Australia

New South Wales (part 2)

2008-12-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Thursday 14th August - After the poor weather on our first visit to Sydney and the wintry weather in Victoria we are glad to see very mild temperatures and blue skies. Our hotel is just south of the city center but convenient for buses and trains so it is easy for us to head into Circular Quay for some tourism. After grabbing breakfast from a cafe and enjoying the harbour view from our park bench we wander slowly east past the opera house and into the botanical gardens.

Here we're just in time to take a walking tour of some of the gardens which is very informative and proves a pleasant way to wile away the middle of the day, before Tracy opts to take the City Circle train back to the hotel while Tim walks back past Sydney Hospital and through St James and Hyde Park to get pictures. In the evening we meet up with the Sydney Thirsty hash for a good run in the Roselle area before we retire to a nearby bar.

Friday 15th August - Today we begin by taking a look at Darling Harbour on the west side of the city centre. Here we eat the brunch we grabbed at an interesting Indonesian bakery (and keep the aggressive gulls at bay) before walking around to the ferry terminal and catching the ferry around to Bradley's Head where we take a walk in the remnants of the native forest that once grew all around the Bay. This gives us city views and a look at the typical sandstone geology on the beach before riding the bus back to Milson's Point at the north end of the Harbour Bridge. Here Tim takes a walk for pictures on the north shore and over the bridge as the sun sets while Tracy takes the train back to the hotel.

We grab dinner in one of the many cheap and cheerful Chinese restaurants in the area of the hotel, which largely cater to Asian students. The food is good including dumplings that are sold in great quantity at the restaurant door for take-away. Noticably every restaurant seems to boast a brand new big flat screen TV, I'm sure these are for the Olympics that attract a big Chinese crowd every day. The Aussies may not be so keen as the look like getting less medal than the Brits, a serious failing!

Saturday 16th August - A day for some serious packing where we get the bike boxes reorganized one last time and make sure that all the bags meet the requirements for the next leg of the flight. In the afternoon Tracy opts for lazing while Tim trains over to the 2000 Olympic Park to have a look at the area and take in an Aussie Rules Football game. While this is the code favoured in Victoria (as mentioned before New South Wales is dominated by Rugby League) the local Sydney Swans are reasonably good and boast a large support in the impresssive Olympic Stadium, however today they come up against the all conquering Geelong and the match is never close.

Sunday 17th August - The city is currently hosting the Sydney Biennale, a large festival of contemporary art with venues all over. We opt to ride over to Cockatoo Island, both to look at the installations and see this historic place which has functioned as an imperial prison, industrial school, gaol and most recenty one of Australia's biggest shipyards (closedin 1992). The modern art fits well with the decaying industrial architecture and it proves to be an interesting and stimulating experience.

Next stop is back at Circular Quay where we meet the local hashers for a special full moon run. We get a short trail but good views of the Harbour at dusk and the rising full moon from the walkway on the road past the Quay, before moving to a nearby bar.

Monday 18th August - After the partying we get up late and relax. Tim walks over to our favorite Indian Restaurant with internet access for a few hours online, other than that we accomplish a bit more packing.

Tuesday 19th August - To compensate for yesterday's sloth Tim is up early for pictures around the harbour and The Rocks, before picking Tracy up for a trip out to Bondi Beach. It is a little cold for a dip despite the clear sunny weather and we opt for some walking around the area on the sand and around the sandstone cliffs. More pictures in the afternoon... and more Asin food and internet in the evening.

Wednesday 20th August - Our last day in Australia and Tim takes a run with the camera for some of the few views he's missed so far. Then we ride down to the Harbour where Tracy hangs out while Tim rides the ferry over to Manly to enjoy last views of the harbour. This fills the time before we return to the hotel, haul our baggage down to the foyer and pick up an airport shuttle with very grumpy driver en route to our Hawaii flight.

Victoria (part 2)

2008-11-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday August 5th - We have to be back in Sale by evening for a dinner with Ada, Don and friends of theirs from Switzerland, but also want to see the parts of the Great Ocean Road we missed in April. This requires an early start in the cold but the day turns beautiful as we approach the Bay of Islands, a bay full of small islands and rock pillars which give a flavor of the natural features that make this coast famous. A description doesn't really do justice to the coast so check out pictures here.

From here we visit several of the famous features on this coast. Loch Ard Gorge is the most interesting with both spectacular limestone formations, caves, and a shipwreck history from whence the name comes. The clipper Loch Ard ran aground in 1878 having nearly reached it's destination in Melbourne from the UK. Only one crew member and one passenger survived of the 51 aboard, others are buried on top of the cliff.

The misnamed Twelve Apostles are our final destination. Once known as the "Sow and Piglets" the 12 sea stacks were renamed for the tourists in the 1950s despite numbering 9. One collapsed in 2005 so the proper name is probably the "8 Apostles and one rubble pile". Very impressive collection of stacks though.

Now we have to haul our way back to Sale in time for dinner and this we manage in reasonable time and without hitting too much traffic around Melbourne. The crew were only on starters and after being introduced to John, Rashana and their 3 kids (visiting from Switzerland though the parent hail from Canada and the US) we enjoy an excellent meal.

Wednesday August 6th - Having made it "home" we now have a few days to sort out our possessions and work out how to get them all back to the US. However first we spend a day sightseeing with Don, Ada and the ? family at up in the hills where large gold reserves were mined in the 19th century and where gold mining is still carried out on a small but commercial scale.

The ride to the historic mining town of Walhalla takes us through fog in the Latrobe Valley (no doubt worsened by the pollution from the brown coal burning power stations) and up into wooded hills once stripped bare of trees to feed the insatiable power needs of the mines. In Walhalla we take a tour of the oldest mine, a fascinating glimpse of how ore was brought to the surface by brute force, dynamite and steam power. Then we look around the remaining village and have a quick picnic (the weather is none too warm) before riding back down to Sale, this time with good views of the power stations.

Thursday August 7th - Today it is time for us to complete the emptying and cleaning of the camper, a process that leaves large piles of "stuff" to be sorted. Luckily the weather is dry as we haul it all around Ada's yard. Don and Tim take the camper off to clean the holding tanks and we then situate it back where it began under a shelter beside Ada's garage. We also complete the business details of handing the rig back to Don.

Friday August 8th - The piles begin to diminish as we decide what we'll donate to Ada, what will go to the charity shop and what is ready for the bin. It is amazing how much we have and it's a challenge getting it anywhere near ready to transport to Melbourne.

Saturday August 9th - More packing, sorting and organizing in the day before we spend an excellent evening with Ada's friends Dennett and Peter fueled by outstanding homemade pizza courtesy of their son Tim and a pizza oven they built in the garden.

We'll be staying at Peter and Dennett's apartment in Melbourne and Peter kindly offers to drive us there as he's heading that way for work. That will save us a lot of hauling stuff on the train!

Sunday August 10th - The winter weather actually threatens snow near our route to Melbourne but fortunately only at altitude while the road follows the valley and we only experience driving rain and high winds. We spend the day making final packing arrangements and hoping that the stuff will all fit in Peter's average size saloon/ sedan car. And it does... just. With a borrowed bike carrier and very little room for Tracy in the back!

Monday August 11th - The apartment in the city is very pleasant and nicely situated... just a pity about the continuing bad weather. We spend the early part of the day working out how to ship some of our possessions to the UK to avoid carrying quite so much on the many flights we have ahead, in the end posting it works out best and we duly fill a couple of boxes with the maximum 20kg (44lbs).

In the evening we join the Melbourne Hash House Harriers for their run, taking along Dennett's 18 year old nephew Matt. We all have fun despite the average age of the hashers being about 60!

Tuesday August 12th - Better weather today but we begin indoors by packing our bike boxes with the maximum allowed by the airline and then trying to fit everything else in within our weight limit... a tough job! We meet Matt for lunch and aim to have dinner with Don and Ada who are passing through the city en route to the airport. Somehow Tracy and I manage to lose one another on the 5 minute walk from the apartment to the restaurant, which is a problem as she doesn't know where she's going. However while Tim searches the riverside area she manages to find them herself and we finally get to say our goodbyes.

Wednesday August 13th - Tim is up early to get some pictures around the city as the weather is finally clear and crisp, then it's time to get our belongings into Peter's car, even more of a challenge than before with the bikes boxed. Tracy has even less room this time but we successfully make the airport where a helpful traffic minder allows us plenty of time to unload and helps us find baggage carts.

The flight to Sydney is incident free, but it is quite a challenge getting the bags and boxes through the airport, down to the railway, onto the train, off the train at the other end and finally from the station to the hotel. Though we selected a hotel beside the station it is beside the other end and Tim gets exercise carrying everything while Tracy stays with the diminishing pile.

At least the weather is mild and beautiful, and the hotel is both as good as advertised and has a large room with plenty of room for all the stuff. We relax for the rest of the day, luckily there is plenty of food options nearby for picking up lunch and dinner nearby.

South Australia

2008-08-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday 27th July - After chatting to the other couples at the camping spot and getting some suggestions about our travels in the next few days we continue south towards the infamous opal mining town of Coober Pedy. In years gone by this town with virtually no rainfall, intense summer heat and surrounded by enormous numbers of waste piles was truly the wild frontier and though things have calmed down since the highway was sealed in the 1980s it is still a unique place.

We roll into the tourist information centre for a map and walking tour then walk down into town where Tracy checks out several opal shops while Tim looks for pictures. We meet up for a tour of one of the original mines and the underground homes and Post Office constructed in later years (the summer heat is so intense that many homes utilize mine workings that are enlarged into very pleasant dwellings). We also get a show of modern mining equipment.

In Coober Pedy opal is found in seams within sandstone and most is worthless "potch". The key to success is finding veins of valuable opal, which is done by sinking a vertical shaft and using a machine like a snow blower to break up the rock in a horizontal direction, looking carefully for the telltale signs of opal. The waste is drawn to the surface by a suction, effectively a giant vacuum cleaner which leaves a telltale dust pile.

After learning all there is to know about opal (!) we continue south into the late evening, stopping at a rest area that promises views of dry lake beds when the sun rises tomorrow. Unlike some of our stops this one is rather noisy as a couple of road trains stop for the night after running their engines into the small hours.

Monday 28th July - We'll finally reach the sea today, and will also have to confront winter (while cold at night the desert has not put us in mind of the season). First though we wake to the glorious panorama of open desert where water collects over a wide area if it ever rains, with even less growing than in any other of the barren areas we've passed through. We get to enjoy more of this scenery than we bargained for too, our petrol/ gas calculations have been thrown off by a head wind last night and we have to backtrack a few km for a refill before ploughing on towards Port Augusta with the mountains of the Flinders Ranges rising to our left (sadly we don't have time to visit this gorgeous area).

The transition in terrain is pretty swift, the desert reaches close to the sea before suddenly transforming into views of water and the industry around Port Augusta. Then we climb east into the hills towards the Clare Valley where the contrast to the desert is amazing. Here despite fairly low rainfall the fields are green, the livestock well fed and the towns and villages full of attractive and historic (for Australia) sandstone buildings. We could almost be in parts of England and it's no surprise the area was settled by Brits in the 1850s.

We find a campground near the village of Clare among an interesting combination of bare and wintry deciduous trees and leafy eucalypts (while the weather is still generally dry it settles into a pattern of temperatures around 15C (60F) in the day and 8C (47F) at night). We head quickly into town to visit a couple of wineries and get some pictures in the evening light before retiring for a night of laundry.

Tuesday 29th July – We spend the early part of the day driving through the southern Clare Valley, taking in a couple more wineries (including the excellent Annie's Lane) and taking a walk around Auburn with its attractive sandstone buildings. The rolling scenery around here make it the most scenic of South Australia's wine areas.

Driving on to Gawler we book into the campground we've been recommended as a good location on the railway to Adelaide but convenient for the wineries of the Barossa Valley, the largest wine producing region in South Australia. Luckily the Hash run is also north of the city on the rail line and we find our way there for a good long run on a dry evening after quite a bit of afternoon rain.

Wednesday 30th July – The day dawns dull but brightens into a crisp and springlike afternoon so we jump on the train for a look at the city of Adelaide, which proves to be our favorite of the major Australian cities. It is attractive, has a compact centre, effective public transport and a pleasantly laid back atmosphere. Combine this with the moderate climate and range of scenery nearby and we could certainly live here.

We put in a few miles of walking checking out the city centre, covered market, riverside and North Adelaide before jumping on the train for a ride north to the historic port area of Port Adelaide. This area was once very wealthy from trade in and out of the state and the impressive buildings are a testament to past success. Now it is nicely restored with a good selection of restaurants and we find our way to a very good brew pub.

Thursday 31st July – Time for some exercise as the weather is good once again so we get on our bikes for the ride east into the Barossa Valley. Despite the name the terrain is only gently rolling and we soon arrive in the main town of Tanunda. From here we ride north and east, being particularly impressed with a visit to the Seppeltsfield Winery which is housed in a spectacular collection of buildings and produce excellent fortified wines including Port, Sherry and the rarely seen Tokay. Weighed down with a few purchases we continue on to Greenock which bears no resemblance to its Scottish namesake before riding back to Tanunda. Here Tracy settles into a pub while Tim races the fading light on an undulating road back to pick up the truck and pick her up.

Friday 1st August – It's a wet start to the day so Tracy opts for doing chores and relaxing while Tim heads into Adelaide today for a look at some of the indoor options on offer. The State Museum has excellent and highly informative displays on Aboriginal history and life, which contrast with older displays of much more intricate Polynesian artefacts.

After a couple of hours here the weather is brighter so Tim takes the opportunity for more pictures in the city before visiting the Botanical Gardens where highlights include a hothouse full of the enormous "Giant Amazon Water Lily" and a fine collection of desert plants contrasting those from the old world and new. Final stop is the small but informative immigration museum where the story of immigration into this free state (as opposed to the penal colonies in New South Wales and Victoria) is detailed.

Saturday 2nd August – Time to begin the ride back east but we start by heading south around Adelaide and down to the Coorong, the spectacular but threatened wetlands at the mouth of the Murray River. Low river water levels from drought and overuse mean the encroachment of salt water into the area affecting the delicate ecological balance.

We had lunch at a rest stop overlooking the wetlands and its huge flocks of birds and had time to stop briefly for photographs when we spotted some emus before driving south to the small town of Kingston SE. This was mostly notable for having been founded by members of the Cooke family.Next stop was the village of Robe, which boasts a spectacular walk along the limestone cliffs between a modern lighthouse and a historic coastal marker. Here we enjoyed an impressive rainbow and then watched the sunset before heading for a historic local pub.

