I drove to an overlook, which I’d forgotten about, walked around a nearby park, bought and mailed some postcards, then drove to Cairns. Passing on the GBR gave me time to enjoy Cairns! I loved Cairns! Wish I had more time there. Neat city with nice restaurants and an awesome public lagoon/pool in the middle of town that people could hang out in even late at night. I walked around for a bit, ate at Grill’d, got gelato, then walked around a bit more on the coastal walkway. Really nice evening and awesome town to spend my last evening in.
Time was getting tight, but I did want to see the Great Barrier Reef before leaving Australia. I would need to checkout of my place and arrive at the marina where the boat would leave from fairly early in the day. I'd then be there until sometime after 4:30 PM that afternoon. That would be pushing it as I needed to head to Cairns, prepare for the trip home, and get some decent sleep before my early morning flight. If I went on the excursion, I likely wouldn’t get to Cairns until just before 7:00 PM. Still doable. But as I prepared to leave last night, with the uncertainty of the timing of everything, I decided to pass on it. I had mixed feelings about this and was a little disappointed, but it seemed like the best decision. I drove to an overlook, which I’d forgotten about, walked around a nearby park, bought and mailed some postcards, then drove to Cairns. Passing on the GBR gave me time to enjoy Cairns! I loved Cairns! Wish I had more time there. Neat city with nice restaurants and an awesome public lagoon/pool in the middle of town that people could hang out in even late at night. I walked around for a bit, ate at Grill’d, got gelato, then walked around a bit more on the coastal walkway. Really nice evening and awesome town to spend my last evening in.
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Wanting to get some sun and enjoy a great Australian beach before leaving for home, I walked over to "Four Mile Beach" near Port Douglas. Not sure why the name isn't in kilometers, but whatever. It was overcast and the sun went behind the clouds sometime after I’d flipped over to sun my back. After a little while I got up, walked along the beach, and even went into the water for a bit. I was on the beach for about an hour and a half. By the time I got back to my apartment I was worried that I’d get to Daintree National Park too late. Not really having many more days to do this and afraid I'd hit it after dark I drove there without showering or eating dinner. It was warm, so I wore shorts forgetting about the mosquito situation and rumors of Dengue Fever in these parts. While crossing over on a small car ferry to get into Daintree I could see a Lucy rental van in my review mirror. It looked as though the driver and passenger were both female. Female travelers. And they looked kind of attractive. But soon we'd be on our way and headed to different parts of the park, so I didn't think anything more about it. The ferry pulled up to the opposite shore and we all filed off in our cars. I didn’t know where I was going as I hadn’t done enough research on this. I had expected there to be a national park entrance and visitor center or something, but never saw one. So I followed the other cars that headed north confidently. After a little while I saw signs for a lookout so I decided to pull in. I noticed that the van that had been behind me on the ferry had pulled in as well. I got my camera then joined one of the girls at the lookout. I took some pics, then went over to where she was standing and said, “Hey”. She said hi back and I think commented on the view but I didn’t quite hear it. Soon she was joined by two others from her van. Three in all. Bryony was the first one I met, and her travelmates Montana and Ana joined her. All very attractive and friendly. We talked for a bit, and they mentioned that they were just following me assuming I knew where I was going. They mentioned they had an extra map that I could have and said that they were heading to a short walk just up the road. I had wanted to do something like that so I asked if I could join them since by that point I'd gotten to know them well enough to ask that. They said it would be good. So we went to the location of the walk and started walking. We started getting chewed up my mosquitoes right away so I went and got the bug repellent that I happened to have in the car. So glad I had that. I had visions of Dengue Fever running through my head and since we were all in shorts I could see the mosquitoes Facebooking about the feast they were about to have. We walked and talked for a bit and took a group pic before it got dark. It was getting dark, so by the time we got back to the car I was thinking I’d drive around for a bit looking for night life. The three girls were going to find their campground where they'd spend the night. We exchanged Facebook info then parted. I followed them for about 20 mins before turning around to head back. I was running low on gas but was able to fill up just outside the park before driving back to my place. Didn't see any night life at Daintree, or very many animals actually, but did get to meet some cool people. Follow up note: As I was traveling back from a trip I'd taken in Texas I received word from Montana that Bryony had passed away in a quad bike accident on July 19. I didn't know her well but was sad to hear the news. I'd enjoyed talking with her about photography stuff during our short walk through the rain forest. Crossing the river on the ferry... how the GPS displays the trip After checking out of my hotel, I drove to Port Douglas, Australia. The setting is tropical and resortish. Nice. The house I’m in is “Bali-style” and fun. I’m going to enjoy it. I set my stuff down then headed to town to grab a bite to eat. I ordered what would be a medium pizza in the States for $5 AUD, and paid $5 more for garlic bread and lava cake. Can’t believe how cheap it is here, especially since that comes to about $8 USD. Brought it back and watched Mythbusters while eating it. An American meal my last few days in Australia : \ Tonight I need to figure out what I’m doing tomorrow. The agent for the house recommended Daintree tomorrow and the Great Barrier Reef Wednesday before heading out. I may do that, though the tour tomorrow leaves at 8:30. I may need the sleep though I am trying to get used to getting up early, if it’s not too late at this point. I need to leave the room at 4:00 AM Thursday morning to catch my flight home. Even worth renting a room for that night?! Probably is, especially since I’ll need to clean up before the really long flights. May see if I can drive to Daintree tomorrow myself, especially since I’d wanted to go to the beach here at some point. I’m so tired. I want to go to bed now, but have a full stomach. Going to try to wait at least a few hours. I spent the morning getting stuff done online and planning the trip. The room is nice and comfortable, so after days of lots of driving it was nice to laze around. I power-napped in the afternoon then did some more online. I didn't leave the room until 5:00 PM! But I got some stuff done that needed to get done and felt rested after a day of chilling in the room. I then headed out to Castle Hill – a place I’d wished I’d taken my camera to. Great views of the city from there.
