Today is the first rainy day we’ve had in our time in Australia. We’ve been spoiled with great weather but we definitely have had some very hot days in Queensland despite missing the rainy season! With the rainy weather it is finally some time to catch up on our blog.
Over the last 5 weeks we made our trek down the East Coast of Australia. We started at Cairns, picked up our rental RV and went North to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree rainforest where we met up with Katherine’s mom and spent a week together. We took a tour with Ocean Safari to the Great Barrier Reef at Cape Tribulation and many hikes in the rainforest (including a solo night walk). It was quite nerve-wracking to drive on the left side of the road, not to mention with an RV, for the first time in our lives. The roads seemed very narrow with the large vehicle and got even narrower as we crossed the ferry to Daintree. Probably one of the more twistier and narrower roads we have ever taken and of course on the left side with an RV that took up the whole width of our lane. We took it slow and easy and got used to the drive after a couple of days. The beaches were absolutely gorgeous with white sand and hardly anyone on it. Not a soul dared to swim in the waters as there are “salties”, the salt water crocodile in North Queensland, not to mention “stingers”, deadly jellyfish in the summer time.
After the ferry on the drive in Katherine spotted the elusive Cassowary. A giant prehistoric bird that is rare to spot in the wild. As all of my attention was focused on keeping the RV on the road there was no time for a picture. Little did we know at the time that it was a rare sight! There were many flood water height marks everywhere we went even going 2m above the road grade. It was strange to be in the rainforest when it was bone dry at the end of the dry season.
We narrowly avoided the effects of Cyclone Jasper which hit the Cairns and Daintree area last week, just a few short weeks after we had just visited. Despite the cyclone weakened from a category 4 to almost a 1 when it landed ashore the area had received 7ft of rain all in the week. It is surreal to see the entire area being flooded and so affected, including the airport and many of the places we just were. The campground we had stayed at is now closed for several months and many businesses and residents have been hit very hard with the floods. We hope everyone is safe and going to be ok in the area.
After Daintree we turned inland after the start of our drive south to Lake Eacham, part of “Crater National Park”, but this time in Australia and not the US! We went for a swim in the lake, where a resident “freshie”, a fresh water crocodile, hang around. Apparently they are shy and not usually a danger to humans. On my morning run I spotted a rat tailed kangaroo and a lizard around the lake trail.
We then followed a waterfall route before returning to the coast. One night stays were so much easier without having to set up and take down a tent every time and we also got spoiled with air conditioning at night. The one thing we noticed about Australian campgrounds is that there are wonderful sheltered camping kitchens with sinks, BBQs, picnic tables and usually stoves, fridges, toasters and microwaves, but there are no picnic tables at the individual sites like in Canada and the US. In general there definitely seemed to be higher standards for campground amenities.
We arrived in Townsville, just as they were having their Christmas at the waterfront event. We somehow got roped into their “sandman” building competition on the beach, and entered as “Team Canada”. We got tips from a pro sandman builder, and learned they had trucked in special sand from the other side of Australia for the event. The requirement was to include one Australian animal with one Sandman (ie Snowman). The kids had a great time building a sea turtle as Katherine and I worked on the Sandman. We met many great locals and even a Canadian couple, one of whom was finishing her grad studies in Australia. In the end we were not announced as the winners at their evening presentation on their main stage, but we ended up getting close to 45 votes!
We visited an animal sanctuary in Townsville where we got to feed kangaroos and even a Cassowary. The kids got to hold a baby crocodile as well as a python. We had a picture taken with a koala. As a highlight of the park we watched an enormous Saltie get fed.
We continued our journey down the coast, encountering many kangaroos, lizards, tropical bird and fish, stingrays, reef sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, and even the elusive platypus in the inland mountains. Katherine and I had to wake up at 4:30am in order to view the Kangaroos on the beach being fed by the national park ranger at sunrise. To our surprise there were close to 50 people there all with their cameras to take that iconic photo of the kangaroos on the beach at sunrise. It all seemed a bit ridiculous. Afterwards we enjoyed a run on the beach together while the kids continued to sleep. It was nice to get a bit of adult escape time!
