Australia Day 24 – Friday 22nd June

Well, that was an interesting nights sleep. Or not, for Paul. I didn’t sleep too bad, but the train was not smooth and silent. There was some straps that stopped me from falling out of the top bunk – don’t think they were used. I was quite happy up there – had a reading light and a little shelf to put my things on. I woke up at about 7.00am – breakfast was at 7.30am so good timing. I leaned over the top, and asked Paul if he had slept well.; “No” was the answer. “Too hot, bed was too small, covers came untucked, train was too jerky and too noisy”. Oh dear!




I did contemplate taking a shower when Alistair said that he thought he had a hairdryer. But then he couldn’t find it, so decided against it. Look a bit like the wreck of the Hesperus, so will have to sort that out when we get to Brisbane. It looks really grey and cloudy now – think Paul might have to buy a jumper!



Breakfast was again excellent – Paul had full English, I had poached eggs on toast. Eggs came any way we wanted (should have tried the omelette here!) together with pastries, toast, fruit, cereals etc. Whilst we were at breakfast, the beds were put away and the compartment made into seating again. The first main stop was Bundaberg – four hours drive from Brisbane, but a bit longer than that on the train. About six hours to go I think.



The smaller little towns and villages that we have passed through look very much like a scene out of the Wild West. The further we get to Brisbane, the flatter the land. Some of the houses look as if they are in the middle of nowhere. They probably are. We passed the Glasshouse Mountains – named by Captain Cook as he sailed past because they reminded him of the Glass Houses at home. One of them looks more like King Kong than a glass house.



We seem to have gone rather slowly today – having to stop several times to let a tilt train go past. There is only one track, with several passing places, so if another train is either coming faster from behind or the other way one of the trains has to go onto the siding. One of our travelling companions was the station master at Brisbane Roma Street Station, so we got all the ins and outs of the Queensland Railway System.



Lunch was a two course meal – hot quiche and salad, followed by espresso terrine and tia maria cream. Again, an excellent meal. After then, it should have been a couple of hours until we got to Brisbane, due to arrive at 15.55pm. Unfortunately, because of the stoppages, we were running about thirty minutes late. Because of this, another tilt train had been allocated our platform, so we couldn’t pull into the station until 5.00pm. According to our Station Master, this used to happen all the time.



We slowly chugged into Roma Street Station just over an hour late. Fran, Georgina and Madison were there to meet us on the platform. What a lovely surprise! We got the luggage from the luggage car and hopped in a taxi for the short distance to the Sofitel. $6 so it wasn’t far. We checked in, checked out the room, had a lovely shower and then went into the city for dinner. We walked through the centre and then along the river to the South Bank. There is a Brisbane Wheel, similar to the London Eye, and most bizarrely a man playing the bagpipes. A bit like Covent Garden. We had something to eat around here, and then got a taxi back to the hotel as the children were getting tired. Gave Fran a lovely bag of washing to take back with her – nice to get a bit of payback for the years of washing I had to pick up from her bedroom floor! She wasn’t too impressed with the bag – said it made her look like a homeless person. Let’s hope she makes it through the Sofitel Lobby without getting thrown out then!!

Australia Day 23 – Thursday 21st June

Another early start today, to be checked out and left the hotel by 7.30am for our transfer to Cairns Central Railway Station. Breakfast was a meal that we had on our own – the scrambled eggs that were there at 6.30am no doubt would still be there for the customers arriving at 8! Not many people eat this early on holiday out of choice.




It took around half an hour to get to the station – plenty of time for our 09.15am departure of the Sunlander Train from Cairns to Brisbane. We checked in main bags into the baggage car – having to unpack 3kg out of one of them, as they can “only lift a maximum of 20kg due to health and safety”. We had a bag of wet clothes from yesterday that hadn’t dried out from the white water rafting that didn’t help! They did give us an extra bag though – might come in handy at some point.



We are travelling Queenslander Class – and met out Maitre d’ Alistair on the platform, who directed us to our cabin. We have a two berth cabin, that is seating during the day, and converts to bunk beds at night. Wonder who will be getting the top bunk? It is a very long train, but only two carriages of Queenslander Class, some normal sleeper carriages, and some seated carriages. We have a washbasin concealed in the wall, two very slim wardrobes and room for the bags under the seat. There is a shower and toilet at the end of the carriage – no hairdryer though. Might have to rough it on here! But, we also have complimentary robes to take away with us and a bag of toiletries. Didn’t really need to bring anything with us at all.



