Queensland 14th-20th Sep - Peter - Queensland, Australia
Queensland, Australia
Our South East Asia adventure was coming to end, with just a short overnight return to Singapore remaining. From here we would resume our round-the-world flight, taking the Australian leg to Brisbane. The original plan had been to meet with Hannah in Melbourne, but with news of her new job in Newcastle, New South Wales (I know, that is a lot of 'news' in one sentence!), we had decided to redeem one of our multi-flex passes to fly to Brisbane instead, albeit at an extra expense due to the change in airport taxes. We planned a whistle-stop tour of Queensland before moving further down the East coast to join up with Hannah in Newcastle in 6 days time.
Our flight from Kota Kinabalu arrived early evening, necessitating the second stay in Singapore. I had found us a hotel in the Geylang Indian district, at the intriguingly named Fragrance Sunflower Hotel. Unfortunately the only fragrance of note was that of stale cigarette smoke! The room was, however, adequate for our needs for one night (the ensuite bathroom a necessity for me and my continuing episode of gastroenteritis) and was far cheaper than the hotels at the airport.
The next day we had time to visit the Funan Digital Mall: a technological paradise consisting of five floors of electronics to buy. After purchasing a couple of cables (one to play music in the car and an HDMI cable for the netbook), we moved the search on to look for a pair of binoculars – our main reason for visiting the mall. We ended up buying a lovely pair of Nikon Sportstar Ex binoculars with a particularly pleasing wide angle view, from a friendly store at a cost of around 180 Singapore dollars. This was not before we had visited another store offering a rather cheap looking pair for nearly twice the price, complete with an aggressive sales technique. Just goes to show the benefit of shopping around!
We lunched late at Pizza Hut, testing our new purchase on the nearby skyscrapers, whilst trying to keep our greasy fingers off the lenses. It was then time to return to the airport, where we had left our bulky rucksacks in 24 hour storage. The large Qantas jet departed at 19:50 for a 6 and a half hour flight to Brisbane. We could not decide which was best on the flight: the seemingly infinite number of Oscar-winning films available to view on our own personal screens, or the wonderful customer service – one attendant searching the entire plane to find Priya an Appletizer.
Emerging from our respective films (Fargo for me and The Iron Lady for Priya) we realised that the plane was already making its descent to Brisbane, and that we had only banked a couple of hours sleep between us. After touching down at around 5am, immigration was a bit of a blur; we did eventually successfully enter Australia, Priya resisting the temptation to stroke the rather cute sniffer dog, diligently working away, and thankfully giving our bags the all-clear.
We reached the Europcar desk understandably a little jaded. The attendant offered us a free ‘upgrade’ to the same Hyundai I20 car (similar size to a Ford Fiesta) but with an automatic gearbox. I had specifically chosen a model with a manual gearbox however, in order to make overtaking a little easier (sometimes the gearbox struggled to find the most appropriate gear in the otherwise excellent automatic Proton ‘Saga’ in Malaysia), therefore turned down her ‘offer’. She subsequently had to phone the other branch to have a manual driven over, at which point relations seem to sour; all I wanted was the car that we had already paid for! But the worst part was still to come.
The attendant was aware that I had paid advance, but wanted to see a copy of my receipt as proof of payment. Printers are hard to find when travelling and become an added expense; up to now we had been successful in adopting a method of displaying electronic booking confirmations on our netbook at hotels and airports, but this did not wash with Europcar. She wanted a good old-fashioned piece of paper, threatening us with a second charge if we could not come up with one. I tried to show her the receipt on the netbook but might as well have been communicating with a brick wall: "It is company policy that we need a printout of the receipt". We discovered it was not in fact policy, after a search on the Europcar website. We tried to email the receipt but the address she provided seemed to be a dud. We then offered her our USB stick to take a copy of the receipt but the response to this was, “I don’t think my computer takes those.” At this point we gave up and agreed to try and find a printer to produce the magical piece of paper at the Cairns branch, where we were to drop off the vehicle. Our complaint email to customer services, needless to say, was lost in cyberspace too, leaving us rather tired and frustrated ahead of an 8 hour drive north to Rockhampton. What a shame the service was not as good or efficient as Sabah Europcar, where Zali gave me his personal Gmail address to use if we were to encounter any problems.
