Monday 20-09-2010

Today is the first day of our trip up north. We packed all our stuff up, had breakfast and left the tablelands to first stop by Cairns. After a short stop at Tropic days…quick internet check and Andy and Matt went to register the car. We went to Cairns central to do some food shopping. Chrissa got a transmitter for the car so we could play our music from our iPhone. After we got all our stuff we were off to the north. Just as we got in Ben and Gina said that because of their time limit they were not going to join us. They decided to stop the trip there and then so we dropped them off at Tropic Days. So it was only Chrissa and me left in the car. The drive up north was beautiful, especially when the beaches started appearing. We had some amazing views. I still can't believe that I am actually in Australia…the rainforest, the beaches, the wildlife. It's amazing!!! We were planning to camp in an "illegal" campsite where lots of locals camp. Damien at On the Wallaby had told us about this place but when we got there it really wasn't that great a place so we decided to drive on. We got to Port Douglas and first stopped at a hostel called Dougies. That was definitely the wrong decision, the campsite was huge, filthy and looked more like a refugee camp than a nice place to stay. We didn't know how fast we could get out there. It had also started raining so we decided to call another hostel which, the lonely planet said, seemed nicer. It was only a hostel so that meant a dormroom! We got there and it was much better. We had a dormroom to ourselves and a bed did mean a good night's sleep. There was a free meal, which only Kate and Matt ate because Chrissa is vegi and Andy and I can't stand spicy food, and it was a curry. We ate our purchased food at the table near the pool with two candles, very romantic :P After dinner we all went for a swim in the really nice pool. After the swim Chrissa and I went for a walk around town. It seemed nice but quite posh and expensive. If there are no price tags on the clothes in the window it usually sais enough. After we got back it was time for a good night's sleep.

Tuesday 21-09-2010

I indeed had a great night's sleep and was the first to be out of bed. After breakfast we all packed up again and after checking out we went for a stroll around town. I got some wine at the bottle shop and Chissa got some cheap sparkling wine. We walked to the beach which, as all beaches are up the north coast, was amazing. We left Port Douglas to head up north. We stopped at the Mossmann gorge. This is an amazing part of rainforest along a river. It was a great walk along the river and through the rainforest. We had to cross a swing bridge. I was alone most of the walk which was really nice. After a bit I caught up with Matt and after seeing a pretty creek and doing the whole route we decided to go swimming and wait for the other to catch up. The water was very very cold but so nice and refreshing. As it was a river the watermovement was quite strong and it wasn't easy swimming against it. Matt and I waited an hour for the rest to catch up. This wasn't an awful time cause it was amazing at the water side. After we were complete again we went on to Mossmann and got some more food. We drove on till Daintree Village and set up our tent on a camping ground and went to the local store to get some food we could actually eat without having to cook it, as we didn't bring any cooking gear. We got some soup, crisps, and fruitsalad and had a great dinner with wine and lots of fun. Especially because it started pouring with rain. We ended up eating and drinking under the shelter where the washer and broken fridge was. We had sooo much fun and ended up watching a movie: The boat that rocked, which is really a great movie…sooooo funny :D After that finished we all went to bed.

