Timeout in Taree

 Thursday 19 September

Did you know this is International Pirate Day?  We didn't and were told by Jenni that night.  How did she know?  We happened to arrive on her birthday and someone alerted her that she shared the day with pirates.  Mind you, she wasn't happy that her daughter blurted out when we arrived that it was Mummy's birthday but later on, we discovered she was on higher orders from Daddy.  He was away and wanted everyone to know that his lovely wife needed a special day!

In a way, it was strange to be seeing the Alleys at this point of the trip - it was like a time warp.  We'd raced for 4 days at the end of June to catch up with the Mission Awareness Group, and caught them in Tennant Creek. Here we were, in the same caravan, but life had moved on for them over the past few months.  Thankfully, we were also able to see the other Taree family at breakfast the next morning.  In July, we'd had to leave the group early and we went north toward Katherine, while they went south and east into Queensland. To hear stories and impressions of the last week of the mission with Indigenous people in Queensland was so precious. To spend some more time with these fellow Christians was also special.  There's a bond that forms when experiences are shared and we know we will always have that extra dimension in our friendship.

 Outside Mum's in Newy.

After this, they all went off to work and school and we left for Newcastle. We stopped here overnight and then continued on home to Canberra.

POSTSCRIPT:  It is now October the 3rd and I am just putting this up.  It seems fitting to end here, even though I could put up one more entry. We had come full circle, starting and ending with friends from the MAT.  Also fitting that you get a sneak peek at the next bus that will going into the outback to run more of these Mission Awareness Tours:

Dream...nightmare...blur...

Wednesday 18 September

For some, it is the world of dreams, perhaps even dreams come true.  For others, those rides can seem like a nightmare, or too thrilling to even contemplate!  For me, Dreamworld was, at times, a blur.  The high octane, adrenalin pumping rides made for heady heights that can leave one breathless.  In Adam's case, he was stunned, windswept and took a while to speak after rushing up the Tower of Terror II at 161kms per hour and then, face first, back down again in mere seconds.

Dreamworld is home to the "Big 8" thrill rides - The Buzz Saw (to the left in picture), where passengers are inverted at the top of the ride; the Motocross rollercoaster (Zac and Mark are pictured on that one); The Claw (Mark and I went on that together) a couple of times; Wipeout - which mimics riding a wave like a surfie; The Cyclone (big rollercoaster); Pandemonium, which was the most incredible and thrilling. Going over and over at greater speed and then changing direction means one has to really hang on! Up to number seven now, and that's been mentioned -Tower of Terror II.  The Giant Drop also runs off the same high pole, and that makes 8.

I went on all but the Giant Drop.  Mainly because Andrew and I were in a 45 min wait line for this final ride and we had just under an hour left for the day.  We wanted to get to other rides and go on them again or find some we still hadn't managed to get to, and have the opportunity to go on them.  I ended up going on The Claw two more times, the Escape to Madagascar coaster and the new "Evilution" one instead.  Besides, Andrew and I have been on a similar drop one at Australia's Wonderland.  It wasn't quite that high but I still count it as being part of the 8!

Apart from these rides, there's different worlds and tamer rides.  In a way, it tries to be Disneyworld but doesn't have the same feel.  Disney may cost a little more but for that, you get service and plenty of staff at each ride to make sure things run smoothly and efficiently.

Don't misunderstand, we had a great day here and it was a wonderful way to finish our time in Queensland but if I went to a theme park again, it would one of the following options:

1. Go to Aussieworld on the Sunshine Coast.  It is a fraction of the price for almost as much fun.  Being a smaller park, it is easy to get around and the rides are entertaining enough for all.

2. Get a multi-day pass for the Gold Coast.  It is not much more than the single day and gives more time and opportunity to explore at some of the other parks.

3. Wait for an opportunity to go to a Disney run park.  They do the top-end experience better and are open for longer hours.  Stopping at 5pm when only opening at 10am is a shortchange.

River Rambling

Tuesday 17 September

A mixture of computer problems and socialising has kept me from writing these last entries for a week now. I must say, it has been lovely to spend time with people in the evenings instead!

Monday the 16th was a stormy, windy day in Brisbane and it was predicted to be worse on the Gold Coast, where we were headed.  So with the permission of our gracious hosts, we stayed longer with them in the north of Brisbane.  Though Tuesday was starting to "fine up", we'd decided to go to one of the theme parks on the Gold Coast on Wednesday, just to ensure a clear day.  That meant we had to find something to do on Tuesday.