I had considered participating in a nearby Parkrun race, but by the time we had cut through all the Europcar red tape and collected our car it was past the 7am starting time, so we hit the road for Rockhampton. A motorway took us north past Sunshine Coast, the sun indeed shining brightly through my driver’s window. Priya, understandably, struggled to stay awake for long, but thankfully I was beginning to feel more alert as the morning wore on and kept going to the Bruce Highway, helped by the numerous road signs guarding against tiredness, including trivia questions!
We stopped for lunch at a bar in an isolated small town, aptly named Gin Gin – several residents had already begun there weekend drinking session! From there the landscape became very dry, the ground covered with straw-coloured grasses beneath eucalyptus trees, with several signs warning of a high fire risk (this was actually the median setting, the lowest being moderate risk and the highest being ‘catastrophic’!). Priya was awake by now but neither of us could spot any koalas up in the eucalyptus trees (unlike my last visit to Australia off the Great Ocean Road), only koala-shaped beehives. I kept my eyes alert for kangaroos and wallabies as dusk approached, but these were elusive too. This was probably for the best: we had driven past an enormous ‘road-kill’ corpse of a male kangaroo, which almost certainly would have resulted in a write-off for our car, had it hopped out in front of us. Instead it must have bounced off the bull bars of one of the long ‘road train’ lorries that tear up and down the highway every so often.
The Bridge Motor Inn was easy to find: just off the main road, next to the river. We started to watch the Wizard of Oz, but only reached halfway before succumbing to the lure of our bed, for a long recovery sleep. Or so we thought. In the middle of the night Priya woke up in quite some pain – her corneal erosion, which had healed some 18 months ago, was flaring up again. We suspected the culprit was the dry Australian air, a complete change from the humidity of Borneo. Thank goodness we had packed the lacrilube!
With the night’s sleep broken, we had to abandon our plan to visit a nearby church early in the morning, instead rising later for our onward journey to Townsville, another 8 hour drive. The owner of the motel showed us the high water mark on the bridge before we left, describing how the town had been cut off for days with the recent flood – a world away from the dry dusty plains we had driven by so far.
The journey to Townsville was even sparser. As we whittled down the kilometres (over 700 to Townsville) we experienced first-hand what an enormous country Australia is, and how far the distances are between each town. We decided a ************ality was a useful attribute to the population living out here, reflected in some of the no nonsense laws of the road. Nowhere else had I seen drivers adhering to the road rules so closely: keeping (mostly) to speed limits and even indicating to change lanes without another car within a kilometre’s distance. I was trying my best to keep to the speed limits after experiencing a rather more relaxed road network in Malaysia, so was surprised to see a flash from the opposite side of the road in a village close to Townsville. Sandwiched between two cars, I wondered how it could possibly have been directed at us, but it did enough to make for a rather distressing end to the day. On the plus side, our accommodation in Townsville, the Orchid Guest House, was a lovely, quiet hostel, with a clean bathroom and calm blue colours in the bedroom. We enjoyed a much more relaxed sleep under a comfy duvet, without any further eye episodes for Priya. Even my intestinal system was beginning to return to normal!
Cairns could now be reached in a half day’s drive, so we had the morning to explore a place we were growing fond of rather quickly. Breakfast consisted of a hearty cooked plate for Priya and fluffy pancakes with ice cream for me, by the Strand ocean promenade, where I had been running earlier for a 6 mile morning jog. The freshly washed pathways and mown grass made for a pleasant setting, as we wondered why the UK could not introduce more public conveniences and drinking fountains, numerous here. Prior to our departure from Townsville, we took a short twisting road to the top of the rocky outcrop, which towers over the city, admiring the panorama consisting of the suburbs, the islands off the coast and the outback.
We broke up our journey to Cairns with a visit to Mission Beach, where the Queensland rainforest begins. We were directed by a friendly lady at the visitor centre to a short climb through rainforest leading to a view-point, but were fruitless in our search for a wild Cassowary, unlike my visit 3 and a half years ago with Gabi. The large flightless bird is confined to the rainforests in Australia and Papua New Guinea and is now a protected species, demonstrated by the many ‘Be Casso-wary!’ road signs. We were successful in finding a field of Wallabies on our way to Mission Beach however, delighting in their hopping darts back and forth.
