Queensland Coast

 

November/December 2012

Beautiful one day, Perfect the next

 

Following the kiddy-mania of Coconuts Resort in Cairns, we couldn't wait to find ourselves some natural beauty and tranquility and it emerged in the form of Bingil Bay.

      A pretty shabby view from the campsite.

In what was a very funny turn of events, the campground caretaker left a couple of days after we arrived, so a local council officer asked us if we would do it. "Hey, why not?' It wasn't a paying gig, but a few free nights in paradise was just what we needed.








Our very funny friends from Cairns, Jim and Ally, joined us for the weekend.

Two creative souls and a beach load of sand....

You've gotta love a boozy lunch....and an apprentice photographer (Riley)

One big bug

Happy Birthday Jimmy!!

 

Plenty of hammock time when you're a tropical beach caretaker.



Sunrise....another tough working day ahead.



After a fair bit of laying about, Riley and I decided a bit of a hill climb was in order.

There's our beach from above. The moonrise was a lovely parting gift...we were very sad to leave this place

 

Heading south from Townsville

We enjoyed a brief but great overnight stay at the glorious Airlie Beach home of some fellow travellers (Tracey, Damon and their cute kids Siena and Cameron), where I enjoyed a lovely outdoor shower surrounded by rainforest and Paul had a rather large drooling session down at the marina. The dusty, sandy camper trailer was not as appealing, but the roadtrip must go on, so we hit the road for a series of quick camps on our way down to Brisbane.
 

Now, I'm not normally a morning person, but this 5am sunrise at Carmila Beach was worth getting out of bed for.

Especially when this happened.

OK, can I go back to bed now?

The Good:  Tantalisingly warm and clear Pacific ocean framed by sandy beaches and palm trees.
The Bad: Not being allowed to swim in the above-mentioned tantalisingly warm and clear ocean due to nasty jellyfish that want to kill you.
The Ugly: Leanne and Paul in the morning due to Queensland's (stubborn) reluctance to adopt daylight savings, thus tormenting its inhabitants with 5am sunrises, which is very mean to those who have 3 super-charged children that wake at the crack of dawn.

Byfield National Park

 

Heading down the Queensland Coast toward Bundaberg, we stopped off for a couple of nights at Byfield National Park.

Freshwater swimming at Upper Stony Creek campground was a good way to get around the stinger season.

Super-soft sand driving made the Colorado work a bit harder than usual.

The vegetation became a bit jungle-like in the Deepwater National Park near Agnes Waters.

Seventeen Seventy




This idyllic, sheltered spot named in honour of James Cook's visit with the Endeavour in 1770, was a great playground for the kids (just south of stinger zone...although I'm not sure how the jellies are supposed to know this)

And safe for the kids means more relaxation time for mum and dad. Now, where's my wine?

 Now that's something you don't see everyday. The kookas were very friendly at 1770.

 Wow! That's cool

 

 

 

The Good: Everything about Bingil Bay.

The Bad: Archie's iceblock theft. At the 1770 caravan park, Leanne seized a rare early-morning opportunity to go for a solo walk, leaving sweetly-sleeping Archie next to snoring daddy. About 20 minutes later, big brother Riley comes tearing up behind mum brandishing a raspberry icypole with a rather traumatised Archie in close pursuit. Turns out that Archie snuck out of the tent just as the office/kiosk opened at 7am and trotted up to the iceblock machine, grabbed an icypole and trotted back out with the managers asking ``hey kid, are you going to pay for that?".

The Ugly: The enormously embarrassed, bad mother trudging up to office/kiosk offering profuse apologies and $1.20 for the icypole, which she had to eat herself, because no good mother would give their child a stolen, raspberry icypole before breakfast now would they???

 

 



Now for Something Completely Different - Cairns

 

November 2012

 

Yes We Can - with Nan Nan

When we were planning our year-long trip, one of our pledges was to get our dear 88-year-old Nanna together with her sisters who live in and near Cairns. We left our run a bit late, of course, and had to dash across 2000km of the Top End to ensure we got to the airport in time, but we made it with a whole day to spare.

The scenic railway journey from Cairns to Kuranda was a nice day out for the girls.

Still doing OK for an old girl...Nanna loved the tree ferns and a spot of market shopping at Kuranda

The Butterfly House was a must see for Nikita.

It is a long way from the dusty Savannah Way and outback music festivals...but, every now and then you just have to get touristy.

And then it kinda got worse (or better if you're a child under 10). The Coconuts Resort at Cairns had all the bouncy, splashy, peddaly bells and whistles....a bit like a theme park in a caravan park. So, we shrugged our shoulders and resigned ourselves to our fate....it was their turn.

C'mon big Daddy-O, pedal faster.