In all the years that we have been coming up the Qld to go to Bribie Island over the winter, we have never "played the tourist" in Brisbane itself.  With some pointers from our hosts, we decided to park the car at New Farm and take the City Cat across to Southbank. Travelling on a river must be one of my favourite ways to get somewhere.  Even Amsterdam with its somewhat grotty street line, looks magnificent from the canal.  Focussing upon the water, cruising at a slower pace, and taking in the land or cityscape holds so much more appeal from this aspect.  Some of the boys thought we were taking far too long to get there but I trust some of you can appreciate my vantage point!

Apart from having lunch and a short stroll along the Southbank waterfront, we were here to go to the Science Centre in the Queensland Museum.  It was a bit like Questacon in Canberra, but on a much smaller scale.  They had some interesting exhibits, like the mind control test to see who could move a ball down the table in one direction while being hooked up to this device which measured brainwaves. We got to teleport (beam me up Scotty!) and to cloak ourselves with invisibility. We then got to try out some of our physical skills with the ball throw, short sprint, and grip strength stations.  We actually spent a good couple of hours in this section of the museum.  The rest of the time was spent looking in the Coral Coast, Victoria Cross medallists and Discovery sections.  The latter showed many stuffed animals and birds as well as pinned insects.  Mark was fascinated with it. I appreciated reading the stories and seeing some footage of the VC medallists from World War one.

Then it was back to the ferry, and this time we caught the free City Hopper to Sydney Street (one stop short of New Farm).  That meant we had to walk the last bit but it wasn't overly long.

Two photos from in front of the Art Gallery:

The Glories of His Day

Sunday has been a special day for us on our trip.  We've been to church on all but one of the days and been so richly blessed, not just by the preaching but also by having time together with the people.  This past Sunday was no exception.  We are staying with the Cornfords, so getting to church was no problem!  Most of the time, when we have come up to Queensland for holidays, we have ducked back down in here, to the north of Brisbane, for church and caught up with the Cornfords.  It had been a couple of years since we last came, so they got the surprise of seeing our two adult-sized sons.

After  lunch, we decided to take advantage of the lovely, warm weather and go to the beach. Normally, as I have said, we are at Bribie Island when we are up this way.  This time, we decided to go to Caloundra where we could not only look out over the tip of Bribie at one point but just have a change of scenery. Unfortunately, we had the big-city feeling on the way back, as it took us close to two hours to do the one hour trip.  Everyone else was coming back into town as well!

The tip of Bribie from Bulcock Beach

We then went to Dicky Beach and steered clear of the shipwreck :)

Spin Slide Splash Scream

Saturday 14 September

That title is the motto for Aussie world, a theme park on the Sunshine coast.  We've been to it before, a couple of years ago when we were staying on Bribie Island.  They have now added a giant slide and a water plunge ride.  We love this park - it is low key, good value for money and the staff are there to make sure you get on the rides you want.  I even went on one ride (the Octopus) all by myself at the end of the day and they were happy to do that for me.  We had a great day there and then went to stay with family friends, north of Brisbane.  We parked our caravan at their place and then went out to have dinner with my sis, her husband and little boy.  It was great to see them again and spend an evening together. We're now in Brisbane for another day or so before moving south.

Not so Rocky Road

Thursday 12 September

Travelling from the Whitsundays to Rockhampton was not troublesome to us, though it meant a long day in the car.  When we arrived at Rocky and realised, after chatting with our friends, that we did have an issue after all.  Seems there's a problem with the power steering pump and though we had heard the noise it was making a low revs and tight corners, had not placed what it was.  We were blessed again to be staying with a mechanic who could give Andrew the advice he needed.

We would have loved to have stayed longer in this region.  Great Keppel Island and Yeppoon on the coast, some wonderful forests on the other side  but alas, we're on the homeward run now and time is now against us!

Taking "the air"

Just a fun entry.  I got up earlier this morning (about 6.30am) and went into Airlie Beach from our caravan park and took some photos (a la Donna).  I enjoyed walking around the hilly streets, by the beach and getting shots of some signs.  Downtown Airlie Beach is not great right now - they have been doing roadwork there for over a year, apparently, but any time in the tourist season next year, it should be great to saunter down that main street and soak up the atmosphere or stroll down to the beach and capture some of the seabreeze and tranquility.

