Dull Driving Days Livened up by whales

Train line next to our camp

Couldn't not go through this town

Emerald

We’ve had a couple of relatively dull long driving days getting to the coast, swishing through towns long enough only to notice the cool name of some of them, and bush camping by the side of the road. The place we stayed at right next to the train line turned out to still be used by trains, so we had one thundering past in the evening, got a friendly toot from the driver who was probably quite surprised to see a tent light in the middle of nowhere, and then another one during the night (no toot at least). We got into Maryborough with just enough time to get to the Parks and Wildlife office to try and book into Fraser Island – its website is very frustrating as it always seems to be down, but we managed to book ourselves into the last campsite later ourselves online. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out and found a nice pub which used to be the old Post Office.

We got up early to tried to get an earlier ferry this morning but the tides were against us, so we got to Rainbow Beach, had hours to kill so had our cereal sitting at a table on the headland looking out over the sparkling sea, watching three whales play around in the bay. They were quite close in and  stayed there for hours which was great. Then we had a swim and play on the beautiful beach, a great way to wait for the ferry, but while we were there we discovered that actually the whales weren’t playing out there, one of them was stuck. There are lots of buoys or a net out there so it must have somehow been stuck in one of those. There were film crews on the beach and rubber dinghies out there trying to help it for quite a while, and the good news as we were having lunch, again on the headland, is that it has been freed!

Age of Dinosaurs

Front leg bones

Hip socket from Matilda

Conor and Daniel in front of Banjo's jaw

More dinosaurs this morning, as we went to the Age of Dinosaurs exhibition just outside Winton. It’s  really a research facility that they run tours of as well, it’s where they clean up, prepare and classify the bones that they keep finding around there – the land was given to them by a local landowner who first found the bones of a huge Sauropod on his property which they nicknamed Elliott, and they’ve since found bones of another herbivore dinosaur which they’ve called Matilda, also pretty big, and a smaller carnivore which they’ve nicknamed Banjo. It was very interesting seeing the actual bones and examples of where they come from in the body, and to see some people at work cleaning up bones. Apparently they used to dig them up regularly, but now they only do a dig for more bones once a year for a 3 week period, because they keep finding so many bones that already they have 6 years’ of work sitting waiting for them to get through! The guide made the comparison between the Winton and Hughenden area, in that Hughenden used to be covered by an inland sea (so the fossils are of sea creatures like ammonites, fish, squid etc, whereas Winton was open land, but had lakes, so its fossils are of land based creatures. The centre is also up on a high mesa with great views out over the flat land all around.

After that it was more driving driving driving trying to go East. We had lunch in Longreach, were just too lazy to do any sightseeing (we’re slowing down, conscious that we’re towards the end) and stopped briefly at Barcaldine because we were wondering what a monument was, which turned out to be the Tree of Knowledge, which meant we got in a brief conversation about strikes and unions.

Tonight we’re bush camping somewhere which just happens to have another plaque – it was the first artesian water struck in the Great Artesian Basin in 1886, funny thing to have a plaque about. It’s right next to a rail line so who knows, we could get woken up in the middle of the night by a train rushing past. Nice and quiet anyway. We’re umming and ahing about where to go next, losing a bit of our momentum knowing that we haven’t got long to go. I think we’re going to give Carnarvon Gorge a miss, having seen a lot on the trip (although I’m sure it’s lovely) but are hoping to do Fraser Island instead, having seen the Ralh’s photos (and Vin you were quite persuasive in your email). What I’m really looking forward to now is seeing friends and family, including those in Brisbane, Murwillumbah and Sydney (not to mention those at home).

Waltzing Winton

Big and little footprints at Lark Quarry

Emu family

Landscape around Lark Quarry (imagine it's 37 degrees)

Nick and Conor are all better and now I’ve got the cold – but at least I know it won’t last long, Daniel is the only one holding out! Super strong immunity.

We’ve made it to Winton today and even though we’re still heading South, it’s just getting hotter! The car thermometer says 37 degrees outside as I write (although I admit it often exaggerates a little bit) which was a crazy time to go out for a walk but since we’d driven 110k out to the Lark Quarry dinosaur footprint site, we felt like we should. It was only a short walk and I don’t think I was paying quite as much attention as I could have been but we all enjoyed the tour inside to see the actual footprints. 95 million years ago there was a lake here and it was much wetter (2m of rain per year) and there were two types of dinosaurs which were probably having a drink at the lake – one type which were the size of chickens (Coelurosaurs), and one type which were the size of cassowaries (about 1.8m, Ornithopods). Then a big carnivorous dinosaur (Carnosaur), a couple of metres tall, stalking them, they panicked and stampeded, and he (it) chased them. It’s quite amazing how much palaeontologists can tell just from the footprints – our guide pointed out how the large dinosaur walked along, pivoted on one foot then stopped in another place, and how some of the smaller ones were running along and actually ran into each other, skidding in one spot, or where the cassowary sized ones started just walking and then took bigger strides trying to get away. There were also juvenile sized footprints for each of the smaller dinosaurs, obviously running along next to parents.

