queensland: airlie beach

Our stay at Airlie Beach coincided with friends from the NSW North Coast. It was such a good couple of days hanging out - at the lagoon on the foreshore, on the aqua park at at their hotel. We'd planned to take the kids snorkelling on the outer Barrier Reef but decided to postpone it until they're older and the six hour return boat trip won't be such a chore. 

Our animal loving boy feeding the birds at the Island Gateway Caravan Park where we stayed in the expansive grassy unpowered site. 

Airlie Beach Aqua Park. The kids (& big kids had a ball out there). Airlie was what we'd expected - social and activity oriented. The caravan park was quite nice and we enjoyed our stay. Being school holidays and being on the coast there were a lot of people about. 

queensland: mission beach, townsville, bowen, horseshoe bay

Breaking the rhythm of travel can be a good and a bad thing. It's nice to just relax for a bit, soak in the surroundings, have a few days where everyone isn't racing around packing up, planning meals, doing the grocery shopping, filling the water tanks, emptying the toilet, refuelling the car, packing up the car and the caravan and shutting every last thing away before driving for hours with the kids in the car arriving at a new place and starting over.

Breaking the rhythm can be good.

But it can also be bad because once you lose the rhythm everyone finds it harder on those pack up and driving days. It was a while back when we drove from Mission Beach to Townsville but I seem to remember it being a long day on the road. It was over three hours driving (which we usually break in to two stints) but the roads were long and there was a huge increase in traffic. For months we might have seen twenty other cars on the road and a few road trains and suddenly there seemed to be hundreds, in a hurry and doing dangerous stuff.

I was hugely disappointed as we left Mission Beach because I knew we'd run out of time to visit Paluma and the National Park out of Ingham. I knew we couldn't go to Hinchinbrook. We were running out of time and we also knew the limits of the kids and their ability to keep up with us walking. The kids had definitely covered some kilometres and some of the walks we'd taken them on were demanding on their little legs but Hinchinbrook would have been pushing it. Another one for the next list!

When we pulled in to Townsville it was hot and dry and dusty. It was an instantly charming town. We stayed the night on the oval of a Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was cheap and comfortable and our friend Rachel came over for beers once the kids were in bed. That was fun!

From Townsville we drove to Bowen so we could stat at Horseshoe Bay. The weather was pretty crazy with strong winds which blew out the beach but we did get in the water a couple of times. We had two nights in Horseshoe Bay. J quite liked the place but it wasn't my favourite spot.

A little run up from the caravan park to the lookout gave a great view of the coast and out to the jetty off-shore.

queensland: babinda to mission beach

From Babinda Boulders we headed south. We'd really wanted to see western Queensland and it was difficult to decide whether to stay on the coast or head inland. We had to carefully consider what we wanted to do. We were meeting friends a few days later in Airlie so it would have been impractical to head west only to turn around and go back to the coast.

Western Queensland is a trip we will do sometime though. We were surprised that we enjoyed visiting little inland towns so much. There are always things to see too- not just the towns themselves. I believe we've really seen so much diversity on the trip. When I here politics on the radio I o think about all these little communities being represented. After all this country is so much more than Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and the people who inhabit the cities.

A family we met at Rocky Creek Memorial Park between Atherton and Mareeba recommended a stay at Mission Beach on our way south. 

The council run caravan park charges $21 a night for an unpowered site and $24 for powered. We chose the unpowered option and had a site a stone's throw from the beach (only slightly further away than our site at Wonga Beach). We've found that generally unpowered sites are better if you can power yourselves. Sometimes they'll have water but our two 95 litre water tanks were plenty. Powered sites are often closer to the water or tucked in to a bit of bush whereas the powered ones have to be up close to power supply and you'll be crammed in with other caravanners.

Our two night stay didn't feel long enough so we extended by another night. It was on the third night that we met a family from the United States travelling with two of their three children. We got chatting and realised we all knew another travelling family from the U.S. We really enjoyed the company of Phil and Amanda and so we loosely planned to catch up with them further down the road - as in - we agreed that it would be great to hang out again and we were heading in the same direction and we might go to the same places but maybe at different times but if we saw each other again that would be great and we might keep in contact. That's what it's like on the road! 

