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Airlie Beach 069

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

It is with a bit of sadness that we left Airlie Beach – the place has a great vibe about it and we actually at long last met a family who were travelling the world. The Macdonalds were such a lovely family from the UK with their 3 children. The eldest son was 10 and standing next to Josh was half his size! His knowledge of animals was second to none and I see a mini Steve Irwin in the making. It’s funny to swap ideas and find that you usually agree on things. We were all of the opinion that if we could travel 3 months then go home for a bit you would appreciate everything a little bit more. You see and experience so much on a daily basis that the bewilderment of it all dampens after a while. It’s the oh yes another waterfall – little wow syndrome. It takes something really spectacular to fire up your senses.

Townsville was wet – rain and flash flooding and I also managed to drop the laptop in Airlie beach so spent an extra day waiting for it to be repaired. It worked but the power jack had broken off inside and I didn’t help matters by pushing in a piece of blu tack to try and get it out again. The blu tack stayed in and yes it was embarrassing trying to explain to the technician what I had done but it was fixed and it wasn’t too expensive. We don’t feel quite so cut off anymore.

The town itself – full of backpackers. There is a great water park for kids on the seafront that has lots of buckets of water that fill up and then soak everyone underneath. It’s a big town and also has a huge RAAF base. The holiday park was next to the base so we saw lots of planes taking off and making what looked like some very dodgy landings.

Airlie Beach 110

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

Another splurge for today – we seem to be doing a lot of those in Australia. A day trip out to see The Whitsundays, I would have loved to have gone sailing for a few days but I think the kids would have been a bit bored and the budget just does not stretch that far. We opted for some fast paced ocean rafting instead. It was great – we had such a fab time. The skies were deep blue and the ocean a greeny turquoise with hardly any wind so we were lucky. On our way to our first snorkelling stop we saw the boat that during the storms had to airlift all the backpackers off – they were in the water for over 3 hours. On a peaceful day like today it’s hard to imagine nature being so fierce.

The Whitsundays are a collection of small islands set in idyllic ocean. The snorkelling was okay, not as fantastic as Mexico but with all the rain they have also had here it has meant visibility was not what it should be. You also have to wear the sexy lycra stinger suits to protect yourself from jellyfish – another glamorous outfit! There was coral and fish to see including a Giant Wrasse that looked like Elvis but no underwater world if that makes sense.

The next stop was the famous Whitehaven beach and OMG the sand is so white and fine it looks just like whipped ice cream. There were rays circling around our feet and small mangrove trees complete with leaves growing underwater, a very strange experience. We saw lots of turtles on the way back but again for poor O not the chance to swim with them! The scenery here is just so breathtaking, you cannot help but be relaxed by it. It was a shame to go home but we at least had some thrills – we tried to chase a 5 million dollar boat and could not beat it so zig-zaged in and out of it’s wake. The kids enjoyed it – they were sitting on the edge of the raft and O had changed places without me seeing, when I looked up to her previous seat and saw an empty space my heart stopped…………The crew were really relaxed and full of jokes so it was with heavy heart that we left the boat. It is just so beautiful here.

Airlie Beach 058

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

The highlight of today was staying at Lake Maraboon, just outside of Emerald. It’s a beautiful tranquil place full of wildlife. I put out some small bits of bread and before I knew it there were about 30 Lorikeets (little colourful green parrots) surrounding me. The kids saw and rushed back from the pool and soon they were crawling over their shoulders, chests and up their arms. The birds were certainly not afraid of humans. A few cockateels joined the gang and a Kookaburra landed on the roof of the van. He did not seem very impressed with the bread I threw up. It was only later after seeing our next door neighbour feed 3 Kookaburras some sausages that I understood why – they are meat eaters. They sit and quietly watch you, it’s very bizarre but apparently they are looking for snakes all the time so if one looks like it is going to pounce on something close to you then run.

The road to the lake goes over the local dam, water was gushing through from the lake into the river below and Josh asked if they couldn’t switch it off. I asked later and apparently the water can’t be blocked but as there has been so much rain, it flooded Emerald and has not happened for 17 years. It was quite a sight.

If I was coming to Australia again I would spend a lot more time inland as it is unbelievably friendly here and every single person we have met and talked to is a character. I even ended up in a shop for ages talking to the owner who used to make the famous Aussie hats – he spent ages explaining to us all how they made them from the steam etc. I don’t think many people asked him as he seemed really chuffed that we got talking about it. So many shops were flooded but everyone seems to just get on with it. If we had this much rain in the UK the whole country would be on shutdown and it would be months before we were up and running again.