These footprints and what they show about how dinosaurs walked or ran were apparently used when making the movie Jurassic Park to make a stampede scene as real as possible. The guide pointed out that the movie had ‘got one thing right’ when they made the big carnivorous dinosaur walk or run along almost horizontal to the ground with its head right down and tail acting as a counter balance swaying from side to side.

On the way to and from the quarry we saw the first emus that we’ve seen in a long time, and better yet, there were two different groups with emu babies – all stripey and very cute. We also fitted in the Waltzing Matilda museum today which wasn’t too bad – it has potential to be super schmaltzy but it was interesting to know how and when the song was written (by Banjo Patterson on a property near Winton), and to hear lots of different versions of it, including a perky one in Swedish, one in Pidgin English and a rock ‘n roll version which the kids thought was hilarious.

Hughenden

Cow trying to sneak some of the grass from the camping area at Corfield

Example of Muttabuttasaurus skeleton in Hughenden

Old 20 foot windmill in Hughenden

Muttabuttasaurus

Sunset in Corfield

Driving back the way we had come almost to Undarra NP yesterday afternoon (going West, that is) felt quite wrong, but we made it a good way down the Kennedy Development Road and happened upon a little gravel pull in where we could bush camp. It was right next to the road so a bit noisy (and some of the trucks gave us a friendly beep as they went past), but surrounded by quite a pretty forest. We hadn’t lit a fire in a while so that was nice, and it meant that we could cook on it with the wok (also not used for a while). We woke up to a cool misty morning and it really hit home that we’re not in the tropics any more!

This morning we kept on going South, passed through the Oasis Roadhouse and hit the dirt part of the road, which wasn’t really that bad – possibly our last dirt road for the trip! Unless we make it to Fraser Island that is. We made it to Hughenden for lunch by the completely dry Flinders River (not named after Matthew Flinders apparently, but some other Flinders, the Info Centre lady couldn’t tell us who though!). It’s a small town of 1600 people, we’re definitely back in the Outback (hot, dry and empty again) and it’s quite a nice place, great facilities but not a whole lot open on a Sunday afternoon with big, wide, empty open streets. We visited their Flinders Discovery Centre which is about the many fossils that have been found in the area, lots of ammonites, lots of fish, squid, petrified wood, and some ichthyosaur (?) bone fossils amongst others, apparently it’s a big fossil area. There was also a copy of a muttabuttasaurus skeleton, parts of which were found very nearby and which might have been the first dinosaur fossil discovered in Australia (I think). Hughenden, Winton and Richmond are all part of a dinosaur tourism ‘triangle’ in this area, but we won’t get to Richmond unfortunately.

We didn’t leave Hughenden until 4pm and were hoping to find another bush camp on the way to Winton, but things weren’t looking good as we drove on and on through big, wide empty plains, not even a tree to park beside. It was great then to drive into Corfield, population 3, just before the sun went down and find a free camping space set aside (and advertised). There’s a toilet, nice gravel cleared space, picnic tables, tap water for washing up (even a sink!), a bbq with wood provided, and a little playground for the kids. Another couple from Bawley Point were already camped here and let us know that there’s even a shower we can use at the pub over the road! It (the pub) was supposed to be opening at 5pm but hasn’t – apparently they’ve had the gall to go and get married (so maybe that means the population will now be four). The showers are out the back though and still available. What a great town/village!

Mareeba didn't do much for me

Farewell picnic lunch at Yungaburra

Daniel enjoying his vanilla slice so much he thought he'd wear it

Conor making short work of a chocolate hedgehog slice

Our trip south from Cape Trib was a bit of a downer. We decided on staying in Mareeba so that we could go out for a last dinner with Jenny and Peter, and thought because it’s a bigger town it might have more choice. Turned out not to be the case unfortunately, the only places that did pizza or pasta (we had promised Daniel lasagne) were takeaway only, and we finished up at the RSL, which didn’t really hit the spot in terms of taste or value for money. None of us liked the town that much in general, and were wishing we’d stayed in Atherton. Oh well, we had a bit of a walk around the shore of Lake Tinnaroo, where again I was expecting there to be nicer walks and lots of them but there was only one and it wasn’t that exciting. Today we had a nicer morning going back to the lovely walk we’d already done at Yungaburra along Peterson Creek, had yet another picnic lunch with some yummy pastries from the Atherton bakery, and then farewelled Jenny and Peter who were driving back to Cairns, preparing to fly off tomorrow, while we head south towards Winton. We’ve all completely given up on seeing a Cassowary now… still a bit disappointed though. Conor and Nick have colds unfortunately so we won’t be pushing ourselves too hard in order to get there in a hurry. I don’t think it’s a very bad one though, as Conor came down with it 2 nights ago but still managed to polish off a pizza and two desserts last night, so at least he hasn’t lost his appetite.