We wanted to camp near the wine region of Coonawarra so we drove to a spot that claimed to have space for us to spend the night In the camper. Despite having exact GPS coordinates the best we could do after searching up and down the road was a pull off used to store road surfacing materials. Not our best camping spot!

Sunday 3rd August – We get up really early in case anyone complains about out impromptu camp and move to the town's lake, which has not had water for some years by the look of it. Tim runs early, then we get the bikes out for a dead flat ride north to check out a few wineries.

First stop is the town of Penola for pictures and to get some tourist info, then we ride north to the tiny village of Coonawarra, home of the large Wynn winery and on to take in three of the smaller establishments. The big find is Rymill's which boasts an excellent building where you can see the production floor, a very knowledgeable host in the owner's brother, excellent presentation (glasses washed between each sample and warmed for the reds, good pour of each wine) and fantastic wine. Anyone visiting Coonawarra must visit this place, and we'll be exploring how to get supplies from their UK importer. Overall we were more impressed with wines in this region than anywhere else in Australia.

After a leisurely day we finally get on the road to South Australia's second biggest town, Mt Gambier. Here we find a cosy little campground near the center of town and Tim takes a short walk to check out the several takeaway food options nearby, finally opting for Indian. Later in the evening Tim takes a run up to one of the volcanic craters the town is famous for, of course all he sees is a black hole!

Monday 4th August – We are up early as there is lots to see here, packing the camper quickly and parking it conveniently on a sidestreet outside the campground. The climb to the crater rim of Mt Gambier is fairly easy and the view impressive. One crater is wooded with signs of the formal gardens once laid out at the bottom while the main one has a beautiful deep blue crater lake.

We take a walk around the larger crater for more lake views then walk back into town for a look at a one of the limestone "holes" (circular depressions in the ground where the limestone collapsed into a cave). Formal gardens were built in the hole many years ago and it is still well maintained as a somewhat unusual town park. After picking up the camper we visit another larger hole on the way out of town before finally crossing the state border into Victoria and a return to the south coast.

We pass the time in the afternoon by exploring the attractive old port town of Port Fairy, enjoying both its interesting historical buildings and some good fresh seafood before ending the day at a nearly empty seaside campground in Warnambool, a town that will be bursting with tourists in the summer months. We soon make our way to the local hash run and after a short trail we join several of the members in a fine local bar for dinner.

The Longest Day

2008-08-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

So far we've been "enjoying" August 20th for 35 hours with another 9 to go... and not getting a great deal of sleep in that time. Such are the pleasures of crossing the International Date Line. We are currently in a hotel room in Honolulu that we rented for the day awaiting a return to the airport for an evening flight to Kona on the "Big Island". I have added quite a few pictures from South Australia to www.timcooke.com and will get the blog updated soon.

Nearly Outta Here

2008-08-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

We leave Sydney tomorrow after nearly 5 months here in Australia and 18 months in the southern hemisphere. Hope to get the blog up to date and more pictures up as I stave off boredom on our travels. Sydney is a great city to spend time in and though it's been cold (record lows for the time of year in places around the city) at night the days have been bright.

We'll be sad to leave but glad to get to the warmth of Hawaii, though tomorrow will not be fun. With our current time zone 20 hours ahead of Kona we will get to enjoy the 20th August for almost 2 days!

Back in Winter

2008-08-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

We have now safely completed the main part of our journey and have brought the camper back to Sale. It was great to see greenery again as we approached the coast in South Australia but some cool and damp winter weather was less welcome. We enjoyed time in Adelaide, visited 3 wine regions and took in some of the south coast before getting back to our starting point. From here we spend 3 days in Melbourne, a week in Sydney and then goodbye winter, Hawaii here we come!

Northern Territory

2008-08-08T05:28:00.000-07:00

Monday 14th July – Once again Tracy gets up early to bike, after we enjoy a spectacular sunrise enhanced by the appearance of high cloud which lingers all day and keeps the drive pleasantly cool (the last few days have been warm for driving but fine with windows open). Tim meanwhile takes a run around Camooweal (whose most exciting history was in WWII when it was a staging post on the supply road and a US army camp) before driving the camper about 40km, picking up Tracy and continuing past many more km of grass.

Eventually we reach the Stuart Highway (which runs north-south through the middle of the country linking Adelaide to Darwin) and take a left to begin a long haul south. Our next stop at Tennant Creek is close and having forgotten which of two campgrounds we were recommended by Dave, our hashing contact in town we book into the closest which is a bit small and dusty. We find out the location for the night's run and walk down there through the centre of a town that is in the middle of nowhere but has a good range of services and a very large and mainly poor aboriginal population.

The run is pretty good and brings us to a viewpoint that would be more scenic if not situated beside the town dump, before we return into town for good snack food and some excellent home brewed beer. It is only a newish and small hash group but we had a lot of fun... and they kindly drove us home.

Tuesday 15th July – We move around the corner to the much more highly recommended Outback Campground and find it very nicely set up with shady sites and plenty of drive-throughs for big rigs like us. Then we settle down for a day of cleaning, laundry and doing all the chores we have put off for too long. The weather has returned to warm and clear again which helps get everything dry and by the time the sun sets we are in much more organised shape.

Dave, whose wife left today for a work trip up north, comes around for a drink at the campground bar (which makes the barmaid nervous as she recognises him as a policeman and suddenly becomes a stickler for the Territory's rather complex drinking laws) and dinner. He is a useful source of information about life in the Territory if not Tennant Creek where he only moved recently.

Wednesday 16th July – This is our day to explore the area and we get on our bikes early to ride out west of our campground to the town lookout then on to the mining museum. Here we opt not to go underground again but they do have an excellent little museum about frontier life in the 1930s during the gold rush here and a fine display of natural crystals collected by a man with local connections from near and far. They also have a working battery which is similar but more modern than the one we saw in Charters Towers.

After stopping at the camper for lunch we ride north to the old Telegraph Station, 7 miles (11km) away (that was the legal distance any town development had to be undertaken from the Station in the 1870s). A series of 25 Stations were built in 1871-2 when the overland Telegraph line was built from Adelaide to Darwin to connect with an existing undersea cable all the way to London. Here operators listened to faint degraded morse code from the previous station and relayed the message so it could be sustained up the line. Each station housed operators and line crew for maintenance and were located near water sources. They therefore became a magnet for overland travelers (one visitor in 1897 passed through en route to pedaling his bike from Adelaide to Darwin!) and sometimes for local Aboriginal people in times of drought. Much of the line followed the overland route forged by John Stuart, the first European to travel across the continent from south to north, a decade before the Telegraph... and then the road we use today (the Stuart Highway) followed the Telegraph line.

From here we ride 6km west on a red dirt road reminiscent of Africa to Kunjarra, a weathered granite outcrop leaving piles of rocks, sacred to local women. Returning south on the main road we detour to see the local lake and recreation area where a seasonal stream has been dammed. Though the water level is low it is a pleasant spot for a rest before we follow a purpose build bike path back through a low ridge of hills to Tennant Creek and the campground.

This evening we sample the limited nightlife the town has to offer, first meeting Dave at the Police Club for a couple of beers before we grab a bottle of wine (from a girl behind heavy bars in the bottle store!) and a couple of pizza's (not at all bad either) in a new pizza shop opposite.

Thursday 17th July – Time to get on the road again heading for Karlu Karlu or the Devil's Marbles, 100km to the south. The short ride allows us time to visit the local Aboriginal cultural centre and get in some internet time in Tennant Creek before returning to the endless highway. At Karlu Karlu another granite outcrop has weathered into a spectacular collection of rock piles and apparently precariously balanced spherical boulders, all in bright rust red colours from the high iron content and spread over a wide area. There is a basic but very popular campground here run by the parks department and we find a good spot before taking a long walk in the late afternoon sun to look at the many intriguing formations. Sunset is beautiful as the rocks glow in the last of the sun and we have an early night in preparation for the obligatory sunrise rockwatching. Tim does find time to run in the fading post-sunset light and we both use our outdoor shower after strategically placing the truck. Fortunately none of the dingos wandering the area want to complete for our water...

Friday 18th July – Another fine day dawns with more great rock colours and Tim takes another stroll for pictures while Tracy preps the truck for the haul to Alice Springs. After this brief scenic interlude the terrain returns to the same old scrub but as we climb slowly to Alice at 600m (2000ft) there are more outcrops to be seen.

We break the journey with a stop at Barrow Creek which has another Telegraph Station and a strangely decorated bar in the Roadhouse before rolling on to Aileron. This is the site of another Roadhouse, but also has a historic cattle station on site as well as an amazing statue of an Aboriginal warrior set high on a hill behind and a gallery of local Aboriginal art. The statueis is the work of a sculptor friend of the Roadhouse owner and Tim opts to take the short climb up the hill it is set on while Tracy checks out the pictures.

The walk is well worth the effort, the statue is even more imposing close up with great views from the hill, there is also a paddock of captive Red Kangaroos en route (we see quite a few Kangaroos early morning and when we occasionally drive after dark but few close up). Meanwhile Tracy has selected a few pictures and we decide on a colourful rendition of an emu dreaming story.

The final stretch in increasingly attractive scenery brings us to Alice Springs where we visit the Tourist Information to find a campground and settle into one on the west edge of town, but within easy walking distance. As sunset approaches Tim takes the chance for a long run on the dry Todd River to the Telegraph Station, the most developed of the three we have seen.

Saturday 19th July – We take the bikes out to look at the city on what begins as a pleasant and warm day, riding down to “The Gap”, a narrow cleft in the Quartzite Ridge of the MacDonnell Ranges cut by the Todd River. Then we ride up the river which is merely a strip of sand most of the year studded with River Red Gums that sink deep roots to find water trapped far below, and again stop to answer a couple of questions at the Tourist Information. From here we plan to ride north, but the wind is whipping up dust all of a sudden, and a short but stiff climb to a lookout on Anzac Hill demonstrated that the wind is not only howling but dust clouds are rising all around the city.

We do have to do some restocking of the food and drink supplies before embarking back into the outback so we occupy the early afternoon with a major shop and refuel. Then Tim gets on his bike later in the day while Tracy avoids the dust, riding through the city and up to the Telegraph Station to get pictures. It is a pleasant city to ride around, weather notwithstanding, with a number of bike paths, but the local thorns do a number on a rather worn front tyre and 6 repairs are needed by days end.

In the evening we decide to walk in and look for an Indian restaurant we've seen advertised, only our map is wrong and after wandering the middle of the city (not exactly hopping even on a Saturday) we opt for a so-so eatery and repair to the local pub afterwards. Having got used to Queensland's draconian no smoking rules it is a surprise to find a smoky bar where the divide between the smoking and non-smoking areas is a line (strictly enforced by the bouncers however); we are also surprised that even here in one of the world's more isolated cities there is a live internet feed from cameras in the bar. Yes, you can dance like an idiot and the whole world can watch... we avoided embarrassing behaviour.

Sunday 20th July – We have decided to skip town quickly and get on our way to see some of the spectacular natural features in southern NT, but plans are stymied when Tim's attempt to manoeuver and back onto the camper hitch reveal a sudden failure in the power steering system. A trail of power steering fluid on the truck's short route suggests a sudden leak but with no obvious loose hoses a call to RACV (the Victorian equivalent of AA/ RAC/ AAA who we signed up with at the start of the trip) is in order. They send out an NT affiliate who confirms that yes we have a problem, no he can't see anything obvious and that we'll be doing nothing till the place wakes up Monday.

No point moping about so we change plans and take a ride out to Simpson's Gap, a narrow cleft in the West MacDonnell ranges. There is a purpose built bike path out to the Gap through the bush running 17km and connecting with another path that leads 7km from our campground. We really enjoy the trip, the weather has turned much colder today but it is cloudless, there are great views of the ranges and interpretive signage informs us about the desert plants we see. The whole area has had 30 years to recover from the destruction wrought by cattle grazing and it is interesting to see where some areas recover fast, other places have barely begun to regrow.

In the evening we begin to plan for an extended stay in the city, even if the local Holden dealer can fit us in quickly it takes a while to get parts in. It could have been much worse though, on many other mornings we've been in isolated areas without cell service and even our camping site has plenty of room to fit in a tow truck. Plus there is plenty to do in Alice compared to almost anywhere else in the outback!

Monday 21st July – Tim is up early and onto RACV for a tow and to arrange a hire car (we opted for a deluxe level of membership so the camper will be covered, and it comes with benefits we are now glad of!). The truck just makes it onto the towtruck, but the Holden dealer can't fit us in till Wednesday so we leave the truck there and pick up the car.

The weather is not that good today, cool, windy and overcast early with some improvement after lunch. We spend the afternoon looking around the town on foot and use the car to visit the town's Indian restaurant in the evening.

Tuesday 22nd July – The weather is a bit clearer today, and we'll use the car to ride out along the West MacDonnell range as far as the sealed road goes, taking in several natural features on the way. The ranges are the remnants of a huge ancient mountain range that once stood here and eroded leaving the hardest layers, often Quartzite. Geological upheavals 350 million years ago have left some of the rock layers in waves while other more ancient layers up to 890 million years old were thrust to the surface. Early in the day we get the good news that the truck's problem was simply a blown hose so it'll be ready shortly, they found time to check it out in case parts had to be procured and fixed it as soon as they could. Good service!

First up on the ride west is Standley Chasm, a 2.5m (8ft) gap between sheer Quartzite walls where water pours through after rains. We take the walk to the chasm up the dry creekbed, then opt for the more challenging option of climbing to another smaller chasm, then up and over a ridge for great views of the surrounding hills. From here we drive to Ellery Big Hole, a large permanent waterhole at another break in the ridge, to Ochre Pits where local Aboriginals dug the red, white and yellow ochre that was important for ceremonial decoration and in trade and finally to Ormiston Gorge.

Here water that falls in Ormiston Pound (a wide flat bowl between rocky ridges) races down through the Quartzite layers leaving an impressive gorge and towering red rock formations (a high iron content explains why everything is red in central Australia, it is all rusty!) Tim jogs around a circuit up the gorge and skirting the Pound while Tracy enjoys a talk on identifying animals from their tracks before we ride home to beat the sunset.

Wednesday 23rd July – With the truck fixed again we can finally leave Alice but not before we spend the day at the excellent Desert Park run by the Parks Service. This has plantings representing three desert environments, aviaries with native desert birds, examples of lizards and lots of information on desert survival strategies. We go to a talk about how Aboriginal people used the sparse resources and a show about birds of prey before hitting the road south late in the day.

Our plan now is simply to cover as much distance as possible towards Uluru and after about 320km (200 miles) of the 440km (275 mile) journey we pull off at a rest stop which we have to ourselves. It is a cold night without our heater (it only worked when we were plugged into the mains electric) but with no other people for a long way around the lack of light pollution and no moon made for spectacular views of the stars, especially the Milky Way.

