Introducing Hattie

We were really excited to pick up our campervan today and just had our fingers crossed that we would get a van that would do the job and get us to Sydney safely. Having checked out of N'Joy at 9am, we made the long walk to Hippie Headquarters. We left our luggage in the store room to save lugging our bags up the road in the heat.

Back at home we had spent ages researching different campervan companies to find the best deal. It came down to a choice between Wicked Campers (colourfully painted vans with different designs) or Hippie Campers (nicely decorated with big bright flowers and butterflies). Surprisingly Rich was happy to drive either!

In the end we decided on the Hippie Camper for a few different reasons.

Although we love some of the designs of the Wicked vans you cannot guarantee the design you get. If you are travelling with children you can 'request' one that doesn't have any expletives or rude pictures on. Knowing our luck we would end up with something that would offend every town we visit and we wouldn't be able to show our parents any pictures. Also the Hippie Campervans seemed to be newer and have extra facilities such as the back annexe to give us that extra bit of room and a massive fridge instead of just a cool box.

We arrived early and were invited to sit at a desk with a man who gave us our camping packs with maps of the east coast, as well as a campsite brochure listing all the campsites with the prices and the facilities they have. There was also information about toll roads too as you don't pay at the gate like we do at home. Instead when you pass the toll road, a picture of your registration is taken and you have 24 hours to pay (by phone or online). If you don't do this, you are sent a fine. Fortunately there aren't any toll roads until we reach Brisbane so we can have a read up about which roads we will be able to avoid and which ones we will have to pay the toll.

The man was really friendly and gave us a set of chairs and a table for free instead of the usual $40 charge! He also found us a little heater (not to warm us up but to keep us a little cooler at night). We hired a Sat Nav too in order to make things easier especially at times when we are searching for the nearest petrol station when we are approaching empty.

In Australia you do not have to have insurance if you don't want to and the man was saying that up to 40% of the population don't bother. Sounds nice not having to pay doesn't it? However, this causes major problems when accidents happen and drivers are forced to pay whether it is their fault or not. We decided we would get some form of insurance and opted for a package that meant if anything happened to van (from a scratch to a full blown crash that would write off the vehicle) we would only have to pay $100.

So back to the van who has been named Hattie by the way. It's a Mitsubishi Express and is four years old. The man commented on how nice and undamaged ours was compared to some. We are hoping that will still be the case when we hand her in!

The main cabin part of the van doubles up as a sitting area with a table in the day but quickly transforms into a double bed at night. We are surprised at how big it is but once all our stuff is in it seems a lot smaller. The layout is really clever with slide out drawers for plates, cutlery and a separate drawer for the chopping board. There's also a store cupboard, a sink and the all-important fridge that doesn't need outside power to work. There is also storage in the inside of the van with hammock style meshes on the back panels which store the pillows and sheets for the bed. There is also a bucket filled with pegs and a washing line, plus a washing up bowl with cups and other items in. Behind this is the annexe which attaches to the back door of the van. A toaster and kettle are even provided that slide down the side of the kitchen section. It's amazing how many things fit in.

After a quick inspection of the van we jump in and Rich gets used to the van before we drive off back to the hostel to pick up our bags.

From Cairns to Sydney is a long way (2,399-ish km as the Aussies deal with kilometres not miles) but you can do that journey in approximately two weeks if you drive a few hours each day. We have five weeks to reach Sydney so we can stay at some places for a little longer so we get the chance to explore.

Instead of heading south, we have decided to go north for a while to visit the rainforest at Daintree National Park. Once Sat Nav had eventually found where she was, we were off!

The roads are really different here. For a start they all have huge gutters running down the side, so whenever you pull out of a driveway or an entrance, you go through quite a large gutter. That wasn't the ideal way to get used to driving as we bounced out of the Hippie depot, but after gripping the wheel tightly and manoeuvring out in to several lanes of fast-moving traffic, Rich gingerly drove back to the hostel - the long way!

Once we had picked our bags up from the hostel, bouncing in and out of the driveway in the process, we began the drive north. We drove for around 20 minutes on the highway before stopping for some breakfast/lunch! We decided that we would head to Port Douglas or Mossman for the night, and enjoyed some stunning coastal roads along the way.

After driving around Palm Cove and jumping out at the beach, we had a quick drive around Port Douglas too. Although it was obviously an area in which the locals enjoyed bank balances unimaginably higher than ours, with the exception of a nice high street of small boutiques and expensive coffee shops, and a small marina, there wasn't much to look at.

We re-joined the highway and headed for Mossman which turned out to be an even smaller town. While there though, we decided to check out Mossman Gorge, which is a really picturesque freshwater river running through rocks in the middle of a rainforest. It is within the Daintree National Park which is a massive expanse of natural rainforest, and so we decided to follow a walking trail deep in to the forest.

Some of the plants and trees were quite bizarre looking; some with strong scents, and the forest seemed exceptionally humid, which is apparently usual in rainforests when it isn't raining! After walking for well over an hour we came to a sign saying it was 800m back to the car park, or 3km to complete the entire trail, so we thought we'd finish what we started!

That must have been the point where most people turned around as the path became very thin and in some places involved jumping over precariously placed rocks over streams and steep slopes! Nevertheless, we made it, and it was really good to see. We were shattered at the end though!

After the gorge, we headed to the local supermarket which is part of a national chain called Woolworths! We picked up some essentials and some meat to BBQ - we have been in Oz for over three weeks and not yet had our own BBQ!!
Our first campsite of the trip was to be Dougies Backpackers which was both a hostel and a small campsite. It was pretty full and so our pitch wasn't the best.

The manager walked around the site with us and was very laid back, basically telling us to park where we liked! We had eyed a spot inside a car port but by the time we drove around, it had gone! We had to park for the night in a small dusty car park area around the side, but we didn't mind too much - we just needed to get our heads down after a busy day!

The facilities at the site were really good, with a large bar and communal area, kitchen, internet room and swimming pool surrounded by hammocks, all themed in like a beach shack wooden design.

We quickly set about finding the free BBQ that was on site and cooked our small BBQ Combo Pack that cost us $4.99! Like the BBQ's in Cairns parks, it was electric powered. The food was yummy and so we headed back to the van ready for bed at the end of a hot day.

Throughout our time researching campervans and in the weeks in Oz looking forward to picking it up, we thought we had considered everything. Supplies, where to get petrol, campsites, maps, etc. Even what happened if it went cold at night, as we were told it could. However, the opposite of that proved to be our nemesis - the heat. It was hotter in the van than outside, and with the added humidity and the lack of any power for the tiny fan we were given, it was literally unbearable.

We tossed and turned for hours, hot and uncomfortable. We had no mosquito nets so were besieged by insects whenever we opened windows, while the heat from the engine which was located under the front seats poured up in to the cabin making it like an oven. After getting no sleep at all, we had to get up at 2am as it was unbearable; instead we read some tourist leaflets out on the decking beside the reception for an hour or more until we were that tired we decided to give it another go.

We tried to find ways to entertain ourselves including various games like creating shadow puppets in the van. More elaborate shadows we managed to make included yawning ostriches and Rich's impressive rainforest butterfly. We also tested out the hammocks in the grounds of the hostel, debating whether we should sleep outside for the night. The mosquitos soon made up our minds for us though and we headed back to our oven.

By the time we woke in the morning, we discovered that we had fallen asleep with the side door completely open and Rich practically hanging out the door head first - he must have looked a sight to the cars and vans leaving the site in the morning before we woke!

It remains to be seen if we have made the right decision getting the campervan after all.