We took a day tour to the Whitsunday islands, which were beautiful but crowded with other tour groups all converging in the same area at the same time. We stayed a bit later before our tour group had to leave and the difference was remarkable.
We did a tasting session at the Bundaberg ginger beer factory. Later on in the trip we stopped at a honey farm and the owner gave us honey tasting. It was nice for the kids to be able to experience something similar to wine tasting but with things they thoroughly could enjoy.
As one of the highlights of the trip we did an impromptu detour to watch a sea turtle arrive on the beach at night and lay her eggs in the sand. We then helped move the eggs to a higher location, all under guidance the from the conservation ranger. It was a surreal experience to be able to experience it with the kids and watch the sea turtle return to sea under the moonlight.
The kids enjoyed the many “adventure playgrounds” along the way in Australia, which are significantly more substantial than playgrounds we have ever been to. Satisfying the need for more risk taking, adventure and general fun for the kids. Of course they all came with sunshades and nice sheltered picnic areas which appear to be the Australian standard.
The kids also really enjoyed the campgrounds, many with nice pools and some with even a substantial water park, outdoor movie screens, mini golf, playgrounds, and free equipment rentals for badminton and other sports.
As we got closer to Brisbane it became busier and finding parking for our RV was becoming more of a challenge. It seemed we were getting back to “competitive parking” like we had in US national parks, but we didn’t stand a chance with such a large vehicle. Now that we were quite a bit south, the ocean was swimmable, with no salt water crocodiles or marine stingers. We visited the Steve Irwin zoo on our way to the city, and were able to see the crocodile show put on by Steve’s son Robert.
After 4 weeks we reached Brisbane where we returned our RV at the start of the Queensland school holiday (and before the peak school holiday rates started). We stayed a couple nights in the city and were in awe with the waterfront. Amazing playgrounds, waterfront paths, and beautiful places for BBQs and picnics all around. So many people of all ages were enjoying the outdoors. And to think it was like this all year vs the so few months of warm weather we have back home!
After our time in Brisbane we picked up our rental minivan and were back to our tent camping ways. The days were getting longer as we went further south and as we approached the summer equinox. The nights were also getting cooler which was a relief as we no longer had the luxury of air conditioning. Surprisingly we had little to no mozzies (mosquitoes), March flies (horse flies), or black flies/no see-ums in Queensland but we started to encounter them, just as we headed back to tent camping. Despite having to set up and take down camp again, it was nice to be a lot more nimble in a van as we travelled to busier areas. The beaches were full of university and high school students, and young adults in general as they celebrated the start of summer. And so many surfers everywhere.
South of the Gold Coast we finally jumped in the ocean, only to realize it was no longer the 28 degrees temperature it was further north, but closer to what we are used to back home around 22 degrees as the colder southern currents are prevalent vs the warm northern currents. Brrr?!
In Port Macquarie Mia even got to actually see the Koala at the koala hospital that her and her friends had adopted from Grace’s birthday party over a year ago!
We are now an hour north of Sydney, and will be spending a couple nights in the Blue Mountains before we park ourselves in a campground south of Sydney for 5 nights over Christmas. It is hard to summarize everything we have done in the last 5 weeks in one post. We certainly have had our ups and downs as a family of 5 being on the road for the length of time we have, but when looking back on all the experiences we’ve been able to have had we feel very fortunate.
Today has been the first day the temperatures have been below 22 degrees and we haven’t seen the sun all day. Last night was also the first time we had some strong winds as the unstable weather has been affecting this part of Australia. I had some flashbacks of our time in the US badlands with our tent, but thankfully despite 70km/hr wind gusts and being by the ocean near a cliff at this campground we were thankfully mostly sheltered from the southerly winds. Between the big waves and the loud wind blowing through the trees it was certainly an exciting evening while everyone else in the tent somehow slept through it all.
Trip Around The World 
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