We pull out of the station at 9.15am exactly – well we aren’t on British Rail are we! No sooner have we pulled out, then Alistair invites us to the Lounge car for our welcome drink. Looks like there is about fourteen of us altogether. We are served orange juice, and then invited to go to the dining car for morning scones and coffee. Can see I might be waddling off this train! The scones were straight from the oven – and served with jam and cream. Paul reckons the best scones he has ever tasted – I will have to get the recipe.



The Sunlander travels between Cairns and Brisbane and vice versa twice a week. You can get on or off at any of the stops inbetween – Townsville, Airlie Beach, Mackay, Yeppon, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg or Maryborough being the main ones, but loads of other little stops as well. The distance travelled is 1600 kilometres over 30 odd hours, so it isn’t a fast train. It is regarded as one of the most scenic rail journeys in the world, being constantly voted in the top 25. It commenced in 1953 – the year of the Queen’s coronation, so quite apt that we should be taking it in 2012 just as she has commemorated her diamond jubilee. The Queenslander Class was added ten years ago, for customers that appreciate those “extra comforts” – like me. One of the hallmarks of this service is the fine dining, with food freshly prepared onboard. There is also commentary when we pass something significant. It is quite an old train, so none of the new fangled gizmos like wifi. They are, apparently, due for a new train in 2014 which will bring it up to date.



As we travel southwards from Cairns, we pass through sugar cane fields, banana tree fields, and seem to be travelling besides the main road –the A1 or Bruce Highway. The cars are overtaking us though! We pass peoples back gardens – it seems banana trees are in back gardens, like apple trees are in our back gardens. The mountains are always in the background, and surprisingly there is no sign of the coast at all.



Lunch is served at 1pm. We had a seafood platter – and wow, what a platter it was. If I had had my camera with me, I would have taken a picture. Eight of the biggest prawns I have ever seen, a whole bug (and for those, like me, that did not know what bugs were, it is a lobster type thing) crab, oysters, fresh fruit and salad. Rather a messy affair – but bowls of water on the table helped. And then apple and rhubard crumble and macadamia ice cream for pudding. I had to leave some!



The afternoon was spent leisurely travelling through the countryside. Paul chatted in the lounge car – I read my kindle now I have some decent books. We are the youngest in this section by some way. One couple have actually brought their car with them. You can drive it on, and then drive it off at the other end!



Dinner was at 7.00pm – and again was lovely. It isn’t the same as the Orient Express, but it still is really good. Whilst we were at dinner, the bunks were made up – and I was right. It was me up the ladder!

Australia Day 22 – Wednesday 20th June

We had breakfast this morning at the Fawlty Towers restaurant again. It really is most bizarre – a complete change of staff, but still the same peculiar service. The waitress said they had scrambled eggs on the buffet, but if we wanted eggs cooked other ways we just had to tell her and the chef would do them. As I do not eat eggs that are not freshly cooked, I asked for an omelette. She said that would cost extra – but I could have eggs cooked any other way and they would be included. I changed it to poached eggs, and went to put my toast in the toaster in preparation. She came back with my eggs eventually, and gave me “hard poached eggs”. Where did that come from? Paul reckons it is my accent. I reckon Basil is out the back.




After the trauma of breakfast, we decided to walk the beach. We walked for two hours, and still didn’t get to the end. This really is a spectacular beach. We probably met less than ten people the whole time we were walking. The sand is lovely, no stones or rocks, and lovely to walk on. Barefoot on the sand – how romantic! Paul was doing all of this without his hat – yippee! There was a life guard station a mile or so up the beach, with a big poster on the side showing all the stinging jellyfish that you will find in the sea. It went from the box jellyfish that will stop you breathing when you are bitten, to about eight others that varied from “seek medical attention immediately” to “soak the sting in vinegar”. There are several vinegar stations along the beach – I wonder how many times they are used?