Thursday 24th July – We get up swiftly in the morning chill and get straight our on the road, stopping only for views of the little known mesa of Mount Connor. We are at Yulara (the resort village housing all the accommodation in the area) by 10am and soon get settled into a pleasant campground before unhitching the bikes and heading out on the 55km journey to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). The roads are smooth and relatively quiet as we pass Uluru and ride west with increasingly impressive views of the 37 rocky sandstone outcrops that make up Kata Tjuta. We ride around to the west side where there are two walks, one running into a crack between two outcrops that we both do and another around and among several of the smaller outcrops which Tim jogs while Tracy rests up for the long ride home.

The setting sun makes for excellent colours but we have to ride hard to avoid a long stretch in the dark (and cold), and we only have to put on the lights for the final 10km. The road is busy at this time with people returning from the obligatory sunset views of Uluru but the cars move slowly and we get home safely.

Friday 25th July – We are going to spend today at Uluru (probably still better known to the rest of the world as Ayers Rock) and have an easier 25km ride to get around to the south side where the main tourist facilities are located. First up we take a fascinating Ranger guided walk around the south-west of the rock which provides a good background about the history, geology, mythology and ecology of the area around the rock and shows us some of the caves, cave paintings, rock features and the waterhole which feature in this area. Then while Tracy headed for the Park museum Tim embarked on a 14km (9 mile) run around the rock, camera in hand, to have a look at all the features which are explained in Aboriginal myths.

Pictures tend to make the rock look like a smooth, grooved, colourful lump but up close it's a complex mass of cracks, caves and weathering patterns which makes moving around the base a fascinating exercise. It also has an abundance of life at the base (not counting the tourists) because of the water run off that is trapped by buried rock (there is at least 2x as much mass of rock below the surface as above).

We ride back to the campground in mid afternoon in time for Tim to get a shower and return to the classic sunset viewing point for a succession of pictures as the setting sun emphasises the rock's colours from red through orange hues to a dull brown after dark. This time he travels in the truck to avoid riding in the dark!

Saturday 26th July - We are up in time for the ride back into the park for sunrise, from the classic and popular spot on the east side. With some cloud in the sky it is an attractive sunrise and the rock glows briefly until the sun rises far enough to disappear behind the cloud... not that we care as we head straight back to collect the camper and hit the road back east. The early start allows us to really put in some distance today, back to the Stuart Highway and south again, finally exiting the Northern Territory and getting into the final new State we'll visit (Tasmania will have to wait).

Again tonight we stop at a roadside rest area and this time we have some companions, so Tracy joins a retired couple at their camp fire while tim does the cooking. One couple heading north have the most impressive bus we've seen yet looking brand new and complete with garage... or at least a trailer containing a car, tools and spares.

Moving South

2008-07-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings from dry, dusty Coober Pedy, a town with one of the lower rainfalls in the world (though we did get a short shower 130km (80 miles) to the north last night. It is basically one big opencast opal mine with a million piles of dust dotted around that have been dug and filtered for the precious stones.

We are now racing south with only just over a week to go in the camper, heading for Adelaide then the south coast. Hopefully the weather will be good as we're not prepared for the fairly wintry weather the area can get.

Queensland... Cairns and Beyond

2008-07-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 24th June – First priority is to drive into town to check out diving options and some research on the internet has suggested one of the companies has availability for a trip tomorrow. We successfully get booked up and locate the local Holden dealership (GM brand here) where we need to get the truck serviced before our long haul in the outback. We decide to drop the camper at a pull off on the Mulgrave River south of the city and use our bikes for the rest of the day, racking up about 60km as we investigate camping options and take a look at the seafront.

Tuesday night is also a hashing night in Cairns and we enjoy another relatively short run before following one of the hashers back to the northern suburbs where she's offered to store our camper while we are on the boat. The timing was perfect, they sold their caravan and it was picked up this afternoon! A couple of beers with our hosts and we head for bed in preparation for a very early start.

Wednesday 25th June – We have to be in town before 8am and catch the 6.30am bus which will get us in on time, luckily this drives right past our camping spot which saves hauling the gear anywhere. This dive trip involves a ride out to the reef (about 40km/ 25 miles) in a smallish boat with divers on a day trip, before boarding the liveaboard vessel. Overcast and windy weather has set in over the last few days which makes for a pretty rough trip... glad we are out on the sheltered reef for 2 more nights!

We get settled into our cabin quickly (small with bunk beds, but ensuite facilities) and head up for lunch (basic but tasty and filling) before being briefed on the schedule: a packed program of dives at 6.30, 8.30 and 11.30am and a night dive at 6.30pm... phew. There is a dive at 2.30pm for us new arrivals so we next get sorted with BCDs, tanks and regs (with a few equipment issues for Tracy before she gets a fully working set) and jump into the 25 deg C water (77F) for a look around. The water is a little cloudy with the rough weather (8-10m/ 25-35ft) but the coral is excellent, even in this well dived area. Conditions are warm enough even with fleeting sun, but the breeze is chilly when you first get out of the water.

The remaining afternoon is time for relaxation with our fellow passengers (mostly younger than us, this is the cheap and cheerful trip). The night dive is a lot of fun, we have not done one for 8 years and the site makes navigation easy. Most noticeable tonight are the Red Bass that follow us and hunt small fish that are shown up by our lights, now that is adaptation. Dinner is again of the solid and filling variety and we wash it down with copious cups of tea.

Thursday 26th June – Diving at dawn is a bit of a shock to the system, but it does give a good appetite for the excellent heavy duty breakfast. The rest of the morning is a whirl of getting in and out of equipment and the water and we also fit in an extra afternoon dive as we have to surface early on one dive due to an air leak. There is still time to relax and chat with other divers and again the night dive is the best fun.

One of the other passengers is a Belgian doctor who is working in a rural Aboriginal community in South Australia so he and Tracy are able to compare their experiences with medicine in Australasia.

Friday 27th June – Another busy day with diving and getting packed up before we board the boat for what is an even rougher journey back to shore. Overall the trip is a bit disappointing, good value for the price but with limited dive sites and with the dull conditions adversely affecting the experience. The company do offer free beer and pizza for anyone who want to come out to a bar in the evening though, and this offers the opportunity to chat some more to the other divers, and staff who are getting their time off.

We have a quick turnaround on shore, catch a bus north, shower, change and grab the bus south again for an evening that turns out to be a lot of fun, while the free beer does not last long the bar we are in becomes one of the hopping nightspots of the city and we party late into the night. Part way through the evening Tracy walks around the block to a hostel to find Kelly, her cousin's daughter who has just arrived in Cairns after spending two weeks doing environmental work on an island further south . The city has a good night bus service which we use to get home, with the convenient feature that the driver will drop you at any point on a regular bus route: in our case at the door of our camper.

Saturday 28th June – After the rigours of diving and partying in the last 3 days this is probably our laziest day yet, sleeping, eating, watching DVDs and catching up with picture editing occupy us until we finally leave the camper at 4pm for a chat with our hosts before we catch the bus back into town to meet up with Kelly. None of us have much energy so we relax over dinner in a pub and take a gentle stroll around the city centre, pausing at a few souvenir shops and watching a street performer and his impressive performing dog.

Sunday 29th June – Kelly has activities organized as part of her trip today so we take the chance to move our rig into the city, but not before harvesting a few coconuts and having a look at Kewarra Beach: one of a series of beaches stretching up the coast north of the city and each featuring a pleasant residential community. Once at our campground in the city we catch up with cleaning, laundry, picture editing, blogging and all the other chores of modern traveling life... plus processing coconut which is not easy with a limited set of tools!

Monday 30th June – Today we take the historic train that winds steeply through the mountains to the village of Karumba. The line was built in the 1890s to supply the inland mining communities reliably through the wet season, now it takes tourists up to see spectacular views of the coastal plain and two impressive waterfalls en route to a pleasant little tourist town.

The ride up is in pretty good weather with clear views and lots of photo opportunities, especially of Stoney Creek Falls and Barron Falls. Once at our destination we take a stroll down by the river before checking out the shopping in town. Tim takes off to do a longer walk and get some pictures in Barron Falls National Park while Tracy and Kelly continue shopping before grabbing some food and beers.

There are two trains down each afternoon and Tim gets the first so he can rush to the bank and pay for the next world Hash House Harriers event in Borneo (the price goes up steeply tomorrow), while the other two take the second. We all rendezvous in town and after delivering Kelly back to her accommodation we take off for the evening's hash run, which is pretty long and not at all well marked (that means we all spend time wandering around looking puzzled and searching for arrows on the ground).

Tuesday 1st July – Today the truck goes in to get a service in preparation for the trip inland and we plan to relax, though the much improved weather would suggest we should be more active. Tracy does look into a few of the pricier and classier reef trips and one leaving tonight has a good deal on so we book up the last couple of spots. Our plan is to leave our camper in the northern burbs again but the truck is not done in time so we just pay for 3 more nights and leave it at the campground.

By the time Tim has organized everything and delivered Tracy to the dive shop he is getting late, good thing he's been running regularly and manages to jog down to the shop just in time. There is plenty of relaxation time on the boat though, on this trip we board the main boat and we ride north overnight to the “Cod Hole” then spend the next 3 days riding south again visiting several dive sites on the way. Our accommodation on this boat is not en suite but otherwise the boat is better set up and the food a bit more classy... you get what you pay for!

The evening ride is smooth and time is spent getting our gear set up, having dive briefings and doing paperwork before relaxing and getting to know our fellow passengers.

Wednesday 2nd July – We awake north of Cooktown in great weather which promises much brighter diving. No 6am starts here, we breakfast first then get in the water about 8am. From the start the visibility is better than last week and we enjoy the dive. Highlight of the day is the second dive, where one of the dive masters feeds the huge (and friendly) Potato Cod that inhabit the Cod Hole. The hard coral here is also spectacular (not quite so much soft coral up here) and with options to go deep or shallow we enjoy long dives with much of the time spent in bright shallow water.

The night dive is not as exciting as last week but overall the dive sites today were better and the conditions much closer to ideal. We also enjoy the benefits of technology by being able to get online via satellite (expensive at A$11 for 10MB, but I saved $20 by picking up some on sale tickets for our flight from Melbourne to Sydney). Our fellow passengers include a teacher from Alaska who is very familiar with the arguments about dental care for kids in remote areas of the state that have been of great interest to Tim over the last few years.

Thursday 3rd July – Today's highlight is two dives at “Steve's Bommie”. A bommie is a coral encrusted lump and this one has beautiful coral, plentiful fish, a turtle and some sea life we'd not seen before. All the sites are good and the weather is fine again so we have a really good day.

We have about 4 hours steaming south in the evening and the swell has built up again so it is pretty rough, even in the bigger boat. Many of our fellow passengers are out of the game so Tracy spends the time chatting with the engineer while Tim finds a soft sofa and spends the time reading.

Friday 4th July – We get two dives today before we head for home, at a site near our previous trip. Despite the swell the visibility continues good and we really enjoy long shallow dives on great coral beds. A fellow diver also gets pictures of us so we can prove we're not just making all this up.

Back on shore we once again get together with the people on the boat in the evening and again have a lot of fun. There were 5 Japanese on the boat with limited English (they had a Japanese dive master to work with them) and they come out with us, I'm wearing a Nakamura Celtic shirt and as big football (soccer) fans they are most impressed. Later in the night we head for the same night club we met in after the last trip... everyone gets past the entry line with sweet talking by one of the crew (dive boats are good business obviously) but Tim is stuck outside having diverted to get cash. They will not let him in so we retire for the night rather than argue after we are caught trying a little subterfuge. A good 4th July!

Saturday 5th July – Another day to catch up with chores and laundry as we'll finally leave Cairns tomorrow.

Sunday 6th July – We are going to ride south and camp near the junction with the road inland to take in one last hash run (and see one more collection of sugar cane). First stop is town where we find an excellent market to begin stocking up with fresh fruit and veg for the long dry haul inland before we drive 30km and find one of the nicest campsites yet at Fishery Falls. You can tell the area has high rainfall with lush grass and beautiful tropical plantings.

The hash run is sparsely attended but the trail ends at the attractive Fishery Falls themselves and we all enjoy a fine afternoon's weather. The after run get together is carried out at our camper for want of a better venue, glad to be of service for once.

Monday 7th July – The long string of good days has come to an end and there is plenty of rain overnight. The morning dawns with low cloud but Tim still runs up to the falls for pictures (they look good with extra water) while Tracy preps for the long climb to Atherton. The Gillies highway is not as scenic as the ride down and we don't stop until we reach Joan's house, she is an old friend of Don's we met when she was traveling down south. Her home is perched on a hill among a growing number of new houses and has plenty of space for our camper and a lot of citus fruit trees.

We take a walk down the hill to look at the town in the afternoon, and avoid the temptation of the Atherton show. Then we help out by removing a rusting chimney cap so she can get a replacement and in the evening we cook for Joan and we enjoy the evening relaxing in a real house.

Tuesday 8th July – We get the bikes out today to explore more of the Tablelands, despite no improvement in the weather. We begin with a ride up the old volcano Joan's house is on, like most old volcanoes it is really only a lump on the plain but it does shelter an unusual scrap of rainforest in the old crater, protected from clearing for agriculture.

Our journey takes us down to Yungaburra, via a spectacular fig tree that I can't justify with a description so you'll have to look at the pictures. The village has a few historic buildings but on a dull and drizzly day we spend the most time at a winery/ distillery that produces some interesting drinks mostly from local fruit. On the way home we visit a cheese and chocolate factory where we watch the cows being milked and of course stock up with the produce.

When we get home we get a tour of the garden and collect samples of the huge range of citrus fruit Joan grows, and tonight Joan cooks and again we have a pleasant time discussing our travels as Joan has spent many years shuttling between homes in the north and south of the country.

Wednesday 9th July – Finally time to drive inland, and of course the weather is finally looking up here in the hills. We are not in the mood to hurry so we finally say goodbye to Joan after lunch, and we know Ravenshoe has all the services we need, so the day's drive is short and we slot ourselves back in our favourite site near the railway station. This gives us one more chance to chat to fellow travelers at the campfire and get an early night in preparation for the long drives ahead.

Thursday 10th July – The day dawns clear and we will not see another cloud for three days as we backtrack past Innot Hot Springs and set out on the Gulf Development Road, built in the 60s to allow cattle to be carried to the coast in road trains rather than driven overland on foot to railheads. First stop is the Undara Lava Tubes, the site of an unusual geological occurrence where a volcano 190,000 years ago spilled out lava on the correct incline that allowed the outer layer to set into tubes which kept the lava within molten till the eruption was over and the tubes emptied. These days some of the tubes are nearly full of silt and debris, others have partially collapsed while some are still unexplored.

