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World Trip 2005-06
Cairns - Whitsunday Islands
On the 17th Jan the purchase of our camper van filled us all with an awesome sense of adventure. For the next few weeks we are in control of where we go, what we do and how we do it as we transcend down the beautiful east coast of Australia. As we were already were aware Australia is a backpacker's paradise and therefore the journey down or up the coast is a very common travel route! There are hostels aplenty and a strong campervan culture exists. From day one however we have been determined to make our trip special and unique. Yes we want to meet fellow travelers, see the highlights of the coast and check our emails but we also want to experience the cultural vibes only offered through interaction with raw born and bred aussie's. So we mix our travels up, from nights out with the backpacking world to skateboarding with random skateboarding dudes in the forgotten towns of Queensland etc. Towns that are not so prevalent in the Lonely Planet's we all carry by our side. To this purpose we have set up 'Project Oz' which involves speaking to one local from each town we stop and asking what makes the place special in their eyes and not simply from the perspective of a 'been there done that' traveler. (Project OZ entries can be found in a separate section in the 'Postcards')
Ok so the journey begins......it wasn't a smooth start to say the least, after taking about 4 hours to bring all our money together to pay for the rental fee in bulk we decided to reward ourselves with a McDonald only to find on our return to the camper van that we had been given a parking ticket (10pound fine). Great start, but it didn't dampen any off our spirits. I was first up to drive and it was an amazing feeling, turning on the ignition and maneuvering this big camper though Cairns leading on to the open roads of Australia.
Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross and there classic selection of upbeat love grooves blasted out the camper as I got used to the roads. I picked it up pretty quickly, which was surprising due to my poor driving of small cars back in England. As we drove we passed banana fields and alike, stopping every once a while because we could!! (we can do whatever, whenever now!) One of our stops was at a small place called 'Murdering Point' to check out their winery and expecting to be offered free samples! We didn't get anything of the sort, not even a bit of cheese! We did find out however an interesting story on why the place was called Murdering Point. The story became even more interesting when another local guy completely flipped the story on its head. Basically the first story proclaimed that years and years ago abo's killed and ate a group of white men who tried to enter the island at 'Murdering Point', the other local guy however told us that white men forced aborigines to a top of cliff with guns and killed them. Anyway that's enough about murdering people! Our next stop was Innesfail. This place was quiet and boasted a great community atmosphere. After checking out the local skate park and making a fool of ourselves with our cheap skateboards and poor boarding skills we went for a quick drink in one of their local pubs. Very Australian indeed, not a tourist in site, just broad Australian accents and the beer flowing. Crocodile Dundee types all over the place. It was the perfect place to start 'Project Oz'. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience within this small town, interacting and engaging with the local community was a breath of fresh air after the hectic backpacking atmosphere of Cairns.
Next stop was Mission Beach, eventually parking our camper van at the Bingley Bay. Mission Beach was small, with a few shops and restaurants. All we needed was a supermarket and bottle shop and we were set for the night. We parked at a site right on the beach, the place was empty, except for the caretaker and his family. Our first night in the campervan and it was awesome, we set out our deckchairs on the beach, built a fire and chilled; taking about everything and anything on our very own beach for the night. We were later joined by 'Kurt' the caretaker who became the next interviewee for 'Project Oz'. Covering every topic imaginable, this guy knew his stuff and had opinions on everything. He and Brides ended up putting the world to rights as Neil and I tired and just chilled with the fire. Brides impressed us all with his worldly knowledge and received rave reviews the following morning from Kurt and his family who claimed he had a great attitude to life. However that night he was awarded with the top bunk of the campervan for being the drunkest. We decided that every night the drunkest had to sleep up there! The idea didn't work out though as Neil got drunk the following night, fell asleep and we couldn't wake him, the inevitable pranks followed. Anyway back to Bingle Beach. We woke early and set off to our next big stop, 'Townsville' was next on the list.
On the way we stopped at a small town named Ingham! This place wasn't very exciting and 'Holly' the next Project Oz interviewee summed it up when she claimed there is nothing to do, except get drunk. However this same girl said she had never visited Wallamon Falls which was half an hour from the town and turned out to be a spectacular site. The waterfall had a 268 meter drop, the highest in Australia. The view was amazing; Brides and I even compared it to the breathtaking views of the world famous Grand Canyon. We rolled into Townsville late afternoon and parked up for the night in a car park overlooking a harbor and right in front of the best bars/clubs the town had to offer. A Coyote Ugly waitress became the next 'Oz Project' interviewee. Although I retired to the campervan early that night, Neil and Brides represented, checking out a local beer and bands. The town seemed pleasant but wasn't that busy and didn't really offer much entertainment apart from bar hopping. Didn't sleep so easy with drunks waken us up every other minute as they left the bars. We left Townsville early morning and drove straight to Airlie Beach.
Airlie Beach is situated within the Whitsunday islands. We spent our first afternoon in the area chilling out on a camp site. Not an eventful night, pretty chilled. The camp site boasted loads of parrots, which was impressive. Beautiful birds but a bit scary when they just miss your head as they dart through the air. The next day we explored the town, relaxing at the local lagoon. In the afternoon we moved the camper, to a car park and again simply chilled in preparation for a full day exploring the islands within Whitsunday.
The trip turned out to be awesome; relaxing in the sun as we sailed through the lush blue seas with a three hour stop off on Whitehaven Island. The island was absolutely beautiful, photographs don't do it justice, all three of us were amazed at the view consisting of sandy pearly white beaches and varying shades of blue sea. After a short way to check it out from above we walked down unto the beach and strolled across the sand. The experience got even better however when we stumbled upon 8 bikini clad Brazilian women laying in a line across the sand more then happy to get in a picture with us. After chilling on the beach for a while we set sails again to another island for snorkeling within the beautiful coral reefs. Highlight was when a massive fish tried to eat Brides's feet!! Comical scenes! The fish was named napoleon,;=., (something) and looked Jurassic but fortunately didn't have any teeth. Another scary creature within the reef were 'stinger jellyfish', they had the potential to kill!! We had our stinger suits on though so we were chilled. We anchored back on shore around 5.00 and relaxed at the lagoon before hitting the town for a few drinks later in the evening.
Today's date is 22th January! After writing this we are heading out of the islands to our next adventure, so until then, remember to keep it real.
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