we are leaving the tip today

Just another quick post. We are heading south today and will probably try to get back to the East Coast near Lockhart River, but we have heard that the road may be closed. It rains a couple of times each day, which is manageable. Its very hot and its hard to sleep at night if it is raining hard as we have to close the back window. Its lovely though and we are really enjoying ourselves. Sorry no photos as we cannot upload anything.
We are pleased to be missing all the electioneering and only get sporadic news as there are only local papers.

so much has happened . . .

Its hard to know where to start to tell you all that has happened since the last posting . . . and I only have 4 minutes and 57 seconds left!
We met Chris and Glenys as planned in Wonga Beach near the daintree River. It was soooo windy there but we were camped right on the beach. We 'did' the Bloomfield track from Cape Tribulation up to Cooktown, and spent two lovely days there. It is a very pretty place. Then we started on the real off road stuff up Cape York. There are a lot of people up here, but you can still find places to go where you fell you are the only ones around. Although we have camped on rivers that are supposed to be 'infested' with crocodiles, the one near Port Douglas is the only one we have seen to date.
Today we stood 'on the tip'. Fantastic! We were the only ones there, but when we got back to the car park there were 20 cars! Have to go. Will try to post some photos later.

first crocodile sighting!

Thankfully, we were standing on a bridge above the Mowbray River near Port Douglas when we saw our first 'wild' crocodile. Justin and Carrie-Anne, who we stayed with in Cairns for three very pleasant nights, had told us that at low tide, you can always see a croc from this bridge. It is also a good place to fish, we were told. There were lots of people fishing there, but no one was catching everything and by the time we had finished oggling at the crocodile, they had all gone. Finding ourselves there alone, we decided that we too would scaddaddle, just in case!

We are having a final few days of luxury before we hit the real dirt, by staying at Ridges Sabaya Resort in Port Douglas. We meet with Glenys and Chris in Wonga Beach, north of Mossman on Friday and then we will be out of contact probably until we reach Punsand Bay near the tip on 28 July. We may be able to access the internet from Weipa, but I am not counting on it.

I'll try my luck with another photo

Since I last posted we have camped at the beautiful Paluma Range National Park at Jourama Falls, which had some of the prettiest rainforest I have ever seen.

We also camped at Cardwell, Tully Gorge and Etty Bay, where we saw the cassowaries. We had a beautiful camp, right on the beach and from our annex, you couldn't see any sign of civilisation - just the beach and rainforest covered headland. We had been told that our best bet for a cassowary sighting was Etty Bay, after we'd been to two other places where they were supposed to hang out.

Having set up the camper, we were sitting under the annex having a beer when Alan said " The only thing that could make this better, would be for a cassowary to walk past". I said no, because we would have to get up and get the camera out of the car and that would be too much effort. Not more than two minutes later, a cassowary walked right past our camp! And yes, we did have to jump up to get the camera! The photo is of the campsite in Etty Bay, taken from the beach.

Shopping in Cairns

Well, I think the Cavenaghs have spent more than their share of tourist dollars per head in Cairns - in fact we have probably increased the average spend for those other poor tourists!

Firstly we had the bushes replaced in the shocks on the trailer. Tim alerted us to the fact they needed changing before we left Sydney and according to the man at ARB, he was right. While waiting at ARB, I started to browse the 4WD magazines and that lead to a rash (rush?) of other purchases!

We had been discussing replacing the esky in the back of the car with a fridge anyway and the 4WD mag had a product comparision, so we decided pretty easily what to buy. We have also had the shaft of the jockey wheel replaced and I want to buy some summer PJs, now that it is heating up. I've also had a haircut and we have bought enough groceries to last until Darwin, I think.

I'm on a dodgy free wifi spot in a shopping centre, but I will try to upload a photo anyway. Its a cassowary we saw in Etty Bay.

Yes, Ray and Trish, I can read your comments now - thanks.

photos are uploading again!

I have put a photo on the Whitsunday post and one on the Armstrong beach post. As you know, I have been having trouble uploading lately but it is working tonight. I'll include one of Alan's wonderful bird shots - these are bush thick-knees or curlews. We saw them at the Whitsundays.

Alan is becoming really accomplished with his new camera and has taken lots of photos of birds and flowers. We have seen a lot of different birds, but only have two new sightings to add to our list at this stage.

Alan has been pretty good with his sore hip. He has been religiously doing his pilates exercises morning and night and its paying off as he was able to complete a 4 km walk at Blackdown Tablelands NP which included 240 steps. That is 240 down and then 240 up again - so that is 480 steps really, isn't it?

Wonderful Whitsundays

What can I say about the Whitsundays that you don't already know? It is such a beautiful place. We are staying in a 3 star caravan park and its $42 a night! Yes, I know; you knew it was that expensive. But it is lovely and its strangely quiet, even though it is Qld school holidays.

Today we went on a two island ferry trip - Daydream and Long Islands and it was obvious that their occupancy rates were really low. Its sad really as it just cant be sustainable. The weather was a bit squally but not too cold, although we didn't swim, others did briefly.