Month: January 2013

Had my first cold night since I started this trip! Found myself completely zipped up in my sleeping bag and still a bit chilly in the wee early hours of the morning. Checked my thermometer and found it was 14ºC (upper 50ºFs), which really isn’t THAT cold, but it sure was nice for a change. A heavy fog rolled into our mountain-top campsite by morning, and my tent was soaking (again), so I left it there and went for a wonderful scenic 5km hike down the road past waterfalls, giant Bunya Pines, and other dense rainforest stuff. Many of the Bunya Pines were chopped down in the 1800’s for their cedar, but there were still quite a few of them. Absolutely huge trees with soccer ball-sized pinecones (nothing that you’d want to drop on your head, mind you) that were believed to be alive in the age of the dinosaurs.

After spending several hours hiking and photographing the area, I returned to my campsite to pack up my tent and head back down the mountain towards my next campsite. Someone tipped me off that a nasty heatwave was moving into the area, and sure enough, I found the temperatures back up over the 100F mark while I was driving my car. I was pleased to find myself being directed back up another mountain range and the temperature dropping fast as I climbed, but only continued on to drop off the other side and into a hot, stuffy creek valley where the campsites were located. At least there were some nice places to swim nearby.

Saw yet another bush turkey, but also a huge monitor lizard move through my campsite a few times. The campsite was a reserved one that actually turned out to be nice, shady, relatively private, but just a bit too hot this time.

Hike up Mt. Kiangarow

Exploring Bunya Mountains National Park

Felt a bit sad to be leaving Hervey Bay and Fraser Island after just one night. It was another wet, dreary morning, but that didn’t stop all the cyclists there from doing their morning ritual, the Esplanade Drive circuit. I headed out to a recommended cafe for breakfast and had a Canadian Breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, Australian bacon, and pancakes with maple syrup and whipped cream. Not sure if the Canadians have sanctioned this, but it went down well with a cup of coffee.

After breakfast, I walked across the road and took one last look at the beach while I continued to dodge the occasional showers. I had another 4 hours of driving to do before reaching my prearranged stay at Bunya National Park. The terrain is now noticeably browner than it was throughout the tropics, which isn’t quite as attractive, but far more comfortable. As I drove, I noticed a mountain range looming in the distance, which is always good news at this time of year for cooler temperatures.

Bunya Mountains National Park has turned out to be really beautiful with excellent hiking tracks through extensive rainforests with great views, and very nice campsites.

Our campsite has a Donkey Boiler shower that involves lighting a fire under a steel boiler to heat water. The water automatically spits out of the boiler into a bucket, which you mix with cooler water and dump into a shower bag in a shower room that is suspended from the ceiling by a pulley system. You hoist the shower back up and grab your hot shower before the shower bag empties through a shower head on its underside. All rather complicated, really, but it sure looks pretty cool!

I only had time to do one short hike this afternoon, but hopefully I will have time to do one of the longer ones tomorrow morning.

The Drive from Hervey Bay to Bunya Mountains National Park

There are so many mangoes growing up this way that it is not uncommon to find yourself driving over a pile of squished ones that have dropped from a wild tree. Roadside stands will refuse to sell you individual mangoes – you must purchase a bucket or box full for $10 if you want any at all. Supermarkets still sell them individually, but for a higher price.

I did manage to buy a few pineapples from a roadside stand which were really sweet and flavorful. Probably the nicest ones i’ve ever eaten.

After another long day of driving, I finally managed to punch through – out of the Tropic of Capricorn to nice dry Mediterranean-style weather. What a relief it is to be able to take a bike ride without sweating profusely at the slightest effort. I’ve arrived in a nice little launch pad for Fraser Island that is VERY bike-friendly, has endless beaches, a good ~20km bike path the entire way, a bike-friendly 1km long pier/jetty, nice stinger-free and croc-free swimming, and not too much commercialism or elite resorts clogging the place up. My kind of place, Hervey Bay. It seemed very community-oriented. I’m checked into a YHA here and was a bit taken aback to find no air conditioning, but I don’t think I’ll need it since it is cooling off nicely. Must be in the middle of pineapple land because I’ve seen quite a few roadside stands selling nothing but pineapple since I got here.

Hervey Bay Coastal Ride & Swim

Harvey Bay also looks like a nice, cruisy place for sea kayaking, with no swell, clear waters, and a fantastic place to explore just across the bay (Fraser Island). Just as long as the wind doesn’t kick up, as it always seems to do in the afternoon.

Hervey Bay Cruise

The Drive to Get Here

Queensland has a few strange parking practices. They are one of the few places I can think of that reverse-diagonal park. Very odd. I can’t see what the benefit is. They also seem very keen to maintain very wide streets with parking in the middle and along the sides of the road. Sometimes the parking is perpendicular to the traffic flow, and sometimes it is parallel. Both parking methods leave me turning my head in circles constantly to ensure I don’t hit anyone.

