Hazy Days, Waterfalls and 20 Litres of Vodka

When the sun came up on Thursday, it revealed a smoky haze. Not the red dust storm that had hit Sydney and Brisbane, but it turned the sky grey nonetheless.

We had no particular plans, so decided to drive up towards Mission Beach, stopping along the way at Murray Falls. This is a very pretty waterfall, with a picnic area and swimming hole.

We decided to have a sausage sizzle for lunch, then headed to the water to cool off. There were a couple of nice deep pools, surrounded by smooth, water-rounded rocks, which some kids were sliding down.

These kids kindly let us take turns using their rock sliding boards – cut from plastic 20 litre Vodka drums. Such a brilliant idea! They’d climb to the top of the rock, pour a bucket of water down the side to make the sliding path slippery, then sit on the board and slide down the rock, into the icy cold running water at the bottom. It was heaps of fun, although I did manage to have a stack whilst trying to race Steve. Got a bit of air, banged my elbow and came down hard on the raised edge of the plastic (and boy, did I get a whopper of a bruise on my right butt cheek!)

(Hopefully, if Blogger does what it's supposed to do, this will be a short video of me sliding down the rocks on a "Vodka board")

After we finished swimming, we drove to Mission Beach, however the lousy visibility prevented us from having a decent view of the islands. Even Dunk Island was lost in the haze, so it isn't worth uploading any photos of that.

Still, for a completely unplanned, lazy day, we had the best fun.

Wedding Anniversary and day trip to Cairns

Wednesday 23rd September - our 9th Wedding Anniversary.

As we didn’t budget for a lot of extras on our holiday, we decided that we wouldn’t do all activities together. I’d go to Cairns with Bec, Daniel and Daniel’s parents Rob and Cathy, to go on the Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail today, and Steve would do the white water rafting in Tully Gorge (that he really wanted to do) on Friday.

Another early start of course, as we had to be at Freshwater Station in Cairns by 9.30am, and it’s about a 3 hour drive from Cardwell. A lovely day dawned though, and it had really started to warm up by the time we arrived in Cairns. First stop was a detour to the gift shop to buy Scenic Railway fridge magnets. (I have to get one from each place I visit, mostly to annoy Steve, lol)

Here's some of the pertinent info from the tourist guide - "Completed in 1891, the 37 km of track from Cairns to Kuranda ascends 328 metres and includes 15 tunnels, 37 bridges and 98 curves"

The Kuranda Scenic Railway really lived up to its name, but, as everyone is environmentally conscious these days, it was rather hard to get decent photos through the trees.

Although it is dry season, Stony Creek Falls are running, so I did almost manage to get the “postcard” photo, albeit with a narrower stream of water tumbling over the falls than you would usually see in postcards.

Barron Falls were also running nicely, and I got some lovely shots from the viewing platform at Barron Falls Station. (see photo below)



We had a few hours in Kuranda before our scheduled trip back on the Skyrail, so we wandered around the shops and markets then had an overpriced lunch in one of the pubs. After lunch, there was more browsing around the shops, where I taste-tested and bought a bottle of Mango Port, before heading to the Skyrail gift shop for (you guessed it) another fridge magnet!

The Skyrail gondolas seat 6, so we were able to travel together. It is almost like flying, being that high above the rainforest canopy. There was another fantastic view of Barron Falls and further downstream to the Hydro-Electric Plant. There are two stations along the route back down from Kuranda. We got off at Red Peak to walk along the rainforest boardwalk, then boarded another gondola for the rest of the trip down from the mountains.

Kuranda Skyrail Station - looking out over Daniel and Bec's shoulders to the next gondola

View out over the rainforest canopy from the Skyrail gondola

Self in the gondola on the downhill stretch

A quick stop off in Cairns to go to JB Hi-Fi, so that Bec could buy a charger for her dead camera battery, then we headed back home to Cardwell.

When I arrived home I had to hurry and get dressed because Steve had arranged for us to have dinner at the restaurant at Cardwell Marina for our 9th wedding anniversary. Helena, Jason and their family kindly offered to look after Cheyenne so that we could eat dinner in peace for a change.

All in all, it was a very nice day, and I’m glad I decided to go to Kuranda.

And We're Off...

(Well, actually we're home, but the internet access while we were away was expensive and a bit slow, so now that we're back I can finally upload my holiday blog)

We were on the road at 3am, as planned, with only a small amount of resistance from Cheyenne. “It’s still night time!” She was a little happier when she realized that even though the sun wasn’t up yet, it was her birthday already. The song playing on the radio as we drove off down our street was “Road To Nowhere”, which we thought was quite appropriate.