 Just Cruisin'

 

 

Dear old Aunty Margaret didn't know what hit her when the Rowdy Roadtrip set up camp in the back of her tropical garden in Cairns for a few days. Thank goodness for medicinal whiskey to calm the nerves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fitzroy Island

One of the highlights of our time in Cairns was a boat trip over to Fitzroy Island with our Kakadu and Eclipse mates Sharon, Ant, Amon and Astrid. We packed plenty into one day including sea-trampolining, bush-walking, snorkelling and paddle-skiing and a couple of well-deserved beers/vodkas overlooking the picturesque island bay.



 Phew...that was hard work paddling all the way to Fitzroy Island. Where's my can of Solo?

 

The stinger suits may have a serious purpose...but gee they look funny.

 

The girls sneak off to the top deck for some quiet time.

Strange tree creatures

Ocean trampolining - was "awesome fun". The kids quite enjoyed it too.

The Brock-stars and the Rowdies.

 

Six months in - The Good and The Bad

The Best of the Best:

1. Paul - an amazingly patient, tolerant, resilient and competent bloke who can take an incredible amount in his stride and is the perfect travelling companion.
2. The Kids - hilarious, wide-eyed wanderers who are soaking up their travel experiences with great gusto.
3. Box of Lego - a wonderful ice-breaker for newly-made friends, great for creative building (for hours), role playing and general focus and quiet.
4. Personal DVD players - sanity-saving devices that keep the kids quiet for a while.

The Worst of the Worst:

1. Personal DVD players - noisy, mind-numbing gadgets that make the kids impossible to communicate with.
2. Box of Lego - infuriating little bits of plastic that get lost under carseats, left at campsites and have the potential to add hours to pack up time.
3. The Kids - loud, squabbling maniacs with incessant, unreasonable demands.....probably better left at home.
4. Paul - he really can be a pain in the butt at times....and as for the fishing...don't get me started!!!

 

The Eclipse Festival

 

November 10 to 16,  and 2012

Doof, dreads and solar delights

We threw a bit of caution into the wind when we decided, a  couple of months ago, to buy tickets to the 7-day Eclipse Festival in Cairns. How could we possibly do it with the kids? Our memories of our last eclipse festival at Lyndhurst were of a mad, dusty, hot, thudding festival in the SA Outback. Do we, don't we?....Oh well, we can only try.

It was a GOOD CHOICE

From the moment we enterered the undulating, rocky, dry campground and saw the colourful camping creations being set up all around us, we started to get excited. This was a BIG event. About 10000 Eclipse revellers were making their festive base camps with hoots of excitement rolling across the jagged hills even before the music started.

Then the music started - everything from chill-out tunes to groovy progressive house, psych trance and wild broken beats oozing out from 5 stages 24 hours a day...what a feast for the senses. The themed stages included a cool funky shack in a riverbed, a sunken Chinese junk with sails providing shade for the groovers and the multi-coloured sun stage with misters making shiny bodies below.



You're never too young, or too old, to dance.

Shake your junk on a junk

The boys bust some moves

The sculptures and artistic installations, mostly made from recycled materials helped create a surreal, otherworld atmosphere.

 The colours of the night

The central festival site across the swimming lake.

A photo by Paul English which captures the sun stage at sunset so beautifully.












The Eclipse Family

But what really made this festival work for us were two things. Firstly, our chance meeting in Kakadu of the wonderful Sharon & Ant and their great kids Amon and Astrid. They became our festival buddies with shared fun and child-minding and a great crew of friends. Secondly, the wonderful sense of community in the family camping area at the Festival. We very quickly found ourselves surrounded by like-minded souls, electronic music lovers with children and a desire to dance. The kids hoola-hooped, face-painted, role-played, danced and created. The big lego tub lured the boys to the Craig basecamp for hours a day.

 

The kids had nearly as much fun as us....nearly.





Sharon and Tracey....good dancing buddies

It was a hammock-led recovery.

 The Eclipse

The solar eclipse itself was amazing. We rose and sitrred the kids at about 5am and joined the thousands who had made the same pilgrimage. We lined the surrounding hilltops as the atmosphere became more charged with anticipation and emotion. From the moment the sun rose at about 6am, the applause went up and as the eclipse reached totality there were cheers and tears all around, then all sound slowly faded and it became quiet as voices were silenced by awe and we all sat mesmerised in a mystical half-light staring at the silver-ringed orb in the sky. A perfect diamond-ring flash and suddenly the sun was back and we all cheered again.

 

Kooky glasses on and ready for the Eclipse...the crowds start to gather on the Palmer River Station hillside at sunrise.










Hey, pass me those kooky glasses....it was a pretty big night!

Nice moments with the kids

Ant on Eclipse Hill

 Hey, who turned out the lights??








 A perfect diamond ring captured by fab photographer, Sid Rock.

The best thing about this event was......everyone was smiling.