We take a two hour tour that gives a good introduction to the terrain, the ecology, the history and shows us two of the tubes, then we take a walk in the bush around the area with a viewpoint overlooking the local volcanic outcrops and down to a swamp that is rarely as wet this time of year. Here we see an interesting range of birds and plenty of kangaroos out for an evening feed.

The sun is setting so we decide to ride for a couple more hours and camp at a roadside halt. The road is better than we expect with only a few stretches of single track with dirt shoulders and Tracy does a good job avoiding kangaroos which are a real threat at this time of night (we see more in this area than any other) and we find plenty of space to pull our camper up in a big area beside the wide dry Gilbert River. Our neighbours are riding bikes which can't be very exciting in the flat dry terrain we've passed through, but we never have the chance to ask them about their trip.

Friday 11th July – Today we drive on to Normanton, an old port on the Norman River near the Gulf of Carpentaria on the country's north coast. We check into a campground there, grab lunch and set off to Karumba, near the coast. The terrain here is absolutely flat and mostly grassland, part of the enormous Gulf Savanna region that stretches from the gulf far inland.

Karumba is pretty quiet but we find a couple of shops to buy up some stocks of the local fish and shrimp that constitute the area's economy before we drive onto Karumba Point at the mouth of the river which is a famous spot for watching the sunset. As I have mentioned before, Aussie's are very keen on sunsets over the sea because almost their whole population lives either on the east coast or inland and we find a large bar with fine view west which fills up quickly as the sun drops. Before the sunset we also get a show from the local grasshoppers which begin to fly in a swarm and the sunset itself is suitably spectacular. We chat for a while to a couple from Brisbane before driving the 70km home in time to jump in the hot tub that is fed by a natural hot spring.

Saturday 12th July – Tracy is up early to get on the road on her bicycle while Tim gets the camper ready for travel, takes a run, gets a last few pictures in Normanton, takes a final dip in the hot tub and heads south. Tracy makes it 50km before her pickup and we then continue for a while before finding a pulloff where we park in such a way that Tracy can get an outdoor shower without passing traffic seeing her (it is also a pretty quiet road). One old couple pull in beside us and are amused by seeing Tracy's showering feet, otherwise she gets successfully clean and we continue on our flat and boring way.

Today's destination is Mt Isa, a mining (copper, lead and zinc) city that has been in the news recently for the high lead levels found in its kids. As we get closer to the city the terrain finally becomes more interesting with several ranges of low rocky hills in various colours. We stop off close to Isa for a look at Mary Katherine, a town built in the 1950s to service a uranium mine and sold off in 1984 after the mine's closure. All that remains are streets, decorative features, non native plants, concrete slabs that once supported pre-fab houses and the foundations of several larger buildings like the company HQ and social club.

You certainly know it when you crest the ridge and start the descent into Isa, the mine on the ridge opposite dominates town. Originally a company town existed on that ridge with a collection of more poorly constructed private buildings crowded in to the valley. Then the mine expanded, taking over the ridge and what is now the city developed in the valley. Inexplicably we find all the campgrounds full and retreat to a rest stop 19km back east where we enjoy spending the evening with a collection of fellow campers.

Sunday 13th July – With it being Sunday parking for the camper is easy to find and we sign up for the main attraction around, a mine tour. They no longer allow you down the real mine for safety reasons so the city built a tourist mine with voluntary labour a few years ago (mostly from miners or ex-miners), stocked it with old equipment and employed retired miners to do the tour.

We occupy the morning with two associated museums, one of which details the development of local mining, the evolution of the city, the hardships and challenges for the early settlers and a little about the local aboriginal culture. The other focuses on fossil finds in one of the riches areas in the world for fossils of large animals, Riversleigh a few hundred km to the north.

The mine tour is actually very good as we learn about safety, machinery, the mining process, underground conditions and mine routine. But I think I will stick to weilding smaller drills above ground. In the late afternoon we set off for the Northern Territory border and finally find ourselves a place to camp in a rest stop in Camooweal, just in Queensland. After the brief intervention of varied scenery around Isa we are now in the Barkly Tableland, an endless stretch of flat grassy plain and low scrub at about 300m (1000ft).

Where Are We Now?

2008-07-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

I have just updated Queensland pt 2 until our arrival in Cairns over 3 weeks ago, but that means we are half a continent behind. After leaving the coast we hauled pretty quickly (there is a whole lot of not much) and are now in Tennant Creek and heading towards Alice Springs shortly. Hope to post more updates in Alice and there are not many other sites to find internet access until we hit the south coast in 10 days or so.

Annoying Coins

2008-07-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

The Australians use 50-20-10-5 dollar notes and 2-1-50c-10c-5c coins (with cash figures rounded to 5c). Although the 50c is pretty big (like an old UK 50p) the really troublesome one is the $2, worth US$2 or about a UK pound. The $1 here is similar in size and metal to a pound coin in the UK or the Susan B Anthony $ in the US, but the $2 (while made of the same metal and the same thickness) is much smaller, about the size of a 5p or dime. Just perfect for losing!

Satellite Technology is a Wonderful Thing!

2008-07-02T04:46:00.000-07:00

I am writing this seated on a boat on the Great Barrier Reef. We are steaming south past Cooktown from a position at 14 39' 47.9" S; 145 39' 50.2" where we had some spectacular diving in perfect conditions (we were also out last week on a lower priced trip and the weather was rather more unsettled... though the diving was still good).

Queensland (part 2)

2008-06-29T03:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 13th May – The flies are starting to build up around the rubbish bags so we get on the road after Anna gives us a good breakfast, for the short ride up to Ingrid and Rob's in the northern burbs. A short ride for Tim at least in the vehicle... Tracy bikes the 30km or so and generally has no problems following on the bike path network. Ingrid is home when we get there and we spend a relaxing afternoon with her after dropping all the rubbish and recyclables in the bins of helpful neighbours.

Later in the afternoon Tracy joins Ingrid when she goes to feed her horses (she is an expert horsewoman) and has a short and rather nervous trot on the calmer of the beasts. Meanwhile Tim catches up with picture editing and blogging before a good meal with Ingrid, Rob and her son who is recently back in Aus after 4 years in Aberdeen.

Wednesday 14th May – Ingrid lends us her small car today, a real change after 6 weeks in a big truck. We take a ride up into the hills, past the Glasshouse mountains (a series of volcanic outcrops rising out of the coastal plain) and up to Maleny where we take a break at a winery (they can grow some white grapes here, others come from further inland in southern Queensland). Then on to Montville, an attractive a touristy little town full of small boutique shops and with fantastic views down to the coast. Unfortunately Tim forgets the camera's flash memory card so we don't have any pictures.

Thursday 15th May – After doing a bit of shopping in the morning we carry on to the coast north of the city for a look at the beaches around Redcliffe and take a pleasant stroll on the shore. En route home we pick up lots of food and tonight Tracy does the cooking and again we eat well, and get through a goodly amount of wine including some fine desert wines.

Friday 16th May – We are going to head into the hills again today and Tracy again opts to ride for a while, on the challenging mountainous Mt Mee Rd. She covers about 60km before taking a well earned rest in a pub until Tim appears. We continue on to Nanango in the South Burnett Region where we get settled into a campground on the edge of town before having a quick look at the small town in the evening.

Saturday 17th May – With the weather staying pleasant we decide to take our bikes out to look at the neighbouring town of Kingaroy, peanut capital of Australia and 25km away. We take saddlebags in the hope of buying some local produce and are not disappointed, there is a good Saturday market for veggies and honey, a stall selling peanuts where we buy up 3kg to keep us in snack food for a while and a cheese factory where we replenish supplies of cheesy comestibles.

The riding is pleasant so we take a longer route home, stopping at a lavender farm/ winery/ cafe for some sustenance for the final 10km. As evening falls we look around the typical Aussie country town of Nanango, like many Australian towns they are very fond of murals and there are many to see depicting local history and life.

Sunday 18th May – Another day dawns clear and bright so we decide to head for them thar hills, and around here that means Bunya Mountains National Park. The hills rise out of the rolling country around and feature a unique environment including Hooped pines and the unique Bunya pines that are limited to certain areas of Queensland. These mighty trees boast pine cones as big as soccer balls containing seeds prized as food by local Aboriginal tribes. The area near the Park visitor centre is perfect for spotting Wallabys as they enjoy snacking on the grass and we get our first view of a Joey with his head peering out of mum's pouch before enjoying a good forest walk that illustrated the native environment.

Returning to Kingaroy we visit a few of the local wineries (the soil and temperatures at this altitude have been found to work well for some grapes) before returning home to a chilly and windy night which makes us glad to be safely esconsed in the camper.

Monday 19th May – Despite the overnight storm the weather is again gorgeous today, but considerably colder as we head back towards the coast. Our route takes us past the pretty town of Goomeri before we drop to Gympie, where we'll overnight before getting back to the sea. It proves to be a very attractive small town built on a series of hills and we spend the afternoon strolling around and making use of the library's free internet service.

In the evening we join the local hash runners for a long trail around the edge of town. Despite the altitude being only about 90m/ 300ft there are some cold hollows en route that are distinctly frigid (at least to those of us softened by 7 months of summer weather. Then they warn us that the attractive little free camping area we are in at the edge of town is notoriously cold... and without our heater (no electrical hookup here) we are glad of having some thick bedclothes.

Tuesday 20th May – We have been recommended several times to visit the Tin Can Bay/ Rainbow Bay area so we head there today, finding a National Park campsite on the tip of the promontory projecting towards Fraser Island, the world's biggest sand island. Unsurprisingly the camping areas are very sandy too but we find an excellent site that will not allow our 2wd truck to get bogged down.

In the afternoon we walk on the sand flats facing Fraser Island at low tide and marvel at the seemingly millions of small soldier crabs that march all over the place is large groups, occasionally burying themselves en masse if they feel sufficiently threatened. It is a good place for sunsets over the mainland and Tim enjoys the evening views while Tracy goes off to buy seafood at the local fish shop.

Wednesday 21st May – We are about 12km from Rainbow Beach which makes for a pleasant bike ride in the morning. The beach is named for the multicoloured sand cliffs that tower over the shore and Tim enjoys riding past these cliffs for a closer look while Tracy relaxes under a tree before taking a leisurely ride back to camp. In the afternoon we take the short ferry ride to the Island and after an abortive attempt to ride road bikes on the rough dirt road inland we ride on the solid sand of the foreshore, a route popular with 4wd enthusiasts. The sand is a nearly ideal consistency for riding and we get a little look at this unique environment... but we'll have to come back some day to see the unusual terrain inland.

Thursday 22nd May – We are up early for once to drive around to Tin Can Bay on the west side of the promontory, where a couple of dolphins regularly come in to feed. One appears today and we join a group of 20 up to our knees in water as the dolphin gently takes fish from each of us. With the morning fun done we have a long ride ahead up to Bundaberg but we take a break at Maryborough, a very attractive city developed as a port on a navigable river where fortunes were made from gold mining inland. Here we take a stroll around and stock up with fresh produce at an excellent street market.

Heading north again we are on a flat coastal plain dominated by cane fields, especially west of the road: Bundaberg is home to the Australian sugar industry and canefields will be a regular sight all the way to Cairns, thriving in warm weather and regular rains. We check into one of the more expensive campgrounds we've encountered for two reasons, Tim needs the internet to follow Celtic's fortunes in the final game of the Scottish Football (soccer) season and the site is close to the Bundaberg Run Distillery.

The distillery is an Aussie institution and we immediately head round to book a tour for late afternoon. In contrast to the last run factory we visited (in Grenada where the technology did not appear to have changed since the early 19th century) this one is modern but we enjoy the tour and the sampling afterwards.

Friday 23rd May – Tim is up early for the game and after the right result with Celtic winning the league from their main rivals we hit the road for the beaches east of the city (which is built upriver 15km or so). The campground we pick proves to be a sound choice, right on the beach with good facilities and a relaxed ambiance so Tracy chills out for the remainder of the day while Tim explores the area (beach villages and sugar cane dominate) on the bikes. And in the evening we use Celtic's victory as an excuse for a few celebratory drinks.

Saturday 24th May – This area at the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef boasts good shore diving so we pick up gear in town and make for a couple of recommended spots. While getting in and out is tricky on the rocky shore with some decent surf coming in we enjoy two long shallow dives with some fish and good coral, especially soft coral. Later we also take a walk to look at the surroundings before a quiet evening.

Sunday 25th May – A completely lazy day, cranking up the music in the camper and catching up with laundry, cleaning, tidying and all the other jobs we've been putting off. Once the chores are done we just chill in the fine weather.

Monday 26th May – Another long drive today up to Rockhampton, but we take the time to check out a weird tourist attraction near Bundaberg: a flat rocky area pockmarked with large holes which was uncovered in the 1960s and has puzzled geologists since. Just south of Rockhampton we cross the tropic of Capricorn... but the weather has turned anything but tropical here with dull skies and cooler temperatures.

In Rockhampton we head for a free camping area on the southern edge of town, only to find recently erected “No Camping” signs. Backtracking we noted a hotel offering free camping in the field behind and we were soon installed and enjoying a beer in the bar while getting some local information from the bar maid. The weather is a little brighter and we head to the tourist information on the edge of town before driving up Mount Archer, the highest point around, for sunset views. As it is Monday night a hash run follows, and despite threatening skies we stay dry.

Tuesday 27th May – The weather is still overcast with a few glimpses of sun as we explore the attractive city centre, another port located on a major river a few km from the coast that made its money servicing the mining industry. A small museum gives us some local history before we take a walk around the city's highlights, before hitting the internet cafe for a dose of the rest of the world.

Wednesday 28th May – The weather finally breaks completely and the rain pours down all morning. This gives us a chance for shopping and chores... a field behind a hotel has no checkout time unlike a campground. With conditions still poor we finally hitch up for the short ride to Yeppoon, a seaside town on the coast northwest of the city and find a spot right on the shore at the council owned campground. Pity the conditions are still dull.

We are going to run with the local hash group here tonight and we are offered a ride to the venue as giving us directions to a rural home would be difficult. The group is small as many are still recovering from a camping weekend and they decide food and beer will be free as they had supplies leftover from the weekend. The run is short giving us more time for food and drink!

Thursday 29th May – The day is brighter today but the forecast is poor (Brisbane and the south Queensland coast are being hit by serious flooding) as far as Mackay so we decide to just take the long drive up there and reunite with Don who is parked in the garden of his friends Kathy and Darryl while fixing a rental home he owns behind their home.

