Byron to Adelaide, End of Holiday (30th Sept)

An inevitable travel day starts with a walk and a farewell to the beach. Overcast skies again enhance the feeling of holiday's end.

Sydney Harbour from the air

The downside with finishing my trip in Byron rather than Brisbane is that there's no direct flight to Adelaide. From a small country airport it's a skip over to Sydney before a jump to Adelaide. Virgin airlines are an improvement from Jetstar and for some reason I have extra leg room and food- not a usual occurrence! Serendipitously I'm on the left side of the plane and flying into Sydney from the North gives the fantastic harbour views I missed when originally arriving in Sydney. It's clear and sunny and the famous landmarks stand out over the twinkling blue water. This more than makes up for the annoyance of changing planes. It's an unexpected finale to the East coast.

Byron Bay, last stop (28th-29th)

Out of the city again and through tamed countryside with grazing cattle- add more green and squint a bit and it could be England.

Byron bay's main heyday as a surfing and hippie mecca seems to have passed and these days whilst those scenes are still big it's also a prime destination for holiday makers and families.

It's a relaxed yet lively place; busy as it's a long weekend and school holidays and finding accommodation proved difficult for the first time on my trip.

The weather is a bit poor- rather overcast though not cold. The hostel's quite sociable and the 2 nights pass pleasantly but I'm feeling a bit end-of-holidayish. On my second day I walk up to the lighthouse on the edge of the coast then back around the coastal path, it's a nice coast line and if I was here for longer some surfing would be in order for sure.

Brisbane 27th- 28th Sept

I'm not predisposed to liking Brisbane. No-one's really said anything in its favour. It's the first big city I've been in for a while (much bigger than Cairns or Darwin) in fact the 3rd largest in Australia with a population around the 2 million mark. I'm struck by the traffic noise, fumes and mildly paranoid that I'm going to be run over. However it's doing its best. The sun's shining, the sky is clear and the not unimpressive skyline backdrops a river crisscrossed with bridges.

Walking down southbank I'm disappointed in the cultural centre: museum, art gallery and library are mean concrete pre-fabs reminiscent of run-down English colleges. But this gives way first to a smarter festival centre and then to a long stretch of recreation area- an artificial beach and swimming pools and water-based play areas. Scores of people are hanging out here and the atmosphere is happy, children playing in the artifical sand and entertained by water parks.

I loop round after crossing the river and return through the centre of the city- bold and brash and busy. And that's the afternoon gone, by 6pm it's all but dark.

As a side note I'd like to point out that this is real downside of Australia- none of those magical long summer evenings where it never seems to get completely dark in England- and they have the climate for it. To be awkward and different from the rest of Australia Queensland doesn't use daylight saving and so in summer it's light at about 4am, dark at 8pm which seems silly to me.

Next morning I have a few hours to traverse a few more city streets and I wander up to St Johns cathedral which is a small gothic cathedral which seems incongrous in the skyscraper jungle.

Then it's onto the Greyhound bus to Byron Bay- the final leg of the East coast.

The Glass House Mountains- 26th Sept.

I planned to hire a car and drive the hour or so from Noosa slightly inland and South to see the Glass House Mountains. Due to my late/ lack of planning I ended up with an automatic and a quick lesson in how to drive it which added to the intrinsic excitement of a rental car, a large excess and an unfamiliar route! Attempting to restrain my left foot I drove first to Eumundi a place that has some of the biggest and best markets in Australia (I'm told). After a pleasant wander round there and a few purchases I pressed on to the mountains.

The Glass House mountains are 9 isolated peaks of different shapes which jut out from a plain. They were named by Captain Cook who was reminded of Glass furnaces back home in Yorkshire but this is a rather obscure reference now. In the Aboriginal story they are the petrified forms of a family fleeing from the rising tide. They're formed from volcanic plugs left when everything else has eroded away.

I climbed Ngungun which was impressively steep had lunch and after a stop at a lookout continued onto Beerburrum and climbed that too, by then my legs had had their workout, I'd seen some nice views and it was time to head back.

