Final day up North

Our last morning in Paradise saw us cramming the inevitable chaos that was our lives for a week into a series of suitcases, backpacks and handbags which then miraculously became luggage. Which we then lugged down to the vehicle and temporary storage at reception, checked out and headed for the hills. Literally. Having most of the day to kill it was time to see a different aspect of TNQ.

Heading in the direction of Broome (didn't quite make it that far) the Savannah Hwy winds its way up to Kuranda which is so chic in its touristy ambience we skedaddled out of there and headed off through the rapidly more arid landscape (complete with ant hills) to Mareeba - stopping for ice cream and spiders along the way. After admiring their drive through bakery we made a quick stop at their market. Unfortunately it was pack up time and being short of available minutes ourselves we headed on down to Atherton to grab a bite of lunch. You could write songs about this place. It was Saturday afternoon, the boys were just driving around wasting time and the flame trees were in full bloom setting fire to the town. Couldn't be more clique'd Aussie if you tried. And so leaving the tables full of old friends swapping yarns we headed east again and wound our way off the tablelands, through green fields, thick rainforests and down one of the funnest winding roads ever made. Well fun for the rally driver - not so much for the passengers being thrown around by the copious twists and bends in the road. Eventually it straightened out, tyres stopped squealing and we casually cruised back up the coast to Cairns. Temp in suburbs 38c. It just seems to get hotter and hotter. Back to collect our bags and then off to the airport for the inevitable waiting, queueing, sitting, waiting, queueing, waiting, sitting, queueing etc. that is travel by air these days.

We bade trinity beach farewell from 3000 ft as rain finally washed over it and then chased the setting sun down south westwards during the uneventful flight. The airport created one of the biggest shocks of the year. Our luggage was on the carousel before we got there! In disbelief we cruised back through the balmy Melbourne evening (27c) to quiet Surrey Hills where the constant roar of the ocean is replaced by the distant roar of traffic.

Life as locals

With the threat of the weather taking a turn for the worse (it didn't) we had another quiet down day which translates to no major organised tour expenses. Another early stroll down the beach front

for a coffee and chat underneath the lush tropical vegetation watching the world of Trinity Beach going through it's morning ritual: fit people doing their thing, council workers pretending to be effective and the local dericts behaving as if to script. All fascinating stuff. Two of us then repeated the exploration of the headland with the explicit intent of collecting wild fresh mangoes (success). We also tried for bananas and coconuts but to no avail. There are locals living in humpy's hidden in obscure places who are most likely cleaning up all the edible food well before we came through. The headland offers some fabulous views which we spotted a sea eagle also enjoying. He was brilliantly perched on his tree stump with commanding views of the entire domain.

Leaving the scatteted debris of party animals behind us we watched some indigenous folk wading through the water spear fishing - exactly where the signs advising of crocs and stingers reside. so what goes on? Do these supposedly dangerous critters only attack tourists? ....Maybe it's only tourists that have access to lawyers if (on the remote chance) something goes wrong.... Following the sound advice from yesterday's captain we jumped into the blue rocket and headed off up to the swimming hole favoured by the locals and not on the tourist lists. And it was great. In comparison, Mossman sucks - this place rocks.

With fresh, crystal clear water cascading over a series of falls through an incredibly narrow, cliff hugging rain forest canyon we trecked up the easy pathway to the pool beneath the main falls to spend a lazy hour or so cooling off in the overall tropical ambience. This is the stuff they make ads out of. It was also at the complete contradiction to the signs telling us to do otherwise. Apart from the freshwater crays being mistaken for underwater scorpians all was calm and peaceful... An easy drive back to the gated compound was followed by a quick game of down ball on the apartment veranda (suspect this had not been done before - a first for us - yay!) and then dripping we headed next door for another very pleasant dinner on the bistro balcony watching the setting sun light up the (try hard) storm clouds over the ocean.

Raging Rapids

Another calm day across the coral sea as FNQ bakes in the heat of the delayed monsoon. We awoke early (for us) - due to the plentiful rest the proceeding day - and slowly got ready for our big downstream adventure.