This afternoon was our white water rafting adventure. This was Paul’s idea – I really did not fancy this one. But, as he reminded me, he has done all the other bits that he didn’t want to do, so I had to do this one. We were collected by a van with “Raging Thunder” on the front – felt like saying I had a raging headache and heading back into the hotel. But I didn’t. We got on the bus, and the driver had rock music on really loud – I could feel this was not going to be my cup of tea. We got to the meeting point at Lake Placid, and met up with the others that were rafting this afternoon – and we certainly were the oldest by several years. Once we had moved everyone up to the starting point, about five kilometres up the Barron River, we were sorted into rafts. I did point out quite loudly that I wanted the “wimp” boat – Paul could go in another one if he wants. Some of the rafts were full of youngsters with dreadlocks and looked as if they wanted to go at several hundred miles an hour. I was hoping not to be put in one of those. We were put with a family of four, and another British guy on a four month trip of Australia – all looked pretty normal, as did the “driver” Mezza. Not sure what to call him, but he was in charge of the raft and knew what he was doing.



We were issued with lifejackets, helmets and paddles (how am I supposed to hold on and paddle I wondered) and walked down to the river. There is a power station a little way up the river, and they let out water periodically that makes the rapids. There was about nine rafts on the water, and there were some crazy people. We were given our instructions – how to hold on when he shouts “hold” and how to get in the boat when he shouts “get down”. Great! We started down, and had to learn all to paddle at the same time, either backwards or forwards. We had to sit on the side, but there was a blown up bit across the raft that you could hook your foot under. Big deal! We started going quite gently – this bit was fine. Then we came across a load of rocks that didn’t look as if there was enough room for a raft to get through. Wrong! We had to “hold” then “get down” then “jump up”. The first two were no problem, jumping up took a bit more time. With both feet now hooked under the blown up bit, and my bottom wedged between that and the bit behind me, jumping up was not an option. Struggling up was more like it. By the time I had got back up, it was time to “get down” again. I could see this was going to be a long afternoon. I was determined not to fall out – I didn’t have any insurance for one thing.



We then got to the first big waterfall. I could see it coming! I “got down” and somehow managed to lose my paddle. Oh dear! Not only was I stuck, wedged in the bottom of the boat, I had lost a major bit of equipment. That will get me out of paddling! At the bottom of the waterfall, Mezza gives me a paddle. “Oh good” I said “You have brought a spare”. “No” he says. “Just picked yours up”. Wonder whether he would pick me up so swiftly? A few in the boat went out at this point for a swim – not me! We picked them up again, and went down a few more rapids. Either I was getting used to it, or it wasn’t very hard. It didn’t seem too bad at all. We got to a big one, and Mezza tried very hard to knock a few people out of the raft. Not me – I was hanging on for grim death. The boat was so full of water, I don’t know how it was still floating.



Then Mezza said that was it. No more rapids, just a gentle paddle to the end. Everyone, including Paul, jumped out of the boat, and got swept down a little rapid. Not me – I was staying firmly in the boat. We picked them up, and then paddled for ten minutes or so until we got to the end. Ha! I had survived. Not too bad either. Until we changed out of our wet clothes, and they had had a photographer taking pictures from the road all the way along. They gave us a slide show, and we could buy all the pictures on a stick for $30. Not bad value. Virtually every picture had me with my eyes closed, looking as if I was in front of a firing squad, and so far down in the boat I was glued to the bottom. Perhaps I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought then!



We were dropped back off at the hotel, and had dinner at Fawlty Towers. The service may be laughable, but the food was really good!

Australia Day 21 – Tuesday 19th June

Today we transferred from Silky Oaks to the Kewarra Beach Resort, about fifteen miles north of Cairns. The drive down the Captain Cook Highway is excellent – perhaps not quite as scenic as the Great Ocean Road, but not far behind.




The fields on either side are full of sugar cane – and yesterday was the day that it was started to be harvested. It should have been about three weeks ago, but unseasonally they had a huge downpour that made the cane too wet to harvest. Even though Silky Oaks is fairly elevated – all the rooms are on stilts – the river runs right next to the resort. There is a couple of tables and chairs by the river, and when it rained last it was so unexpected it caught everyone by surprise. A couple of the staff had to wade into the river to retrieve the furniture from the rising water level. In the wet season, they are partially cut off from the road, and have to use a boat for customers and supplies for the last part of the journey.