Noosa Heads 24th and 25th Sept

After another night in Rainbow beach the journey South continued and I arrived in Noosa, the largest built up area I'd been in since Townsville, an upmarket developing tourist town. It was muggy and I was tired and napped the afternoon away stirring only during the thunderstorm which cleared the air.

Next day I set out down to Sunshine beach and then to walk around Noosa headland cliff path which skirts a national park. It was nice but the weather had changed and the sun was absent. After reaching the bustling town and having some lunch I decided to return a different way, quickly lost I used the vaguely visible sun to navigate, forgetting, not for the first time that in the middle of the day the sun is in the South, not the North. Eventually, exhausted I made it back after seeing plenty of Noosa!

Fraser Part 2

By next day I have something of sore neck from the constant jolting as we traverse the "roads". But it's a good day. A spontaneous flight in a 7 seater plane is the highight. It takes off from the beach and circles the island, we spot a whale just off shore, it's a beautiful, terrifying flight. After 2 aborted landed attempts due to too many vehicles on the beach, which makes it even more exciting we eventually bump down again.

A swim at Eli creek provided a chance to cool off then it was on, up the beach to Indian heads- a cliff from which we spotted more Humpback whales and admired coastal scenery. Hot again it was time for a dip in Champagne pools where the frothy waves entering a large pool inspired the name.

On our final day we visited 2 more of the beautiful lakes, one, Lake Wabby was reached by walking through the forest which gave way to an enormous sanddune, nestled at the bottom of which was a wonderfully cool lake- heaven!

Fraser island is also known for it's dingoes- a native dog introduced to Australia several thousands of years ago (indigenous animals evolved here, native have been around a jolly long time and feral ones such as the cat, rabbit and fox were brought by the Europeans and wreck havoc!) Dingoes have interbred with domestic dogs but the population on Fraser island is still relatively "pure". It wasn't until on the ferry about to leave that we spotted a pair chilling on the beach.

Fraser Island 21st-23rd

World heritage listed Fraser island is a travel "must" for the East coast but sadly, would be more fun if it was more remote and had fewer tourists- like a lot of places. It's believed to be the largest sand islands in the world. (Wilkipedia says "believed", you'd think they'd know wouldn't you?) It's 120x 28km and famous for the beautiful fresh water lakes, the beaches, creeks, rainforest, mangroves and eucalypt woodland- a surprising amount of variation for a patch of sand!

It's not far from Rainbow beach to the ferry. The ferry leaves straight off a beach with absolutely nothing in the way of docking, you simply drive on from the sand, off in the same way...which is why it's 4WD only.


The beaches make the best road- they're reasonably flat but vary, the rules of the mainland highways apply although you can drive anywhere you want- just looking out for children playing and people fishing. Inland the roads are rough sandy tracks within the forest, single lane and we had many hold ups when people had got bogged in the sand and had to be towed out.

Lake McKenzie was first stop, a beautiful place to swim and sunbathe; later into the rainforest for a walk.

Rainbow beach- 20th Sept.

Another hour down the coast is the tiny township of Rainbow beach named for the many hues of coloured sand (previously called Back beach so you can see why they changed it). I have an afternoon here and as there's basically the beach I take to the surf. It's been a while and I didn't exactly get good to start with but it's good exercise and after a couple of hours I've no more energy left.

Except that I want to walk to a sandblow nearby so summon some energy for this. Through a wood as the light takes on it's pre-sunset magical quality and then abruptly emerging onto a huge stretch of sand, blown up through a gap in the cliffs it's been growing bigger and bigger. From here, it's possible to see that rare event on the East coast, a sunset!

I've bumped into an English backpacker who I've met before (this is a common theme actually to keep meeting the same people who are travelling in the same direction) so we have a few drinks that evening.

Hervey Bay and the Humpback Whales -19th Sept.

I'd dreaded the overnight bus trip from Airlie beach to Hervey bay but there wasn't really anywhere that justified a stop off. Tired though from the sun, sea and fresh air I passed most of the 12 hours in something resembling sleep. Sufficient to pass the time but insufficient to prevent considerable grogginess next day.


Installed in "Flashpackers" (it sounded like a good bet after 2 nights on a boat and 1 on a bus) showered and laundry on the line I headed out on a Whale watching tour without massive expectations. Yes, it was Whale watching season in Hervey bay with the Humpback whales having calved further North slowly heading back down to Antartica. Whilst in these warm and relatively safe waters it was chance for the calves to grow and learn.