Happy 6th birthday, Cheyenne!

Our first stop was the BP Travel Centre Caboolture, to meet up with our travelling companions. Going on the holiday with us were friends Helena and Jason, their two kids Chante and Robert, Robert's mate Brookes, Jason's brother Daniel and his girlfriend Bec. Steve had offered our spare seat to Chante, so that she didn’t have to squeeze into the back seat of the Mazda BT50 with the two boys. It also meant that Cheyenne had someone to talk to on the way up. The girls kept each other amused for 14 hours, luckily for us!

The trip was reasonably uneventful, other than Steve losing a bearing cap off the boat trailer and having to stop at Supercheap in Rockhampton to buy a pair of bearing buddies, and re-grease the wheel bearing. A late afternoon stop at KFC in Mackay, and we were on the road again, arriving in Cannonvale around 6.30pm. This gave us just enough time to check into the cabins at the Seabreeze caravan park, have a shower, walk up the road to Hungry Jacks to have dinner, and get back in time to watch the Broncos game.

Sunday morning, after feeding some lorikeets that landed on the railing of our cabin, we drove out to the lookout at Shute Harbour, took a few photos in Airlie Beach, and hit the road again, arriving in Cardwell by mid-afternoon.

Hand feeding lorikeets at the caravan park at Cannonvale.

Home sweet home for the week

The cabins are very basic, but are located together, close to the amenities block. The three cabins have their own covered bbq area with outdoor setting, which is just as well, seeing as the only cooking facilities the cabins have is a microwave (with only a small microwave jug to cook in!) and an electric frypan. Steve did bring up his single burner gas cooker, but there is, of course, no saucepan, so cooking the cheerios and hotdogs could present a challenge!

View from Cardwell Beach near the jetty, showing part of Hinchinbrook Island in the background

An evening visitor on the railing of the cabin.

On Monday morning the boys took their boats out and went fishing, while the girls drove back into Ingham to do a bit of grocery shopping and have lunch.

We have a few ideas of things we’d like to see and do while we are in the area, including a day trip to Cairns, but I guess we’ll have to see how things pan out.

1000 Miles Away (Road Trip)

"Estimated time of arrival 9.30 a.m.
Been up before the sun and now I'm tired before I even begin."

Ah, classic Hoodoo Gurus. Love that song! Apart from the ETA being slightly different (more like 4 or 5pm !), I think it'll be the theme song for our trip! Instead of resting up before we leave, we've had several rather late nights this last week, getting everything ready, so we will definitely be up before the sun and tired before we even begin!

Yes, we're leaving home Saturday morning at 0300 hours (and in the words of another well-known quote from Good Morning Vietnam... OMG THAT'S EARLY! ), meeting our travelling partners at the Burpengary BP Travel Centre, filling up the tanks, grabbing a coffee and heading north.

The ultimate destination is Cardwell, on the Hinchinbrook Channel, however we are only going as far as Cannonvale the first day. Cannonvale is on the road out from Proserpine to Airlie Beach. We were only going as far as Mackay, except that it seems rather difficult to book one night's accommodation there during school holidays.

We figure it will be about a 14 hour drive (hence the ungodly departure time), although everyone you talk to seems to have varying estimates. "Oh yeah, we've done Mackay in 10 hours", for example. Sure, OK, but were you sticking to the speed limit?? According to the RACQ Trip Planner it is 1078 kms from our place to Cannonvale, then another 434 from Cannonvale to Cardwell. (Not quite 1000 miles, but around 940 anyway)

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the early start, I'm sure I will be OK. I do feel rather sorry for Cheyenne though, as she will be spending the majority of her 6th birthday in the back seat of the Navara. Yes, her birthday is the first day of the school holidays, and she'll be stuck in the car for 14 hours! We do have a portable DVD player in the car for her, and she has a brand new Nintendo DS and 3 games, which we got her for her birthday, but it isn't as fun as having friends over for a party. At least she'll be able to say "Mummy and Daddy took me on holidays for my birthday!"

Anyway, I really need to go and finish the last minute packing, then see about getting the fan belt replaced on the Navara... in between the million and one other things I still need to do. Don't even get me started! Steve did have a spare fan belt "just in case", but notices last night there's a worn patch/hole in the current one.

Hopefully I will be able to get to an internet cafe while we are away, to blog some more about our holiday. Stay tuned.

