Cairns, Port Douglas & Cape Tribulation

We arrived in Cairns tired from our long journey, and got stuck into selling the car. With everyone travelling north up the east coast, Cairns is by far the worst place to sell. However, after getting to grips with the mind-boggling legislation, putting up endless posters, and advertising on the net, we finally sold our beautiful Camry for a loss of only AU$1700 (better than leaving it at the airport with the keys in the ignition - it does happen!)

As part of the sale we negotiated one final trip before handing over the keys - Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. On the way up to the cape we stopped in for coffee at Port Douglas before making a brief stop at Mossman Gorge. We were particularly impressed with Port Douglas and so decided to stop in for a better look on the way back.

After crossing the Daintree River we wound our way through the small roads of the National Park all the way to Cape Tribulation. Along the way we stopped at Cow Bay, the Jindalba Boardwalk, and had a great ice-cream at the famous Daintree Ice-cream Company. We were also fortunate enough to see a cassowary cross the road right in front of us!

In the evening we had a nice long walk along Myall Beach and had a relaxing evening on the campsite. We woke up at 5am for sunrise - we had been told how amazing it was, and we weren't disappointed! Later that morning we made the short trip around to the Cape itself, where we were able to feel the serenity before anyone else arrived.

We drove back down towards Port Douglas where we spent the afternoon picnicking and reading before heading to Kuranda on our way back to Cairns.

We spent our last five days in Cairns tying up loose ends and preparing for South-East Asia. However, we did have a day spare to explore the Great Barrier Reef...

Fraser Island

We arrived at Hervey Bay after the short drive from Noosa one day before our scheduled 3 day 2 night self-drive 4x4 safari on Fraser Island. We met that evening for a pre-tour briefing where 27 of us were separated into three groups of nine and then subjected to over an hour of safety and itinerary talk.

The next morning our group piled into our bright pink 4x4 Toyota Landcruiser and went to buy food and drink supplies, before boarding the ferry to Fraser Island at about 10:30am. The first stop was, in hindsight, the best place on Fraser Island; Lake McKenzie. With the turquoise water, blue skies and white sand, it was just pure paradise. The fresh water was unbelievably clear and great to swim in. We spent the first afternoon here before making our way up the beach to our camping area.

The first night was brilliant! After pitching the tents we had a big BBQ followed by lots of alcohol and drinking games from around the world! Needless to say there were a few sore heads at 7am when we packed up camp and got going for the day.

Our first stop was a refreshing dip at Eli Creek, we then stopped for piccies at The Maheno Shipwreck before driving the length of the eastern beach to Indian Heads.

From Indian Heads we enjoyed the views from the top of the headland down onto the beautiful beaches. We then walked 40mins north to the Champagne Pools where the sea crashed over the rocks (like champagne out of a bottle) into huge salt water pools, which were jellyfish and stinger free!

After chilling on the beach we headed back south to the same campground as the previous night. We cooked a great pasta dish and had a few beers before crashing into our tents.

On the third and final morning we made sausages and eggs, packed up the tents, and headed to Lake Wabby - the final stop on our itinerary. It was a 40min walk inland from the beach, and worth it! Set in between huge sand dunes and tropical rainforest, the lake was visually stunning and even better to run down the dunes and dive in to!

Filthy and exhausted, we arrived back in Hervey Bay at around 4pm. We managed to get most of the sand out of our ears, and do our laundry ready for the trip up to Cairns.

Hervey Bay to Cairns = 2 days, 1500km, and lots of coffee!

Noosa

Our final surf stop in Australia; we were here for ten days and absolutely loved every minute of it! We spent our time enjoying the great surf at Tea Tree Bay, exploring the National Park and wandering through the three small sections of Noosa; Noosa Heads, Noosa Junction and Noosaville.

During our time here we had fantastic weather and lovely 1-2ft clean waves. We were extremely lucky to encounter loads of wildlife including koalas, a carpet python (3m long), turtles, and best of all, a couple of encounters with dolphins!

At the end of a long four hour surf we were tired and just about to get out when a couple of fins appeared not 5m from our boards. Having had a similar experience in Byron Bay we quickly realised that the dolphins had come to play! Jen was pleased, as she had missed them in Byron Bay, but this time one was so close it nearly knocked her off her board - amazing!

Other things that happened in Noosa; Joe had his haircut (not too much off though), and also 'caught the wave of his life' on a daily basis! Jen improved upon her last smash-up, this time putting another hole in the nose - thank goodness for duct tape!

We had a great time and were sad to leave, especially as we had to sell the surf boards... bring on Fraser Island!

Pottsville & Gold Coast

We left Byron Bay after a great morning surf at 'The Pass' and headed inland for a scenic drive and brief coffee stop in Nimbin. The drive was absolutely beautiful as we passed Mount Warning and Nimbin Rocks.

We arrived at Cabarita Beach in time for a picnic lunch and a walk along the headland - one of the nicest beaches we have seen on our travels! That evening we went to stay with Jen's long lost cousin Pete and his wife Miranda. We had planned to stay a couple of days, but we were made to feel extremely welcome and so ended up staying almost a week.

During the week we were treated to a great steak meal at Pete's restaurant, loads of unbelievable home-cooked food, and Premiership footy on the TV; not to mention the great company!

We spent one day on the Gold Coast where we visited Kirra, Coolangatta, and Burleigh Heads. Unfortunately, the conditions for surfing were slightly too big (we're not quite ready for 10ft barrels!) However, we had a great day watching the pros and eating huge ice creams! The Gold Coast was a bit too built up and touristy for us, so we decided that we would spend the rest of the week day-tripping back to Byron Bay where we knew the surf was going to be perfect.

The week didn't pass without incident! To cut lots of long stories short...

# Joe nearly had a heart attack after seeing an enormous fin metres from his board, only to realise with sheer jubilation that it was three dolphins that had come to have a play with the surfers - what an experience!

# Jen had two fights with the locals. One resulted in her losing a fin and half of her board, the other saw her literally pushed off her replacement hire board mid-wave and subjected to a torrent of abuse - the Kamakazee Kid is definitely back!

# The car broke down (boo). A hole in the casing leading to the radiator meant the car lost all its water and overheated. After pumping gallons of water into the car at regular intervals in an attempt to just get back to Pottsville, we failed on the last hill and had to be pushed into a locals driveway where we filled up the radiator with his hosepipe! Note to self, do not open radiator cap when car is overheated, it tends to explode with boiling hot mucky water - ouch! (Not to worry, car is now fixed).

All in all, great week, great surf, and the most comfortable bed since Kentucky! - Thanks Pete and Miranda xxx

Byron Bay

After the frustrating surf and weather in Yamba, we were pleased to see that the sun was out and the surf had improved when we arrived at Byron Bay. We set up camp on a great pitch overlooking the surf - we were more than happy to call this home for four nights.

This was the first place in Australia where we encountered lots of pretentious backpackers with their trilby hats and designer travel beards - fortunately for us we were staying slightly out of town and we managed to meet up with some Aussie friends we had met in Yamba.

We had a great time, despite the fact that Joe spent two days in bed recovering from a stomach bug. We spent our time enjoying walks on the gorgeous beach, reading our books and surfing. We had some really nice surf sessions, with a mix of gentle longboard waves and some bigger shortboard waves. We particularly enjoyed sunset surfs - being in the crystal clear waters as the sun is setting over the mountains cannot be beaten!

We both really liked Byron Bay and enjoyed our time here, but were looking forward to a family reunion in Pottsville.