature was already climbing so we didn’t look for another walk.

We left Yulara at 9:30, heading for King’s Canyon. It took about 4 hours driving. Still no kangaroos but we saw two herds of camels and some horses. Once we arrived, we got a camping spot at King’s Canyon Resort and then walked out to the sunset viewpoint to check it out. After that, it was back in the van for a trip to the King’s Canyon Park – we had thought to do a hike there but this was the temperature

so we decided to try it tomorrow morning. When we started back to the van, there was a

dingo in the parking lot. There are signs everywhere asking people not to feed the wildlife but this one seemed to be expecting a free meal.

On the way back to the campsite, we spotted these flowers

Sturt Desert Pea

After that, it was R & R time – we had a shaded campsite and the flies weren’t too bad so we put the lawnchairs out and had a beer and some corn chips. Before long, we were surrounded by birds – crested pigeons, miners, a white-winged triller and crows (they were in the tree). The miners were very interested in the corn chips and one actually kept flying up and perching on John’s hand.

He fed them for a while and then, when we put the chip bag away, they headed to another campsite.

Soon it was time to watch the sunset

– our camping spot wasn’t far away from a vantage point that was just as good as the viewpoint. Not as spectacular as the sunset at Uluru but still pretty. When we started back to the van, there was a dingo casually strolling through campsites.

Tomorrow we leave in the direction of Alice Springs – after a walk at King’s Canyon. Hopefully will find internet access in Alice Springs so I can post this – or no one will have enough time to read all the entries.

Temperature: 38 C – sunny

Spinifex pigeon

Sign

Galah

Travels with John and Chris

A diary of our travels

2008

Caloundra – 6 (Fraser Island)

Caloundra – 5

Caloundra – 4 (Australia Zoo)

Caloundra – 3

Caloundra – 2

Caloundra – 1

Cairns – 2

Alice Springs/Cairns

Kings Canyon/Alice Springs

Coober Pedy