There were several eagles, kites and falcons soaring above the sugar cane. As soon as it is started to be harvested, they lurk. There are so many little animals that live in the cane, that all have to run out into the open when it is cut, it is breakfast, lunch and dinner. The most poisonous snake in Australia, the Taipan, also lives in the sugar cane, so I wouldn’t want to get out of the harvester for a smoke or a cup of tea! They have a really neat system of taking it to the factory – all of the fields are connected by train tracks, and little carriages are taken round, filled and transported without any lorries on the road.



The journey south takes around two hours – we used the shuttle bus again, which means we share with other people and have to collect and drop off at various hotels on the way. We had two pick ups, and we were the first to be dropped off, so no problem. The Kewarra Beach Resort is a beach resort, and we are here for two nights before taking the Sunlander Train from Cairns to Brisbane on Thursday. It has a lovely open plan reception, with another lovely restaurant. We are given a cold fruit tea drink on arrival – somehow don’t think that that will take the place of campari in my heart! We are then shown to our lovely little bungalow – I do like these rooms that aren’t just a little box off a long corridor. We can walk out of the balcony doors and straight onto the beach. As we were being shown to the room, we were told that there are two kangaroos that live here, and one has just had a baby. There is also a huge monitor called George. Let’s hope they aren’t so elusive as the nocturnal creatures we didn’t see last night. We walked around the resort to get our bearings, and saw hardly another soul. Either the place is empty, or everyone is out on tours. I saw a sunlounger with my name on it down on the beach. So with kindle in hand – I have had to pay to download a “proper” book, the free ones were getting on my wick they were so awful, perhaps I have just chosen badly – I plonked my bottom down for the afternoon. The first time on this holiday, I think, that we have had an extended period of doing nothing. The only problem was the wind – it wasn’t blowing a gale, but it was blowing. And if you didn’t sit directly in the sun it was cold – yes, cold! I had goosebumps on my arms. Paul decided to sit by the pool until a young family upset his quiet (wonder how many people we have done that to in our past?) then he walked to the end of the beach and back. It is a really long beach – and for the first time I have actually seen people taking their dogs for a walk. I stuck it out though, even though it was really too cold and windy to sit on the beach, and I was the only one left – I am British!



Dinner was an event – the restaurant was a bit like Fawlty Towers. There seemed to be a bit of friction between the few staff that were working – they all seemed to be very busy, but not doing much. We seemed to get ignored as we were sitting by the bar. We ordered menus, and after thirty minutes they still hadn’t arrived. The German lady behind the bar just smiled, and was typically German. The restaurant lady just didn’t want to look at us. It took a little bit of sarcasm to remind them that we paid their wages. That sorted it! Apart from that, dinner was excellent. And German Eva came over and apologised and gave us a complimentary coffee. I thought perhaps she was just having a bad day – on our way out she said her husband was having a heart operation tomorrow, that explained it. Not sure about the others though!

Australia Day 20 – Monday 18th June

A really leisurely start today, as we had nothing planned for definite during the day. We had a late breakfast, thinking that we could then miss lunch. As we have an early dinner booked at 6.00pm as we are going on a two hour guided walk at 8.00pm.




The Lodge has a car that will run you to various places, so we decided to go to Mossman Gorge, as there is a couple of good hikes to do. They dropped us off at 12pm and said they would pick us back up at 2.20pm. We walked down the little lane to get into the Daintree National Park where Mossman Gorge is situated, to be presented with a sign at the bottom saying that the suspension bridge is closed for safety reasons, therefore the bigger loop we were going to do was inaccessible. Bugger! It was, yet again, a lovely day, so we just took our time walking around the smaller loop. There is a vivid blue butterfly called Ulysses that is absolutely stunning – you can see it flying from around a hundred yards away it is such a bright colour. Trying to photograph it is another matter – it hardly ever lands, and so far I have only managed a blue blur. One of these days. The walk around is in rainforest, but on boardwalks so that the plant life is not disturbed. There is also a swimming hole that several people are making use of. We get back to the pick up area around forty five minutes early, so Paul phones the Lodge and they come and pick us up early. Just before they arrived, Paul sees another of the Ulysses butterfly, and whips out his camera to try and video it. Gone before the camera comes out of the case. We drive back to the Lodge, and Paul then realises that he has left his hat where he was sitting trying to get a photo of the butterfly – oh dear, what a shame!



