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This has been a strange few days.
On Thursday I caught the flight up from Melbourne to Cairns with no problem. The first surprise was that the folk hiring the camper-van in Cairns did not also hire out GPS receivers. The usual response to a request for a GPS is that it is easy to get from one town to another since there is usually only one road. However, for me, the real value in a GPS is to able to get to a specific camp site or restaurant say, with out having a second person to navigate. Anyhow, at their suggestion I've bought a second-hand GPS which I hope to sell again once I get to Sydney. (The sub-surprise was that it had been left configured in German, and it took a couple of us a while to get it back to English.)
The second surprise was that the camp-site they suggested was very primitive. I guess I'd been spoilt in New Zealand with camp-sites with every facility you could think of: toilets, showers, cooking facilities, barbecues, swimming pools, laundrettes, spa, water boiler, etc. The place I went on my first night had a few toilets (also known as "The Long Drop" in Astrailianese) and that was about it. It was very cheap, but I was willing to pay a bit more to receive a bit more.
However, by far in the way the biggest surprise was the effect of the high humidity. In the van at night it was like a steam room and I didn't sleep a wink on Thursday night. I was beginning to get very worried about what I had let myself in for over the next 2 weeks. So much so that I went back to the hire place on Friday to ask whether there was any alternatives. However, the salesman said that the humidity was because we were in the tropics area of North Australia and that just 4 hours South the humidity would drop off sharply.
If I think about it now, I can see lots of different options that I could have gone for, but I made a poor quick decision and headed South as quick as my van would take me. Hence I ran away from the main centre for trips to the barrier reef and really got to see none of Cairns to speak of.
On the second night I was able to find a "Big 4" camping-site in Ayr (~270 miles and 5 hours South of Cairns). The journey was fuel by equal amounts of petrol and Red Bull. Big 4 is a chain of camping-sites similar to the "Top 10" sites that I used a not in New Zealand. This was much better than the first night, though possibly not as complete as the New Zealand sites. After a light evening meal, I went to bed early and was thankful to find that the guy had been right about the reduced humidity and I slept well.
The second stage of my journey required me to make a bit of a jump South to the next Big 4 site in Rockhampton. It was a 7 hour drive, but since I started at 7am, I didn't have any great worries. Well after a short stop for lunch I arrived in Rickhampton at about 3pm but could not find the camping-site! I've been struggling to get to grips with my used GPS ("OLIN" is the maker!?!) I'm sure it is my fault, but I just could not find the site. So I jumped to another decision to press on and go to the next site on route at Gladstone. It was only another 1 hour 20 minutes further, so I could get there in time to get a place to stay … except that I hadn't counted on the road works of which there were many. I eventually arrived with 5 minutes to spare - only to find that the place showed a "No Vacancies" sign and was already shut. I rang the second site in Gladstone, but they also had no vacancies - almost all their spots had been given over to construction workers (Grrr)! The only suggest they had was that I press on to the next Big 4 site on the route at Bundaberg. Now there are lots of other camping-sites, and looking back I would be surprised if I couldn't find an adequate place, but I was getting a bit freaked again. All through my trip I've been taking a bit of a chance that I could find somewhere to stay and I guess this is the first time that it hasn't worked easily. Anyhow, the Bundaderg site said that they would let me stay, but that I needed to get there as soon as possible since it was starting to get quite late.
So then I found myself driving at night being very conscious of all the warnings I had received about accidents involving Kangeroos. Also, in Australia they have lots of signs warning of the dangers of driving when your tired. Some of them are quite fun like odd trivia questions or egging kids on to say "Are we there yet?" I finally got there at 8pm (after approximately ~570 miles and ~11 hours driving in total).
This morning I stopped to take some time and do a little bit of planning of what to do next. If it all comes off, I'm going to be doing a little bit of a wildlife safari over the next few days, and with the help of the folk in the Visitor's centre I've been able to pre-book it all, including my accommodation. The first item I've just done is the Bundaberg Rum Distillery tour (well their mascot is a polar bear OK).
But I've also learned a few lessons:
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Be wary of quick decisions when I'm tired - make the time to think of some other options. (I could have booked myself into a nice, air-conditioned hotel in Cairns for a few days and made much more of my time there.)
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Don't play camp-site roulette - I know it is a bloke thing, but I can ask for directions, and I can use the phone to talk to other people. Just because the GPS doesn't get me there doesn't mean it has ceased to exist.
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Bundaberg Rum is very nice.
For now I'll just have to add Cairns (and the other suggestions I've received such as Kakadu) back on to the list of "things to do next time".
- comments
Steve P Lesson 4. In areas of high humidity, air conditioning isn't a luxury - it's essential.