Day 46 - Cairns

I'm not so sure what we have done to deserve all of the rain that we have coped along our travels. Over night we experienced torrential rain AGAIN!! The campsite is like a swimming pool. We were puzzled as to what to do or where to go but everything was wet and damp! Thank goodness for Mcdonalds!! Running to the car, we all bee-lined for Mcdonalds for breakfast, coffee and Krystian's school work. Three hours later we decide we should leave Mcdonalds and go and do something productive LOL
Back on our mission to find Bella a new bed we headed for the shopping center in search of Kmart. Walla!! a new bed was finally found!! Pink and shiny just how Bella likes it!!
Heading back to the campground, the kids headed off to play with their new friends and i headed to the laundry! A woman's work is never done!! All of the towels and clothes needed to be washed and dried prior to us leaving tomorrow. Whilst waiting for the washing we went for a quick dip in the freezing pool and warm spa. Aaahhhh! thank goodness for that warm spa.
The evening was spent  sharing dinner, chatting and laughing with some "new friends" from Melbourne. Before we knew it was midnight and we all made a speedy exit to bed (all expecting to have grumpy children in the morning).

a very strange black and yellow spider!

A big ants nest in the bush!

Day 45 - Cairns

Another rainy miserable day in Cairns! We woke to a free pancake breakfast at the Caravan park (held every Thursday morning). This Thursday morning was super special because it was held for the Biggest Morning Tea. For a gold coin donation we ate breakfast and got three entries into a spot raffle. We won the first three prizes! I was so embarrassed i gave the third one away to another family sitting with us! Rain pouring, we needed to make a decision about what to do today. 

We decided we couldn't sit around waiting for the sun to appear any longer. We had to get out and go sight seeing today rain hail or shine! We decided that today we would head out to a get a taste of Aboriginal culture. Here in Cairns, there is a fantastic Aboriginal Cultural Center called "Tjapukai ". Here we were able to experience aboriginal story time, weapons and medicines, including hands on experience with boomerangs and Spears. Krystian loved being able to learn how to throw a boomerang properly! Following on from this experience, we were able to sit back and enjoy a didgeridoo musical walking us through the beautiful tropical rainforest and Great Barrier Reef. Totally amazing! 

The kids had a fabulous time. They were able to get their faces painted in aboriginal symbols and were able to spend some time painting rock art. 

After spending a few hours learning all about  Aboriginal culture we headed to one of the local pubs for a bite to eat and for the kids to play (somewhere dry). Heading back to the camp ground, we bee lined for the swimming pool. There is something strangely satisfying about sitting in the hot spa whilst it is raining. 

Early night was had by all as we are all tired still from our long drive earlier in the week. 

Day 44 - Cairns Kuranda

What a day! Today we woke early for our big day on the Skyrail and Scenic train experience to Kuranda. We were a little disappointed with the weather as it was very over cast and showering but hey, we are in the tropics and this was not going to deter any of us.

We opted to do the Skyrail up and the train down, as the train carriages only have seats on the Lefthand side of the car which means you get a better view on the way down, into the rain forests and the valley floor below.

We arrived at 9am into the Skyrail terminal, only to be met with one of THE biggest spiders i have ever seen. The spider is commonly refereed to as the Golden Orb Spider and is about the size of a human adult hand, it eats small rodents, children, that sought of thing......

The Skyrail is a 7.5Km suspended cable car system linking Cairns and Kuranda. It consists of a total of 4 stations, at which you can either stop and transfer to another car or get off and wander around the boardwalks to various waterfalls and rainforestations. The sky cars can sit up to 6 adults, but we had one all to ourselves.

The Skyrail to Kuranda takes about 1.5 hours including the two stops at Red peak and Barron falls. http://www.skyrail.com.au/

The trip up was rather spectacular with much to see, even when the clouds were closed in around you.

We did stop at each of the two stops to explore the local rain forest and boy was it spectacular! At Red Peak you get to explore the undergrowth and the rain forest. The green of the trees and shrubs is truly great, with lush green foliage.

Barron falls did not quite live up to expectations due to the low water levels in the river. Never the less the views were still exceptional. Barron falls would be spectacular during the wet season.

From Barron Falls it was onto Kuranda, which is know for its local markets and arty products. We spent about 4 hours wandering around, purchasing asmall amount of local products and nicknacs.

For lunch, we found a local German place where we finally had some decent Bratwurst, they were all yummy. As a treat we stopped in at a local Scottish place, which served delicious scones and tea.

Soon after it was time to head home via the Scenic railway, which winds it way through the mountain passes into Cairns, needless to say the scenery is spectacular. The train journey takes about 1.5 hours, mainly due to the slow speed and sheer cliff on either side of the railway tracks.

We arrived back in Cairns at 5 or so to be transferred form the train station back to Skyrail terminal where our car had been parked for the day. Needles to say we all had a great time and are now all due for some well deserved sleep.

We are not sure as to what we will do tomorrow, there is SOOOO much to do here.