Airlie Beach 025

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

With names like Emerald, Rubyvale and Sapphire you know you are in the middle of the gemfields. Miners are an interesting sort and you find some real characters out here in the wilderness. If you have the time it must be great fun getting a map and going out on your own to find gems galore. We only had one day so we choose the slightly crazed Bobby Dazzler and had a tour around his working mine. The kids were unsure when we had to wear hair nets with our hard hats but our wonderful guide was so full of stories and funny quotes that we were all laughing soon, sometimes a bit uneasily with tales of what had been found underground.

The kids had great fun in the afternoon – in the baking heat fossicking for gems from a huge sack of dirt or “wash”. You get the huge sack and have to go through a process of washing and sieving through all the muck to spot the gems.They both found some sapphire chips but unfortunately not enough to go home in first class, just with some more great memories.

The scenery here changes surprisingly, there are more open spaces and fields. If this is due to farming or just the nature of the landscape I do not know. The sky also seems to go on forever – a massive painting of blue with fluffy white clouds – the kind that are flat on the bottom and like marshmallows on the top. It’s almost as if you could jump from one to the other.

There are so many more creeks as you come farther north – I love the names. We have been over (with no crocodile spotting) Ginger Beer Creek, Alligator Lagoon and GinGin Creek – if someone sees a funny name we have been taking turns in trying to guess it.

I must also give a mention to the lovely man at the tourist info in Emerald. Again he was full of stories and information that you could easily spend all afternoon there just chatting. As soon as you say you are from England everyone assumes that you want to emigrate and can’t quite understand that you might not want to live with the threat of drought, the bugs and the heat, bloody pomms what do we know!!

Fraser Island 046

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

At last a visit to a drinks factory where the kids get to taste! No Josh did not sneak in under the radar, we paid a visit to The Barrel – it’s a soft drink place that makes all the Bundaberg ginger beer and peachy etc. We discovered these drinks that are served in what looks like beer bottles in NZ and love the taste. The barrel was an interactive tour and look out for the floor which is made to look like fizzy ginger beer – fabulous. I think the kids really appreciated the tastings as they had waited for so long!

Feb 19th – Rockhampton

All I have to say about this awful place is that I feel awful they have had the floods but my souvenir from the town was some lovely sandfly bites. Both O and I suffered – I had 44 direct hits on one foot and ankle over 60 on the other. God they itch – you just want to rip your skin off. Apparently sandflies love the mud from the flood and breed like crazy, they certainly were well fed on us.

The Tropic Of Capricorn passes through here too so had to take some photos on the line. Crossing it did I feel any more tropical? Not really although I have to say that since we bought the large umbrella we have not had to use it. I was talking to some English girls and we were laughing saying you either curse the rain or complain about the heat, there’s no happy medium at all. There’s just no pleasing us Brits!

One good thing, we have decided to take a detour inland as Mackay is also supposed to be flooded with 4000 houses underwater. Time to see a bit of the rural Australia I think.

Fraser Island 058

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

Bundy or Bundaberg is famous in Australia for Bundaberg Rum. We have done the beer and wine tours so now it was the turn of the rum. The expanses of sugar cane fields here should give a clue to the amount of rum that is made. In 1936 the factory had a huge fire and thousands of litres of rum spilled into the river making the fish drunk! I had a little taste of some liqueur and it was very smooth indeed. The kids were very upset that once again all they got to taste was diet coke.

Another reason for stopping here are the turtles. Mon Repos is a nesting place for 3 species of turtles and we were lucky enough to be here during the hatching season. The laying season has just finished where you can watch turtles go up the beach and lay their eggs. Females seek out the same beach they were born on but not for 30 years! There are tours that are offered to watch this but if you drive yourself to the Mon Repos turtle rookery you can get much cheaper tickets from the Tourist Info in town. Much research has been done to see what impact watching a turtle has on her laying eggs and the hatchings. The rangers told us none as long as it is managed well so off we went. Obviously with hatchlings you cannot tell what time they will appear so be prepared to wait around to go to the beach. We were lucky and only had to wait an hour before finding ourselves walking along a moonlit windy beach full of excitement.

The tint turtles are about 3 inches long and there are over 100 usually that emerge through the sand from one nest. The eggs are buried about 50cm below the ground and it takes a week for the little mites to work their way up to the ground. We did get to touch a baby and words cannot really describe the feeling of watching these little things making their way down the beach to the sea. We had to help guide them with torches as they head towards the light
and they climbed all over the kids feet. Seeing them disappear into a huge ocean with only a 1 in 1000 chance of survival really made you feel humble. Never again will I buy any turtle products, and I hope you won’t too.

Fraser Island 022

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

The largest sand island in the world looked suspiciously green from Hervey bay side – full of foliage and trees which surely can’t grow on sand – wrong. We had booked a trip for one day as overnight was a bit budget busting. We were picked up from the hostel early but the free breakfast had made us get up anyway – who can resist free Fruit Loops?