Goodbye Mrs J

Cheyenne's Prep teacher, Kelly Johnson, left last Friday to go on maternity leave, so as of this week, PKJ has had a new teacher, Miss Crabtree.

Mrs J has been a fantastic teacher and will be missed very much by Cheyenne and her classmates. The children are sad to see her go, but also excited about (hopefully) getting to see her new baby when it is born. Mrs J is hoping to be back at work sometime next year to see her Prep class "all grown up" as Grade 1 students.

Cheyenne may not know it yet, but your first teacher makes a permanent impression on you, which will shape your attitude towards your education. She is very lucky to have had a great teacher like Mrs J for Prep, and it seems like Miss Crabtree may be just as lovely.

Cheyenne with Mrs Johnson at her Going Away Party.

Dramatic hair? Yeah! Yeah!

Well, I decided that it has been too long since I had anything done with my hair. Just before my birthday, in October last year, in fact. Doesn't time fly?

As I mentioned in my post back then, I was sick of spending lots of money and only getting subtle (read "totally unnoticeable") results. This time I went to a different hairdressing salon, with younger, "trendier" hairdressers. You know the sort... overdyed black hair with blue or purple streaks. I figured anyone with bright blue in their hair would not err too much on the side of caution, lol.

Turned out to be a good decision, I think. Nothing cautious or subtle about my hair this time. It's dramatic, and I love it.

The funniest part of this is that it still took Steve a full 5 minutes of me standing next to him, to notice! Then his eyes went wide, he started laughing, and asked why my hair is pink. "That's the colour my hair is now, that's why." The blonde foils at the front have picked up some of the red, but they tell me that should settle down after a wash or two. Not that I mind being a strawberry blonde though. Steve says it will grow on him, and all that matters is that I'm happy with it. No worries there, as I couldn't be more happy with it. Not so sure it will match the outfit I plan on wearing to a friend's wedding, but I'll worry about that later, lol.

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day...

Teach a man to fish...

...and he will spend every spare dollar on boats, fishing gear and bait! (not quite how that saying goes, but definitely a lot more accurate than the original)

Well, since it has been nearly a month since our trip away at the Rainbow Beach Family Fishing Classic, I thought I should stop being slack and finally post about it.

This was the last year that Cheyenne and I would be going for the entire competition, since we will not be taking her out of school once she starts Grade 1, and the comp is not held during the school holidays. As they have done since they retired, Steve’s parents came along with us for the ten days.
The weather was fabulous and the fishing was good. The accommodation? Well, let’s just say we will never stay in that unit again. A certain real estate needs a slap upside the head and an education in maintaining accurate listing photos on their website. We had been booked into Kagari No.2, but thankfully, due to a last minute cancellation had changed our booking to Kagari No.1 (the front unit with more yard space)… and it is just as well !
If we had ended up in the converted garage (the back unit) I daresay Consumer Affairs would have been hearing about how the photos which are supposedly of Unit 2, are actually of Unit 1. In fact, Unit 2 is clearly not worth the amount of money required to rent it (for 10 days it was only $36 more for the front unit), and that is before you take into account the dodgy electrical wiring in both units (the electrician who came to fix one of our power points said he had never seen anything like it in all his years of electrical work) and the pint sized hot water system which is shared by both units!

Steve managed to get a couple of daily prizes for his fish, Cheyenne scored some random draw kids prizes and Steve’s dad jagged a nice Waeco esky in a random weight fish draw. Steve caught a stonker whiting (.605 grams gilled and gutted) on about the third night of the comp and it stayed on the board as the heaviest, right up until the second last night, when it was knocked off by a somewhat dubiously caught whiting that went .700 grams, gilled and gutted. The woman in question claimed it was caught in the surf, but it was dark skinned, like fish trapped in lakes and estuaries, and her husband is known to work alongside pro net fishermen. Nothing could be proven however, so she took out first prize ($400) for Overall Heaviest Whiting and Steve’s took out second prize ($200).

All in all it was a good week and a half. Shame I’m missing out next year.

Steve with the 2nd Heaviest Overall Whiting

Compare the sizes. The Whiting that Cheyenne is holding is around 26cm long, Steve's was about 47cm.

How NOT to drive on the beach! This poor guy thought he was following the shoreline of the beach at low tide, until he ended up on a sandbank and sunk up to the sidesteps on his Rodeo. They borrowed Steve's snatch strap but were unable to shift it. This was taken after the tide had come in and was on the way out again. The tow truck dragged it out at low tide for the sum of $200.