With a couple of weeks to go before we can get into the Dingo Beach house we have been filling the gap in the Queensland Coast that we have not yet visited. From Midge Point we travelled down through Mackay as far as Clairview Beach, which turned out to be a very pleasant old-style caravan park, full of rainbow lorikeets. They are noisy but beautiful. At this point on the coast the tide goes out a long way and we found it out when we went down onto the beach -- much too far to walk out for a swim. This was probably a good thing as we learned later one is not advised to swim there due to the risk of crocodiles coming into the sea from the nearby creeks.

The Bruce Highway south through Rockhampton is a very boring road. The country is flat and uninteresting and we realise now what a drive it was for Derek and family to come up to Dingo Beach. Rockhampton has some interesting old colonial buildings but otherwise is a fairly seedy-looking place, so we passed through and took the coastal tourist route to Yeppoon. By now into school holidays, caravan parks were pretty full but we did find a space just to find that our gas bottles were both empty. This suggested a leak as they are never both empty at the same time and sure enough there was a smell that there should not have been. No gas available until next morning so the microwave came in handy.

Derek had told us many times we must visit the Town of 1770 and its neighbour Agnes Water. Again we were lucky to get a space as they are real family holiday resorts but we understood pretty quickly why he was so adamant that we see these places. 1770 in particular is a real little gem of a place, so-called because Captain Cook landed there in 1770 in the course of his explorations. Knowing that Derek and family were only a few hours away in Noosa, we put our second and third nights in Agnes Water on hold and took a couple of days to get down there to join them. There is a new member of the family, Jelly, a Great Dane/Labrador cross, that we had to meet and it was Dylan's birthday on the 21st also. Two good reasons to go out of our way to join them for a very short time. We had found and fixed the root of the gas problem (a missing o-ring on the connector) so that was a relief.

Jessie and Jelly

Derek and Jelly playing wicket keepers in a game of beach cricket. Dylan also ready for a catch.

The assembled younger generation at Happy Hour at the Winnebago.

Three nights to fill before coming back to Agnes Water and we decided to try Hervey Bay, the ideal place in September for whale-watching (humpbacks) and for doing a day tour to Fraser Island. The half-day whale trip was stunning. We saw mums teaching their calves how to breach and dive, then were entertained for ages by a young female which was quite simply showing off. It was fascinating. Fraser island the next day was also fun if quite different. Fraser Island is all sand. Only serious 4WDs are allowed to go there and we quickly saw why. The "roads" are just tracks in deep sand until one reaches the beach where at least the sand is firm. 75-Mile Beach is amazing and at times like a motorway although the speed limit is only 80. We saw the wreck of a once-grand ship, grounded on the beach during a storm in 1935 when it was being towed to Japan as scrap. It has survived the salt and sand as well as being used as target practice for one of the special forces during the war. Of 250 bombs dropped only two hit their target and the stern of the ship is mostly missing! Lake McKenzie provided the opportunity for a cool swim after a walk in a patch of rainforest. All in all a great day trip.

Our tour bus

Lake McKenzie

Now back in Agnes Water we are appreciating the beach while we still can. From here on, probably until we get to Broome in W.A. the beaches are to look at only. We are approaching the stinger season, to add to the crocs. We aim to be in Dingo Beach in four days' time.

Catching up again in Townsville

We had assumed that Tim and Bec with the kids would be well on their way south so were not expecting them to walk in to Winnebago when we were back to pick up the van. However, they had decided to upgrade their vehicle, which is no longer suitable for travelling long-term with two young children and had gone the whole hog and bought a Longreach -- a beautiful Winnebago model, but rather larger than what they had and therefore the whole deal hinged on Tim passing his MR (medium rigid) licence to allow him to drive it. This is the next stage up from our LR (light rigid). We spent quite some time with them as they booked into the caravan park we were staying in and we agonised with them. What if he didn't pass and had already bought it? Should they buy it anyway and get someone to accompany them further south where he could take the test again? We could only listen and sympathise with their quandary and put in our tuppence-worth where we thought it might help. Anyway, Tim sat his test yesterday and passed, so all the agonising is over and we are so happy for them. We are hoping we will meet up one last time before they go south and we go back up north.