We continue to pass an endless succession of canefields with views of wooded hills further on the left until we take a detour to the right to take a look at the Hay Point coal terminal, testament to the mining boom in Queensland. There is an impressive number of ships queued offshore and plenty of brand new conveyors being installed to get the coal out of Australia and off to Asia. We arrive in Mackay late afternoon and easily find the house, and we are soon installed in a corner of the garden.

Friday 30th May – The weather continues dull and drizzly so we spend a lazy day relaxing and catching up with Don and the internet. In the evening we join Don in his quest to watch all the James Bond movie... he is early in the series at Dr No.

Saturday 31st May – It is still dull and quite stormy but we decide to take a ride out to see the beaches to the north and east of the city (which like most we've visited is upriver some way). Shoal Point at the north end of the ride is cloaked in cloud but conditions improve a little as we bike south and we spend a little time in a preserved piece of Paperbark forest before continuing to Slade Point which has good views north and south with a few bands of blue sky. We stop at a convenient pub near the beach before continuing past the Port of Mackay and in the end rack up 76.6 km.

Sunday 1st June – Another lazy day as the weather is still slow to improve and not a lot is open in Mackay on a Sunday. We do enjoy a good meal with Don, Darryl and Kathy in the evening.

Monday 2nd June – Conditions are on the mend today so Tim takes off for a long walk around town to get some pictures in sporadic sunshine. Beyond that the day consists of more relaxing before we hook up with the local hashers in the evening for what proves to be a long run.

Tuesday 3rd June – Time to leave Mackay at last but we don't rush as it is only a short ride up to Airlie Beach, a tourist centre for the beautiful Whitsundays, 74 wooded islands close to the coast. After finding a pleasant wooded campground with a huge number of birds we head out to run with their hash group in the evening, it is a short run with a small but fun collection of people.

Wednesday 4th June – The weather is back to spectacularly good and we enjoy an easy going but full day, beginning with a look around the town. Then we head east to Shute Harbour where boats leave for the islands before taking a walk north to Coral Beach in Conway National Park with fine views of the islands before the path leads through native forest. Coral Beach itself is awesome at low tide, there is a great variety of soft coral that is exposed at low water levels, and we spend some time checking out the sea life.

Thursday 5th June – Having decided to forego the dubious delights of tourist trips to the islands we continue with another short hop to Bowen, a town at the centre of mango, capsicum pepper and tomato growing. The terrain on the coast here is actually much more arid than further south but conditions on the coastal plain must be great for fruit and vegetables.

We check into an excellent campground to the south of town before driving in for a look around. First stop is a viewpoint with beautiful views south over the islands and north to the beaches that make Bowen a popular but by no means busy holiday area. From here we drive to one of the small beaches and take a walk over the headland: the terrain here consists of many beaches of varying sizes separated by rocky headlands covered in dry scrub, which makes for good walking and unobstructed views. To end the day we visit a local fish store on the harbour and stock up with local seafood.

Friday 6th June – Today we use our bikes to tour the town and ride out to a beach with good snorkeling, checking out the undersea life keeps us occupied for an hour or so and we hang out at the beach for a while longer. Then we call in on a couple of vegetable stalls selling the local produce to size up what to buy on the way out of town.

As the sun sets we take a walk on the floodplain behind the campground which seems like a good way to see some of the local birds. Only Tim finds a rather swampy section to stand on and disappears up to his thighs in thick black mud! He does manage to retrieve his sandals which stuck deep in the gloop.

Saturday 7th June – Again we use the bikes to find a snorkeling beach before stopping at a pub in town for some food and drink. A quiet day.

Sunday 8th June – Another quiet Sunday to catch up with laundry and get the camper in order. We do drop into town to look at the Sunday market but otherwise we stick to camp.

Monday 9th June – Another shortish hop north to the largest city in north Queensland, Townsville. It is a holiday today (the Queen's birthday – they are good royalists here!) and the Townsville hash are doing a bike ride in the afternoon so we ensure we are ensconced in a nearby campground in good time. We get a nice look at the city on the ride, it is basically built around a big red rock called Castle Hill which we ride around with a detour down onto the nicely developed seafront (yes, a city actually on the sea!).

We then run with the full hash group in the evening, they have a good turn out for a short run with a good party in a quiet parking lot to finish. We are impressed by their drinks wagon, a trailer with lots of space for a selection of beers and soft drinks on ice and space to take notes, a cash tray and space to pin notices. A few of the hashers join us in our camper afterwards, though having run down our stocks of drinks we are not the best hosts.

Tuesday 10th June – The day is pretty dull early but we decide to take a bike ride anyway, starting with the 280m (900ft) climb up Castle Hill for spectacular views over the city and Magnetic Island just offshore. Right on cue the skies clear and we have a good ride back down to the seafront and round to the port to find out about boats to the island. Returning through the attractive city centre (more mining money from the last century) we find they actually have a good microbrewery with tasty food before we ride back home in the evening light for an early night.

Wednesday 11th June – We are up early to bike down to the port for the ferry ride over to Magnetic Island, a swift crossing by powered catamaran. Once there we head north on the bikes and immediately discover that the island has some steep hills and narrow roads! Little traffic though.

First stop is a walk through native bush up to an old army camp from WWII, the island was an important lookout station when the Japanese threatened mainland Australia. We leave the bikes for a climb up the original road built in 1942, stopping to look at the remains of the camp (mostly concrete slabs) and for the koalas that are often seen here. We spot one koala on the way up, then climb again to the two old gun emplacements which still have their bunkers and some of the camouflage material (concrete “rocks”, chicken wire). It is also possible to see the old range finding emplacement and the Command Post. While descending we spot another Koala and are delighted to see a baby clinging to mum's front. Many pictures ensue.

We continue on the bikes taking a look at some beaches but not finding anywhere sheltered enough to be bothered snorkeling (there is quite a swell on the north and east of the island). It also takes a while to find somewhere to eat but eventually we spot a cafe and snack before returning to the port for the boat home and the short evening ride through the town. We use the evening for shopping, it'll be a while till we hit a big town again so we get stocked up with food, beer and wine.

Thursday 12h June – We decide to stay another day in Townsville and take a look at their Museum of Tropical Queensland, an excellent source of information about the history, people, geography and biology of the tropical Queensland area: well worth a look for anyone who is going to spend time around here and points north. Later in the day we walk around the historic parts of town before catching up with some final shopping in the evening.

Friday 13th June – Tracy has a massage booked in the morning so Tim catches up with some photography, banking and internet before we roll out of town on the road inland. The terrain soon becomes a succession of low hills and flat plains covered by grass, sparse eucalypt scrub and termite hills, and Charters Towers is in similar terrain, only here the hills once covered rich gold deposits and the town has many attractive buildings indicating this former affluence.

We check into a pleasant campground on the edge of town and walk into the centre on a beautiful late afternoon. The tourisgt information centre has lots of displays and audiovisual about the mining history and we plan out our day for tomorrow before looking at some of the historic sites in the town centre including the stock exchange where the world price of gold was set in the 1880s, such was the richness of the deposits here. In it's heyday the town was so self important that it was known as “The World”.

Saturday 14th June – We get on the bikes again today to tour around the area beginning at a rebuilt pit-head on the site of an old mine. From here we ride into town for another look, then a little out of town to the second of three old mining villages to see the Venus Battery (the first village was where the town developed, the second had the best water supply for processing gold and was the site of several mills while the third faded away. Gold here was trapped in quartz and had to be removed by crushing the rock, adding water and treating the slurry with mercury to release the gold.

Opened in 1891 the Venus Mill (technically the Battery is just the machine that pounds the ore, but the site is usually called Venus Battery rather than the more correct Venus Mill) was independent Big mines processed their own ore while the Venus served small mines (and charged them plenty!) and only closed in 1973, so it was not too difficult to restore much of what was left. Initially the tailings were dumped behind the mill until a process to recover gold with arsenic was developed and a processing facility grew up beside the mill. In recent years even the waste from this process was bought up and reprocessed with the latest methods, reducing the many slag heaps that dotted the town in the 1970's to one big pile near the Venus Mill.

In late afternoon we grabbed a picnic and headed for then thar hills, a lookout on the tallest of the rounded hills that dot the area (the Towers in Charters Towers) and the site of the first goldstrike. It boasts the remains of a tailings processing plant (before arsenic was used to remove gold from tailings
in a relatively cheap way, a chlorination process was used requiring a very long drop, here off the side of a hill), concrete bunkers from WWII (the US airforce had a base here), a lookout with historical storyboards and a lot of rock wallabies. After dark they project a film about the town here, completing a “golden” day.

Sunday 15th June – Today we begin a long stretch of road with not much on it, but our first day's ride is short up to a free camping area on Fletcher creek near Dalrymple National Park. The creek flows all year from a spring and quite a few people would appear to live here for long periods (the limit is theoretically 30 days), it is certainly very pleasant once we fit ourselves in near a firepit on the creek. Tracy takes it easy for the rest of the day while Tim goes running to explore the road into the Park.

Dalrymple was once a flourishing town in the 1860s with gold mining nearby, the creek supplying water and on a spot where carts could cross the large but seasonal Burdekin River. However it wsa flooded out in 1872 and never recovered as the focus of mining remained to the south with the development of Charters Towers. Now all that remains is some mine shafts and graves (there may be more in the bush but we were not going to provoke the snakes). The area is also fairly recent in Australian terms with signs of lava flows from about 10,000 years ago.

Monday 16th June – We use our bikes to explore the park as the dirt roads are fairly smooth and only sandy in a few places. The Burdekin Riverbed has some impressively worn rock patterns and debris caught high enough in trees to impress how the town might have been flooded. Now the area is home to wild pigs (we saw a large family beside what water remains of the river) and an impressive array of birds.

In late afternoon Tim explores the area round the camp and finds enough firewood to keep a good campfire going all evening. The hardwood here burns so well that one load will last far longer than those of us used to burning softwoods would even believe, and a good fire is very useful as the clear night chills right down.

Tuesday 17th June – From Fletcher Creek we get on to some more basic road with a single lane tar strip down the centre and red dirt shoulders, memories of Malawi. Normally the cars get off on theur own side well (less games of “chicken” than in Africa) but we are on a “road train” route with 50m (160ft) long semi trucks with 4 trailers and everyone gets off the road completely for them! The roads here were built in the 1960s to develop the cattle industry, replacing droving and railways with much swifter road transport to the coast. In more recent years an increase in travelers (especially grey nomads) has helped to bring money and facilities into some far flung outposts especially further west.

We stop at 40 Mile Scrub, a preserved area of dry rain forest or vine thicket, and consider camping here but controlled burning on the roadside makes for a smoky environment and we move on. A short bush walk informs us that dry rainforest is not an oxymoron, the environment has all the characteristics of rainforest (canopy limiting light, little undergrowth, heavy vine coverage) with low rainfall. The mix of vegetation is fire deterrent but also fire sensitive, in contrast to the surrounding eucalyptus scrub which is prone to fire as a natural part of the life cycle.

Another 80km (50 miles) brings us to a large free camping area at Archer Creek, here the surroundings are greener than further west as we approach to higher rainfall areas of the Atherton Tablelands. The road here was widened and rebuilt at some point and Tim makes use of the old road to run while Tracy hangs out at a campfire with a group of 8 Brits and Aussies looking to drive from Cairns to Broome (on the west coast) in a small van in 2 weeks (check out the distance on the map, rather them than us!).

Wednesday 18th June – Ravenshoe, 16km down the road and Queensland's highest town at 910m (3000ft), boasts a cheap camping area at the railway station according to our camping guide book so we decide to ride in and take a look. As we climb the 250m from Archers creek the clouds build up, one assumes this is quite normal as we transition from the dry centre of the country to the country's wettest area on the tropical coast. We stop to take a look at Millstream Falls just off the road and the sun manages to reappear just in time for pictures of this beautiful spot, formed by three separate lava flows.

The area around the falls, like many places in the area, was used as an army camp in WWII in case the soldiers had to be deployed to defend the coast and in close proximity to the rainforest for jungle training. The National Park around the falls is 100 years old and the centenary celebration Saturday will involve opening an interpretive walk to highlight what remains of the military installations, however they only have half the signs mounted today so we find out 50% of the history.

When we arrive at the nicely maintained railway station we find their restored steam engine about to take a crowd of schoolkids on the 7km ride to Tomoulin (normally it only runs Sunday) but we find the caretaker and book ourselves into a nice spot beside the station building close to water and power. The local tourist information is helpful and has informative displays about the rainforest. We are apparently only 31km from Topaz, the wettest place on the continent at over 4m (160in)/ year.

While the ride to Ravenshoe was a slog uphill into a headwind the ride home is a joy and we are quickly rolling the rig to the station. This is surely the best campsite we will have (barring a cold shower) as we have a garden right outside the door, toilets are close and a campfire is lit every night. It is also a stones throw from the quiet and attractive village which boasts all services and costs only $6. We cannot recommend it highly enough and spots near the electrical outlets are popular but there is a ton of room for those who don't need power (or have a very long power cable).

Thursday 19th June – The morning dawns cloudy but we decide to do the “waterfall circuit” anyway. The combination of high rainfall and steep hills to the east obviously make for this kind of attraction and for once we take the trucj\k as the biking would be a little challenging. First stop is the local windfarm in the dip formed by an old volcano crater, they are very proud of their 20 or so windmills here and we don't mention that they really can't compare to Palmerston North with its hillsides covered in the things.

Next stop is a lookout over the Tablelands and we are struck by how much the rolling hills and green pastures resemble New Zealand. Then we start hitting the falls: Milaa Milaa is the picture perfect high falls with deep pool, Zillie Falls is higher but difficult to get a good view, Ellinjaa Falls tumble over volcanic rocks while Mungalli Falls begins as a steep cascade before dropping a good distance. By now we are waterfalled out so we support one of the other local industries, dairy, by buying a few items at the local cheese store.

Nearly back at Ravenshoe we detour to check out Little Millstream Falls, upstream from Millstream Falls on the Millstream River and impressive themselves as they tumble over and around a succession of rocks. In the evening Tracy hangs out at the campfire with the “olds” while Tim gets in some altitude training by running.

Friday 20th June – In the morning we drive down to Tully Falls, once one of Queensland's natural wonders before a hydro power scheme robbed it of water other than in the wet season. From the road now there are just good views of a gorge and rock wall where the falls once fell, but a pleasant rainforest walk takes us down to the top of the falls where the lack of water allows us to play on the worn rocks that were once inundated. We also get a brief look at some of the power scheme upstream.

We pick up the camper after lunch (another advantage of this informal site... no check out time) to backtrack 30km to Innot Hot Springs where we'll meet the Cairns Hash House Harriers celebrating their 1650th run. The campground is perfect for us with a big open field to turn in and align the camper (5th wheels are a chore to maneuver as the pivot point makes them slow to start a turn). It also proves good when the hashers arrive as we have a big camping area well away from the rest of the campers and with a big fire pit.