Fraser Island was so named after a shipwrecked wife (who lied and had a mental illness) swore she was captured and put into slavery by the Aborigines on the island. The Aborigines claimed to have taken her in, clothed and fed her. Eliza Fraser when rescued kept telling variations on her story to Victorian dinner tables so in the end no-one believed her but the island still has her name. It is all sand and amazingly there is loads of fresh water here – some of which pumps into the ocean to create interesting marine life. I still can’t believe the trees – timber mining was big on the island until the 90’s. Little known fact – the Australian army camouflage pattern was taken from the pattern of the Kauri pine on the island.

Many people hire cars – they must be 4wd due to the sand but we were on a huge tank of a bus which took us all round. The beach (70 mile beach) goes on as far as the eye can see and seeing the shipwreck of a luxury cruise liner perched in the sand was crazy. There one of the purest races of wild dingoes on the island but we didn’t get to see any. We did see pelicans, lace wing lizards, eels and a few fish. The tour took us up to Lake Mackenzie with it’s pure rain water and white silica sand. All the women went in the water as myth has it will take 10 years off you and leave your skin and hair soft. I’d better go in twice then.

Touring the island was fascinating and the guide was really good, despite the country music that we had on the pick up bus. I can’t believe that country is so big over here – something I hadn’t expected of Aussies, to be that sentimental but there you have it! We were so lucky with the weather as it stayed bright all day – it had been raining non stop for a week before we got there. All the fresh air tired us out as we were back in bed by 8.30.

Fraser Island 004

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

Noosa is a very hip place – lots of surfers and tons of backpackers. The sun came out this morning so we decided to talk a walk along one of the famous boardwalks to see the views and were rewarded with a sighting of a wild koala – bold as you please in a tree overlooking the sea and awake – watching us all watching him.Fabulous. The views of the bay are pretty spectacular too but as it was busy we decided to push onto Hervey Bay. We arrived at the YHA Colonial Village thanks to a tip from a couple we met – they do powered sites too. Actually the grounds are pretty fantastic and we were host to loads of birds and came across a possum in the dark. The $5 all you can eat sausage bbq was also great and Josh managed 8 sausages before quitting!

Brisbane, Noosa 042

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

How can you describe the Big Pineapple? It’s a 3 storey Perspex building in the shape of a pineapple. Based at the Golden Circle plantation you can go into the building and learn about pineapple plantations. We decided to take the leisurely train tour that also included some animal feeding and another chance to see koalas and kangaroos. At one point Josh was surrounded by kangaroos all trying to eat something. There was one very big one who looked a bit scary if I’m honest so we didn’t spend too long with his harem.

It rained again in the afternoon, well downpoured so although we have reached the beautiful Noosa we are keeping our fingers crossed that we might be able to actually see some of it tomorrow.

Brisbane, Noosa 020

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

Beerwah – what a strange name for a town but this is where Australia zoo lies and was home to Steve Irwin before his untimely death. Little known fact – his parents opened the original reptile park in the 70’s so what is now the massive Australia zoo was really Steve Irwin’s home. I thought he was just a patron of it or something. You have to drive down Steve Irwin Way through the forests to get there so there’s no mistaking you’re in the right place. We stay in the holiday park at Forest Glen for a couple of days so we can make the most of our time here. It is absolutely deserted apart from a grey nomad couple from the UK. The guy caught up with some old friends on Friends Reunited and is visiting them after 50 years in Australia! Even though it is raining we manage to have some fun as the receptionist takes pity on us and lets us watch a DVD on the big screen telly in the movie room. Forever trying to educate the kids I settle for Elizabeth with the 2 main actors being Australian! Cate Blanchett is amazing though and I think the kids actually enjoyed it!

The zoo itself is on a huge plot and involves a lot of walking – or you can take the “Steve Shuttle” around. We saw some amazing animals, elephants, tigers, wombats, koalas, dingoes, cheetas, Tasmanian Devils, snakes (including the most massive python ever) and of course the crocs. The main show in the crocoseum (!) showed how quick they were and hearing the snap of their jaws – eerie. We fed the elephants ( very strange to feel a trunk) and saw tiger cubs playing and running after their keeper in the water. The koalas got a stroke and we watched the kangaroos rolling around and lazing in the sunshine. There are also lots of wild water dragons running around the park that made you jump when they ran right in fron of you. It was a great day and as far as zoos go I would really recommend it. The keepers were also very good, all smiles and answered all sorts of questions all day. The spirit of Steve lives on and is available to buy in every commercial way you can think of from “Steve Lives” surfwear to a strange looking doll and of course “crikey” written on everything. The heat made it exhausting so we were glad that the rain kept off till the evening to cool us down.