We are marking time at the moment until we can get into our Dingo Beach house. It has tenants until the 28th but we feel we really need to see it properly and stay in it even for just a week as we probably want to sell it. That way we can really assess its state and see what needs to be done. It is keeping us late for getting up to the Top End, however. Just today, we got a surprise phone call from Winnebago offering us a new, very sturdy tap, in view of all the bother we have had! They have finally decided to ditch Dometic because of all the problems so many people have had (how many times have we asked ourselves why they didn't do just that?) and although they cannot replace ALL the faulty ones, they consider that we deserve one. It has to be installed by a Winnebago dealer, however, and since they are thin on the ground in this part of Australia we will have to go back to Townsville. It is not a big drama as we have to go back up that way anyway when we leave Dingo Beach. It will be worth it to have no more tap problems but will add another day before we head west.

At the moment we are in a little place called Midge Point, just south of Proserpine. We used to sometimes come down this way when we were at Dingo but we have not seen the caravan park until now. It is really delightful, very close to the beach and full of birds, which of course pleases us. We have no fixed plan of where we will go next.

Magnetic Island

Affectionately known as "Maggie", this is a small island twenty minutes by ferry from Townsville. It has been developed as a holiday resort but it has a certain number of permanent residents. It is also home to the world's largest colony of free-roaming koalas, although a local was telling us that after Yasi many of them died because the eucalyptus trees which provide their diet were stripped of their leaves during the cyclone. It appears Maggie took quite a hit. Although it is quite a distance from the eye of the storm, it is to the south and the winds continue to be very destructive because of the direction in which they are coming. Sand was piled metres deep on one of the beaches and it has taken quite an effort to put the island back in shape. There are many small secluded beaches all around the island. Some are accessible by walking tracks, but for many it is necessary to have a 4WD vehicle. Others again are only accessible from the sea. There is also a large colony of rock wallabies. We were fascinated to see them come to meet a car which they obviously recognised in the car park. It heralded the arrival of an old worthy who seems to have taken it upon himself to come nearly every day to feed the in spite of huge notices telling people not to. He put out bowls of water (Maggie has had no rain for thirteen weeks) and an assortment of fruit, vegetables and dried corn. A huge variety of birds exists on the island. It seems the cockatoos left after Yasi but we did see some black ones so with a bit of luck they will come back. It was interesting to find the place we stayed in 17 years ago. It is undergoing extensive refurbishment and will be very nice when it is finished.

This is Mum and Baby although the baby was difficult to see

Hello! I'm here! This rock wallaby joey did not want to be left out when there was food going.

We did a lot of walking, and a lot of beaching but we also went to the races! Bearing in mind this is North Queensland, it was not your normal horses or dogs that were racing. No, it was cane toads!! We just had to see this. It is organised weekly by an elderly man, a bit of a character, who gives all the proceeds to local charities. He has been doing it for about 20 years now and over that time has donated hundreds of thousand of dollars. It was difficult to believe until we watched how it all happens. He comes with eight toads, all wearing different coloured ribbons, and he "auctions" them. The highest bidder is the owner of that particular toad for the race. People were bidding madly on the things and some paid up to 60 dollars for a toad. Then he would offer up to 150 dollars plus a t-shirt as the prize for the winner. He put them in a container divided into 8 sections on the middle of a large circle painted on the ground. The first toad to cross the circumference of the circle was the winner. It was a riot, especially trying to catch them again. Some of the moved very fast, while others just sat there, much to the disgust of their "owners".

Radical Bay, a beautiful secluded beach which we were able to get to because we hired a 4WD one day

The far end of Horseshoe Bay, also reachable by 4WD

Looking down on Florence Bay from the Forts Walk. There are some old WWII fortifications, built when there was the threat of invasion by Japan and now it makes quite a good and strenuous walk to get up there. This is where one tends to see the koalas.

"What will you bid for my beautiful purple toad?"

Come on, orange toad. Jump!!

The huddle in the middle is not in a hurry to go anywhere.