The sun was dropping below the palm trees, where the rainforest meets the beach, so we resumed the drive to Cairns, to ensure we reached the Tropic Days Backpackers Hostel, our accommodation for the next 4 nights (and coincidently the hostel Gabi and I stayed at), by the check-in time of 8pm. Trying to make good time we were shocked to receive another ‘flash’ soon after re-joining the Bruce Highway, this time directed at us as the only vehicle on the road, from an unmarked truck downhill from a blind bend in the road! There had been no warning of any approaching speed cameras and what was even more galling was that I was sure we were doing less than the limit of 100km/h. I fixed my eyes to the speedometer for the rest of the journey, wondering whether this was what the police wanted – for me to spend less time looking at the road ahead!
We arrived in Cairns with the dark sky briefly lit by amber flickers from controlled bush fires on the surrounding hills. We asked about the speeding fines in Queensland upon check-in at Tropic Days, to the somewhat unsympathetic reply that we had better cancel our credit card! After check-in we managed to log on to the rather temperamental internet (after attempt number 5) to discover that a fine could cost a minimum of £100, plus a £30 administration fee from our friends at Europcar for passing on our details. We had been laughing earlier in the day about how drivers can be fined for ‘hogging’ the middle lane, but now felt dejected about the harshness of the Australian penalties. There is a chance that the equipment was merely being calibrated, apparently not an uncommon practice, as we decided to move on from the incident, hoping that we would not receive any post from Queensland Australia anytime in the near future!
By the next morning we were long overdue one of those travelling days devoted to rest, internet, odd jobs and, of course, laundry! The day also provided the opportunity for me to reacquaint myself with Cairns (little has changed!) and show Priya the large groups of fruit bats that hang around (literally) the large banyan trees on grid corners. We booked ourselves on a trip to an outer platform on the Great Barrier Reef for the next day (after deliberating over the similarly priced tours on offer, all for around $185) and looked forward to spending a couple of days devoted to tourism for a change!
We used the free shuttle provided by Tropic Days to take us to the harbour for our 9am departure. 90 minutes and a safety briefing later we arrived at the reef platform, along with 100 or so other day-trippers. Included in the price were glass bottom and semi-sub boat tours. The reef was full of colour, even more so than Sabah, with a great abundance of coral and aquatic species. Shoals of large curious fish came up to the glass, while colourful parrotfish fed below and giant clams gaped open. Our photographs through the glass could not replicate the colour that we saw, but Priya did take a good shot from the underwater viewing window of the platform of me diving under to swim with the fish. After lunch there was just enough time for a snorkel in the designated area, with new areas of coral being exposed above the surface as the tide went out. Unfortunately some fish were taking a fancy to my foot wounds, still not healing; after some sharp pecks I decided to watch from the deck, as a flurry of activity commenced around Priya, who had been caught in the middle of the fish feeding session! We wondered how people had found the time to fit in all of the additional-cost extras such as scuba diving, guided snorkelling and helmet diving, as the call sounded for us to re-board the boat (where we had been able to keep our valuables in a locker) and return to Cairns. With our spirits restored after a marvellous experience of this massive expanse of coral reef (visible from space), we shared a crocodile burger in town before resting up for another wildlife adventure the next day, on land.
Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures was the destination for our final day in Cairns, a return visit for me after good memories from my visit last time, and an opportunity for Priya to see some big crocs and some of the other animals unique to Australia, albeit in a reserve area and not in the wild. Arriving at 11am under a strong sun we would be enthralled for the next 5 hours (despite not being able to buy anything to eat due to the cash-only tills and our lack of cash!).
To begin we were treated to a crocodile feeding show, almost over-shadowed by the stand-up comedy act from the presenter Duncan. The most stunning aspect of the show was in observing the croc’s awesome jaw power (nearly 20 times the force of the human jaw) and the resulting sound when those jaws snapped. The best way I can describe it is that of a metal baseball bat smashing into a baseball, but with more substance! These were the ‘Salties’, or saltwater crocodiles, equally at home in fresh or salt water. Salties are the beasts responsible for the deaths of unsuspecting locals or tourists going for a quick evening swim, especially in the Northern Territory – very few survive an encounter. The second part of the feeding session involved Duncan climbing into the ‘Freshies’ enclosure. These smaller crocodiles do not carry the same threat to humans as their larger cousins. All of the crocodiles are opportunistic feeders, surviving for months without food if necessary, making for a pretty efficient reptile – probably why they have been around since pre-historic times.