Winsome Whitsundays

The Great Barrier Reef was always one of the things we wanted to go and explore on this trip.  We had been thwarted by bad weather up in Cairns and had to scout around for other options further down the coast.  When we turned to look at departures from Airlie Beach, I wondered why we hadn’t considered this option earlier!

The cruise ship took us close to some of the Whitsunday Islands, stopping at Hamilton Is. to pick up the bulk of our passengers for the day, cruising between Whitsunday and Hook Islands, before going into the glassy open water toward the reef.  This central section of the Great Barrier Reef takes longer to get to than up on the northern shelf but it has the famous heart shaped reef as part of its grouping.  We went out to a special pontoon and the boat was moored on that all day.

We started with snorkelling and I partnered Mark, Zac and Stevie went together, and Andrew went with Adam.  Unfortunately, the two “A”s managed to dodge the official photographer on the day so I don’t have shots of them to put up.  The other family members seemed to take to the snorkelling straight away and were diving further below to get closer to the reef bed and sealife.  Mark and I struggled somewhat.  I am not a water girl at the best of times and struggled to adapt to the snorkelling technique and Mark was just wearing himself out.  At the end of the first session, we came back in and got lifejackets on, and that helped.

Straight after lunch, provided on board, we went in the glass bottomed semi sub for half an hour and had a marine biologist explaining different aspects of the reef to us.  Those who wanted to do the add-on activities of helicopter rides or scuba diving, did so at their leisure.

Then, there was enough time left to go back in for one more round of snorkelling.  This time, I got a mask and mouthpiece that fitted better and I found that I had no problems staying down and taking in the underwater world.  For the first time in my life I was actually enjoying having my head down and being wet! I really did not want to get out and could have stayed for an extra hour.  I think we all felt like we could have had more time out there but, we had a 3 hour trip back.

So, get to the Reef when you can - it is well worth investing the time and money to see it for yourself.

Back in Town...

Friday 6 Sep- Mon 9 Sep

We left the rainy northern coast and headed back to Townsville last Friday.  Hit with sections of road works and then rain that pelted down so quickly that Andrew almost stopped the car, the trip was slow. We ended up going directly to the church for youth group, meeting the den Dulks there.

Saturday, I was up bright and early so that I could be a polling official for the election.  I was looking forward to this as it would make a change from the Canberra scene.  Usually, I am an advocate for voting below the line in the Senate.  I still am, until the voting system is reformed, but that faith was sorely tested when we had 58 ballot papers to double check at the end of the night.  Those 82 numbers really started to blur at the end of a 13 hour work day!  I was too wired when I got back - fuelled by coffee lollies and fun sized Mars bars - so stayed up and watched the full count of the board.

What did the boys do that day?  Just spent time at the house, Andrew chased bits and pieces for the caravan; they played and got some other jobs done.

Sunday, we went to the Pressie church in town again and it was lovely to already have this connection with the people there.  It was eventful as an ambulance had to sent for at one stage. One of the elderly women needed urgent medical assistance during the service and was taken back to the hospital for tests and monitoring.  She appears to be fine now.  I was a bit wrecked from the day before so we had a nice quiet day with our friends, rather than going on a picnic somewhere.  In the evening, Andrew and I took turns being the responsible licensed driver so that one of the twins could drive a manual car to church.  We will have to get in practice as Stephen will be starting down that path soon!

Today, we were supposed to leave.  A combination of poor communication and planning meant that we had not worked out what we were doing next.  I had assumed things would be done in my absence on Saturday....  Anyway, we were granted one more day here with our gracious hosts and have sorted out a stop at the Whitsundays for the next two days.  We're hoping the weather will be good as we take to the water on Wednesday.