An early morning late' on the beachfront preceded a trip into Cairns proper for a photo recovery mission and a stroll and minor shop in the Central. Whilst busy, the place just seems so much more calm and relaxed than in chaotic Melbourne. It's easy to see why people choose to live here, apart from of course: the oppressive heat, the personal dangers in the water, the catastrophic cyclones and being at the forefront of the devastation caused by global warming....at least the traffic flows in peak hour. The midday sun beat down as the sea breeze disappeared whilst we struggled down the 200 meters to our bus pickup. It was sitting idling at the public bus stop running with it's welcoming air-conditioning as we slithered up the burning concrete and into it's cool interior. After paying the exorbitant fares and filling out the mandatory non disclamature forms we headed up the Barwon river for a series of white water high jinx. Raging Thunder is a well run operation with a lot of rubber boats, a plethora of paddles and helmets, a lot of fit/young guides (similar to the snorkeling cruises - maybe only the standout beautiful people get jobs in tourism up here?...) and about 80 paying participants having the time of their lives.

Our jaunt down the river was shared by 3 Bostonian girls who tried valiantly to stay dry and yet failed miserably. We Aussies on the other hand jumped in and got drenched at every opportunity. Louisa actually took the role one step beyond what was required at one stage and got flung off. Unable to utilise the life rope thrown to her she ended up having to walk the 20 meters or so to the next calm patch before re-joining the crew. Thanks to the guidance of our captain Ryan (maybe he pushed her?) We were probably the most skillful team on the river that day. At least the go-pro was on the correct setting this time. And so armed with memories in our minds and in our backpacks we headed back to HQ for debrief and cocktails. Dinner on the strip was pretty funny due to the drunk waiter who confessed and then tried to cover up. Given adequate direction it all worked out well. Trinity beach is a very relaxing place to be this time of year.

A Relaxing day

Today was downtime. No big trips. No high jinx. No exciting adventures. No interesting stories. You have been warned.... Finally managed to view the sunrise - albeit by capturing it on time lapse video and watching it on the TV in the middle of day, but what the heck.... This way we got sleep-in as well :) Our accommodation looms over the end of the beach road which has a public BBQ and shelter. A very popular spot which due to the prevailing winds we hear everything the inhabitants say, smell every morsel of food that they cook and breath every tobacco they choose to smoke. So last night we drifted off to sleep with the sounds of their youth revelries and woke up to the "joy" of their awakening. Combined with the dulcet tones of local council workers tidying up the steep bank below the pool with whipper snippers and blowers it was an interesting concophany of alarm clocks.

The monsoon is still holding off. Lucky us, poor locals, who really do need the rain. In another perfectly calm day we went for a stroll over the headland which turned into an adventurous trek. 2 meters inland the breeze disappears and the sweat starts to flow. Following a series of rough storm water dug out tracks we found some great vistas, picked some fresh mangos, discovered a remote tropical beach and eventually got lost in a mangrove swamp. Not bad for all of 10mins away from the compound. After a refreshing iced coffee back in civilisation the rest of the day was spent lounging around the pool and/or the apartment to the continuing sounds of portable 2-stroke engines. They've done a great job of stripping away all the vegetation just in time for the rains to wash away the exposed soil. Dinner in and then late swim in the pool ended the day.

Picture Perfect on the reef

Up early (although still not early enough to catch the sunrise) we joined the pre-peak hour traffic and headed to the organized chaos of the Cairns jetties. Here we joined the swarm of tourists heading out for their slice of the great barrier reef. The Reef Experience is exactly that. Well there maybe more to the 2400 km than the few square meters than we saw but we were pretty happy with what we did. 70 odd passengers from all over, 20 or so staff with the attitude and skills to give 'em their monies worth and we were off... We scored one of the classic calm days which most simply wish for.

Our vessel effortlessly sliced through the silky smooth seas whilst the sun made the fish and the coral below glow with a brilliance that made one require sunglasses underneath the diving masks (well ok then - maybe not that much - but it was pretty good). Our first stop at Saxton reef involved snorkeling.

A significant school of tourist fish slowly drifted out from the rear of the ship, intermingling with the natural inhabitants: multicoloured, multi-species and a variety of corals (hard and soft) and the first of many underwater videos.

Lots of free dives to capture the action up close were performed during the day, only the realise at the end of all the events that the camera was on the wrong setting. Well at least we have old fashioned memories to fall back on.... Next came the highlight. Included in the trip was a free scuba dive for beginners. And so we did. 15 minutes later we had encountered ear aches, anxiety, seriously large parrot fish and an amazing views of the reef down deep. Great fun.

After a fajitas lugnch we roared over to Norman reef (not one mention of the old joke) for more snorkeling. The weather was so perfect we moored on the "wild" side to perform more snorkelling, wasted videoing and sunburning of our backs. The free drinks on the way back to harbour went down extremely well, as did the boat cutting through the millpond still water. The day was nicely rounded off with a poignant serving of fish and chips.