Hunted, in living memory to the brink of extinction, the population has recovered and these huge mammals have sufficient trust and curiosity to bring their calves up to boats. This is what happened to us twice, the second time mother and calf hung around for ages (we'd stopped) and were so close that we were blasted with their non-too sweet breath as they opened their blow holes. It was amazing to be so near something so big and something so sea-worthy yet mammalian like us. We'd also seen a mother and calf breaching (jumping out of the water) which is an alarm reaction, probably to a whale we could see on the horizon tail slapping and a calf practising jumping out of the water backwards which is a defensive technique. This close visit is called a "mugging" and I'd happily be mugged few more times in this manner! The crew were as excited as anyone- running from one side of the deck to the other with the rest of us when the whales swam under the boat- they didn't usually get such good, close and prolonged viewings so we were extremely lucky.

Whitsundays Continued

Slept well that is until the early morning wake up call of the anchor chain being noisy pulled up. It seemed to go on for hours so I climbed the ladder up to the deck to see what was going on and watched the sunrise as we began sailing.



Today was our diving day off Hook island. It wasn't spectacular diving, the visibility being a bit low and, in my opinion the temperature too! But the coral was beautiful and we saw a nice turtle. To warm up we jumped in the hot tub on the stern which felt strange once the boat was moving again!

Our 3rd day had the best weather. In the morning they got the Kayaks out and we happily paddled around the clear shallow waters of a bay spotting Stingrays and Turtles. As we sped back to Airlie beach there were Humpback whales on the horizon and a group of dolphins swam with us. Sunburnt and flushed from the wind no-one really wanted to leave our floating home, I asked if they'd take me down to Hervey bay but no, it was back on the bus!

Airlie beach and Whitsundays 14th- 18th

Sadly my Airlie beach hostel was a firm contender for Most Depressing Hostel of the Year. Airlie beach itself was beautiful. I wandered around the markets on the Saturday morning and admired the view of the sea with it's many boats. After some planning and organising I had a swim in the large artificial lagoon (Stinger-free) which is where everyone hangs out.




Sunday was the start of a 3-day Whitsunday island sailing trip aboard "Summertime". A beautiful timber-fitted boat, originally a fishing vessel. 17 passengers, crew of 3, 1 lecture about the idiosyncracies of marine plumbing later and we were speeding out across the sea, not entirely by sail power alone it must be admitted!

First stop was Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday island. Dropped off by the tender we walked through a forest to a lookout and one of the most sensational views I've ever see. Postcard perfect with white sand and varying hues of blue and turquoise water. We dropped down and squeaked across this ultrafine sand to the sea to swim. But the advised Stinger-suits to prevent lethal jelly-fish stings spoiled the swim a bit. We saw lots of Stingrays and whole armies of crabs marching across the sand. An hour or so later the tender came to pick us up and trying to get back to Summertime proved rather eventful. More wavy than usual, the weight of us caused the small craft to sit low in the water and fill with waves. I bravely seized the bale but the battle was becoming unequal as we sat lower and lower in the water until a very near crisis occured. The nose dipped and swimming for it was an inevitability just seconds away when we all instinctively moved towards the stern lifting the nose and at the same time Mikki our skipper turned the speed boat back towards shore so that we could abandon ship in shallower water. Boat emptied out and refilled with soaked humans; this time a Dutchman grabbed the bale and this seemed like a good plan. We made it back to dry off and get warm, laughing about our near- capsize! Well fed we turned in to our narrow, cleverly crammed in bunks and slept very well.

Yongala Shipwreck dive Fri 14th Sept

I'd heard that the Yongala shipwreck off the coast of Ayr was one of the world's top 10 places to dive. Seeing as I was passing I thought I'd go! Actually, it was logistically awkward to arrange but seemed as though it would be worth the effort.

Collected from Ayr and driven out to Alma beach where there was a residential area and the dive company and nothing else we spent a quiet afternoon and drank a few beers with the dive staff in the evening during which time they gentle yet systematically abused all their work vehicles on the grounds of functional (in)ability.