TIP: Do you know you can take a quiz to see how your views align with the major parties?  I've taken it as have the older kids...interesting results... http://www.abc.net.au/votecompass/

Kuranda Calling

Out of five days in Kuranda, I have only mentioned two in some detail, and those entries involve us going out of the village!  We did spend time just doing family things and catching up with family connections in the area.  We walked to the village from Andrew's Aunt's house a couple of times and spent some time meandering around the shops, one of which is owned by her and her partner.  We had a games night and played Rummikub and the newer version of Trivial Pursuit.  Sorry, I am a fan of the older version... Andrew and the boys helped to do some yard work and clear away debris and Stephen got some time to work on school assignments.  Below are some pics of Kuranda itself.  It is a charming village and it is easy to see why it is so frequently visited by tourists.  Nestled high on the Kuranda Range, with stunning views of Cairns on one side and sheltered within rainforest, this area calls one.  Answer the call if you are in the region - there’s plenty to see and enjoy in this small, cosy village.  The man who runs the Coffee Republic shop (small counter service, not the bigger one across the street) KNOWS how to make GOOD coffee.

Skywalking

Thursday 5 September

As more and more people poured into Kuranda due to the bad weather days, we escaped!  Most tourists will factor in a day trip to the village in a rainforest, taking the train up and the Skyrail back.  Staying with Andrew’s aunt in Kuranda, we had the benefits of local advice.

We took the Skyrail down in the morning while it was less busy and timed our travel for when the train would be a Barron Falls - why?  Apparently, the powers that be allow a bit more water to flow down from the Dam above it so that tourists on the train see a better amount of water during the dry season. Not that it is a trickle otherwise, but it certainly does make for better photos!

I think I took over 50 photos from the confines our little carriage in the sky. Exuberantly, I photographed the contours of the range, the other cars coming up, the terrain below and some of the excited occupants next to me.  Most of these will not make it into this entry due to space and strict editorial policy.  Those who just read the photos and not the words of the blog will have to understand...

Once off the Skyrail, we went to the local hub, Smithfield, and had morning tea.  We then worked out which bus to catch into Cairns and set off for the city.  After a late lunch at Fogarty Park, we went to the Lagoon for the boys to have a swim.  Though we were there for an hour, the conditions were mixed. It started off quite sunny (and these are our only sky blue photos of Cairns), and then it changed.

We had thoughts at one stage of going to the Botanic Gardens and walking around there before taking the bus back up the range to Kuranda.  Unfortunately, the clouds came over again, the wind picked up and we decided it wasn’t worth doing at that stage.

As we walked back into the bus station, Stephen saw the German backpacker we’d gotten to know in Kununurra, WA.  It’s such a small country sometimes!

Douglas and Daintree Delights

Wednesday 3 September

Unfortunately, the weather up here on the far north tropical coast has been wet and wild.  Any chance of going to the reef was quickly dashed after consulting the long range forecast and seeing that the rain and 40 km winds on the ocean would continue.

Undeterred, we still knew there was much to do in this region and set our minds to exploring them. High up on our list was a scenic drive to Port Douglas.  We’d heard about this drive and even in the wild and windy conditions, seeing waves crashing onto the shore on one side of the road and then being met by rugged hills on the other had a force and energy about it that’s hard to describe.  I was awestruck by the power of the created world being unleashed...just for a moment...

Once in Port Douglas, we left that scene behind us but still glimpsed the fury when we took a quick peek at Four Mile beach.  Walking on the Esplanade was out of the question in those conditions!  Most of us climbed a tree on the other side, near St Mary on the Sea and felt like we were being blown from our perches.

What we also got a glimpse of was how stunning this area would be with glittering sunshine and calm seas.  I definitely want to come back here another time.

As C S Lewis said in the “Last Battle”, it was a case of ‘further up and further in’ as we continued along the coastline and went toward the Daintree Rainforest.  Though we had been on several rainforest walks in the region, nothing really prepared me for how much I would love this! Invoking Tolkien, he would say there is deep magic in an old forest and I did imagine that some of those trees, due to their age and majestic size could be written into his world.

Going to the Daintree Discovery Centre enriched our experience.  We were able to view the rainforest on three levels - at the canopy, on an aerial walkway, mid-height and then down at the forest floor.  The guide book and audio at one’s disposal can intrude as little or as much as one allows.  Sometimes, just being in the silence of the forest was refreshing... until a child interrupted for something.

Andrew even got in a short dirt road drive but Cape Kimberley was ferociously windy so we didn’t stay long.

TRAVELLER’S TIP:  Give yourself time to explore the Daintree, if you have it.  We just scratched the surface as we only had a day trip there and back.  Even if you have limited time, go the extra mile and do what you can - you won’t be disappointed!