Cape Tribulation

Driving onto the Daintree River ferry

On the ferry

Daintree rainforest

Tropical fruit tasting

Black Sapote or Chocolate Pudding Fruit

Soursop, a type of custard apple

Jaboticaba growing on the tree

If I thought we were in the tropics at Wonga beach, now we really know we’re there. It was cool coming over the Daintree River on the ferry this morning, only a very quick crossing, pulled across by cables attached to two big wheels. The road up the cape feels like it’s only just cut into the side of the rainforest, and seems like, if left for a while, it would just grow back over it. We first stopped at the Discovery Centre which has a big network of elevated walkways and platforms of differing levels through the rainforest which was beautiful. There were quite a few people at the centre so no chance of sighting the elusive cassowary, but there was lots of interesting information about plants and animals/birds, and Peter and Jenny really enjoyed it. Then we pushed on to our campsite at the Cape Tribulation campground on Myall Beach, which couldn’t be closer to the beach and has a nice big shady tree for us to camp under. It’s packed full but stretches along the beach so doesn’t feel as crowded as it probably is. The beach is a lovely stretch of sand lined with palm trees laden with coconuts just the other side of the tents across from us, and the water is amazingly warm, just like a swimming pool. We had a dip late this afternoon when the tide was pretty high but it’s so shallow for such a long way that it really was just a dip as we gave up wading after a while when we were still only up to our thighs.

After lunch at the tent our family headed off for a tropical fruit tasting tour nearby which was really fun. A couple who live here have a big farm/orchard on which they grow a huge variety of different tropical fruit, and they give a talk about each fruit, telling you how to eat it, before passing around tastes of 10 different fruits. We tasted breadfruit fried with salt, pepper and Cajun spices which was delicious; Jakfruit which Conor decided as ‘a bit slimy but good’, tasty I thought; then Pommelo, a citrus fruit which looks like a really huge grapefruit, very thick layer of peel but really tasty, popular with both Conor and I; then Solo Papaya, with a squeeze of lime which was delicious; Jaboticaba – all Conor wrote about this was ‘yuck!’ but I thought it was interesting, little black fruit which are apparently only ripe for about a week and that’s it; Yellow Sapote which tasted really like sweet potato but was so starchy it left a film on your teeth for a long time afterwards (‘horrible!’ according to Conor); Black Sapote, otherwise known as chocolate pudding fruit but tasted nothing like it, apparently some people cook it up with cocoa and sugar and put it on banana pancakes; Star Apple which we had actually bought in Cairns at the market to try and I quite like; and Soursop which we all really liked, a type of custard apple, Conor wrote ‘sour, soppy and yummy!’. After the tasting we had a tour of the orchard to see some fruit on the trees, and we were also shown turmeric roots growing up out of the ground, a vanilla plant, dragon fruit plants (which are basically cacti) and the guide snapped a twig off a cinnamon tree for us to smell, which was really cool. He explained that he hasn’t bothered with his vanilla plant this year – you have to manually pollinate each flower, which is only receptive for about half an hour in the morning, and then 9 months later you might get one vanilla bean, which explains why they’re so expensive. Apparently they’re native to Mexico, but even in Mexico the native bee which used to pollinate them are extinct.

Nick and I both wondered how they make a living, or why in fact they’re still trying to make a living there, as they don’t really sell any of the fruit on a commercial basis. They apparently got a good crop of purple mangosteens 18 months ago which they made a couple of thousand dollars of profit on, but they haven’t had a crop since. All of the other fruit seems to be too hard to transport, or too labour intensive to compete with cheaper growers, and yet they’ve been persisting for 20 years here. The boys both really enjoyed the experience anyway and so did we – Conor is always asking me to buy different tropical fruit just to taste them so it was an easier way to do that! It’s a pity Durian isn’t ripe at the moment because I hesitate to buy a whole one of those just for him to taste and discover he doesn’t like it.

Jenny and Peter were relaxing at the tent while we were doing that so we joined them later for a swim in the sea and then drinks on the beach while the kids played in the sand, which was very civilised. Things are looking good for a relaxing day tomorrow….