After that I ate on "The Strand". This was a happening place where I got a great veggie burger and gelato then walked on the pathway by the ocean. When I got back to my room later that night I finished setting up my accommodations for Port Douglas. I feel good about it. I’m just waiting to hear back about the unit I requested through Airbnb. Close to shops and the beach, so I can walk to lots of great stuff which I love. Should be nice. I’m looking forward to it. Today I headed to Airlie in hopes of seeing the Whitsundays - some islands off the coast of Australia that are well-known for their silicone white sand. There was even a chance I could camp on Whitehaven or another beach around there. I stopped at an information station and learned that the rain and wind I’d seen 2 hours south was going to continue up to the Whitsundays area as well, so tours were cancelled. The rainy weather was going to continue for the next few days, and they were booked up on Monday, so there was no sense in waiting around for that. The lady mentioned that there was really nothing else to do in Airlie, so I decided to move to my next destination - Townsville - which would ease my driving situation the next few days. Being about 15 minutes from the Airlie Beach I decided to at least check it out. But after about 15 minutes of driving, realizing I would need to turn around and backtrack, and also realizing I would need to hit the Townsville information center before they closed, I started regretting the drive. I parked across from the police station, walked out to the water a little bit, took some pics, then returned and drove back to the main road wondering why I had bothered. I guess I figured if the Whitsundays were so amazing this area would be as well. But there really wasn’t anything amazing to see. My GPS took me to Townsville where, I was told, the info center was already closed. I parked in a parking lot and got on Tripadvisor. The campgrounds in the area didn’t get good reviews, and the one on Magnetic Island got even worse ones. I had thought about taking a ferry over to it and camping there. I found a hotel in the center of town about 4 mins away where I got a great room for $99 AUD a night (maybe about $80 USD)! It was new, had a view of the mountains, and was very close to stuff. I brought my stuff to the room, then plopped down. I’d planned to explore a little and grab a bite to eat, but after a while found that I didn’t want to leave. I was too comfortable. I ate my own food, which I need to eat anyway, and watched TV. Yes, I watched TV. The wind was strong that night and blew my tent around. I turned on a headlamp that was hanging on the inside of the tent and took a short video of the movement. You can see how much the tent was being affected by the wind by how much the light is moving: Today I drove to Mackay, QLD, Australia. I chose a tent site right next to the beach, though the receptionist at the park told me there would be wind gusts up to 29 knots that night. I have not idea what that means except that it came as a warning, so I'm guessing it's a windstorm of sorts. I said my tent should be fine and went for it. I used my sand stakes and borrowed a hammer from someone to hammer them in. I then took a walk on the beach which was about a 5-second walk away. As I was walking I wondered what day it was. I was thinking Wednesday or Thursday. Turns out it was Friday. Couldn’t believe I’d lost track of the time that badly. Nice, wide beach. The water comes up pretty far though so the sand is smooth and packed down all the way to the shore. It was windy at night and at around 2:00 in the morning I woke up and watched what the wind was doing to the tent. As I’d seen how hard it would be to get the stakes out of the ground I had full confidence they weren’t going anywhere. The wind did move the tent though! This morning as I ate me oatmeal for breakfast I decided to take it and eat it by the water. It was about a 3-minute walk. I figured why not? I walked to the water and ate it by the edge looking across to an island across the way. It was really nice.
I headed to my next spot which was in Yeppoon, Queensland. This would be about a 7 hour drive. But more driving now means I can slow down at the end of the trip where the weather would be warmer. I followed the GPS, which has no sound. It had me get onto a certain road which would take me north. The turn offs were close together and confusing. It told me to get off in a certain amount of meters but I miscalculated and took the wrong one. It didn't help that it was trafficy that morning. You'd think it would be easy to turn around at the next exit, but not in this area. The new arrival time calculated and told me my mistake cost me 25 minutes. In the end that mistake would result in a one hour and 20 minute delay to my arrival time. As I approached the place where I’d be getting off I saw something I’d seen coming north the day before. It was Glass House Mountains. A fascinating steep mountain that looked like a very large rock sticking up out of nowhere. I’d thought about driving back to it the day before, but now I had no choice. As I arrived early at the campground the day before I probably could have explored it then. I had the time. But fascinated by it again this morning and so close now I decided to check it out. I went up to a look out and snapped some pics before pulling out. I had noticed a large fire between that rock-mountain and the lookout so asked a ranger about it. He said he had set it! It was a controlled fire. But he said because of a cold front the smoke was moving more horizontally then straight up which is what it normally does and what is ideal. He said he was likely “smoking people out” down wind. The way it was set he said it would put itself out eventually. Interesting. I’m typing this in the bathroom as I couldn’t recharge this last night and it was about to die on me. The phone I could charge in the car. So fortunately I found a plug near a random bench in the bathroom and am sitting on it juicing up the laptop. I’m grateful for it. This charge may have to hold me off for a while. You never know where you’ll be able to plug in. I left the apartment this morning and headed to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. I was just going to use my phone for pics, but after a while decided to get my camera, especially since where I was when I decided to do that was close to my car. Great weather and a nice day.