Next day dawned bright and after breakfast 11 of us were kitted out with dive gear, briefed and piled into the back of a jeep (it started 3rd time). We made it to the beach with a bit of excitement as this ancient vehicle had more than a few quirks. Our boat met us on the beach where it had been towed by tractor. We climbed aboard and launched. Thankfully the sea was much calmer than it had been a few days ago and the skipper was expecting less vomiting. A bumpy and fast 30 minutes later we were attaching to a line and starting to get ready. For me after 30 odd dives it was the first time I'd actually entered the water by backwards somersaulting. I was assured it was easy and yes it was; as easy as falling out of boat!

The Yongala wreck shipwrecked in 1911 went down with all of its crew and passengers. Now the remains have been placed in one area and since World Heritage listing - access into the wreck is no-longer allowed.

We descended into empty blueness then, at about 15 metres it started to appear, another 5 and we were level with the side that lies uppermost. This isn't a wreck you dive so much as a wreck but for the vast amount of aquatic life that lives around it. The adrenaline was pumping a bit from entering the water head first and then descending into the open sea- having heard this was a difficult site. Prepared to be impressed, not prepared for the instant sightings of Marble spotted and Eagle rays with wingspans more than 1 metre swimming over the edge of the wreck or for the colourful corals that grow all over the boat and fish, so many fish or shark sleeping within the wreck. Forwards to the bow and suddenly we were in the current but not alone. Hundreds, thousands of fish were lined up and spread out facing into the current all along the bow. In the midst a 1 metre plus long Queensland groper. It sounds bizarre. It was beautiful. Small fish interspersed like a confetti, soft corals waved from the rusting hulk, colourful fish darted between the uniform shoals. It was a living fish soup- and we were in the midst of it. And at this point it occured to me to listen for the whale song I'd heard about. Holding a breath here and there suddenly I heard it- beautiful high pitched notes and deeper softer navigational clicks. This was a different world and I didn't want to leave.

On our second dive we swam with a turtle and I spotted my first sea snake. More huge fish (according to the dive instructors jokes the Yongala went down with a load of anabolic steroids because the fish here are BIG!) I didn't want to leave but all too soon the air was getting low and with 2 safety stops to make due to its depth it was time to start for the surface.

The boat made it most of the way back in but difficulty navigating the sand flats meant we had to jump into waist deep water and wade back ashore. After lunch it was back to the bus stop to continue the drive South and exhausted from the dives I was soon in a contented doze.

Mission beach to Magnetic island (10th-13th Sept)

After a lovely few days and lots of good food my hosts dropped me back in Cairns where I finally started to head South. First stop just a few hours bus ride to Mission beach. The weather wasn't so great here and consequently I wasn't so impressed with this long stretch of beach but it was an opportunity for some walking.

Next afternoon back on the Greyhound bus to Townsville. According to the guide book there wasn't much to see in Townsville though it's actually quite a large town, bigger than Cairns. I stayed the night then caught the ferry to Magnetic island, named by Captain Cook because his compass played up when he was sailing past in 1770. (My compass worked fine which wasn't very exciting!). This is a rocky island only 8km long with beautiful beaches. I spent a pleasant day walking a segment of the coast from bay to bay (Balding, Radical, Florence and Arthur) and having a few swims to cool off in between. Home that night was a wooden bungalow in a wood, earlier on possums and curlews had been wandering around the grounds and through the night were all manner of unidentifiable noises.


Next day I've time to visit the nearby beach which is hot even first thing in the morning then board the ferry back to Townsville and onto the bus an hour down the coast to Ayr.

The Atherton Tablelands Part 2

It was cooler up in the tablelands and on my first evening I watched the sky on fire as the sun set behind a distant smoking, burning forest. Next morning it was bright and clear the sun soon warming everything up.

There's undoubtedly something very English about the Atherton tablelands. The rolling grassed hills could be somewhere in Britain but only after a dry summer. It was a bit like the Victorian alps again feeling like the European Alps but differing in the details. Squint at the landscape quickly and you might believe you were back in England, look more closely at the details like the road signs (warning of Tree Kangaroos) the place names, the gum trees the shape of the cattle and of course it's totally different.