It was a very pleasant interlude and we came back to a van duly serviced and repaired. We are now on our 8th tap in 10 months! The taps are made by Dometic, the camping wing of Electrolux and are just cheap and shoddy. The problem with ours has also been a fault in the water pressure in the van when we hook up to mains water, and the tap just breaks and water leaks into the drawers below. It is a real pain when it happens. We met people in Cairns who were on their 3rd tap so it is not just us.

Yasi country

From Port Douglas it was back to Cairns for a few nights. At last we met up with Rob, a friend of a very good friend of ours in Switzerland. He is a fisherman with his own trawler and the first time we tried to catch up with him he was at sea, then he was in Brisbane but finally, we saw him. Ken, he sends his best wishes to you and Liz. (He has excellent fish and seafood and we made the most of it. He introduced us to a new fish, mahi-mahi. Yum!)

The Atherton Tableland is always a draw for us and we went to Innisfail up and over via Millaa Millaa, making a little detour back to the Mungalli Creek Dairy, which makes the best ever yoghourt. We stocked the fridge and we're getting through it already! This was our third route from the Tableland down to the coast and it was as hair-raising as the others. Isobel's turn to drive but she is a happier driver than a passenger on these roads!

We had an interesting stopover for one night near Innisfail at a place called Paronella Park, which has almost a fairytale history. A Spaniard by the name of Jose Paronella decided he wanted to build castles, in Australia. He came out and made a substantial amount of money by buying cane farms, improving and reselling them. He then went back to Spain to marry the woman he had left there but since he had not communicated with her for eight years, she had married someone else! To save face he married her sister and brought her out to Australia. With his money he built his castles, virtually with his own hands. He must have been quite a romantic, as he included ballrooms, a "lover's lane" a picnic area by a pool which formed at the base of the Mena Creek Falls and also tennis courts (which he made with crushed termite mounds as clay), bowling green, etc. The place eventually fell into disrepair after his death but to cut a long story short it has been bought and is being recreated as it was, and it makes an interesting tourist attraction, well worth a visit.

The castle at night .......

........ and during the day

The beautiful avenue of Kauri Pine trees, which grow very tall and straight

The falls at night .........

........... and during the day

From Innisfail southwards we really began to see the devastation wrought by cyclone Yasi which hit the coast on 3rd February. It was such a huge cyclone the damage to forests was horrendous and there are still properties with no roofs. At Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell in particular, there are houses under reconstruction, but there are also many just boarded up and abandoned. The locals all have their stories to tell, some inspirational, some just heart-rending. The stoicism of these people is remarkable. The caravan park at South Mission Beach is right at the beach and as we spent the night there it was hard to imagine that night in February when the wrath of nature was let loose. They had a couple of photo albums to help the imagination along. Impressive. One of the shops we went into in Cardwell also had photos on display and it was amazing to see the Bruce Highway, which follows the coast at that point, just demolished. One wonders where the next season's cyclones will come in and hope that the same places don't cop it again. That whole coastline is just so vulnerable.

So here we are in Townsville. We will be incommunicado for a few days as we leave the Winnebago for service and more repairs -- unfortunately several are the same ones -- and while this is happening we will be on Magnetic Island. It is almost 20 years since we were there and we do not expect to recognise too much of it. However, we are assured the koalas are still there -- they live in the wild on Maggi and it is so exciting to see them. It seems there's a mum and baby very visible at the moment. We will have three nights there and when we come back it will be to take the van to Iveco for a new windscreen! We have a crack which just appeared and a large chip which we saw happen when a road train passed in the opposite direction. The driver was driving perfectly correctly but the road had just been resurfaced and there was a lot of loose gravel which his enormous beast threw up at us. Bang! At least it happened before we fixed the crack! The van will also have an oil change, which should see us back to W.A.

Townsville also has provided us with the doctor that Warwick needed -- his turn! Unfortunately it looks as thought the old enemy, Giardia, has struck again. He doesn't seem to be able to get through this part of the world without catching it, and since it was par for the course when we lived in Indonesia, he recognises the symptoms by now. A course of Flagyl should shift it and it is an extra incentive to have a "dry September" as we had decided we would do (alcohol is a strict no-no when one is taking Flagyl). He had a couple of very uncomfortable days but is feeling rather better apart from the constant hunt for toilets!