Each morning (once even before breakfast) we'd go straight out on to the beach which looks out towards Dunk Island. The kids would play in the ocean. Though the coast's economy is dependant on tourism it doesn't have that crowded feeling that other popular places have. 

queensland : wooroonooran national park, babinda, the boulders

The drive from Cairns to Babinda is gorgeous - through the sugar cane fields with lush greenery. We had an overnight stop at the Babinda Rotary Park so we could get in to The Boulders early. 

The Boulders has about ten campsites and we were lucky that a couple were leaving their shady spot as we arrived. It's just a couple of hundred metres from the freecamp to the Boulders picnic area and swimming hole. The camp has a shower/toilet block (cold showers) and it's a really magic place but I can't imagine it staying a free camp forever. 

Legend has it that an aboriginal couple fell in love but the woman was betrothed to another man. She threw herself in to the waters where she lures young men in to their deaths.

It's easy to see how a young man could meet a grizzly end when the water is streaming through the Boulders. It's a visually captivating place but the council warning signs suggest that the currents and slippery rocks can be deadly. 

I was lucky enough to tack on to the back of an informal botanic tour of the area where I was introduced to some endemic species of the area. And we had a swim in the clear, crisp waters. 

The world's largest moth, the Hercules moth. This moth was on the grass before it awkwardly fluttered about. It looked on its last legs - they only live for two days. 

Our tree nymph 

We caught up with our friend Richard who camped overnight with us. 

My morning walk was 4km along the Goldfield Walking Trail with creek crossings, a few bridges across flowing waters and lush rainforest. We both would have loved to do this whole walk. 

This was as close as I got to a cassowary on my morning run. 

More roadside stalls with honesty boxes just outside of Babinda. These ones sold quail eggs and bananas. The quail eggs topped our Gado Gado dinner. The kids were fascinated by the tiny eggs. 

queensland : cairns, holloway beach

HMAS Stuart happened to be in town in Cairns and J and the kids went aboard to visit our friend Kiwi! It was a great reunion as J and Kiwi had worked together for years in Sydney. The kids just love Kiwi!

A friend lives at Holloway Beach - just north of Cairns and we were happy to have a few nights in her drive way. We all loved being so close to the beach. Cathy did as best she could to convince us to stay long-term. Cairns has always had a question mark over the top of it - as to whether we could live there but we were sweating like crazy before 11am and we hadn't yet his the build-up. As much as I liked the big town/small city feel I just don't think we could have stayed. 

queensland: cape tribulation, daintree

Cape Tribulation is one of those must-see places in the Daintree. I was instantly reminded of Jeannie Baker's Where the Forest Meets the Sea, a book I received from my mum for a birthday and one I have loved dearly since. 

We'd decided early on that this wasn't going to be our turn to do Cape York so Cape Trib was as far north as we travelled from our camp at Wonga Beach. The car ferry was a novelty and from there we drove through the tropical rainforest.

People living up there - not far from Cairns - depend on nature to provide water and power. 

We took a picnic and ate under the huge figs on the beach at Cape Trib and had a game of cricket. Despite the warning signs the kids splashed in the shallows while J kept a lookout for saltwater crocs. 

P was reminiscent in the sand - drawing our old house. 

Where the Forest Meets the Sea. 

And the little one fell asleep after swimming and crawling in the sand. Luckily he has the best big brother. 

The trip back to Wonga Beach included a stop in at the Floraville Ice Creamery which has a huge range of organic flavours including sweet potato & cinnamon and mango & lime. 

queensland: wonga beach, mossman gorge

We got lucky with the Piccadilly Caravan Park on Wonga Beach. The unpowered sites were on lush green grass as close to the beach as you can get. The kids practised riding without training wheels on the grass but we all crept under the shade in the humid afternoons. 

It was the first time most of us remember hearing the haunting screams of the curlew in the night. A couple of parents and little chicks made the caravan park home. 