Beach walk along Myall Beach

Curly vines

View of Cape Tribulation beach

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday, starting with a beautiful walk along the beach and over the headland to a lookout over Cape Tribulation – when Daniel heard we were going for yet another walk, his only response was “do we have to go on EVERY walk in Australia????”, but he and Conor had a great time playing on the beach in the afternoon while the adults lazed and read. In the words of Are We There Yet, it really IS where the ‘rainforest meets the sea’ here, just beautiful, and has a very beachy relaxed feel about it, while you can see the rainforest covered mountains just the other side of the road, with their tops dipped in clouds.

Mossman Gorge and Crocodiles

A snake in the caravan park, as yet unindentified

A salty on the Daintree River

Mossman Gorge

Daintree River

Conor in front of a 'sandwich tree' (the host tree in the middle that was strangled by the strangler fig)

An action packed day today around the Daintree: We started with a walk through the rainforest at Mossman Gorge which was beautiful. It had loads of strangler fig trees which apparently find a host tree and use it to grow on and climb up, so in the end the strangler surrounds the host tree, completely blocking it off from light, and it dies. A lot of the trees also had big buttress roots in order to stabilise themselves in the soggy boggy ground of the rainforest, and also in order to get enough oxygen. I found it interesting that the trees there with buttress roots don’t always have buttress roots irrespective of where they are, they might grow in other places that aren’t so wet and just have ‘normal’ roots, so they’re just adapting to their environment. Some of the roots extend so far and wide that the paths are just a tangle of roots, you wouldn’t know which trees they belong to, and how wide the base of the tree technically is.

After that we drove to Daintree village for a quick lunch before going on a crocodile spotting cruise which our lovely neighbours Ross and Rachael bought as a present for us. It was quite different to the visit we had to Crocodylus Park in Darwin, in that these crocodiles are in the wild, and the guide giving the commentary was also brought up in a house right across the river from the boat jetty, so he has a long standing knowledge of the area. We also saw a couple of tree snakes (quite hard to spot because they were quite small), two female crocodiles and the local dominant male, although he submerged as soon as we came nearby and held his breath.

We all felt the humidity and heat this morning around Mossman Gorge, although it was at least cloudy and misty, but this afternoon on the river was much cooler and nicer.

Kuranda and Wonga

Riding around the botanic gardens

View on the way to Wonga

Peacock at Wonga caravan park

The rest of his harem

the Reef!

Busker art from Cairns Busker Festival

All excited getting on the boat

Daniel in Captain position

Heading out to the reef

Killing time heading back from the reef

Common Noddies on Michelmas Cay

We’re all enjoying Cairns so far, especially since Peter and Jenny have joined us now. They made it in the end late on Thursday night and we met them at the caravan park mid morning on Friday, once they’d picked up their Maui. They’re still adjusting to driving something the size of a minibus but it seems pretty compact and comfy. Yesterday afternoon they recovered from flights while we rode our bikes along the esplanade for a look, managing to catch a busker which the kids enjoyed (Cairns Buskers’ Festival on at the moment), then went out for a very nice Vietnamese for dinner.

It was early to bed as we had an early start this morning for our day out on the reef. We were down at the reef terminal at 7.30am and piled onto our big catamaran with about 60 other people, couldn’t believe how many there were (considering there’s lots of tour operators), and had a great day. The wind was pretty big though which made the first snorkelling spot pretty difficult – we were very impressed that Conor even got in since the waves were smacking loudly up against the platform at the back of the boat where we had to get in from, but there were still some nice fish and coral to see. Most people didn’t last very long there and then we shivered a bit in the wind on the boat to get to the next stop, Michelmas Cay which was much better. It was snorkelling off an island so much more sheltered and easier to enter from the small beach rather than off the back of the boat. Both kids got in there for a while, and then hung out on the beach with the grandparents while Nick and I had a great snorkel together.

Apart from different types of wrasses, butterfly fish, clownfish, and loads of parrotfish, we also saw one or more big green turtles which were fantastic, so streamlined, smooth and , just beautiful to watch them swim and we were only about 1 to 1 ½ metres above them. The coral was pretty good although quite a lot was dead or bleached, and there was lots of my favourite, giant clams. Big big purple ones, green stripey lipped ones, brown stripey lipped ones, seemingly any colour, and even small ones that seemed to be embedded into the coral. We had a nice long snorkel there, then back on the boat for the trip back to Cairns. The only downside about the Great Barrier Reef I guess is that it’s so far off shore (a 2 hour trip) so the boat ride was pretty boring, and pretty miserable for Jenny unfortunately. We all took sea sickness tablets as a preventative because of the winds and choppy water (and glad we did), but they weren’t quite enough for her. She did get to see some coral/fish in the glass bottom boat though so not a complete loss of a day. We really enjoyed it anyway, not that often that you get the chance, and who knows how much longer it will be around for???