Australia - Cairns - The last stop before Singapore

Well as you know we made it back to Cairns from Cooktown. The country is really beautiful if harsh up there and is well worth a visit. If you hire an offroad vehicle you can travel the many dirt highways that are inaccessible for the omnipresent campers.

Back here we had a few things to do, like get last minute things for the jungle, waterproof bags, soap, shampoo, clothes and of course anti-malarials.

For tbe later we booked a consultat a local medical centre, and picked up some doxycycline. Not our favoured anti- malarial but definitely the cheapest.

So shopping done we booked on a last dive trip to the Outer Barrier Reef (Saxon and Norman reefs to be precise). This was the cheapest and probably the most crowded boat we had been on (60 + people); but despite tha,t the crew of mainly brits and one german were excellent at giving instruction in  the use of equipment and what to look out for.

So after our Bacon and Egg roll and our suit, fins, mask and snorkel fitting, we were ready to hit the water snorkelling and diving, and to take some piccies...

Some of these pictures are very clear and some are a little "misty" due to sediment stirring, but have a look through, spot the fish where you can; and if you know the  names of the corals and or the fish then post a commnet to let us know too...

Have a look at this nesxx set of photos, and bear in mind that we are 90 minutes off the mainland of Australia...

this looks like a beach where the tide had just gone out doesn't it, you can see a few rocks in the distance...

...In fact this is Norman reef being exposed due to a falling tide, see the pale pink colour of the coral in the mid ground....

...and here it is at low water....


We got back to Cairns exhausted after two dives interspersed with as much snorkelling as time would allow. We had a fantastic day at the Saxon and Norman reefs.

We didn't realise that the "tide" went out at this great distance from shore either!

We landed back at JJ's for a well earned last sleep in Jucy Lucy who goes back to her spiritual owner tomorrow. A real tear jerker thats going to be after travelling so far and so long with her :0((

Next, on the 18th June, we are off to Singapore, to get our visas for Indonesia and adventure in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.

Australia - Cooktown - This is as far north as we go

Apologies for not being up to date for some time, but we have been in the rainforest in Borneo for 6 weeks; so regular blog updates were a bit problematic. More about the rainforest of Borneo, Orang Utans and Tanjang Puting National Park later  there will be some cute shots of primates in later blog, so keep looking).

Now we are back in the land of internet we can update the blog thick and fast with the latest travels, experiences, thoughts, etc.

So where were we? OK yep we had just left Maggie Island, and Siobhan had officially become a PADI.

From Maggie Island, as ever in this story we headed north and stopped off in Mission Beach. This place was devasted by Cyclone Yasi, recently, so it was tentatively that we parked up in the camper park right on the beach. The caretaker told us that only the toilet block was left standing after cyclone hit, a testament to Australian dunny technology.

We took a tour round the area and stopped off in the oddly named "Tam O'Shanter" National Park. This is famous for...

...its Fan Palms, which are specific to this area.

...and difficult to spot Cassowaries (large flightless birds). Can you see them?

There were also some interesting trees that had been felled by the Cyclone...

... Felled tree with Strangler Fig wrapped around it...

...and some interesting bark......

From "Tam O'Shanter" NP we drove to see the famous Babinda Boulders, you know the ones.....at Babinda....what do you mean, no. Take a look at these next photos to get the idea....

...give you a clue...the boulders aren't here

But are actually further downstream....

OK so now you know that these "boulders" were created by raging torrents of water that pour through the gorge at Babinda during the wet season.....

...which create swirl pots.....

...where huge boulders (some car and truck size) are cut from the bedrock...

...and dropped further downstream...

The rain forest here is quiet distinct and beautiful and we wandered a few hours away before heading further north to Cairns, gateway city to Cape York.

Cairns

Cairns is a bustling modern city, with every convenience, including a supply of large jelly babies.

We stayed here briefly  (one night at JJ's Backpackers) to catch up on washing and supplies and were off again, this time, North, to Daintree...

...Aussies have a weird sense of humour but do take pride in it,

We drove off through the hills just north of Cairns to Kuranda....and then headed back to the coast...

...which had incredible views...

...and mad folk jumping off cliffs with nothing more thatn a long thin sleeping bag....

...but it all seems to hang together...

Having seen the madness on the coast we headed in land again to visit the Mossman Gorge, another stretch of pristine rainforest. This is well paved in places

...start of the Mossman Gorge....

...full of treeeeeeees....

...some more intersting than others...

...and you never guess, we bumped into a fun guy ( for all you lovers of puns only an oldie but a goldie)

...hhhmmm, soak up that atmosphere.....

Never tired of walking in these environments we reluctantly left Mossman Gorge because we had to get to Daintree before dark.

The journey was simple emough in itself but the countryside changed to rolling hills and darkness just as we arrived. Our first visitor on site was...

...a Kangeroo rat

We didn't visit Cape Tribulation, to mean to pay the $21 ferry ticket do we stayed in Daintree itself overnight.

From Daintree we head back south to Mossman and then ascend The Great Dividing Range heading North, again. There  is a vast tableland at the top of the range, and further mountains in the distance. This is arid cattle country, and Brahma cows from India were inported and bred here because theycan withstand the intense temperatures.

...last look back towards the coast, then.....

...arid land on top of The Range...

...where there be mountains...

...more mountains and grassland....

...and mysterious black mountains of boulders, that rise out of the light dirt and create disruptive thermals for pilots.

The colours we saw on this day were from rust brown to orange, yellow and green, with every imaginable shade in between. The country is harsh but beautiful. the highway was busy and there were stretches open to cattle to wander onto the road.

Then after a hard days driving in a seeming land of nowhere, we arrive in...

...guess where....Cooktown...

Yep this small settlement of wide streets, disparate shops and a few campsites is the place where Captain James Cook beached HMS endeavour for repairs after grounding on the reef....

...wide streets and little traffic....

wattled mynah...

There are many odd things of "note" here...

...speaks for itself, or sings at least

...here it is in all its glory, with drums, wires, clackers

...and ancient lighthouse stands guard over  the coast...

...and the Endeavour River...

...Cooktown, where wide street technology has reached its peak...or width

....Mount Cook in the distance and the the quaint little lighthouse that overlooks cooktown...

We stayed overnight in a campsite right in the middle of the forest, run by a Dame Edna Everidge look alike, the Peninsula campsite. We wre surrounded by huge paperbark trees. We watched the starts through the moonroof in our Jucy rental and drift off to...zzzzzzzz

Next day we were heading south again for Cairns ....

...we passed gorges....

And also stop off at some wetland sfor a few hours where have lunch and meet some of the locals...

...a broody emu.....

...believe me we found this picture hard to swallow...

...anyone know Rod Hull...

...who'd have thought that frogs make such excellent door hinges?..

...we saw a gigantic Strangler fig......

and a duck....

...spot the rifleman....

...not forgetting the two mighty Kauri trees..

And so we arrive back in Cairns at JJ's Backpackers, small and cosy near the centre of town. Here we stay for a few days before flying out to Singapore and our Indonesian adventure in wildest Borneo.

So Cairns is our last port of call in the Australian leg of our journey, this next blog will have some underwater photos so don't forget to bring your goggles and snorkel!!