The campground has a kitchen which provides an excellent fish and chip supper for us before we repair to the pub for a prearranged meeting with the early arrivals. From here we return to the campfire for a few beers as more of the group arrive. Tim has a fairly early night while Tracy burns more midnight oil.

Saturday 21st June – This morning Tracy has booked a massage so she heads for the hot pools (the camp has 6 pools of varying temperatures fed by natural hot springs) to get in the mood while Tim takes a bike ride. There are not too many paved options here so he rides back to Ravenshoe with the knowledge of the downhill return journey and relative quietness of the road.

By the time Tim is back most of the hashers are in camp and have started on beer or champagne while lunch is underway. We relax for a couple of hours before the hares (who wandered the bush for most of the morning setting a trail) point us in the right direction and we are off and running. Or not as most of the group walk, and a couple of the ladies who started a little early on the bubbly stagger. We begin by sticking to dirt roads without too many zig-zags and before long we find a drinks stop where they have some much needed water and an interesting concoction of Stones Ginger Wine and lemonade. From here things get interesting as we meander past old tin mine workings and areas where the ground has been eroded into impressive shapes before finding the road again and following it back to the pub (there is not much more in town other than campground and pub).

The evening is fun, most of the group begin by partying in the hot pools; then we collect enough fire wood for a major fire all evening, enough food to feed an army is produced and the beer shows no sign of running out. With dark but clear skies we also get some great views of the stars including the best sighting of The Plough/ Big Dipper we've seen here.

Sunday 22nd June – There is time in the morning for a communal breakfast, then while some people have to leave early we join those with less commitments for another soak in the pools. We've got an easy day ahead, we booked ourselves back at Ravenshoe Railway Station so we drive the 30km in time to check out the Sunday market that occupies the Railway grounds until 1pm. Once the stalls are dismantled we reclaim our old spot with garden and relax the rest of the day.

Monday 23rd June – Finally time to drive down to Cairns, but we make a leisurely start to the day with shopping and internet before driving to Lake Barine, a flooded volcanic crater surrounded by rain forest. The whole Tableland area was once rainforest growing on rich volcanic soils before much of it was logged for hardwoods and cleared for agriculture. This part of the Great Dividing Range has the right combination of altitude and rainfall to generate a forest with an amazing array of species and while the forest has dwindled there is still an abundance of life.

We take a walk in the forest to see a couple of Kauri pines (huge trees which we also saw in northern new Zealand) and spot our first live snake (a common black) which is not a highlight for Tracy. From here we head down the spectacular Gillies Highway that winds steeply over the last ridge of hills before descending in a series of hairpins 900m/ 3000ft down to the coast. The weather is clear so we enjoy the views as we descend through the dense rain forest.

Once on the coastal road (and back among the ever present sugar cane) we drive north and check into a convenient site on the southern edge of town. Monday night means time to reunite with the Cairns hashers and we enjoy a short run, but one featuring a good view of the low hills south of the city.

New South Wales (part 2)

2008-06-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 6th May – We get up early and enjoy some interesting views of cloud filling the valleys as we drive out of Lismore and down to the coast at Byron Bay. This journey is quick and we arrive at a campground near the town soon after 9am... to get the first knockback we've received, they have no space. Moving a few km down the coast to Broken Head does the trick though and we are soon installed in a pleasant site with sea view.

We spend the afternoon walking along the seashore, over the rocks for which the area is named and over to another beautiful beach. We avoid the urge to remove our clothes (this is a clothing optional beach) and return home for a relaxing evening in perfect weather.

Wednesday 7th May – Another day to get the bikes out, this time for the easy 7km ride into town. First we head up to the lighthouse perched on the easternmost tip of the country from here there are great views up and down the coast. A little time spent watching the sea close by allows us to see turtles, a ray and a pod of dolphins playing close to shore and surfing on the waves. All we missed out on was any whales.

Next we looked round this pleasant touristy town investigating diving options and whether there were any massage possibilities for Tracy. She couldn't find a good massage place but opts to dive the next day while Tim plans to organize us with a big shopping spree. We ride home on the beach as the tide is low getting some great sunset views as we go and enjoy another relaxed evening sitting out in the warm breeze.

Thursday 8th May – As planned the day is devoted to shopping and diving, Tracy seeing a fine range of harmless Wobbegong Sharks, Bull Rays, fish and soft coral while Tim finds us supplies for the weekend in the bush and to stock us for a while ahead. We also do some souvenir shopping to get ideas for what we might take home.

Friday 9th May – A long ride ahead of us today back into the Great Dividing Range near the border with Queensland. We drive up to Lismore, collect a few items we forgot yesterday and continue on a pretty good road northwest. After a couple of hours we reach Urbenville, from where we have detailed directions to the campground... good thing too as it is not obvious. When we arrive however it is worth the journey, we are able to pull the camper into a nice pull-through site on the river bank with the falls a few metres to the side.

Some of the Lismore hashers are already there and have set a rope up for abseiling (rappelling); Tim takes great pleasure in being able to produce his own gear from the collection of random items you can carry in a big camper on the off chance they might come in handy. After that the multi-sport theme continues with a bike ride on the National Park tracks with excellent views of the steep and impressive volcanic outcrops in the area. As the night falls we meet the rest of the group around the camp fire and enjoy a fun evening sharing a few beers with them.

Saturday 10th May – While lazing around camp is a pleasant option we also spend some more time in the morning sliding down ropes before grouping for a run in the afternoon, again over the river. Once again we get some good views of outcrops and the mostly artificially planted environment before returning to camp where Tracy and many others dared the chill of the deep pool above the falls. Tonight's pot-luck dinner is excellent and plentiful but most of the group crash early after yesterday's late night.

Sunday 11th May – Most of the camp disappear fairly early but we decide to make the most of our excellent situation for another night. Quite a few people come up for the day to look at the falls or take trail bikes and 4wd's over the river but by sundown there is only us and a couple of other campers and we enjoy a very peaceful campfire while reading in the evening.

Monday 12th May – The good news this morning is meeting a couple camping next door who have a copy of the book we've not yet managed to find that lists free and low cost camping spots around the country. With that duly noted we hit the road for a nearby dump as we volunteered to drop the rubbish from the weekend... but it is closed Monday so we have 4 bags of trash in the pickup for a couple of days.

The road over into Queensland is pretty steep and windy but with excellent views of the impressive Mt Stewart en route. At one point as we steer slowly around a hairpin we are flagged down by a delivery driver who thinks he is on the wrong road, luckily we paid attention to the street names in the village we passed through and can give him exact directions.

Once in Queensland we have a easy ride to Brisbane where we are going to park up behind the home of a couple of Northside hashers for their run tonight, the same people with the bar out back who hosted the party on the 25th April. The run is good and we return for a couple more of Peri's excellent homebrews (and a view of the local possums) before bed.

Queensland (part 1)

2008-06-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 22nd April – Surfers Paradise is much more developed than anywhere else we've been on the coast with a number of high rise apartment complexes crowded close to the sea with a larger collection of lower blocks filling the gaps, all fronting an excellent beach. The shiny new highrises are impressive in the dawn sun when Tim actually makes it up in time to see the sun rise (OK, it was not quite dawn, the sun had to crest a line of cloud on the horizon): excellent weather has finally arrived (and will stick around for several more weeks... a great relief). The day is spent in checking out the tourist shops and the beach with a big dose of relaxation. In the evening we decide a seafood buffet is an appropriate way to celebrate an early birthday for Tracy.

Wednesday 23rd April – Time for Trena and Treavor to find a last few souvenirs so we check out the extensive mall in the town, rather nicely developed both in and outdoor for varying weather. Then it is time for another round of the beachside attractions before hitting the town for a few drinks and a very good Indian meal. Tracy joins Trena and Treavor for a last night on the town while Tim saves his energy for the drive tomorrow.

Thursday 24th April – A long day... Tim stirs the partyers (Tracy stayed in town at their hotel) in the early am and we hit the road for the 120km to Brisbane airport. It is a smooth enough journey with some traffic near the city and we get them there early enough for a flight with plenty of time to connect through Sydney. We then drive back down in time to pick up the camper by the witching hour of 10am (chucking out time at most campsites) and hitch up to return to Brisbane and the Newmarket park site that appears to have all we need (later we find that Don used the place regularly too). They have space for us and we sign in for a week... time to slow down after all the visitors. We can also hook up to the internet here for a reasonable rate and it's on the bus route to the city so all our needs are met.

In the evening Tracy is tired after being out last night so Tim takes himself off for a Hash run with food after at a good Thai restaurant. He also meets a hasher from Nelson, NZ who knows many of our NZ friends.

Friday 25th April – Today is ANZAC day, commemorating Austalian verterans and more specifically the disastrous 1915 Battle of Gallipoli where large numbers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps were killed and injured: a seminal event for both the then young countries. This is often observed by dawn services, allowing the rest of the day for barbecues and relaxation.

We make the most of the light holiday traffic to take a ride down through the city on our bikes, a ride enlivened by not having a map. We have attempted to remember the route but make a few mistakes... however we do make it down to the river and get a good look at some of the city centre. It is nice to get out and ride, the bikes have been gathering dust for a while now on the back of the truck. We also know that the city has a good network of bike trails for us to investigate in the days to come.

In the evening we join one of the Hash groups in town, Brisbane Northside, for their Annual General Piss Up (AGPU), an excuse to run, party and welcome in a new committee. The venue is a home wonderfully set up with a compete covered bar with excellent home brewed beer. No reason to go home... and they find a bed for us along with quite a few other party casualties.

Saturday 26th April – After the late night last night and all the recent travel today is a day for relaxing. So we do very little.

Sunday 27th April – Today we have two invites, this is the one city we actually know people. We go to lunch with Paul and Sue out west of the city. Paul is a friend Tracy met 20 years ago when he was a tour guide for the group she was taking a canoe trip with (he is also an old friend of Don, it was his inviting Don to help guide the group of Americans that led to Tracy meeting him). He met Sue a few years back and finally settled into married life. They have a great deck for entertaining and we enjoy an excellent afternoons food and drink.

Next stop is Redlands Bay south-east of the city, where friends from Wanganui, David and Di, have just moved. They are having a barbecue with more old Kiwi friends who have been in Brisbane years and we all enjoy the ability to sit out and enjoy the Queensland late autumn weather.

Monday 28th April – Another lazy day with plenty of laundry to be done and hot sun to be enjoyed. We both rejoin the Brisbane Northsiders in the evening who are conveniently running up the road, with the trail running right by the campground.

Tuesday 29th April – Time to really check out the city, and to obtain bike trail maps, this time using the excellent bus and ferry system. We bus into the city centre and immediately take a ride out east on the ferry. Returning on the ferry with good views of the riverfront we get off near the middle of the city, finding our way to the tourist information, then city hall to get the bike maps. A pleasant afternoon's walking takes us past some historic buildings, through the botanical gardens and we finally meander our way back to the South Bank to pick up a bus home. In the evening we return to the city to catch up with the Bayside hashers who are running from a park at a ferry terminal, making transport simple for us.

Wednesday 30th April – Happy 40th birthday Tracy. She decides to spend the day cooking (Tim does offer!) as we are being joined by Paul (Sue can't escape work) and Don and Ada for the late afternoon and early evening. Plenty of good food and good company ease Tracy's aging.

Thursday 1st May – Another lazy day in the fine weather. Again Tim runs in the evening with the Brisbane Thirsty Hash, again at a venue pretty close to the campsite.

Friday 2nd May – Time to make use of those bike maps and blow out some cobwebs with a good bike ride. We begin by picking our way through the northern suburbs heading northeast (the bike trail network is extensive but not all are connected so a bit of roadwork is needed in between), ending up following a canal separating us from the airport. This brings us to Nudgee Beach where we enjoy good views before continuing through the Nundah wetlands to the seaside again at Shorncliffe where a fisherman's co-operative provides lunch. Next stop is Sandgate pier before we cross the old Houghton Highway bridge which has been left for riding, walking and fishing after being superseded by a new bridge that runs parallel. At the west end we turn around for the 2km ride back over the bridge and make our way home via another selection of bike paths and linking roads. All told we ride over 80km which makes for a healthy and enjoyable day.

Saturday 3rd May – Another lazy morning before we drive out to Paul and Sue's again to meet up with Don and Ada for the afternoon. We relax on the deck with a friendly family of butcherbirds in the afternoon and go out for a great Indian meal in the evening... good combination.

Sunday 4th May – Another day another slow start. This afternoon we drive back down to Redlands Bay to meet David and Di again, this time in their real house (last week they were in hospital owned house). Before an evening barbecue we take a look at the area and take a sunset walk around Victoria Point.

Monday 5th May – Another holiday Monday and finally time to leave Brisbane! First we head a little north of the city (Tracy by bike, Tim with the truck and camper) to meet Don and Ada with their friends Ingrid and Rob. We enjoy a good late lunch barbecue with them and could have stayed longer, but we want to get down to Lismore, 3 hours away back in New South Wales. There we'll meet the local hashers who we are going to spend next weekend with.

Our journey south is smooth as all the holiday traffic is pouring back towards Brisbane, and we are pretty much on time as we take the last road that will bring us to the venue according to Google Maps. The surface does become dirt which makes us a little nervous but we can see the lights of the village ahead, unfortunately our road quickly peters out before we reach them. The problem now is in getting out, can we reverse the camper all the way back to the first turn or should we try and turn in the space available? We go for reversing but the motorbike carrier on the back of the camper grounds on an upslope while we can't move the truck forward as we are right on the edge of a deep ditch. We are stuck.

Now we have to depend on the hashers for help, but of course they are all out running. We call all the contact numbers we have and Tim decides to ride his bike up to the house we were aiming to meet them at... but doesn't get far before we get a call from Gary who drives out to check our predicament. We decide if we have some planks to lift the rear end we'll get out and Gary gets the required wood... and in minutes we are free. We pull the camper into Lismore and park up outside Gary's, camping on his floor (the only place we've slept other than the camper in over a month). Thanks Gary!

Blizzard of Random Thoughts

2008-06-12T17:14:00.001-07:00

I have finally had time to record a few random thoughts about the country, and finished the account of our travels in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Hope to get New South Wales covered soon.

New South Wales (part 1)

2008-06-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Monday 14th April – Time for the long ride down to the east coast on a road Tracy is now familiar with. It isn't an exciting ride, without the ups and downs of the road in from the south but this makes for easy driving and a quick run. We are soon on the edge of Sydney and head for Granville where Don has a property where we can park the camper (it was a rental home that burned down several years ago so he maintains what remains of the house as a shed with shower and has plenty of room for his – and several others if need be- camper.