Property hunting in Port Douglas

Leaving Cooktown we had no choice but to retrace our route at least as far as Mount Molloy, and in fact since we had decided to stop at Port Douglas, we were retracing that part too. The road down to Mossman from the high tableland was an adventure. Although a perfectly good road, surface-wise, it twisted and turned and at times came down very steeply. Scenic and hair-raising!

Looking down towards the coast from the tableland above

We had booked ahead this time so had a space at Port Douglas and ended up as so often adding an extra night, to make it three in all.  Port Douglas really does have character and we are fairly committed to looking for a small property there. We did an initial look with a real estate agent but he didn't really have the measure of what we want. However, we were able to see what some of the advertising really is all about. In any case, we have to sell Dingo Beach first. That could be difficult. I can see us flying back in a few months as it is risky buying without seeing. We did that with Dingo Beach but at least Karen was there to see it. Anyway, it all makes for another little adventure!

The second day at Port Douglas as we walked through the caravan park, Warwick noticed the "Coachmen" again -- the rather large motorhome of safari participants Allan and Lyn, whom we had last seen at Cooktown. It was nice to see them again and compare experiences. For us, however, it was time to move on as the appointment has now been made for the Winnebago to have its service, etc, in Townsville on 5th and 6th September. There is a lot to see between Cairns and Townsville and we have to have a few days in Cairns, collecting mail then probably acting on it, so we needed to get moving.

So here we are in Cairns again, back at the same park, which is lovely. It is so full of birds, the sounds are just non-stop, (day and night, unfortunately!) The stone curlews are very vocal at all hours of the night and one could be forgiven for thinking some husbands are murdering their wives. They shriek in the most horrendous way.

Last night's rugby match was fantastic. We watched it in the van this time, without the company of Kiwis, and this time the Wallabies played a great game and won the Tri-nations series. We are looking forward to the World Cup in a few weeks time and hope that we will be able to see a lot of the matches. Let's hope the Wallabies can play like last night.

Cooktown

Well, we had been told that Cooktown was delightful and so we found it. Having booked in for 3 nights, we quickly added 2 more. We arrived on 20 August, an auspicious date, being Karen"s birthday and the anniversary of our arrival in Australia "to stay". Celebration was required and we went to Cooktown's upmarket restaurant, the 1770, where we had a delicious meal of freshly caught prawns, and barramundi accompanied by a very nice chilled white wine. All this with a view of a stunning sunset, looking over the estuary of the Endeavour River.

Sunset over the Endeavour River (the only river Cook named)

Cooktown was of course where James Cook landed his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs after he had managed to put a hole in it on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770. The town has had an amazing history of growth, decline and survival over the years and all of it is documented in a couple of wonderful museums. We spent many hours in both.

James Cook Museum, originally the convent of the Sisters of Mercy

While "Endeavour " was being repaired, Cook was anxious to see how he was going to get back out through the reef and frequently went up "Grassy Hill" from where there is an amazing 360 degree view. He must have been fit, though! The climb up is steep in the extreme, and nowadays the road winds through sharp bends, forbidden to vehicles such as our Beast. We opted for the easy way, and took a taxi.

Looking towards the Reef, which at this point is very close. Any spaces to get through?

The Lighthouse on Grassy Hill, built in England and brought out to Cooktown

The estuary of the Endeavour River from Grassy Hill

A walk through the cemetery told its own story of the hardships of life here, with so many people dying at a very young age. Malaria was often the cause.

Today we went on a tour with an aboriginal. He took us to several sites sacred to his people and explained the rock art found there. The Aborigines were such gentle people, so close to nature, it is sad to see what many of them have become because of what the white fella has done to them, and supposedly "for" them.

Willie Gordon, our Aboriginal tour guide ..........

........ having just caught a lizard. He HEARD it!

A Golden Orb spider. Unfortunately it is difficult from this photo to realise the size of the thing.  They are huge.

We are disappointed that for us, Cape York ends here, barely at its beginning, but we can go no further with our Beast. At Cooktown Holiday Park we had met up with Allan and Lyn, two of our safari members, who were also thinking it was such a shame to stop there. They have bitten the bullet and are flying up from Cairns to the top and going over to Thursday Island. We thought about it but have decided to leave it for another trip. We will be interested to hear of their adventure.

