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Day 3: Trinity Beach, Cairns, Saturday 27th October
Awake at 4.30, but did get a few hours sleep! After a leisurely breakfast we had a stroll along the beach (no crocs today!) and the almost obligatory 30C, but it did rain during the night here . . . it warm and dry for the day thereafter. Mika gave us a lift to pick up the van, which is to be our new home for the next three months. We were a little apprehensive about what condition the van would be in, but needn't have worried as it was brand new and came fully-loaded with all the bells and whistles, most of the equipment was still shrink-wrapped, so all in all a result! We went from there to Woolies (enormous one-shop-buy-all over here) and got one or two bitsnbobs because we fancied having a barby on the beach later. We took the van to Palm Cove . . . a really beautiful place that "reeked of money" as described by a couple of ex-pats we met, but we had a really relaxing day there and it was a real favourite of Maureen's. The barby didn't happen though as it was Saturday all the locals flooded to the beaches and turned the area into a family party venue and collared all the grills, but no worries we cooked in the van and sat on the beach under the stars and had our meal . . . brillant.
Day 4: Trinity Beach, Cairns, Sunday 28th October
Sleep patterns seem to be returning now and we both had a better night. First stop today was to be Port Douglas to visit the local market there, however on the way we stopped at a "Lookout" point to check the view. Whilst there a Landcruiser dragging an off-road caravan pulled up and I took a picture of it, the owners suggested that we should be getting photos of the landscape etc and we subsequently ended up having a chat. It transpired that they had come from Yorkshire 20 years ago and now lived near Brisbane, he told us about an essential book that we needed for the camp sites and we both drifted off in different directions. From there we went to Port Douglas and the market which was OK, though even the locals were moaning about how hot it was, but we got the book, had a drink and off we went. Next stop was Mossman Gorge which was obviously a gorge that ran through the Rain Forest (Daintree National Park), there were swimming holes there which looked like West Wickham Pool it was so crowded, however we walked the 2.4k stretch of rain forest without seeing another soul. Bit like England really 98% of the people within 200 yards of the car park. On the way back we stopped at Maureen's favourite Palm Cove, there is a jetty of about 100 yards that goes out to sea and we walked up that to see the people fishing (aboriginals really like fishing). On the way back down we bumped into John and Gill, the couple we had met earlier at the Lookout and ended up drinking coffee and chatting outside their caravan for about three hours, on parting they insisted that we "drop in" to their place in Mount Tambourine on the way down Queensland (and yes they did give us their address and phone details) so maybe we will.
Day 5: Trinity Beach, Cairns, Monday 29th October
We leave Trinity Beach today and the comfort of the BnB to begin our big adventure in the van. After stocking up on essentials we headed off inland in the hope of escaping the heat (can you believe that?) towards Mareeba and Atherton Tableland where we found an ANZAC memorial ground with a free camp site attached. From there we went to Lake Tinaroo which was more like a sea than a lake and was the most beautiful place you could imagine (see the pics although though don't really illustrate just how peaceful and wonderful it was). We spent a great day there and then headed back to get our pep talk from Terry the warden at the memorial ground camp site and spent a peaceful night there. Maureen saw our first Kangaroo, but apparently there are quite a few to be seen here.
Day 6: Atherton Tableland, Tuesday 30th October
Up at 6.00 a.m. and after our porridge, we had a chat with Margaret and her husband from Casino, near Surfers Paradise, who gave us a few tips on where to and where not to go. Leaving we drove to Ravenshoe, stopping at HcHugh Lookout, a really good panaroma which could have easily been the Yorkshire Dales. After a cup of coffee with a couple from Devon who now live in Spain (crazy eh?) we got on the road, with Maureen driving for the first time, to Bingil Bay which is just north of the more popular Mission Beach. This is another of those places you see in travel mags and postcards that you can only dream of seeing . . . you can dream! . . . but we are actually seeing them folks. Just hope we can sleep for the sound of the ocean on our doorstep (literally 20 metres away), at least if we don't sleep we will have somewhere really lovely to go for a walk.
Day 7: Bingil Bay, Wednesday 31st October
Left Bingil with some regret, such a lovely place, we spent yesterday evening chatting with a Dutch couple, Elaine and Paul who have been round Australia three times and they gave us loads of useful information and also some of the best camp sites they knew (most of which were free or at least very cheap), but all in superb locations. We needed to get some miles (kilometres) under our tyres because as Paul said it is a lot further than it looks on the map, so today we knocked off 300k down the Bruce Highway to 45k the south side of Townsville. All the way through is sugar cane and banana growing country and you can stop at the planatations and pick up 6 bananas for 1$ (about 45p) to you. We picked up some shopping from Townsville, along with a phone card (10$) which enabled a call to Dad at 8.00 a.m. (his local time) to fill him in on where we are, etc. it was 6.00 p.m. Queensland time. Because we hadn't had an electrical hook-up since we picked the van up, the leisure battery was flat this morning so we needed to book in somewhere we could get "charged". And rather than booking in at one of the "Gin Palaces" along the coast, I found what I thought was a good compromise in one of the national parks (there are hundreds of them here). And Lin and Dave, I have to say that it makes the one we booked into in the Gironde, look like the Hilton and the minute I hear "Duellin Banjos" start up we are off. I am exaggerating of course but it makes better reading! The upside of this place is that it is very peaceful and there are families of Kangaroos and Wallabies all over the park. Tomorrow we aim to be off early in order to get some k's in before it gets too hot.
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