Sailing the Whitsundays

Reluctantly leaving the tropical Cairns we travelled to Airlie Beach for our Whitsundays sailing trip and were promptly greeted by rain. Hot rain granted, but rain none-the-less. Additionally, we found ourselves walking into the phenomenon called 'Schoolies Week'. Not the most pleasant Aussie custom when thousands upon thousands of 17-18 year olds descend on the East Coast of Australia for their big holidays...leaving chaos and destruction in their path. The news is full of arrests of drunken teenagers who are very possibly experiencing the first time away from home and more than likely their first alcohol. Oh, the heady days! Unfortunately, backpackers and schoolies do not appear to sit well together and there are uncomfortable stand offs on the streets as scruffy backpackers walk through hordes of teenagers wearing pyjamas. Yes, they have pyjama parties that appear to involve foam also. The mind boggles.

Schoolies aside, Airlie Beach has little to occupy the mind beside sunbathing (and that's hard in the rain) so we were relieved when the date for our Whitsundays sailing trip came round. Boarding the SV Whitehaven sailing boat, it promptly rained again but we soon discovered that we were with a good group of people and the weather didn't seem to matter quite as much anymore. We passed the island that the Beckhams spent their honeymoon on in a haze of rain and Beth actually threw up when we traversed through a channel called 'unsafe passage'. We could see why it got its name! The sun finally came through and we bush walked on one of the islands to see the glorious sunset illuminate the hills of the surrounding islands with a pink light. A big game of 's**thead' - the staple card game for travelers - ensued late into the night until it was time for bed. The crew asked who were couples and only Steve and Beth answered the call. Led away through the group, we envisioned a little cabin with a double bed tucked away into the back of the boat to celebrate our 18 month anniversary. Well, we got the double bed but had to share the room with another 8 people - not quite the romantic night we had envisioned, instead like a massive slumber party!

Despite the weather, we snorkeled the next day and saw what must be the biggest fish in the world - a greasy cod (glamorous) at 2m long. We spent the rest of the morning chilling out on Whitehaven beach - the highlight of the Whitsunday islands. The sand was actually white and felt like icing sugar underfoot as the beautiful turquoise sea lapped the shore. Unfortunately, there are lots of stingers so everyone was forced to wear Lycra catsuits. We certainly gave Halle 'Catwoman' Berry a run for her money...not. A mass celebrity foreheads game ruled the evening although we had no post-it notes to stick the name of the famous person on each others forehead so ended up using whiteboard marker pens. Lucy's idea of course! It was a bleary eyed group that snorkeled at 7.30 the following morning.

Our return to Airlie Beach saw everyone passing out for the afternoon before a big night out in town when everyone got absolutely trashed and made copious amounts of jokes about how we didn't recognise each other after we had showers. The best part of the entire night was when we queued for the club and were asked for ID. Beth made the bouncer repeat the request at regular intervals during the night and was considering recording it to playback on her 30th Birthday which is coming round with disturbing speed.

The old Queensland tourist slogan 'beautiful one day, perfect the next' was probably inspired by the Whitsundays - even if it was blurred by the rain at the time!

Magnetic Attraction

It may have confused Captain Cook's compass prompting the name 'Magnetic Island' but it certainly didn't confuse our's. The minute we heard about the idylic island just off Townsville, famous for it's sandy beaches, mokes (all will be revealed) and the biggest free roaming population of Koalas in Aus, we knew the direction we were taking. To Magnetic Island, James, and don't spare the horses, um, ferry.