The Daintree and Cape Tribulation -- croc country

We have been out of range for the last few days so we have a bit to catch up.

Huh! The lottery win will not buy us the house in Port Douglas! 14 dollars is not quite enough although it did buy us another ticket. Maybe 3rd time lucky.

Moving on from Mossman we went a very short distance to Wonga Beach, from where it was easy to visit Daintree. The village itself is tiny, on the Daintree River and in the heart of the rainforest and National Park which is just referred to as "The Daintree". We did a river cruise, which we did many years ago, but we never tire of this kind of scenery and of course the purpose of the trip is to see as much wildlife as possible. Crocs of all ages and sizes were in abundance, and we also saw the beautiful azure kingfisher, mangrove herons, brahminy kites and great egrets. All of a sudden a snake leapt off a tree and swam across in front of the boat. Although it was non-venomous (a yellow-bellied tree snake) we were quite relieved that it did not do as our tour guide said it might, and climb on the boat. It was a super trip.

Back at the caravan park the next day, Warwick had a close encounter with another yellow-bellied tree snake on the way to the beach.

A 5-metre male

After two nights at Wonga Beach we crossed on the Daintree Ferry to make our way to Cape Tribulation. The last time we came this way, this road was restricted to 4WD vehicles so we were particularly thrilled that this time we could get up to the cape. On the way we visited the Daintree Discovery Centre, one of the best interpretive centres of its kind we have yet seen. A high tower got us right into the canopy of the rainforest and a booklet and sound system explained everything very clearly.

The Daintree Ferry

The Cape Tribulation caravan park, "Paradise Found", was delightful and made even more so when the first night we found ourselves next door to Tim, Bec and the kids again. We were again able to compare experiences and make recommendations to each other. We had booked for 3 nights but ended up adding one. An interesting diversion was the arrival of two huge vehicles, one with Dutch plates and the other with Belgian ones, a very unusual sight in Australia. These belonged to two couples who had driven across from Europe, quite independently. They found each other on the internet and they meet up from time to time. We had a fascinating conversation with them. It makes our adventure quite tame by comparison.

Our European adventurers

Cape Tribulation was the end of the road as far as our Beast was concerned, but we were rather keen to see at least part of the 4WD Bloomfield Track which continues from there. We therefore took a half-day (5 hour) tour and were lucky enough to be the sole participants. The tour guide was delightful, and he made his tour interesting, informative and at the same time quite informal.

Mike and his 4WD Toyota Prado

The gravel road seemed quite inoffensive at first and we both wondered what all the 4WD fuss was about but it fairly quickly deteriorated and became very obviously unsuitable for anything else. The reason for warnings to pregnant women against doing the tour were quite clear!! Apart from the potholes and ruts, the road went through creeks and it was all great fun, especially being driven by someone else! Part of the tour was to the Bloomfield Falls, or Wujal Wujal in the Aboriginal language and we were handed over to an Aboriginal tour guide for that part of it. She was also delightful and informative and we learned a lot about the Aboriginal Community of Wujal Wujal, a successful community and one of many which has renounced alcohol, the cause of many problems amongst Aboriginals.

Wujal Wujal in the winter. In the summer "Wet" the falls will be the whole width of the rock face

Mike, our tour guide, had also arranged to meet up with Gary, who does the Cooktown newspaper, and who was hoping to see and photograph a crocodile. Nothing daunted, we set off in search of a suitable croc and were rewarded with a 5-metre beast which was first of all sunning himself on some rocks but then slid off into the water, showing us just how long he was. We did not hang about on the bank for long in case he decided to come out on our side of the river! Recounting this tale at the caravan park later, we were told this croc is called "Spartacus". We find it amusing that every creek has its resident croc and the locals all know their names. They consider them their "pets". We feel safer with dogs and cats.

Spartacus swimming in the Bloomfield River 

The Australian sense of humour is incorrigible and we were highly amused by what has almost become a "logo" for the area. Someone at some time has converted two roadsigns which are together on the same pole, warning of cassowaries on the road and speed bumps to slow people down because of the possibility of cassowaries into this:-

There are T-shirts, and every imaginable souvenir with this on them. So funny.