There is a couple of hiking trails to the back of the Lodge, so we decided to do those instead. We had to sign out at reception – if you don’t report back in within a certain time they will send a search party out for you. We get stocked up with water and off we go. The first part is easy – past Melaluca Island, and then we took the Low Trail to get to the Wave Rock Picnic Site. The Lodge will pack up a picnic hamper if you want to make a day of it. That wasn’t so bad. A few rocks and tree roots on the path, so you had to make sure you looked where you were going. At wave rock, you had to jump a couple of boulders into the middle of the river to get a good picture of it. I decided it wasn’t worth getting a wet foot for a picture of a rock, so let Paul do it. He didn’t get wet feet. Just as Paul turned to go back on to the trail, an aboriginal lad appeared from nowhere. He smiled, and jumped onto the rocks in the river. Wonder what he was doing there? Gave Paul a bit of a fright! From there on it got rather more difficult. The path was under a foot wide in places, with tree roots, tree trunks, rocks and you name it all in the way. It was really slow going, and very difficult. “They should make the girls in reception do this, so they warn customers what it is like” says Paul. “You need to be a 78 year Orion passenger at least!”



The sweat was literally pouring off my face. It was so difficult. With everything that crawls and grows on trees, I was a bit reluctant to grab onto anything to help keep my balance, but after a few minutes into this last bit I was grabbing onto anything. At one point a rock fall had completely covered the path, and you actually had to go down the slope and back up the other side to get round it. Whose idea was this? The walk was to Fig Tree Rapids – and soon the rushing water could be heard. Thank god for that! But we weren’t there yet. More tree roots, rocks, and streams were between us and them. It wasn’t so bad going flat, it was all the up and down that caused the problems. But, we made it. There was a group of young people swimming and waving over the other side of the river. “They probably came on the bus” said Paul. He insisted we jumped onto the last possible boulder before the rapids, as we were there. It was lovely to sit down though – the sweat was still poring off my body. There was a big green ant on the rock – probably came out of my shirt sleeve. Goodness knows what hopped onto me whilst I was clinging onto trees and rocks for dear life.



After a five minute rest it was time to start the trek back – and it didn’t actually seem as bad as when we had come. Perhaps I am getting better at it – on second thoughts probably not. We took the Low Trail to get there, and the High Trail to get back. Once we had gone past Wave Rock it was a lot better track – anything would have seemed better than that last bit. I had to peel my clothes off me, they were soaking wet with sweat. Hopefully a few calories burned there then! Paul went for a beer and to check us back in – I wonder how many people they lose on the tracks? He had a chat with one of the managers, who said that an American couple had come back from the trek to Fig Tree Rapids last week and said that the track was impassable. Didn’t make me feel so much of a wimp then! She also told him that the kids we saw swimming across the river were at Mossman Gorge – so it wasn’t so far off that they caught the bus! He then went to the beach billabong for a “refreshing” swim – I think the water was a bit cold. I passed.



On the way to dinner we saw a great big fat toad crossing the path. The cane toad around here is poisonous – no idea what this one was. I had kangaroo risotto for dinner and it was delicious. Medium rare is the only way to have it cooked, apparently, otherwise it tastes like shoe leather. Hand feeding them one day, eating them the next………..such is life.



We went for our night walk with a peculiar old bird called Erin. She liked saying aaaannddd and nothing after it. We did see the Bush Turkeys asleep up a tree on a very slim branch, but not much else of what you can see in the dark. She took us into the rainforest (towards the Fig Tree Rapids Trail, and I thought I can’t do that in the dark) but only a short way. We had to all turn off our torches to see the fireflies – but there weren’t any. We went down to the river to see the turtles – but there weren’t any. We were looking for the insect eating bats flying low over the river – but there weren’t any. Never mind – it was a very pleasant walk!

Australia Day 19 – Sunday 17th June

Early morning alarm call at 7.00am this morning for our “Billy Tea Bush Safari”. Paul wasn’t going to book an early call, as the telephone didn’t tell him which number to press for reception. As he is always quoting Bear Grylls at me – presumably so that I know he can look after me if we ever get lost in the wilds – I told him that one of Bear Grylls top tips was to press 9 if there was no choice. It worked – but I don’t think he saw the humour in it!