Alighting from our McCafferty bus at Townsville we walked half way across town to the ferry terminal chomping take-away pizza as we expended our energy on negotiating our backpacks. We arrived late, slightly disorientated and checked into the hostel that formed part of our East Coast Mega Deal package. Pretty grubby but a great location and we awoke to a view straight out to Horseshoe Bay. We hired one of the famous open-topped Magnetic Mokes to get us round the island...all 26km of it. With us all crammed into the tiny car (and we thought the Daihatsu Charade was small?) we traversed the hills, stopping at the safe enclosures (netted to protect from stingers) for a swim and snorkel along the way. We spotted a Dugong (a cross between a dolphin and a seal) in the water and we added it to the growing list of bizarre looking Aussie creatures we had already seen on our travels! Unfortunately for Steve the Moke was bright pink (democracy rules in our happy trio and he's outnumbered!) and a much of our exploration was spent with him shrinking as far down the driver seat as possible with Beth and Lucy both fantastising they were Penelope Pitstop!

The Koalas proved as elusive as the Kiwi in New Zealand but that aside, we would have been more than happy if the Ferry's compass had got confused and taken us straight back to the delightful Magnetic Island.

Diving the Great Barrier Reef

Anyone seen the new movie 'Open Water' based on the true story of an American couple who were left stranded on the Great Barrier Reef by a dive boat? Their bodies were never found and the commonly expressed view around Cairns is that the tiger sharks got them. I imagine it's obvious to everyone why we would not watch the film before learning to dive and living aboard a dive boat sailing from Cairns onto the Great Barrier Reef. We are also sure that it is not by accident that the film is not being screened at the Cairns cinema!

Selecting Prodive from the zillion companies offering diving out of Cairns, we spent 2 days in the pool learning the main skills such as filling our masks with seawater and trying to then clear them under water. A recipe for disaster for Beth who could only watch in dismay as her contact lenses floated away into the great blue yonder. The night before we boarded the ScubaPro dive boat we went to the Reefteach seminar to learn more about the Great Barrier Reef that we would be diving in. A crazy Irishman presented and, amongst other information, we learnt that sea cucumbers breathe out of their anus, the Great Barrier Reef extends from Papa New Guinea to South Queensland and that it's the size of Great Britain and Ireland put together. We also learnt that there hadn't been a known fatal shark attack in Queensland. Ever. It was the 'known' bit that worried us frankly.

We had 9 dives in total including a night dive that poor Steve had to miss because, in true action man style, he dived too deep on his previous dive (known as reversing your dives in the industry apparantly). It was a shaking Beth that dived without Steve but the deep and dark serenity of the coral at night calmed her - despite seeing 2 white tipped reef sharks slide sinisterly away from the group. The first dive on our own was scary without the instructor but the second dive was amazing and it was on the third dive that we finally found Nemo and saw a turtle - cool dude!

We left the ScubaPro as certified open water divers and have definitely got the bug. Trust us to have the most expensive hobbies on earth - snowboarding and scuba diving! We didn't stop swaying for 3 days but it was all worth it to have experienced diving on the beautiful Great Barrier Reef. Plus it's a skill we will have forever and we will hopefully get to dive somewhere else on our travels. It shouldn't be too hard to find a spot, after all the world is seven tenths water.

Tropical Queensland

After the humid heat of Darwin, Cairns with it's 'chilled out' atmosphere seemed almost mild at 31degrees (ha ha, get it?!) What the city lacks in interesting architectural style it makes up for with it's tropical air; surrounding hills blanketed in rainforest, palms lining the streets and fragrant frangipani flowers reminding us of our honeymoon in the Maldives. If only the internet had smell functionality!

On an economy drive and with economy in numbers, the three of us decided to visit tropical Queensland without a tour and their 100% mark-ups. Hiring a car the size of a golf cart (which was unfortunate based on our collective heights of almost 6 metres!), we headed to Cape Tribulation that is considered the ultimate pilgrimage for sun and nature worshippers in the North East. Trundling along in our 3 cylinder Daihatsu Charade we stopped off at Port Douglas, our mini car looking out of place next to the expensive Mercedes, BMW's and Utes. Made famous (or infamous) recently by a shame-faced Rebecca Loos seeking an escape from the English press, the pretty beach town radiates wealth and seems to be a general recluse for retired business people and their yachts. The views along the Port Douglas beachscape were suitably tropical but unfortunately it's breeding time for the crocs and the sea is full of stingers too so the water was out of bounds.