After a nice cool night up in the Eugella National Park mountains, I drove down the long switchback road through the fog and back into the hot, coastal flats. I’m getting a bit wary of Queensland road signs that say “fatigue zone next xxx kms” because I’ve learned that really means some tedious driving is ahead. Sure enough, I designated my entire day’s drive down to Byfield National Park as being in this category. At one point, they even had trivia signs up to try and help keep you awake! I finally get down to Byfield to find plenty of bogans gearing up to hit the beaches in 4WDs, trail bikes, and quad bikes. On a fit, showery afternoon, I explore a bit of a plantation area to suss out possible MTB rides. Unfortunately, I somehow ended up with a less-than-stellar campsite right along the main road to the beach (while everyone else is nestled deeper in a forest behind me). I’m right about where all the 4WDs stop to reinflate their tyres after coming off the beach.

Not sure about this system Queensland uses for selecting campsites online. I’ve been stuck with a few dogs because their maps and illustrations don’t really depict the locations very well.

Today’s drive

Cruised out of Arlie for points south and a mysterious national park on the west side of the highway. I liked what I was seeing: lots of big mountains! It took a little while to find the place, but eventually I was set straight by a local shop owner, who told me it was much cooler up there in Eugella National Park. Just what I wanted to hear! After another series of switchback inclines, I found myself up top. My notes said another 600m hike was in order, but when I got to the information centre, I discovered that I actually had three to choose from. The 600m in version was in a nice rainforest area near a creek with a fabled platypus, but I was a bit put off by a giant black snake sunning itself across the road on my way in. I decided to check out the other two campsites down the road. One was not super exciting – along a road next to an old dilapidated one-room schoolhouse – but with quite good facilities (new toilets, covered picnic tables, fresh rainwater, and a BBQ). I decided it was good enough for the night, but was curious about the 3rd site that was 33 km away up a 4WD track. I made it most of the way there but had to turn back when I came across some big logs down over the road, which appeared to have fallen as a result of a bush fire some 6-12 months ago. Oh well, it was a beautiful drive, anyway. I settled back into campsite 2 next to the school and am looking forward to a nice cool night’s sleep for a change. Might mtb down a side road in the morning that looks pretty doable. For the first time, I was actually checked up on by a park official, though it turned out to be a local farmer.

Drive up to Eugella National Park

Exploring Eugella National Park

Arrived at Arlie Beach after spending another night at Bowling Green National Park just south of Townsville. A bit of an adjustment being back in a tent in this sweltering, humid heat after 6 days in air-conditioned YHA rooms. It was very hard to fall asleep, and although the mosquitoes were not nearly as bad this time, they were still trying to make a comeback. I did discover one new thing about the place: it is full of great swimming holes, a short hike from the campsite. They discourage you from swimming there, but not too many people listen because there are many people there to cool off. The only problem was that the water was warmer than the hot art (or so it seemed). Had been a beautiful drive down from Cairns along the mountain ranges.

Drive to Arlie Beach

Arlie Beach is one of the main hubs for the Whitsunday Islands. I had reserved a national park campsite on a beach nearby, with the caveat that it involved a 2km hike in from the parking lot. My plan was always to check it out on a mountain bike and shuttle my stuff if everything was good.

Arlie Beach Campsite Investigation

Along the way, I met up with some hikers who politely pointed out that mountain bikes were not permitted on the trail (a sign I missed), but were very supportive of me riding it, anyway. Between the distance to the beach, rough enough track for cycling, and my officially not being allowed to cycle in there, and the run-down nature of the actual deserted campsites, I decided to aim for a local caravan park. The first one I approached wanted $48 for an unpowered tent site! That’s a record. I found a much cheaper option just down the road. The only problem with it is the neighbouring airport, with a steady stream of small planes and helicopters arriving. Hopefully, all will be quiet tonight.

As for Arlie, it’s not really what I’m looking for at the moment (coming too soon after Cairns) with too many developments and not enough wilderness. There are more nice-looking beaches you can’t swim at due to stingers. Officially below the croc line, I believe.

Can’t say I have been overly impressed with Cairns. It seems to be a city full of nothing but restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, hotels, and tour operators. It doesn’t even have a beach – just a shallow public swimming pool surrounded by mud flats. Staff also seem a bit sour on tourists like they really don’t want to be working here. LOTS of tourists. Of all the cities in Australia with international airports, I would have to put Cairns at the bottom for lacking any real historical or cultural attractions. There are good restaurants, and I did discover a great coffee place that mixes beans for you that all the locals frequent (Cruze Coffee), but it really is just a party city for people spending their days on the reef. For me it was a good few days to catch up on my blog, videos, images, and shopping.

Cycling Around Cairns

Driving south back to Townsville

I saw a traffic light today! My first in about 2 weeks – since Townsville, anyway. It’s funny how you can travel that long in Australia and not really think about them. Then you suddenly see your first one in a long time and are a bit taken aback. The traffic light was near Cairns, where I have come for a few days. I enjoyed the Four Wheel Drive track so much on the drive up to Cooktown from Cape Tribulation (which was really quite quick and more direct) that I seriously considered taking it south, but I’m glad I chose to take the two-wheel-drive route instead because it turned out to be a very beautiful drive through many changing environments.

The drive from Cooktown to Cairns