With time to spare before our 12:30 lagoon cruise, we explored the other enclosures at the park. These included reptiles, birds and a walk-in field of wallabies and kangaroos. Priya was also able to see her first koalas, whom we would see awake later for feeding (they sleep 19 hours a day because so much of their energy is required to metabolise eucalyptus leaves).
12:30 arrived and we boarded our caged boat with another guide, who entertained us with instructions on how to navigate the boat should he be snatched by one of the 20 or so Salties resident there. The cruise involved more teasing of the crocs with a chicken carcass, lifted with a bamboo stick to draw the croc’s upper half out of the water. He would, though, eventually relent and allow them to snap off a piece. The only disappointment was in missing out on seeing ‘Big Ted’, the largest crocodile at the park, measuring up to a length of nearly 6m. He is a one-eyed 80 year-old, with just one remaining tooth!
Next on the agenda was a tour of the crocodile farm; Louis Vuitton have exclusive rights to the hide from Hartley’s and an informative talk explained the farming process in full. Crocodiles were nearly hunted to extinction by the 1970s, when they became protected in the wild. Our guide suggested that the farmed crocs were “Taking one for the team” so others could live in the wild.
Soon after we took seats for the snake show in a small amphitheatre, with another of the keepers bringing out different reptiles and snakes from linen bags. One Scottish girl from the audience ended up wrapped in a boa constrictor! More entertainment soon followed with a crocodile attack show in the same arena: Duncan now assisting in a double comedy act with his colleague who has been doing these shows for over 20 occupational hazard-filled years! The ensuing adrenaline-filled duel between human and beast reminded me of the ‘bull-runners’ in Spain. Importantly though, no harm comes to the croc whose turn it is to star in this show.
Between 3 and 4 we had the opportunity to see the little ferocious quoll being fed some sardines by an understandably wary keeper, who had previously given us food to feed the rather more placid wallabies and kangaroos. The two koalas were also now awake and chewing on some eucalyptus leaves. Priya had the opportunity to give one a stroke at the end!
Last but not least was the cassowary feeding. This really is a striking bird: a large black body of fine feathers (so they can run, almost human-like, through the jungle), beneath a blue head with dangling red wattle and keratinous crest. Two larger females gently pecked and swallowed whole large pieces of fruit from our hands. We had to keep the buckets separate as one was receiving medication for arthritis! We grew rather fond of these birds but were wary of the dangers of agitating them: dinosaur-like feet can be used as a sharp weapon. We could have forgiven Jesse, the keeper presenting the snake show, for being a little less excited about these birds than the marquee crocodiles, but he explained to us with passion how important they are to the rainforest: the droppings from the hundreds of fruits they eat help to fertilise the ground and spread the seeds of the trees, thus maintaining the eco-system of the rainforest. But that was not all: without the rainforest the surrounding sea temperature would be altered, rendering it inhabitable for coral, killing off the Great Barrier Reef. The frequency of cassowary warning signs every few hundred metres at Mission Beach now made a lot of sense!
It had been a thoroughly enjoyable, informative and entertainment-packed day, all for $35 each. We spent some time doing our daily Bible chapter on a nearby beach beneath palm trees before returning to the hostel for our final night. Tropic Days is very good for young budget travellers, but as a married couple we felt we were ready to move on now, with boys being squeezed into the lounge area to sleep overnight and our bathroom being frequently occupied by guests from other blocks! We did manage to pick up some useful information on campervans for New Zealand though, before returning the hire car to the airport north of Cairns, prior to our flight to Newcastle via Gold Coast.
Do I even need to mention what the guys at the Europcar kiosk thought about our little printout issue? They had no idea why we were told we needed to show our booking receipt on a piece of paper. I did insist though, that they took the printout we endeavoured to obtain!