Onwards and upwards, our second stop was the Daintree rainforest; the oldest in the world and home to an astounding 70 animals and 700+ plants found nowhere else on earth. The canopy walk saw us walk from the forest floor where we strained your neck to see the distant tree tops vying for the sun, to half way up the forest where we looked out onto basket ferns and twisted strangler figs and finally a climb up the tower enabled us to look down on the forest and see the birdlife. The rainforest was stunning and the discovery centre gave us a unique insight into the ancient eco-system as well as giving us the expectation that an 'I'm a celebrity get me out of here' star would round the corner chomping on a witchetty grub at any moment! The next stop was the Daintree ice-cream company where we ate ice-cream flavoured with exotic tropical fruits ; black sapote (chocolate taste), wattleseeed (mocha), soursop (lemon) and mango. It was with sticky faces that we checked into PK's Jungle Village just south of Cape Tribulation itself. Whilst not the nicest or cheapest hostel in the world, nobody could argue with it's unrivalled setting in beautiful rainforest. After Lucy's first night on her own in a hostel and Steve & Beth's first night in their tent, we all set out early to explore Cape Tribulation...before we got burnt to a crisp by the midday sun. Starting at Myall beach we were a little disappointed at what seemed a pretty but rather normal beachscape and it was only when we reached Cape Tribulation 6km later that we were awestruck. It's quite simply a beach straight from the bounty adverts. More importantly, it is the only place in the world where rainforest meets reef and that makes it even more fantastical; the rainforest spreading from the beach up to mountains towering high above and dwarfing the palm trees fringing the beach. Unfortunately it was too hot to linger so after a walk along the beach when even our tummy buttons filled with sweat (which was nice) we set back for lunch at PK's. Later we headed to Mossman Gorge, an area renowned for it's good freshwater swimming then via Golden Drop Mango Winery (we kid you not and it's delicious). Armed with 2 bottles of the said golden drop, we headed back for Cairns for our next Aussie adventure.

Crocodile Dundee Country

Arriving in Darwin was like walking into a sauna with all your clothes on. In 39 degrees we battled our way from airport to YHA and unnecessarily dragged out the check-in process to simply stay cooler in the air conditioned reception! When the temperature had cooled enough to get out of the swimming pool (it's a hard life), we spent the evening at the coolest place (in the groovy sense of the word)...the Darwin Deck Chair Cinema. Literally a big screen and 70 deck chairs outside by the sea. It just so happens that it was Halloween that night and whilst waiting for the film to start we watched the big fruit bats circling above our heads. We watched 'Coffee and Cigarettes' which although is very arthouse and was great fun, certainly seeing actors like Cate Blancheet, Steve Coogan, Wutang Clan and Bill Murray working together! Unfortunately, we learnt a lesson that night about the Northern Territory which is either a) use bug repellent or b) sit next to Beth to distract the mozzies from eating you. Bite count: Beth 10, Lucy 1, Steve 0.

The next day was an early start with Kakadu Dreams to start our three day venture into Kakadu National Park. The first stop was a cruise to see some jumping crocodiles along the Adelaide River. Now the thought of being in a small boat amongst the most aggressive reptiles in the world was not a thought we relished but Deano, our outrageously Aussie tour guide, told us not to be such Sheilas and get on. So we did and watched in amazement as the 4m long salt water crocodiles, looking for all the world like prehistoric monsters (which we suppose they are), snapped their jaws together using 3 tonnes of pressure to take the horse meat from a rod on the front of the boat. The fresh water crocs were the best performers though. Much less aggressive and a lot shyer than their salt water cousins, they had to work harder for their food and literally propelled themselves almost entirely out of the water to reach the meat dangling tantalisingly above their nose. A sea eagle even joined the party to swoop done from the skies and collect some meat from the rod Lucy was holding out and we felt privileged to see the huge majestic bird at such close quarters. On the way back to the 4WD jeep, the group held snakes and got up close and personal with Guana lizards half a metre long. All except Beth of course who was still traumatised from seeing crocodiles jump.