I then drove the short trip to Caloundra. Nice little town with a nice path along the beach and shops and cafes. I walked along the walkway until I was about 30 minutes out. Then came back on a road that had lots of restaurants. I don’t know why, but I had it in my head I wanted Domino’s pizza. So I see one on a map near where I am and call and order. I walk around for a bit killing time, then come back to where it supposedly is. Not there. The GPS is saying it’s there but it’s not. So I call them and they say it’s a 20-minute walk from where I am, right across from my campground. So I cancel the order as I was starving and didn't think I could wait that long. Turns out the spot I was at was where they used to be located. But as I think about it, I had my heart set on it, plus by the time I order somewhere else, I’d have to wait 20 mins anyway. So I call them back and start walking there. Actually, it took me about 12 mins. But it turns out the place is about 5 minutes from where I'd walked up to to kill time waiting for the pizza. So I eat it there and instead of walking back to an ice cream place I'd seen up the road, I stopped in at one on the corner near where I got the pizza. So I hungrily down the medium or large pizza, then get a cup of ice cream to top it off. I don’t want to know how many calories I had, though, I didn’t really have breakfast and have been walking a lot today, maybe 3 hours total, so I needed the fuel. Now I’m really thirsty. While walking I could see the stars over the ocean. So nice. Not a lot of people out, though places shut down early this time of year, so there isn’t much going on right now I guess. But very nice out. I pulled out of the campground around 10:30 this morning. The GPS said I could get to Brisbane in about 50 minutes, so I figured I had enough time to visit the local beaches. I drove back down the coast and stopped at a beach where I found a parking spot. I started out in shoes, but then decided to go all-in. I walked for about 30 minutes even pulling up my shirt to get some sun at one point. I guess I’m back to that. I have a ton of sunscreen though, so I don’t need to worry about that over the next week and a half that I'm in the warmer climate.
I then cleaned off my feet and headed to Brisbane. I'll be staying in a room in Brisbane tonight. Not renting the whole house but just a room in the owner's house. This is my first time doing that. Before heading to CBD (Central Business District) I checked out a place that had an escape game similar to the games you play on your phone. I’d always thought it would be cool to have a real live version of one and this is it! From what I read online I couldn’t do it alone, or it wasn’t recommended, but since it was near where I was staying, part of the reason I stayed there, I figured I’d check it out in person. I ended up talking to the very personable girl at the front desk there for a bit as I couldn't play the game myself and things were slow for her then. There was a group in the game as we spoke. We talked for about an hour. At one point she put on an American accent lol It was pretty good actually. Loved walking around Brisbane. I needed a restroom at one point and when I asked a local florist where one was they said I could head to the left for City Hall, or to the right for some other place. They joked that the people at City Hall would be nicer. So I went there. After using the restroom I explored the inside of the building. A guy working there said that there was a museum in the building and at the museum I could take an elevator ride up to the clock tower that overlooked the city. Cha-ching! But it would close any minute so I had to run. I went straight there and got on the last tour of the day. It was great. So glad that worked out that way. Thank you, bladder. I then walked around town a little more, got dinner, then got gelato. The walk back to the house was a nice walk that took me about 30 minutes. I met the owner of the house. We talked for an hour or so about rental business, cultures, and Brisbane. She was easy to talk to. She’s another person I’d enjoy hanging out with. But tomorrow I continue north.... This morning as I headed to the restroom I passed a group of kangaroos grazing and relaxing in a nearby patch of grass. When I got back to my camp area I grabbed my camera and snapped some pics. I then drove to the Gold Coast. The campground I stayed at was maybe the nicest campground I’ve ever been at. It’s more of a resort with the “Treasure Island” theme. That evening I walked around for about 30 minutes checking out the pools and houses and such. Nice place. Feels very safe. It’s almost 8 PM and they are showing the movie “Annie” on an outdoor screen in the middle of the campground. I can hear it as I do stuff online. Last night I got online to see where I’d go today. Tonight I have to figure out where I'm going tomorrow and also plan out my next 10 days as I need to make sure I get in what I want to see before leaving the country to go back home. I don’t have a lot of time now. Because of the bats last night I slept with ear plugs in. I wouldn't have lasted long this morning either had I not had them: |
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July 2023
AuthorI've exchanged my ID badge for a passport, and am chasing the wind Categories |