Wednesday 22-09-2010

Had a great night's sleep, probably because of the wine. We all went to get some breakfast at a local restaurant. After breakfast we decided to get going. We left Chrissa's car at the camping ground because it was cheaper and easier due to the fact that Andy's car is a 4X4. Packed some clothes and got going. We crossed the Daintree river on a ferry. It was a short crossing but great to do. After that we stopped at Cape Kimberly, a really nice resort which was closed due to renovations but of course we had a look on the beach which was totally deserted but as always a lovely beach. After that we had another stop at a lookout where you could see some islands off the coast and the start of the Daintree river. We got to the crucial part of our first part of the trip, a crossing that could be flooded. Luckily it was no problem and we got across with no problems at all, the whole road was above the water. We saw a butterfly museum and decided to stop there. Unfortunately there weren't that many life butterflies. They were all pinned to boards, which was a pity but still beautiful. There were allot of pinned beetles too. My god, they get big!!!! We saw some stick insects and some spiders. We took a look in the butterfly sanctuary, but because of the rain there weren't that many in there. We had a great swim in the freezing creek next to the museum. The water is so clear and clean. After we went on to find some lunch. We got to Cape Tribulation and got some cheese and crackers for lunch. After lunch we went to Cape Trib camping ground, which is a really nice campsite next to the beach. The girl behind the counter was very friendly and told us about a full moon party which is on tomorrow night. We'll see if we are still here. We went for an hour walk along the beach to the Cape Trib Head. After coming back we made dinner…spaghetti, tomato saus, fresh tomatoes and tuna…really nice! We got some marshmallows, so as dessert we had marshmallows at the campfire that was going. Talked to this nice Australian guy who recommended some things to do around cape Trib and ofcourse went to bed early…like every night. It's 10:30 and we're all in bed right now!! Tomorrow a new day to experience great things. Goodnight!!!

Thursday 23-09-2010

After breakfast we decided to go croc hunting. Ofcourse it ended up with a nice walk along a creek and us seeing no croc at all. We did hear that we should come when it was low tide, which it wasn't at that moment, and that the croc was now around the bend. The place we couldn't walk by…ah well maybe another time. After that we went to Mason's swimming hole, which is the end of a little river and was absolutely beautiful. This is a safe place to swim, don't want any crocs biting you…There were a 2 ropes attached to branches with which we launched ourselves into the water with. We had some great fun. After the refreshing swim we headed for the bat hospital…30 min walk up the road. On the walk there we saw this crazy flat spider and some beautiful caterpillars. Once we got there we found out it was closed L We decided to get some lunch at the store and once again we went for cheese and crackers but this time with some avocado dip and salami sausages :D I was cutting the cheese when ofcourse I decided to add some meat and cut of the top of my finger, don't worry it was only a piece of skin. After lunch we did a rainforest boardwalk. We saw some crazy peppermint stick insects which, if they feel threatened, will spurt out a peppermint smelling liquid which will actually give a rash or irritation. After the walk we took the beachroute back to the campsite and layed on the beach for a bit. Did shopping for the BBQ we are going to have at the campsite! Every campsite has a free BBQ which is really cool! I also got a cheap bottle of Sauvignon Blanc called pokerface and had that at dinner together with Chrissa. This was preparing us for the Full Moon party. Just like the other thumb I decided to burn while preparing the garlic bread, and no I wasn't drunk yet :P We got to the hostel P.K's (where the party was at) at 21:00 and had fun watching other people do crazy things on the dancefloor but the music wasn't great. Two of Chrissa's friends were working there so we hang out with them and at one point I even tried fire sticks (yes the long broomstick with two lit ends!!!). According to one of the guys I was actually quite good at it, for my first time that is! We danced a bit and at 00:30 we headed of towards the beach because that was were the party would continue! We got there and there wasn't much happening…lot's of more people came but by that time we had all gotten too tired so we ended up going back to the tents. This was the latest night in a while: 2:00…woohoooooo!!!

Friday 24-09-2010

Today we got up early 7:30, happy I drank allot of water after the previous night! We are heading up to Cooktown today. First offroad day of the trip. It was a really nice ride with rivercrossings, scenic views, great surroundings and a stop at the black mountain which are really big boulders of black rock (granite). Drove through an aboriginal reserve and got fuel at a hotel/campsite which was called: "The Lions Den" which was absolutely amazing on the inside. All the walls had writing on them from people who visited and clothes hanging around!! It really was a great sight to see. We drove on to Cooktown and the first stop we made there was ofcourse lunch…great fish and chips which we ate by the waterside. It is a big river going out to sea. There were quite a few yachts on moorings there…which made me really miss sailing. We talked to a fisherman who told us to go to the campsite we are at now and told us about some local things to see and do. We got our tents up and went to the beach to have a walk. It was one of the prettiest beaches yet! It wasn't all too long and it had a mangrove/small river on one side and those big granite boulders on the other. We climbed up those boulders and ofcourse I slipped and hit my ankle…which is blue now. At least it doesn't hurt that badly but I think I should be a bit more cautious if I want to come back in one piece. After that amazing walk we had dinner and now I am laying in my tent writing my journal. Write to you soon!