Tuesday 15th April – The weather is dull and rainy but we head for the nearby train station for the ride into the city. First stop is Circular Quay on the harbour for travel information before we walk over to the Opera House. This is Tim's first experience of Sydney Harbour and despite the overcast conditions it lives up to it's billing as one of the world's great city waterfronts. Trena, Tracy and Tim take a tour of the Opera House which gives a great insight into the amazing design, both outside (where new techniques had to be devised to match the architects vision for the sail design) and inside (which was constructed entirely separately after disputes over money caused the original architect to leave the construction). The tour also allows you to watch rehearsals on some of the many stages for productions that are more likely to feature dance, comedy, orchestra or plays than opera.

Next we take the ferry over to Manly on the coast north of the harbour before returning to Sydney so Tim and Tracy can join the local Hash House Harriers run while Trena and Treavor find an local bar.

Wednesday 16th April – Today the weather is no better but we head for the city again, this time catching the Rivercat ferry service down the Parramatta River. This s an excellent way to approach the city following the waterway that once carried goods back and forth from the port and the hinterland, affording great views as the city nears. Today Trena and Tracy want to meet up with some of Australia's famous animals and head for a wildlife sanctuary while Treavor and Tim catch the ferry out to Watson's Bay for a look at the imposing cliffs and old military installations that dominate the southern approaches to Sydney Harbour. The weather is pretty grey with a number of passing squalls but things start to clear later in the day and a walk over the bridge finally provides a few pictures of the harbour with sunlight.

After dark we take a walk around the centre of the city, visiting a couple of historic pubs before finding a Korean restaurant for a massive feast of food (more massive than anticipated when we ordered!). To walk off some of the calories we climbed back up to the bridge for a few night shots of the city.

Thursday 17th April – With no end in sight for the dull weather we decide to start putting in some mileage north, but decide en route to divert to the major wine growing region of the Hunter Valley. A pleasant afternoon ensues with Tim driving and the others partaking of the produce and stocking the “cellar” of the camper. We meet Don and Ada with their friends at one winery and end the day with a picnic at another: a pleasant way to finish but requiring us to drive in the dark and find a campground with late check in.

Seal Rocks has been recommended to us as a good stop so we haul ourselves up there as the clock ticks past nine. Luckily we choose a small beach campsite off the beaten track and this proves (like many of its ilk) to have no security gate so we can find a site and pay in the morning. There is even enough floodlighting to make putting up the camper extension (never the easiest job) a relative breeze.

Friday 18th April – In the morning we drive around to Seal Rocks, a headland with some impressively patterned rocks, excellent seaside scenery and enough rockpools with life to keep Tracy enthralled for hours. A short walk takes us up to the Sugarloaf Lighthouse for more views and a sheltered bay on the walk back gives us more pools with more marine life. Final stop for the day is in Forster-Tuncarry, the small and rather unexciting town nearby.

Saturday 19th April – Next stop on our road to Brisbane is Coffs Harbour, a town billed as the banana capital of Australia and where we hope to find a little more life. The weather is not co-operative though and after an uninspiring drive in the rain it is still pouring down as we arrive, and not really relenting overnight.

Sunday 20th April – We already knew that there are some leaks in the extension section, largely solved with a tarpaulin over the top, but this morning we discover rain is getting in the main part of the van and trickling down to soak the spare bed Trena is using.

If it is raining on the coast you may as well drive into the rainforest and after vsiting a local craft market (conveniently in a covered parking garage) we duly climb into the hills around Dorrigo where... it is raining. We end up driving further in the rainforest than anticipated but Dorrigo Falls are impressive in the wet (we are told Coffs Harbour had 15cm/ 6in rain the night preceding and day of our arrival) and the walk in the Dorrigo National Park shows the rainforset in typical misty damp conditions. We also get a glimpse of our first Rock Wallaby.

Once back in town and despite the weather we are at least able to play with the flocks of lorikeets at the campground and pay a visit to the local fish co-op to stock up on fishy snacks before we find a motel for Trena and Treavor to escape the damp end of the camper. This escape from the campground scene also allows them to find some locals to party the night away with.

Monday 21st April – A much better day with clear skies allowing a few pictures of Coffs Harbour before we head of for the Queensland border. Another long day of driving with a view to staying somewhere on the Gold Coast so we stop in Tweed Heads, a small town bisected (apparently randomly with nothing to tell the visitor whether he is in Queensland or NSW) by the state border. This does not matter much at this time of year but must be confusing in summer where NSW observes daylight saving while Queensland does not!

We can't find much about the Gold Coast in the Information Centre here, but do manage to screw up when Tim who is driving has to move on a few blocks from where he dropped the others to avoid getting in the way of traffic... with all the cell phones in the truck. Eventually he is able to round up the missing Erneys and the journey continues. We take the beachfront road to eye up likely stopping points and end up in Surfers Paradise... the hear of the Coast's party scene.

We drop the camper at a convenient site and Treavor is able to rustle up a great deal on a hotel room on the intenet so we drop them in town before rendezvousing later for Malaysian food.

Australian Capital Territory

2008-06-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Friday 11th April - Tracy has to get up very early in the morning for the drive to Sydney to meet her brother Treavor and sister Trena who were flying in this morning, while Tim can enjoy a more relaxing start. He spends the day walking on the shores of the artificial Lake Burley-Griffin and taking in the sights of the city while scoping some of the marathon route. In the afternoon the National Museum provides an entertaining way to find out a diverse range of information about the country's history, culture, natural history and sport. The evening involves eating a lot of pasta!

Tracy manages a pretty smooth ride to Sydney and picks up the siblings. They are all staying downtown overnight so they enjoy the fine afternoon and evening weather to have a look at the city and sample a little nightlife.

Saturday 12th April – Tim has a lazy morning as the weather is dull but stirs at lunchtime to stop in at the run HQ to pick up his entry pack before heading back into town to have a look at the nation's war memorials en route back to the National Museum. Tracy meanwhile packs the sibs into the truck and makes the return drive to Canberra, luckily finding a convenient and friendly winery for lunch. In the evening Tim has an early night while Tracy joins Trena and Treavor at the campground's bar. She returns home at a reasonable hour while they meet a local by name of “Chief” who shows them some of the local party spots before they manage to find their way home in the small hours.

Sunday 13th April – Tim is up before dawn to get prepared for the run and Tracy surfaces early enough to drive him to the start. The morning is cool, still and overcast but shortly before the start the rain begins. The course runs around the Australian parliament, across the lake and out west to a turnaround and this section is pretty miserable with heavy rain and some slippery road surfaces. Back near the start things begin to improve weather wise for the second shorter loop running out to the turnaround without passing parliament and the body holds up well for the whole race. The time is better than Tim's first marathon but still a little outside the magic 3 hours at 3.02.16, good for 77th out of about 1000. The Erney family have made it out to the finish but we are all pretty tired and return to the campground: Tim to relax with a beer while everyone else sleeps.

In the later afternoon, with the weather once again clear and bright, we all summon the effort to drive up to the Black Mountain Tower, a telecom tower with great views over the Capital Territory. By this time Tim's ileo-tibial band in his right knee has seized up (Tracy can put long names to aches and pains) and everyone has a laugh at his efforts to get up and down stairs.

“Going Bush”

2008-06-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

No, not deciding to join the dwindling number of Americans who think the current president is anything but a disaster. In local parlance we are heading into the interior for the closest we'll have come to the outback. First stop will be the old mining town of Charters Towers, then we'll head north towards the rainforests at the northern end of the Great Dividing Range before descending back to the coast at Cairns, the best gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. After that we'll head swiftly west and deep into the country's “Red Centre”.

Everybody's Obsession

2008-06-12T16:59:00.001-07:00

The gas/ petrol here in Queensland has just reached A$1.50 a litre (75p a litre in UK terms, US$6 a gallon in US). So the Brits will think it is really cheap, the Americans pretty expensive and the Kiwi's somewhere in between.

It's Winter... But Not As We Know It

2008-06-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

The shops here are full of adverts for winter clothing, heating etc, as we arrive in winter. Only the weather now is about the same as the best Glasgow boasts (with much balmier evenings) and would be considered pretty good anywhere we've lived. Warm dry days with plenty of blue sky, warm and largely bug free nights... what is not to like. Guess the locals are too used to it...

Beer

2008-06-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

Australia does not win too many plaudits from us for beer. Rather like the US 15 years ago decent beer is hard to come by in bars and you may need a bigger bottle store for a decent choice from smaller brewers. Tim has also noticed that each place he ends up serves the beer in smaller glasses, from the UK's 20oz (590ml) pints, through the US 16oz (475ml), the slightly smaller NZ “handle” and now the even more diminutive Aussie “schooner”. Time to upscale back to the UK I think!

From the public health point of view the strict drink driving laws here do mean that drinks are well labeled by strength and in “standard drinks” for ease of comparison.

Tropical Update

2008-06-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

I am way behind in documenting our travels, mainly because there are better things to do than type on my keyboard, though I am much more up to date with pictures on www.timcooke.com. We have had very sparse internet access at campgrounds since leaving Brisbane (and even a few days staying with friends of friends mostly gave me time to file taxes!) but the current one has a good setup. So I'll comment on our arrival in tropical Queensland.

Since Bundaberg we've mainly been surrounded by sugar cane as we've followed the coastal strip, with some sizeable bush covered mountains inland. Apparently we have a lot more cane to come in the wetter areas south of Cairns but here in Bowen the surroundings are suddenly much more arid right on the coast with large rounded rock formations, while the flat land of the coastal strip is dominated by tomato plants and mango trees (the main Australian variety is the Bowen mango). To the south lie the beautiful Whitsunday Islands and the open hills here afford spectacular views. The beaches are large and uncrowded and with the Great Barrier Reef close a walk at low tide often reveals a large variety of coral. We're enjoyed some shore diving near Bundaberg and are going snorkeling tomorrow; all a prelude to plenty of diving on the Reef at Cairns.

Here in the tropics we are in the winter dry season and while the weather has been unusual (so we are told) and the weekend saw clouds and drizzle as far north as us from a big storm system which flooded areas near Brisbane, we are expecting it to be pretty settled for a while. Winter means temperatures in the mid to high 20'sC (around 80F) with water at about 25C/77F.... just about perfect for us. Accommodation has become more expensive in June (high season for those holidaying from the south) but apparently it is low season for diving as all you northern hemisphere people are enjoying your summers.

One thing we are yet to see is the saltwater crocodiles which inhabit streams and estuaries from here north. We'll not be looking too closely.

Boom Time

2008-06-05T05:36:00.000-07:00

While the rest of the world's economies (especially our home countries US and UK) are in near recession it is boom time in parts of Australia, especially Western Australia and Queensland. This is the result of mining (coal, bauxite, uranium, diamonds... you name it and it's buried somewhere here) driven by demand from Asia and shows no sign of abating any time soon. As a consequence property prices remain sky high and the jobs are plentiful for those who can tolerate the tough conditions. Our most recent location in Mackay is the centre of coal mining and the dedicated coal port at Hay Point is working flat out with queues of ships waiting off shore. No wonder there's so much smog in China...

Of course other parts of this country are suffering some of the economic woes, especially the cost of moving food in this huge land. We are lucky to be where most of it grows right now, the centre of mango, tomato, sweetcorn, and capsicum production in Bowen, Queensland. The local fish is pretty good too though none too cheap.

Victoria

2008-06-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday 29th March – Carie and Tim had signed up to run in a big race in Melbourne on Sunday so the plan was to head back up to the city today with Tracy and I heading back to Sale Monday after collecting our shipped belongings at the airport, leaving Carie. We'd then return Wednesday with the camper and pick Carie up before driving southwest to the Great Ocean Road. The big Chevrolet truck we're renting from Don is ideal for hauling a 5th wheel as we'd be doing most of the trip but not for negotiating Melbourne traffic... but we made it to Industry Backpackers (well recommended) where we found suitable parking overnight. Tracy even managed to find all day parking Sunday after looking for a while the next morning. Like most cities parking is an issue, especially so in a large truck with extended bed.

Sunday 30th March – The race day dawned overcast and we were up early to walk the 2km into the centre of the city. The race was interesting, they close the inner city motorway and run the course through a tunnel , along one carriageway and over the city's major bridge before meandering back to the city park. Tim was pretty happy with his time in preparation for the Canberra Marathon in two weeks while Carie was glad to survive as an injury had hit her preparation. Tracy met up with us at the finish and we took a walk into town for a quick look and a stop in the pub before retreating to the backpackers for a well earned rest. Full of plans to do things in the afternoon we manage only to sum up the energy to visit the extensive Queen Victoria Market for a while and watch a bit of Aussie Rules Football in the evening, other than that we are beat.

Monday 31st March – So much for our plans. We are up early to drive to the airport and arrive at the shipping office soon after it opens. The receptionist can't find our shipment on the computer so she finds her manager. He tells us that it has not been processed, but a bit more investigation reveals it arrived over the weekend (despite being sent to await our arrival by several days). He suggests we go to a nearby diner for breakfast while he works on the paperwork and sure enough the documents are ready to take to customs by 11am. We drive a few km, and are processed fairly smoothly through customs... so then we move on to Quarantine. Australia is very strict on what can be brought into the country so everything needs to be checked by the quarantine people: we have already had fun coming in with our bags in Perth getting quizzed over everything from Ibuprofen to honey. The paperwork is OK but we need to have our shipment inspected... and the next appointment available is tomorrow. We are not happy but there is nothing we can do so we'll get the stuff on our return.

We drive back down to Sale at this point and begin to get everything together with the truck and 5th wheel. Don hasn't used it in a while so we need to restock but everything seems to work and Ada lends us a lot of the kitchen items we need. Next we need to get a bit of practice driving so we take a couple of spins around the country roads.

Tuesday 1st April – After our experience with Aussie bureaucracy we are nervous about our next encounter... getting the 5th wheel inspected for its re-registration certification. However this goes smoothly and we are soon able to get out and about to get our lives set up here (banking, mobile phones, RACV [local equivalent to AA/ AAA]) and shop for essentials. Looks like we might finally get this adventure on the road.

Wednesday 2nd April – We are up very early to a spectacular sunrise and never has the old saying about “red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” more true. We are still delayed in getting away and it takes a while to get gas and on the road... so we are already tight for time when the weather starts to deteriorate. The sky ahead is a very unnatural colour while the wind starts to whip around, in complete contrast to the near perfect weather we've enjoyed so far in the country.