Mossman Gorge is an easy half day trip from Wonga. We took our swimmers and clambered over the huge boulders and in to the cold water which was welcome relief from the humidity. The gorge is now accessible by bus and the walk is raised through the rainforest canopy. 

Sunrise at Wonga Beach

Fathers Day was celebrated at Eonga Beach. The kids planned the breakfast for J and we visited the farmers markets at Mossman to buy the freshest fruit and homemade vanilla ice cream (with locally grown vanilla beans) for pancakes.

To top off a great few days J kayaked out to Snapper Island - 6km from Wonga Beach - and camped overnight on the beach. The highlight was drinking a Mount Uncle single malt whisky by firelight under the setting sun looking out to the Daintree. 

queensland: karumba to undara via belmore lake

It was a relief to leave the confined site at Karumba though we all began to miss our new friends, Mitch, Veronica and their kids! 

We waved goodbye to Mitch and Veronica and jumped in the car, ready for a few hours on the road before another resident of the caravan park pointed out our flat tyre on the caravan. It must have been a slow leak from that magic dirt road from Leichardt Falls. J was quick to act - replacing it with a spare one from the truck - while the kids practised their diving one last time in the pool. 

We were on the road by eleven and grabbed a good coffee at Normanton Art Gallery. 

Our small stop was just out of Croydon on the dam. This town has been ravaged by fires, drought and floods in the past decade. On the drive to the dam there's a small historical site- the remnants of a Chinese village - from the glory days of gold mining. 

Once again we picked a beautiful free camp. Belmore Lake is a bird watchers paradise with hundreds of water birds inhabiting the lake which appears as an oasis in the dry country. Once again the large open campsite was welcome and the kids collected a range of rusted tools before we ate dinner by the lake watching the birds and the sunset. 

It's particularly beautiful and was a restful night before we head off to Undarra the following morning. 

This section of the Savannah Way is interspersed with kilometres of single lane bitumen road. In reality there's plenty of space to pass oncoming traffic but it can be dicey with showering stones as both parties leave the tar. 

queensland: karumba

It was fortunate that in Karumba, despite being full of grey nomad fisherman, we were camped a few doors down from another travelling family who happened to be from Sydney too. 

The kids got on like a house on fire and when the kids finished for the day we got together and hung out eating chocolate and solving the problems of the world. It was fun. 

The kids did school work in the mornings and had the rest of the day to swim in the pool. 

We had quite a comical night at the tavern for sunset. At no time were all parents sitting watching the horizon because at least one of the kids needed to visit the loo. What eventuated was a decision to meet for the sunset the following night. The kids put on a concert while we watched the sun going down over the Gulf, ate pizza, drank beers and protected our dinner from the diving kites.

Again, we extended our stay for an additional night because we were all enjoying the company. And the pool.  

queensland: boodjamulla to karumba on the savannah way

It was hard to leave Adele's Grove. It was a relaxing week that we could have extended. 

We broke our rule again, briefly, and back tracked along the road back to Gregory Downs. If we had the time we would have stayed a night by the river like so many were. It looked beautiful. 

Heading north we hit the tiny town of Burketown where we bought a few supplies from the grocery store that had been recommended - in the post office. Some of these remote towns have deliveries of fresh food once a week. We made the most of a delivery. 

We almost stayed in Burketown but opted for the freecamp at Leichardt Falls instead. This must be an incredible sight in the wet or even after a wet wet. So much of the top end has struggled after a dry wet season. 

We do love just pulling up at a free camp for the night. 

The dirt road from Leichhardt Falls to Normanton was the best dirt we've encountered in our lives. There's always talk about the condition of dirt roads and there's a lot to be said about the impact of lots of traffic, weight and speed. 

One of Normanton's claim to fame is the shooting of the suspected largest croc in Australia by a local croc hunter. Obviously this practise isn't condoned or encouraged anymore thankfully. Normanton also housed a teeny tiny public library where the kids went crazy over the books!

Karumba is a town on the coast on the Gulf of Carpentaria. We wanted to see that sea since we had no intention of doing 'The Cape' on this trip. The population is predominantly made up of grey nomad fisherman holiday maker who fill their freezers over a few months each year.