Saturday 25-09-2010

This was a slow morning for everyone except for me…as usual I was ready by 08:00, showered, dressed and had breakfast. We ended up leaving around 11:30!!! We drove to the information center first to get some info about the route up from Cooktown. The man there was very helpful. He had some fun with us like asking us who our wader was, we had no idea what that was and in the end he started asking question like: do you have a stick with depth markings on the side and you are careful for crocs right. Well a wader seems to be someone who goes and sees how deep the river crossings are but due to the fact that it is dry season we don't need it. He was just joking around with us. He told us to just visit the Lakelands and not go further up because it was days driving with some good parts but without time it is not worth it. So we decided to head up to the lakelands today. We drove through some amazing area's with different vegetation. The biggest part we were out in the bush on really manky roady. Most of it is corrugated which can't be good for the suspension on our great ancient V8 land rover!!! We had to self register for the campsite which meant putting our name on a board and the nights we were going to stay…choose a campsite and spot and put the right amount of money in a bag. All this is based on trust which I think is a great way! After this we stopped at another campsite to have lunch and look by the river to spot crocs. Unfortunately we still haven't seen any. We stopped the white lily lagoon where there were allot of birds around. Beautiful sight! It was a pity that Andy nearly stepped on a snake, but you know that can happen in the outback. After we stopped at the red lily lagoon which was absolutely amazing. It was a huge shallow lake filled with lily's and gorgeous flowers. I know the flowers only when they are dried and used in Christmas arrangements. They look like showerheads when they are dried, or the flower had died. The flowers a huge and these were light pink. There we also saw a strange beetle with a cross on it's back and also two crane birds in the distance which are actually really big! Near there there were some really big termite mounds, which are around everywhere but these were really big. We spotted a great big bird on the road which just kept walking along until we came to close, and saw about 50 black cockatoos which are presumably very rare in Australia. And yes then it happened, the beast, our car broke down. But only for a bit…and then 3 min later it did it again, and then again. In the end it did get us to the campsite but we think it is overheating! The corrugated roads are very staining on the car. We got to our campsite, Hann Crossing, and found it was near a river at a beautiful location…really in the middle of nowhere which is really cool. We put up our tents and started looking for firewood. We got our fire going and then made some dinner. Saw lots and lots of bats fly over and looked for crocs again…again no! Sat by the campfire watching stars and listening to Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz and Rob Sawyer. Played conundrums… Being so isolated from everyone and everywhere! Let's hope "the beast" will work tomorrow…we shall see but I suspect it won't be too bad. "A man walk in a bar and asks the man for a glass of water, the barman gives him a glass of water and points a gun at him, the guy that got water says thanks and walks away…what is going on here?" "In the middle of the forest, 150km from sea a guy is found dead in a full scuba set…what happened?" There is a guy that when he wants to get to his apartment on the 50th floor he goes to the 30th floor everyday with the lift and walks the stairs to the 50th floor, except on days it is raining…why does he do this?It was an amazing night in the middle of nowhere, can't get better that this. A guy is found dead in the middle of the desert with all his clothes on but with a matchstick in his hands…what happened?