By the time we near Melbourne the weather is awful with howling winds and we have to rush on to the airport beyond the city leaving Carie to dodge flying debris for a while longer at our appointed meeting place (we didn't dare the city streets in our new rig). Tracy drops Tim off at the shipping office just in time for the appointment while she heads back to get Carie... but no sign of the inspectors. Tim waits in the shipping warehouse amidst crashing and banging, hearing from a trucker picking up a load that it's a good thing that we are not taking the western bridge which is getting dangerous, but not seeing any inspectors. Finally he calls the inspection office and after some investigation it turns out that the inspectors have gone to the company's other warehouse. Tracy and Carie have made it back safely and go off to eat while Tim meets the inspectors who are very apologetic and more importantly allow our goods through with no fuss (despite our having spent some time cleaning bikes, boots and tent in NZ we heard many stories of inspectors sending even apparently clean items to be recleaned at a considerable fee). The shipped items are quickly stowed and our journey continues.

The weather is not improving and we drive south and west towards Geelong seeing signage being demolished and large tree branches parted from the trunk. Luckily our rig is stable and the traffic keeps moving, but conditions deteriorate further when the rain (or more accurately the falling mud) arrives. It is with great relief that we finally reach Anglesea and decide to base ourselves here in a pleasant seaside campground... by now the wind has dropped but the falling mud continues until late afternoon, finally clearing to leave a beautiful sunset.

Thursday 3rd April - Today we'll travel down the spectacular Great Ocean Road, so we are up early as it'll be slow going. The surf is still pounding the coast, yesterday's storm is now a large depression over Tasmania and still generating a surge. We begin driving west and while the road is almost carved from the rock in places it is wide and well made. A few stops for pictures before we cut inland briefly to Erskine Falls, set in beautiful eucalypt forest and impressive with the recent rain. We pass through Lorne with a brief stop in the rain and continue to Kennett River, home to an accessible Koala colony on a back road. Several bears are happy to do what they do best for us... sit sleepily in trees and munch slowly on the eucalyptus leaves.

At Apollo Bay we find a fish store to provide local produce for our dinner, and a lookout above the town provides spectacular views of a wide area of coast. By now the somewhat grey weather has become a mix of light rain showers and sunny intervals so several rainbows appear during the remainder of the day, and by the time we get back to Anglesea the evening is fine. The journey home is uneventful with a brief stop at the memorial to the road builders, but we detour in Anglesea to find the golf course where reports say a colony of kangaroos live. Sure enough, in the evening light there are hundreds feeding which gives us great opportunities for pictures.

Friday 4th April - Time to backtrack to Melbourne so Carie can fly out tomorrow. The weather is still somewhat overcast so after stopping for a walk at Point Addis featuring both scenery and an interpretive trail about Aboriginal life (a British convict escaped and lived with a local tribe for 32 years, recording his memories later after reintegration into settler society). We make our way back to a campsite located close to Melbourne airport and enjoy a relaxing evening with fish and chips.

Saturday 5th April - We get Carie safely on her plane, despite a few complications as her original flight was canceled. Little to report about the rest of the day, though Tim who is building up to the Canberra marathon by running most days has time for a long run around the local suburbs.

Sunday 6th April - The weather dawns clear at last so we decide to have another look at Melbourne. Mostly we enjoy the fine conditions to walk around but we also take Carie's suggestion to visit the old Gaol. This includes a well preserved cell block in the traditional British Victorian style (including gallows), a trial reenactment in the old court next door and a look at the old City Watch House where they pretend to book you for a night in the cells. Good fun and good value.

Monday 7th April - We have to head back to Sale to have our 5th wheel brakes looked at so decide to drive via the south coast and Wilson's Prom, the southernmost point in the country and a relatively undeveloped wildlife reserve. Much of it is accessible only by foot but you can camp deep in the park at Tidal River. It is a slow journey but we find a good spot for the camper late afternoon at the large campground and have time for an evening stroll on the beach. We also get our first sighting of a wombat and see a wide variety of birds in this heavily wooded area.

Tuesday 8th April - A gorgeous day so we get the bikes out to stretch our legs. There are not many route options for road bikes as the only sealed road is from the entrance to Tidal River. However it is pretty quiet, hilly enough for exercise and has several spur roads down to beautiful empty beaches. We ride about 12km (7 miles) back towards the park gate and then return slowly via the beaches, enjoying plenty of good scenery but no animals.

In the afternoon we continue the fitness theme by climbing the hill overlooking the campground, mainly on a well made forest road through eucalypt forest with spectacular views over much of the promontory from the bare top. When we get back to the campground near sunset the birds are out in force, especially Rosellas and a friendly Kookaburra.

Wednesday 9th April - We are up early so we can get back to Sale for the campers appointment in the garage, which lets us see several emu in the dawn light en route back to the camp gate. From here the journey becomes pretty dull, we've driven much of it before and the main tourist attractions are the huge power stations.

With the camper dropped off we head for some shopping and the laundrette (laundramat) before visiting one of Sale's attractions, the old port area with it's restored swing bridge. Then back to the garage to meet Don who is returning from Tasmania after traveling with Canadian friends there. For the evening we visit a nearby town for a good multinational meal with Don's guests, a group of other Australian friends and a Norwegian exchange student.

Thursday 10th April - With the camper brakes serviced we now have a long ride ahead of us to Canberra, a route that will take us into the Great Dividing Range for the first time. These hills run from Victoria up the whole east coast to Cairns, at times crowding close to the sea, at other times standing inland with a wide flat coastal plane. They are not as dramatic as New Zealand's mountains (this is a very old landmass with extensive weathering, the highest point is about 2200m, 7100ft) but have a very diverse climate from arid to rainforest. The road into the hills is good but the truck has to work hard with the constant ups and downs. We stop at Bombala soon after crossing from Victoria into New South Wales with the promise of a platypus reserve, and are lucky enough to see one of these unusual creatures swimming in the creek. We finally arrive in Canberra and after finding the campground take a little while to level the camper on a sloping site.

Western Australia

2008-05-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Finally I have some time to update our movements in Australia, a journey that has covered a lot of miles in two months. The first part of our adventure involved a long flight from Auckland to Perth on March 20th where we arrived to the same blue skies and warm weather we'd come to expect in New Zealand's excellent 2007-08 summer (note: the weather is so good here I'll mention only when we don't get blue skies and warm temps!). The first few days in East Perth were dedicated to the World Interhash, a gathering of Hash House Harrier groups to run and drink beer... so we were soon drinking beer and getting a look at some of the countryside around the city.

Friday 21st March – East Perth is deserted on Good Friday, with a four day weekend I'm sure many of Perth's inhabitants are on the beach. We take a wander round the area between our hotel, the Swan River and our venue for the weekend, the Gloucester Park horse racing track (next door to the WACA -Western Australia Cricket Association – ground), discover the town is shut and retire to a dusty pitch nearby to watch a bunch of hashers (most old enough to know better) play a northern vs southern hemisphere rugby game. Not sure who we should support now! The evening is very pleasant temperature wise and we spend it at Gloucester park catching up with friends old and new.

Saturday 22nd March – Time to get out of the city and run. There are an extensive selection of runs to choose from and while Tim has opted for the longest (the ballbuster) Tracy also goes for a “bush” option out in the scrub and forest inland. Tim's run begins at a dam in the hills above the city and zig-zags vaguely downhill (except the many uphills) towards Perth for about 25km (15 miles) through a lot of dry eucalyptus scrub. Tracy gets similar surroundings but a shorter dose of much steeper countryside where scrambling up and down takes the place of running. Once again the evening is spent enjoying the party at Gloucester Park.

Sunday 23rd March – Another day, another run and this time we both opt for a beach run, which does end at a beach but features more bush, a huge building site where the west coast's over development boom is in full swing, a lot of new housing estates close to the beach, up and down a few sand dunes and finally a last km or so on the sand. At least we spend a fun afternoon partying on the beach in glorious weather (again!). We party longer at Gloucester Park tonight as the bands are good, and only leave when the security is evicting us.

Monday 24th March – Back to the reality of organizing our trip after the preordained section... and we have not made more than sketchy plans with our friends Carie and Joan to head south. Rental cars are hard to come by today with the holiday and 4000 hashers heading in various directions but we eventually secure a good deal on an SUV which is an ideal size for us. Rolling south we pass the southern beaches of the city, stop in the pretty town of Bunbury for a snack and make it to Margaret River, a winemaking area with great coastline and sandstone caves. We get a feel for driving in Australia: long stretches of not much other than scrub!

Getting a place in a backpackers in this town can be difficult with popular surfing beaches and temporary jobs aplenty at the wineries, but we book into a modern place which will not look new for long unless the managers enforce some cleanliness/ tidyness rules with the slacker inhabitants.

Tuesday 25th March – A leisurely day of wine touring with Tracy, Carie and Joan on drinking duty and Tim driving and taking the photos. Generally a good quality of wine and attractive surroundings (this area is mostly eucalyptus forest and more attractive than the standard scrub) make it a great place to tour. We grab snacks and wine late afternoon for the obligatory perfect west coast sunset where the River meets the sea (actually it doesn't quite, the fresh water seeps below a sandbar).

Wednesday 26th March – We begin by visiting Calgardup Cave, run by the Dept of Conservation and Land Management. They give you a torch (flashlight), helmet and send you off to take your time looking at some spectacular formations of flowstone, stalactites and stalagmites. From here we head through the Karri forest, a remnant of the ancient eucalyptus forests that once covered much of the continent. Here in the relative cool and damp of the far southwest the forest is dominated by huge trees, in this area they are Karris, huge yellowish eucalypts which we are told are the third biggest hardwoods on earth.

Next stop is the southwest point of the continent, Cape Leeuwin where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. Tim visits the lighthouse while the others check out the shore, then we head east, stopping for the night at Walpole where the backpackers is very much recommended, despite us having to carry out emergency plumbing repairs for the warden (who is only helping out his friend the owner while the friend is away). Amazing what a bit of knowledge and a roll of duct tape can do!

Thursday 27th March – One of the highlights of our time in WA is the Red Tingle forest, another area with unique large eucalypts. One of the reasons the eucalypts dominate the continent is their fire resistance, in fact many depend on fire to stimulate their seeds to germinate. The trees can be partially destroyed by fire and still continue to thrive, a point made by healthy tingles with hollow trunks that four people can easily stand in. The experience in this forest is enhanced by a suspended walkway that allows you to wander at the level of the forest canopy while swaying gently with the trees.

We are behind schedule at this point and have decided we'd better stay near Perth to make catching flights tomorrow stress free, so a long drive is ahead of us. We make an obligatory stop in Albany (Tim, Tracy and Carie all lived around Albany New York) where Tim took a few photographs of this very attractive and historic town while the others enjoyed a good pub lunch. From here we had 450km (280 miles) of straight and generally monotonous but good quality road so Tim settled in for a long drive while the girls partied with a few beers. We soon noticed that the few small towns we passed through all had one amenity... the hotel and bottle store. Useful for replenishing supplies.

Our initial plan was to find accommodation in Fremantle, little realising that a) it is a popular spot and b) there was a surfing event on. After trying all the options and drawing a blank we finally headed back to Perth and found a 4 person suite at our original hotel, the Goodearth.

Friday 28th March – Time to say goodbye to Joan and our other remaining New Zealand friends and fly with Carie to Melbourne. Tim got up early and returned to Fremantle for pictures, dropped the hire car and we called a cab. And waited. And waited. Luckily the delay didn't make us late for the flight though it did raise stress levels and we were soon en route to Melbourne. Once there we met up with our friend Don who Tracy got to know in Australia 20 years ago and Tim met when he passed through Syracuse NY in 1997. We shoehorned into a little Mazda and drove past the city lights and onward for 21/2 hours to Sale, where we met Don's “significant other” Ada at whose house we'd pick up our camper.

Random Impressions

2008-04-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

A few early impressions of the country:

1. They are very strict on the road rules. Speed cameras, mobile speed cameras in unmarked vehicles, red light cameras and strict drink driving laws are just the start. Victoria especially is full of warning signs about speed, getting enough rest etc, etc, etc ad nauseum.

2. There is an amazing profusion of bird life. From the bright and exotic (lorikeets, cockatoos, rosellas, parrots, gallah), the typically Australian (kookaburra) and the very large (pelicans) to smaller songbirds and seabirds there are seemingly birds everywhere.

3. We have seen most of the well known marsupials in the wild without looking too hard: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies and platypus... plus a couple of emu. The huge bats are pretty impressive too. Only one snake (roadkill) and a few biggish spiders among the "nasties" this country is famous for.

4. The east coast between Sydney and Brisbane is much less developed than I had imagined. While some stretches of the Gold Coast feature a succession of condos and towering hotels and the coastal burbs of Brisbane could pass for the US, there are also large areas of forest, National Park and wetlands.

Brisbane

2008-04-29T04:58:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to find time to document our travels but suffice to say we have settled in Brisbane for a week after dropping Trena and Treavor off at the airport. Weather has been clear and sunny and we've enjoyed having time to just relax and not have to move. The city is very manageable (outside rush hour) with lots of bike paths and good public transport.

Ouch!

2008-04-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

Ouch No. 1: Tracy turns 40 tomorrow (30th). She is celebrating by inviting over some friends who are considerably over 40!

Ouch No. 2: The price of beer in this country. Being used to paying about $1 a beer (whether that be US$1 in the US or NZ$1 in NZ) we are getting a shock at beers for A$2 to A$2.50. Probably similar to UK prices these days though. At least the wine is reasonable, though duty is threatened to go up for beer and wine.

Ouch N0. 3: The nighttime temps are getting down near zero in the outlying areas and even here in Brisbane it's been cold in the last couple of days (record official low for April is 8.3C - 47F - and it's been colder than that here in the northern burbs. The city had it's first recorded temp below freezing last winter). Winter is approaching, but we are near the tropic of Capricorn (Brisbane's latitude is 27deg28') and expected warmer. Time to get a heater for the camper or move north!

Visitors

2008-04-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

We now have Tracy's brother Treavor and sister Trena staying with us for 2 weeks. Good thing the 5th wheel has an extension out the back! After Canberra we have driven down to Sydney today and intend to spend and few days before heading up the coast.

Another Marathon Survived

2008-04-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

Tim managed to finish his second marathon yesterday in a slightly faster time (3:02:07) than the first... but still outside the magic 3 hours. This time is good enough to qualify for the New York marathon so I'd better train a little harder for that!

The conditions were wet but with little wind and mild temps for the first 2 hours or so. Then the sun came out pretty hot so I was glad to be out of it in an hours. Once again few physical issues during the race (and none of the severe thigh pain this time) but a very sore ileo-tibial band afterwards (i.e. sore right knee and thigh).

Another Blog

2008-04-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog. I'll be trying to post all the details of our Australian tour here, 5 months in a 5th wheel with a plan to cover most of the east side of the country. Here's our new home:

The New Zealand blog will still be available at http://www.timtracynz.blogspot.com, and I may even detail our last month there when I have time.