So with Colleen playing tour guide we whizzed around some of the sights- taking in Crater lakes, massive fig trees and stunning waterfalls. Sweet-faced, floppy eared and humpbacked Brahman cattle munched the grass peacefully in the fields by the roadside.

Back at the farm some family friends were over for a barbeque and to watch the rugby (the Queensland sport of choice).

On Sunday we went to see a few more sights and to the tablelands produce fair to sample local cheeses and mango wine (mmm!). At dusk we tried to spot platypuses in the farm dam where they live. We'd seen a few the previous night but they were even shyer tonight. So next day I got up at dawn and walked down the fields with Magpie geese flying overhead and Kookaburras making shrill morning calls to try my luck. This time the elusive platypuses were out in force, appearing at the surface before ducking down to use their bills to dig for prey.


I was delighted to see wild playpuses since these are found only down the East coast of Australia and in Tasmania and are such unique creatures. When the first specimens were sent back to Britain they were believed to be an elaborate hoax, an animal constructed out of the body parts of other animals! Furred body, webbed feet, tail like a beaver, bill like a duck. And the males a venomous claw on their hindfeet (add to the list of Aussie dangers) Laying eggs but also producing milk they fall into the monotreme catergory with the spiny Echnidnas, an order of their own distinct from marsupials and placental mammals.

The Atherton tablelands Part 1 (7th)

It's proving to be a full on week so far. After a days diving I'm invariably shattered, it's not just the swimming for this is at a leisurely pace assisted by fins it must also the physiological strain of the depth.



Today promised to be a little more relaxed with a trip from Cairns on the Skyrail to Kuranda. A small touristy market town Kuranda is the edge of the Atherton tablelands -but more about those later. This trip was not about the destination but the journey. I think I read that Skyrail is Australia's only cable car, it's one of the few I've been in that haven't been over somewhere snowy whilst skiing. I wasn't really expecting to be impressed although after 4 days in the shadow of the Great dividing range I was keen to see what was up there! Fantastic aerial views, beautiful rainforest canopies stretching far out in front as we left the coast behind. With a gondola to myself I sat and marvelled at the scenery, then it was sliced by a gorge with a waterfall and finally across a river to arrive.

I had a few hours before getting the train back and wandered around the butterfly zoo and markets very pleasantly.

The train which hugged a cliff edge was impressive yet outshone by the earlier journey and somehow more worrying than the precarious gondola!

Back in Cairns I met with Colleen, mother of Cassie, a Vet I'd worked with in Victoria for 2 months, who had kindly agreed to show me some True Blue hospitality and take me up to the Atherton tablelands where the family home was. So we wound our way up the mountains for yet more views stopping at Lake Barina and then at their 100 year old local pub for a drink- a promising start!

The Great Barrier Reef: Scuba diving 5th and 6th Sept

Cairns is the Great Barrier reef. I'm pretty sure no-one goes there and doesn't at least go on a day snorkelling trip, even those who can't swim. Before I left England in a state of wild disorganisation regarding any travel plans for Australia I had 2 vague ideas of what I wanted to do. One was to see the Great Ocean Road in Victoria (I think because I'd flicked the Rough guide open at that section). The other was to dive The Great Barrier Reef. You have to. You just have to. It's visible from space for goodness sake, which is probably more than be said for England! It's one of the wonders of the natural world.

Actually, given that it stretches over 2600km I could have visited from most of the coast I travelled along but as soon as the sea was calm in Cairns I was raring to go. I opted to do two day trips one from Port Douglas to the Agincourt reef where fewer boats go and next day from Cairns.

I love diving. I hate what preceeds it. A crowded diving deck, everyone getting kitted up simultaneously and pitching about with the boat at anchor in a sightly turbulent sea. Scuba gear is of course so cumbersome, wetsuits unwilling to go on or off again. 6 kg+ of weight belt, another 10 or so with the tank, some ugly-sister moment with the fins then persuading one's quadricepts that it is possible to stand up despite the extra weight, an awkward shuffle to the end of the boat and a relieved jump into the water. Once in the water things start to improve. Once under the water: freedom...

