Category: Queensland

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

I felt a little guilty leaving Cooktown this morning. It really is a tiny town (pop. ~2000), but it has a very rich history and sits in beautiful surroundings. I really felt I was probably missing out on something by leaving after only 24 hours. There is something special about standing on the same ground James Cook stood on, contemplating how he was going to get through the Great Barrier Reef while stuck there for 38 days (I think it was).

Historical connections seem to have a lot more impact when the environment has been preserved as it was (probably) at the time, and Cooktown never seemed to grow large enough to distract from the historical event. I think that is one of the special things about Australia. When you do reflect on its history, it seems a lot easier without shopping malls or suburban sprawl getting in the way.

I think I also find it a little hard to start heading south after working so hard to keep moving north. I think I had the same mixed feelings about leaving Darwin back in 2004.

So I ventured off to try out the Four Wheel Drive track up from Cape Tribulation to Cooktown. I did a lot of asking around about the water crossings to see if they might be a problem due to their depth, but everyone assured me that I would be okay in the current dry conditions.

It was a lot of fun, and the road was in pretty good shape, but I can see why it is limited to 4WD vehicles only. Some of the water crossings may have been as deep as 10 inches, and some of the hills you had to climb were among the steepest I have ever driven — requiring all four wheels to get up. Although the route was about 100 km in total, only about 30 km required a 4WD. The rest ran through Aboriginal communities with full power, police stations, supermarkets, and even fuel stations. I seriously considered returning to Cairns the same way, but decided to check out the interior road instead.

On my last day at Cape Tribulation, I decided to splurge a little on a few outings. It does seem that most activities require some form of payment here. I also discovered there was a petrol station on this side of the ferry near the Daintree Rainforest Discovery Centre, an interpretation centre I stumbled across on my way in on the first day. Planning on doing the Bloomington 4WD Track up to Cooktown, I knew it would be safer to fill my tank before I left – just in case I had to turn around and exit the area via ferry due to impassible roads. The interpretation centre was nice, but not that big. My feeling at the time was that it was probably overpriced, but they did give me a discount, and I did learn quite a bit when I was there.

I visited a nicer swimming hole in the afternoon that required a bit more effort to get into. It was definitely worth it, with deep, crystal-clear waters, big fish, and far fewer people. On the hike in, I came across several Cassowary dung piles (huge) – something I learned to recognise at the interpretation centre – which showed they really were in the area and not just folklore.

In the evening, I went on a night walk up in a jungle/rainforest in the hills, which turned out to be quite good. We saw lots of things that tested what I had learned at the interpretation centre earlier that morning. Lots of bats, a big bird, forest dragons large and small (a baby), a couple of frogs – big and a small one who devoured a spider while we watched, a mouse hiding in a tree hole to protect itself from snakes while eating, a small marsupial that was slightly larger that was also hiding in a tree hole, a Bandicoot, lots of giant spiders including the worlds largest web spider (huge, but not really interested in people), glow-in-the-dark fungi, and lots of interesting rainforest trees and plants.

Among the more amusing events of the day, I started out witnessing these strange green ants crawling all over the top of my car while I was putting my bike away. They looked potentially painful, so I paid close attention to the information presented on them at the interpretation centre. They were presented as poisonous to other animals (mainly insects) but only mildly painful to humans. When I asked about them on the night walk, the guide insisted on tracking some down to show that you could use them to make a tasty lemonade-like drink. So there I was with a bunch of others popping live green ants in our mouths to see what they tasted like. The same ones I feared earlier in the day.

Today’s Drive

The beach was initially intimidating to walk on due to all the crocodile warnings, but then you realise everyone is doing it and nobody seems too fearful. I even found a group of people sleeping on the beach and swimming in the ocean (which is also unwise at this time of year due to box jellyfish stings). I imagine crocodile sightings are anything but an everyday occurrence. Maybe not as rare as cassowaries (which are supposed to be up to two meters high), which were also supposed to be in the area, with endless road-crossing signs – but then I found a poster with a phone number to call to report any sightings, as though they really are hardly ever seen.

The box jellyfish may not have come out just yet this season due to the late arrival of the wet season, but hardly anyone would dare swim with them around. There were emergency bottles of vinegar at just about every path leading to the beach to use on any stings anyone may accidentally get. Urine is supposed to make an acceptable alternative if vinegar can’t be readily found.

Things found on Cape Tribulation Beach

I managed to get my mountain bike out for a bit of an exploration of the area first thing in the morning. It was a pretty good ride up and down Four Wheel Drive tracks, sealed roads, boardwalks (which were a bit too slippery to consider doing again) and a couple of long beaches. The sand on the beach was nicely compact enough to make for easy riding.

Afterwards, I took my car up Bloomington Road to find a fabled swimming hole far enough upstream to be safe from crocodiles. Thought I might be the only one there, but came across lots of cars parked everywhere. There was a river crossing there that appeared shallow enough to continue heading north to see what else was on the route. The road continues all the way to Cooktown, my next destination, but is reportedly impassable at times. I am considering it for my trip up there, but need to hear more from people who have done it. The other option is to return south via the ferry and drive around the other side of Daintree on sealed roads. Anyway, the swimming hole looked crowded and not too deep, so I opted for another one in the heart of Cape Tribulation, which was very nice.

Afterwards, I did the boardwalk circuit I had mountain biked that morning, except the way you were supposed to do it – on foot. Almost a mile in length, it was pretty impressive.

Boardwalk Circuit

Today’s Drive