After lunch beside a beautiful billabong (a lake formed in a rivers path and not a brand of surfwear clothing as we first thought!), we hiked to the top of Norlandie rock. Hot stuff in 40 degrees but the view of the Aboriginal owned Arnham Lands, rock art dating from 5000 years and miles and miles of the Kakadu National Park was totally worth it. Before reaching our camping ground for the night, we stopped at the White Lilly Billabong which truly made us feel as if we were on safari, with buffalos lining the bank and an abundance of birdlife including black cockatoos and galars. The first campsite was just some bush land so we cleared space and put up our tents before tucking into kangaroo meat (like beef with a ginger taste), buffalo sausages and stir-fried veg cooked over a camp fire. Next came a didgeridoo lesson and when we had all satisfied ourselves that we could produce a note that didn't sound like a wet fart, we turned in. None of the group got much sleep as we sweated under the stars and listened to the ominous sounds of dingoes shuffling around the camp.

On day two we headed to Barramundi falls, the most beautiful setting for swimming imaginable. Although the pools were stunning and certainly inviting in the heat that of the morning, we were all a little nervous because of what happened to a tourist a year ago in Kakadu. A German girl was killed after swimming with her group in a watering hole deemed safe by their tour guide and horrifically, a saltwater crocodile had moved in to the pools. Barramundi falls is considered one of the safest with only fresh water crocs sometimes taking residency and they are the shy, retiring type apparently. Slightly appeased we slid into the welcoming cool waters and after satisfying ourselves that we weren't going to be eaten, jumped from rocks, swam through underwater tunnels, snorkeled and generally lazed about for a couple of hours in the sun. Amidst protests, Deano insisted we should leave to get some lunch and pointed out that only 'Mad dogs and English men' stayed out in the midday sun. Frankly we saw that as an excellent case to stay in the watering hole but dragged ourselves away none-the-less and visited the Aboriginal culture centre where we purchased a boomerang. On the way to the campsite, Deano suddenly stopped the jeep and ran into the bush and returning with the strangest reptile we have ever seen in our lives. Like something out of Jurassic Park, the Frill Necked Lizard has a collar around his neck that sticks up when scared. Despite appearances, it is totally harmless and bore a surprising resemblance to Deidre Barlow's neck in Corrie. Opps, that was a little harsh maybe. Anyway, the campsite had a salt water swimming pool and we all swam in that until wandering back to dinner, encountering some really cute baby dingoes along the way. An excess of beer with dinner saw stories around campfire give way to more heated and intellectual debates about spirituality and gender positioning within society. Interesting when you consider the diversity of backgrounds and cultures in the group including Australian, Italian, Chinese and Canadian. Having thoroughly over taxed our brains, we all got some good sleep that night!

Our final day saw us climbing a 2km hill to reach Gunlom falls. They were stunning and a swim to the edge of the watering holes gave way to fabulous views over Kakadu plus as a bonus we didn't get eaten by crocodiles. After lunch next to a 10m high termite mound, it was time to make the long journey back to Darwin. We stopped on route at the Adelaide River historic pub to meet the (now stuffed) buffalo that appeared in Crocodile Dundee, and at an Aborigine owned shop where we petted a Walleroo (like a kangaroo but smaller) and bought a didgeredoo. Our future house is going to look like an aborigine's bedroom at this rate!

Our group had got on so brilliantly, that those that didn't have flights directly out of Darwin all had dinner together in air-conditioned restaurants - a refreshing environment after the dust, heat and sweat we experienced on our shared Kakadu dream!