Day 43 - Cairns

We did not have much planed for today and as such did not leave the camp site till 10 am. Our first mission was to find Bella a new bed as her current bed (Krystian's old one) is now starting to fall apart.

We did the rounds of the local camping shops but no one has a 3/4 stretcher bed like we have, so the search was fairly fruitless. We did however, come across a camping shop which had a giant folding camping chair on display, this was rather funny as it made all the people who sat on it look tiny.

From the camping shops we hit the local central shopping district to see what Cairns had on offer. Unfortunately we forgot our camera so no photos today.
We did not find anything worth a mention so we returned back to the camp site to let the kids have a swim.
We did meet some people from Victoria who are staying at the same caravan park as us, who are on their way to Cape York, so we met up after dinner for a good old chin wag, ending in a very late night for all.

Tomorrow we are doing the Kuranda skyrail and scenic rail experience. If only the showers would let up that would be great....

Day 42 - Cairns

Today began like no other day thus far, as we were all inside a building and not a tent, this seamed like a bit of a novelty for all and we lazed around in our beds and watched TV before heading down stairs for breakfast.

One we had gorged ourselves on a feast of bacon and eggs and all that comes with a full buffet breakfast, it was onto our number one mission for the day, CLEANING the car and the camper  the red dirt. It is amazing just where the dust gets in...and HOW?????

We found a car wash and proceeded to clean.......and clean.......and clean.......

Who knew that under all that gunk was a white car and a gray trailer, all be it missing some paint from the severe sand blasting it sustained.

After the car wash it was onto our camp site where we spent close to 3 hours cleaning everything inside and out. We did cop a far bit of dust in the pantry box, mainly due to the seal against the rear door vibrating over corrugations. With the camper now clean, all be it still supporting a light tinge of red, LOL, we headed out for dinner to Sizzler as a treat for the kid (and the adults).

Now we sit here and rework our trip plans as we have some extra time up our sleeve to chill and relax along the way. We have found heaps of things to do in Cains so we will b staying here a bit longer.

See you all tomorrow.....

Day 41 - Goodbye Cape York, Hello Civilisation!

Today begins our journey back down from Cape York and begins the "home ward bound" stretch of the journey. We are up and at em' early today and all packed and ready to hit the road by 0830am. We cruise down to the Jardine River and wait for the ferry to come collect us and take us to the other side. It was strange leaving the cape as this was "our mission and our dream". We had accomplished what we set out to do!

Veni Vidi Vici!! 

We had a long drive planned for today and had decided that if Cairns was too far out of our reach then we would drive as far as possible along the dirt track until "the tropics dusk" and set up tent and sleep at the closest roadhouse for the night. The road had already changed so much from the four days previous when we were traveling upwards. The creeks crossings had dried out immensely and the road was smoother in parts and beginning to become corrugated in others. Maciek felt really comfortable driving along the track and so we decided around lunchtime that we would push on through till Cairns. The kids were AMAZING!!! not a single complaint from them. They just sat back and admired the scenery, sang songs and watched their movies. We made plenty of stops along the way to stretch our legs and for food and toilet stops. 500kms (roughly) from the tip, we were able to stop in at the famous Exchange hotel in Coen for some lunch and a refresher. Funnily enough some one had changed the name (as a joke) a long time ago to the sExchange Hotel. This name has now stuck! It was here that the children were able to put bias's aside and show some kindness and generosity towards the locals. We were doing our good deed for the day.  We were all sitting in the outside eating area of the tavern when some locals drinking at a table near us put some money in the juke box and began listening to some music. Bella was loving it dancing around the table. All of a sudden the bar girl (a foreigner) came out and turned off the juke box. The locals politely questioned her but she just turned her back and walked back inside. I felt terrible for the locals. He made a point in saying that he had just put money in the box but she didn't want to hear it. It cut hard for us (being the only white blokes sitting around) lol! That was a really horrible thing to do when someone had paid and was listening to it. Together, Bella and I approached the locals and said how bad we felt with what had just happened and Bella gave the men the same amount of money that they had just put in the juke box. They were chuffed and ever so grateful! they were so thankful and were grinning from ear to ear. Twice they thanked us and wished us good luck on our travels. Bella is such a sweet heart.  She was grinning from ear to ear too!  From here on it was a further 550kms to Cairns. We could do it we knew we could!
Once we reached telephone and internet access we found a hotel to sleep in for the night and was lucky enough to stay at a 4 star hotel for $100 for the four of us. God i love Wotif.com LOL
Travelling was taxing after dark due to the animals and un-fenced farm lands. This had me on cow patrol for 900kms of the trip. Cows are deadly if hit by a car!

We pulled into Cairns around 9:30 pm and hungry and tired we grabbed some maccas and headed straight for the hotel.

The kids found it a novelty to be able to watch tv! and have a bath. Fed and cleaned we all headed for be to hopefully sleep soundly. Tomorrow's job?......Cleaning! to clean the car and trailer of all of the red dirt! Oh boy!!

BTW, we did exactly 1078km in the day, but hay who is counting......