Breakfast was in the Treehouse Restaurant (where else?) and was a la carte. Nothing standing about to get overdone here. We were being collected at 08.10am – but they didn’t actually arrive until 08.30am – could have had an extra half an hour in bed. There were six others and the driver in a four wheel drive bus, I think you would call it. The rest had joined the tour in Cairns, so we escaped the long two hour journey to here. We drove about half an hour up the road to Daintree, and stopped for coffee and biscuits at the Daintree River Cruise Centre, before getting on board for an hours river cruise.



The driver of the boat had an expert eye at spotting wildlife, had a wealth of knowledge and also a sense of humour. We first spotted a snake hanging in the tree, then a baby crocodile swimming all on its own. Each section of the river was territory for a female crocodile, Fang, Lizzie and two others I can’t remember, and one male crocodile for all of them – Scarface. We then went into a tributary, which the guide said was Lizzie’s nursery. There we saw baby crocodiles sunning themselves – four in a row on one branch. One lady said that she thought they were plastic, and just put there for tourists, to which the guide replied “The best way to tell is to shove your thumb up their arse”. You had to be there. We then saw Lizzie, and further along Scarface. He was huge. We also saw very pretty Azure Kingfishers, and other birds.



We disembarked the boat at the Daintree River Crossing – the bus had already travelled up river and met us on the other side. We hopped back in, and ascended the Alexandra Range, and got out to take photos at the Look Out. There is an island called Snapper Island that actually looks like a crocodile from a certain angle. You could also see Port Douglas from here.



Once we entered Daintree National Park, we got out for an hours walk in the rainforest. Turns out the driver is also an environmentalist guide, and was very knowledgeable on the vegetation in the area. The Daintree Rainforest is thought to be the oldest rainforest in the world, at over one hundred million years old. It apparently missed the ice age – or the ice age missed it, one or the other. Strange to think of dinosaurs walking around where we were – but looked as if they could have. We also saw a huge golden orb spider in its web. We were looking for the cassowary bird, which is only found up here and is quite rare – there are road signs and speed bumps all along the roads to keep the cars speed down so if one crosses the road it is less likely to get run over. We were all instructed what to do if we saw one – don’t run or scream, because that will make it run after you. He told us to google cassowary attack when we got home to see some very entertaining youtube videos. Someone had changed a couple of the road signs of a “Cassowary Bird Warning” and “Humps” to show a before and after cassowary bird if it got ran over – very funny!



We drove up the road for a bit, and then we stopped at a funny little place for lunch. The driver got all the food out of the back, and there was a barbeque already set up. He cooked the most massive steaks you have ever seen – they covered the plate. There were salads as well. One of the best lunches I think I have had on a day tour. There was also a place here where you could feed kangaroos. They had four or five in a large pen, but were extremely tame. They had a bucket of food, and a couple came bouncing up, One like to kiss and cuddle (yes, I did say kiss and cuddle) and the other liked to hold the bucket and eat itself. Very entertaining, if not a bit touristy.



We then travelled around ten miles past Cape Tribulation to a place called Emmagen Creek. The driver had all sorts of tropical fruit we had never heard of to taste, and also made tea in a billy can. Some went swimming in the creek – there is apparently no crocodiles here. This was just to the side of the “main” road – the road goes all the way to Cooktown, but is only a track that is flooded in some parts. The road is four wheel drive only. The other side of the road there was signs warning of crocodiles – obviously they don’t cross the main road! We then travelled back to Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the reef – literally. The rainforest is all the way down to the beach. There is a lookout point, and then we walked along the beach. The tide was out quite a way. This is one of the very places in the world where this happens.



We then made a quick stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Factory, and tasted whattleseed, mango, raspberry and coconut ice cream (separately, not all together). It was lovely, and very refreshing. We then drove to the river crossing to get on the ferry across to the other side, and then made our way back to Silky Oaks. We got off, but the others had another two hours to go. Excellent!



A couple of hours to relax before dinner. They had brought the patio heaters out again tonight, but not lit them so it must have been a bit warmer. Fish for dinner – barramundi for Paul and Salmon for me. And no dessert. Perhaps the diet has started!