Sunday 26-09-2010

This was actually the earliest drive we've had yet. We were all in the car ready to go at 7:30!!!! And the car actually started.It was really nice as allot of wildlife was about! Lots of birds and wallaby's (small kangaroo's). The sad thing is we did see allot of dead wallaby's that had been hit by cars. It was also a pity that the car didn't want to cooperate today. We first stopped every 10km and after a few hours it stopped ever 3-5km!! It did get a bit annoying but the positive side was that each time we stopped there was a cool thing to see…birds, praying mantis, wallaby's. That did make the whole car breaking down situation allot less annoying and panicking. We got to 200m of the stop we wanted to get to, which was Musgrave roadhouse where there would be fuel and food. We parked the car and went walked over. Luckily there was a really friendly Australian man who helped us with the car. He was right out funny with great comments and lots of great jokes!! I had a marriage proposal from him, he was ofcourse joking. He asked me if I wanted to stay in Australia earlier and I said, jokingly, if I meet the right guy I would!!! He was such a good laugh. The guys cleaned out the filter and filled her up with fuel while us girls ate a great lunch. After the guys had their lunch we set off again and with good hopes. The starting of the car was still difficult but it didn't break down on us anymore. We stopped at a aboriginal rock art site where we climbed up the side of a hill/mountain to go see it. I then wish my stamina was better but we all managed to get up and saw some great rock art. We drove on and now are in Lakeland Downs which is a very small village with 1 campsite and a store. 40 people live here, that's all, but ofcourse everyone is so kind and helpful. Allot of people here work on watermelon or banana picking farms. I'm off to bed now, write to you later.

Monday 27-09-2010

I woke up this morning to the sound of really screeching, laughing noises. They were laughing cockatoo's, so I got out to get some pictures. We drove to Daintree Village this morning to get the "Merlin", Chrissa's car, and got there around noon. On the way we saw a sign for 15,80 Baramundi (fish) and chips. When we got to the campiste where the car was at we were happy to find it there with everything still in it. We spoke to the campsite owner who told us that the Eco Lodge was a good place to eat, that was the 15,80 fish and chips, but that it was a bit chic. We gils decided to change and we all put dresses on…good fun. Ofcourse the guys didn't…the place was amazing with all wooden houses quite high in the trees. There was a spa there as well!!! Must have been very expensive to stay but we had an amazing, cheap meal there, it really was nice with a good salad. There was a free walk to the waterfalls which we did. Only us girls could go in because it was an old aboriginal site where lots of women had bared their children and men weren't allowed to go in, otherwise the abo's would have to cleans it for a month. The walk was beautiful and on the way we saw a waterdragon. The only downside was that there were hundreds of mosquito's there and you couldn't stand still for 1 sec or you'd be bitten tons of times. It must have been a funny site seeing us jump around tryong to take pictures, scratching ourselves. It was a pity that we didn't know how fast to get out of there. We all got bitten sooooo many times and especially Kate, who has been red spotted the whole trip already. Bless her. It was really bad for her, she was one big blotched red spotted canvas. After the stop at the waterfalls I decided I wanted to give driving on the wrong side of the road a go. That was really really weird. The clutch was on the wrong side, the handbrake, the indicators, the drivers seat, the road…it is very strange driving with everything opposite, looking the other way first, going around a roundabout the wrong way. It all goes against everything you learnt. I will get used to it though. We drove to Mareeba to a Safari Lodge where there was a big lake with lots of birdspotting possibilities. On the walk to the reception we saw 4 wild emu's! 2 small ones and 2 big ones. We could actually get quite close to take pictures. The Lonely Planet had said there was a campsite there but in the end there wasn't so we had to head off to the next possibility!! When we got to the next site, Granite Lodge, it was an actual camping ground which is really nice. There is a walk over boulders, a swimsite and lots and lots of rock wallaby's. The stars are amazing here, even better than in the Lakelands. We watched the stars tonight on one of the rocks and while we were laying there a wallaby came really close to us. There are so many of them around here that you can actually do like your going to feed them and they come right up to you. I touched a few which is such a cool experience!!! An early night now because we just decided to get up at 6am to do the walk. Early means more wildlife…

Tuesday 28-09-2010

This morning we got up at 6:00am to go and see the rockwallaby's and yes we saw allot of them. There were 30 or more in the wild, jumping, eating, fighting…it was great to see. They came right up to you and I actually touched quite a few of them. Got some great foto's, especially of a mother and her joey in her pouch. Great morning. After we drove to Kuranda…which is a small village with allot of marketstalls and quite some hippies. Really nice to walk around…and ofcourse I couldn't resist buying something. Atleast now I have a new purse and another bracelet. It was really nice walking around there! After Kuranda we drove back to Cairns, and yes, we ended up in Tropic Days again. Our home away from home…our sanctuary:D We had a swim, ate dinner and now we're off to bed!