A day on the Daintree

Missing yet another spectacular sunrise we arose to a calm day with the view bathed in brilliant sunshine and a warm breeze still wafting through the apartment. Ahh Queensland - beautiful one day, perfect the next (maybe I should go into advertising?). We bundled our day trip gear into the blue rocket and headed north again. Giving PD a miss we had a quick coffee stop at Mossman and then tore off up through the green sugar cane fields to explore the Daintree. Breaking the cardinal rule, we paid the ferryman before we even boarded the vessel. Safely to the other side however, the winding roads were duly captured on the go pro as we balanced clear vistas with crazy tourists and a distinct lack of visible cassowary's.

A high canopy of fan palms filters light onto the boardwalk at Cape Tribulation as it meanders its way through the rain forrest exposing all sorts of wildlife. We saw wild pigs, goannas, bush fowl, lizzards and English tourists. Ending up on the pristine beach was a welcome relief from the oppressive humidity. It would have to rate as one of the best beaches in the world. Apart from the crocs and the stingers and the sandflies and the sharks of course. We had lunch (lastnights leftovers) at our very own beach (Thortons) followed by dessert at the local ice creamery (go figure....this place is meant to be isolated...end of the world...see this and you've seen it all...and next door we have an exclusive ice cream factory that does wattle sead flavours!). Back across the ferry (front row this time) we shot back through the cane fields and headed up the Mossman Gorge. Spending a good hour or so lolling around in the river was good clean fun. With impressive mountain peaks looming in and out of view as the ever present local clouds trying to form rain bearing capability (apparently they will succeed in two days time) we saw a plethora of tourists come and go. Some dipped in. Others didn't. A good money spinner for the traditional owners. Who do a very job running the whole show.

And so with wet cozzies we sped off down the Captain Cook race track (fun road to drive when its clear and you know it) and back to base for pre's and then pizza's by the beach at one of the many trendy restaurants which are inevitable in a place such as Trinity.

A markets morning

We are lucky enough that the rising sun does not shine directly into our faces as it spectacularly illuminates the easten sky over the ocean whilst it claws its way out of the darkness. This means we slept through the entire scenario - to the sounds of the unceasing waves washing onto the beach below our bedroom. Last nights storms had the locals happy about the gardens being watered and the fact that the ensuing floods had dissapeared from the area as they set up their Sunday markets. To these we headed...up the Cptn. Cook Hwy through spectacular coastal hugging roads to Port Douglas - where the rich rub shoulders with ...the rich and the local hippies flog them ingenious stuff whilst they are doing so.

This place is a destination. Swimming it's own chic ambience the main strip feels like a Disney theme park, complete with it's own wild western saloon and expensive boutique stores. Development has gone to the extent of famous views being dominated by expensive play pens. Lunch with the Terns will only be meaningful to those of us who experienced it. The weather today was perfect. So good that we stopped off at Ellis beach on the way back south for a refreshing dip in the cloudy tepid water. Some local engineer has developed an ingenious method of keeping the crocs and stingers at bay with an elaborate array of nets, ropes, pullies and a huge winch mechanism. Now all they need to do is come up with an ingenious way to keep the water clean (apart from waiting for the monsoon - which is of course, a cop out).

Dinner back at the compound was a BBQ using yesterdays booty. We tucked in as the full moon slowly and spectacularly appeared over the ocean. With the extensive patio doors thrown wide open to watch it and the warm breeze wafting in off the sea this really is pleasant way to spend an evening.

off to the balmy tropics

Up at 3:00 am for a 6:00am departure. The 3hr flight to TNQ was easy and uneventful. After collecting our blue rocket from buchet'we headed into the Saturday morning street party of inner Cairns. With only the occasional tourist spotted Louisa has come to the conclusion that she likes this place because everyone must sleep in Saturday mornings. After brunch at a foreshore cafe we made the short (but very cramped)

journey to Trinity beach and we are now ensconced in our palatial 4th floor apartment. Thinking about shopping for the week.......which after a few uncoordinated short naps we did. The supermarket at Palm Cove was the same as any in "Mexico" the only difference is the humidity experienced upon exit. After distributing the boot load of booty into the large variety of options in the kitchen we headed to the pool to cool our heated bods and play around with the go-pro. Dinner was on the balcony of the bistro which is part of the extensive tavern conveniently located next door. We skedaddled home under the threat of looming thunderstorms to then thoroughly enjoy the show as they drifted out to sea.