15 metres under the surface and you feel as though you'd been out for a walk in rather dull surroundings then coming around a corner suddenly stumbled upon the most extraordinary garden buzzing with life and filled with beautiful plants. You explore it not by walking about on 2 feet but by floating weightlessly on your front, now on your back. Wanting to see something further below by putting your head down and giving a lazy fin flick, gliding, soaring, turning. This is how I feel diving a reef- as though I've wandered into a foreign land and been given special powers to explore it. The corals are an intricate, varied and beautiful backdrop for the plethora of life beneath the waves. Swimming slowly on my back I marvel at shoals of fish swimming past, brilliant colours glittering in the sunlight, facing down watch damsel fish dart in and out of the corals and clownfish defend their anenome home. Tiny, detailed dramas being played out. Looking out into the deep blue a harmless white tipped reef shark swims in towards us and waiting cleaning wrasse munch away microbes from his skin in a symbiotic relationship. He swims off but a turtle paddles into view heading up to the surface for a breath. In short it's another world that we get to enter here, clumsy and spewing air bubbles whilst the fish show how swimming and breathing are effortless. All too soon the air supply gets low and it's back to the surface like the slow and reluctant awakening from a good dream but one at least you can find again.

Cape Trib cont. (4th Sept)

Named Cape Tribulation by Captain Cook when his ship ran aground: "I name this point Cape Tribulation, because here began all my troubles." Luckily for me it's tribulation free!

It's scattered houses and accommodations only in the midst of the national park, I stay in a dorm bungalow from where it's only a few hundred metres walk through forest to suddenly emerge on the sand. I see my first Bandicoots- another strange Australian marsupial (admittedly not entirely like a supersized bouncing rat) and am vaguely disturbed during the night be the sound of Creatures. Already missing the sunsets I drag myself up to see the sun-rise instead. Then I do something I've wanted to do for sometime: canter along the sand on horseback- great fun and luckily my sparse riding knowledge returns after a 4 year gap from the saddle in time to keep me in the saddle!

The Great Dividing Range, which runs the entire length of the East Coast Queensland- New South Wales before becoming the Alpine area in Victoria, gets closer and closer to the coast the further North you travel until here the slope of the mountains gives way straight to the sea "rainforest to reef" as the tour companies like to brag. It is beautiful here though, rainforest species give way to mangroves in tidal areas, it's the haunt of the elusive cassowary and I glimpsed 2 more through the forest on a walk later on.

Heading back South I make a few more stops and spend a bit of time relaxing on the beach. Then it's time to follow Captain Cook back into Cairns watching the mountains become wreathed in cloud one minute and sunshine the next.

The Daintree and Cape Tribulation: 3rd and 4th Sept

With some plans made for the first few days and aware that 4 weeks isn't an excess of time, I'm up early to collect a rental car to drive 150km North of Cairns to Cape Tribulation - the most Northerly point of the coastal road that is accessible without a 4WD. I'm on the Captain Cook Highway (wondering if motorways in England should be named after historicallly significant people) and passing through tall fields of sugar cane. The Great dividing range stays on the left and soon the road is winding within sight of the sea on the right with stretches of sandy, deserted beaches edged by trees coming all the way down the moutainside to the sea.

After a short stop at the beach resort of Palm Cove I continue on to Port Douglas with a few stops to take in the beautiful coastal scenery. Port Douglas is a small tourist town with a pleasant beach and marina packed with boats ready to head out to the reef. There's a small white timber church right on the coast, the main window behind the altar framing a stunning sea view.

Continuing on to Mossman gorge; a river and a rainforest, undramatic but pleasant to walk through. The sky is moody as I head further north sugar cane fields acting as a foreground to the forested moutain backdrop. Reaching the Daintree river I cross on a car ferry and stop at a lookout to get a perspective of the Daintree National park.

There's another walking trail which is deserted and peaceful through more rainforest and I'm surprised by how dry it is- I'd always thought it would be soaking in rainforest.



Failed to get a good picture myself!

The afternoon's drawing to a close as I decide to push on to where I'm staying in Cape Tribulation with no further stops. Except one. A cassowary (see picture) runs from the forest and across the road whilst some hard braking occurs. This sighting is another box ticked!