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: cairns, kuranda

J lived in Cairns years ago during his first years in the navy. The hotel where he lived for the year is still there, looking weathered. He was excited about showing us around.

We stayed with some dear friends - whom we met at mothers group when our eldest boys were babies. It was so fun for us to hang out with the adults and listen to the kids and their elaborate games - like they'd never been apart. They'd also just welcomed the most gentle boxer dog in to their family and we enjoyed getting to know him too.

We also managed to catch up with a few other friends too and we had babysitters (thanks Lisa) so we had another night out! Was that 2 nights in 11 months?

Cairns was a social time with two dinners out with friends and lots of catching up with friends. It was good fun!

When their boy left for school it was the first time we'd heard B eager to go back to school. 

From Cairns we had a day trip to Kuranda and Din Din, Barron Falls. The walk from the carpark through the forest was beautiful - and suitable for kids. 

Apparently Kuranda used to be a lot less touristy but we enjoyed a stroll through the markets all the same. We enjoyed our visit to the Butterfly Sanctuary. It was pretty special seeing the butterfly nursery and the butterfly larvae in various stages - each a day older. B had a particularly friendly butterfly land on his head and stay on even while he danced. Our boy, who is obsessed with animals, was thrilled. It wasn't long before his sister had a turn.  

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 : mareeba, atherton, tablelands

In the nine months we'd been travelling we'd not heard such enthusiasm from the back seat as when we drove the windy road in to the Tablelands from Undara.

"Can we LIVE here?" 

"We love it!" 

It was the first time any of us had seen such lush greenery in a very long time. We opened the vent in the car and breathed in fresh, clean, damp air. 

Mareeba, famous for its pineapples and we bought a few sweet, juicy ones for $2.50 a piece. B was also completing a study on the production of peanut butter which tied in nicely with a visit to The Peanut Place. 

The Rocky Creek Memorial Park free camp was a good place to set up for a couple of nights while we visited Atherton and Mareeba. Overnight visitors are expected to leave a donation. 

A serious restock of our fridge was needed and for the first time in many months we could buy fresh, fresh veggies and fruit. The Termite Fruit and Veg shop was our first port of call but even the op shop in town sold bananas! We picked up half a kilo of the most delicious dried mango for $25. Though a big outlay it proves to be vital to have good snacks in the car save the children simply "die of hunger!"

As well as the fridge the liquor cabinet was looking dry so we took the excuse to buy locally distiller scotch and gin from Mount Uncle Distillery. These guys are producing award-winning spirits. The gin is packed full of Australian botanicals and to drink it with tonic water is to defeat the purpose of the delicate flavours. I'm drinking mine with lime juice and soda. Not right now, of course. I'll wait until 5pm!

Rifle Creek free camp is just outside of Mount Molloy on the road from Mareeba to Wonga Beach. We made a planned reverse trip the morning after we stayed - to Kah Veh Cafe and Fine Foods in Mount Molloy. Kah Veh brews a mean coffee. They make tasty raw treats and sell a range of locally produced fruit and veggies.

queensland: undara experience

Undara boasts some of the largest intact lava tubes in the world. We took a tour of the tubes and stayed in the campground for two nights. The kids had a great time in the pool and the tour was informative and incredible. 

The kids didn't realise how grotty they'd become after playing around in the dirt in the tubes! 

There are a few bushwalks on the Undarra property. We took the Bluff Walk with the kids where we saw right across the country to extinct volcanos. 

We spotted this sad sight on the path - a dead jabiru. These are magnificent birds. Their black feathers have a dark green sheen and their beaks are long and strong. We wondered how he met a grisly end. 

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.