Australia Day 18 – Saturday 16th June

Early morning call at 5.00am this morning, as our flight leaves at 06.55am. What sort of a travel agent books a flight at that time of the morning? Unfortunately, that is the only Qantas flight between Darwin and Cairns, so that is what it had to be. Paul had been a star, and got up to get the washing out of the tumble drier that was still going when we went to bed – I had visions of having to take wet washing with us. At some point the tumble drier wasn’t giving out any hot air, but Paul fixed it. Glad I brought him with me now! It was going to be a squeeze getting all the luggage in the weight limit dry, let alone wet.




I think I have sussed it out now – pack as many heavy things in the little carry on case as you can. They never weigh it, although it states that the maximum hand luggage is 7kg. I probably will get caught, but until I do, the heavy stuff is going in the hand luggage. Good little purchase I think. The taxi arrived at 5.30am, right on time. I did wonder if it would turn up, but give the Medina their due, they had booked and paid for it. It took around twenty minutes to get to the airport – there was hardly any traffic on the roads at that time of the morning. We checked in with no weight problems (hurrah!) and the flight took off on time. The food was absolutely typical airline food – pretty awful. Although we did have poached eggs, and they were cooked to perfection – apart from they were cold. The roll that was served could have easily paved my drive. I broke it in half, and it was hard as a rock all the way through. I thought I would complain, but Paul told me not to bother. I did, the stewardess apologised, and brought me a fresh hot one that was absolutely delicious. It does pay to complain sometimes.



We actually landed fifteen minutes early, and it was smooth getting the luggage. We had a shuttle bus to take us to Mossman and Silky Oaks – and there was someone there with our name on to show us to the bus. This trip is going far too smoothly. The trip was just under two hours, as we had to drop off in Palm Cove and Port Douglas. Quite nice driving through those to have a look. Both places had lots of hotels and people though – I have been getting used to being out in the middle of nowhere.



We arrived at Silky Oaks, and the driver said “I hope you like not having lots of people around” – perfect! We were shown to our River House, which was beautiful. A hammock swinging on the balcony, overlooking a stream somewhere below all the tree canopy. The doors can be left open all night so you can hear the water and the nature – there is a screen that can be pulled out to keep the bugs away. I shall wait to hear for that herd of buffalo to go through first thing in the morning! We were given a list of the hiking trails and guided walks that we can take. Not sure how we are going to fit all of them in.



We had lunch in the Treehouse Restaurant – the only restaurant here. It is all open and overlooks the stream. Stunning! The prices reflect the view though! But the food was good, the service was good, and we are only here a few days. Paul then crashed out for a couple of hours (tumble drier duties catching up with him) so I went by the pool. It is a very natural pool, with very comfy loungers. Unfortunately, the bugs liked laying by the pool as well, and I felt there wasn’t room for both of us. When a couple of bush turkeys came in as well, it was time to go. I went and tried the hammock out – very nice. There was insect coils in the room to light when you were on the balcony to keep the bugs away. I think they did half a job. Hard to avoid them with all the rainforest around.



We then decided to do part of one of the hikes. It was very much like the Annapurna trail, only five minutes from the back of the resort. The little wooden bridges over streams and tree roots covering the paths were so similar. Some of the uphill paths brought back memories as well!

This holiday has been too much eating and not enough doing – my muscles have gone into hibernation. We hiked for about an hour down to Melaluca Island – not really an island, more a heap of stones in the middle of the river. We climbed over to it, and found loads of green ants on the trees. I think I will wait for dinner rather than partaking! It was beautiful, but the light was beginning to go, and I didn’t really want to get stuck in the rainforest in the dark so we started back. We went past the “Beach Billabong” – a sandy area where you can swim quite safely. I thought they had crocodiles around here, but apparently not there. There was a table and chair, but no waiter service! I am used to having my campari brought to me at the most unusual places – what has happened? On the way back we found a pair of sunglasses on a tree – the things they can grow out here are amazing! They weren’t Oakleys, so decided to wait until we came past an Oakley tree before picking them!



Dinner was in the Treehouse Restaurant again – the canopy below was all lit up, and with the noise of the rushing water was just magical. Paul had a crocodile cheesecake for starters – bit like a quiche, couldn’t taste the crocodile at all. Not that he knew what crocodile tasted like. They brought out a whole row of patio heaters as the restaurant was open to the elements – the receptionist had said that they were going through a cold snap. I must admit, it was a bit chilly. Maybe I am just getting used to this warmer weather!