Nearly a week in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, Queensland and we start to get more comfortable as we figure out where to best store things, try out the washing machine, bake an apple tart in the oven, that sort of thing.

The van gets its first service and now we feel better about traveling at higher speeds. We meet up with Karin & Ferdi, our traveling companions from our Darwin trip two years earlier, as we take to the road with them again. A few hours north, the Sunshine Coast beckons with its undulating countryside, lush vegetation and the hint of a warmer climate. The coastal resort town of Noosa with its luxe atmosphere is our goal but all the caravan parks are booked solid since it’s school holidays for the next two weeks. We end up staying 20K east in the dusty treeless parking lot of the Eumundi Saturday market.

The tiny village itself turns out to be a delightful little spot with a quaint and artsy flair, particularly when it comes to stairways.

After a couple days hiking around Noosa Heads and trying our new folding bikes we continue north, but not before we check out the impressive craft market at Eumundi. Every booth has high quality products, many handmade and original. Too bad our caravan has no room for anything else.

 

 

 

 

For the next two days we are driving about 5 hours a day past cane field after cane field. Towing requires plenty of concentration so we need a break every couple hours. We cross the Tropic of Capricorn at Rockhampton, a former gold mining centre that still has a dozen or so heritage buildings along the river that illustrate its prosperous history. As if on cue, the air becomes warm, balmy and, well…tropical. That evening we enjoy our first meal under the stars.

At Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, we get a little unseasonal rain which ratchets up that tropical feel.  But we are spending a couple nights in a beautiful setting amongst palm trees and birdlife so it’s hard to complain. The beach here is a quintessential paradise with perfectly formed palms around a lagoon that’s meant for swimming since jellyfish are a problem in the warmer waters.  The Whitsundays are worth exploring and we intend to do this on the return trip. For now we want to stick with Karin & Ferdi and their tour of Cape York in “Far” Far North Queensland (FNQ) begins from Cairns in a week.

We bypass Townsville due to lack of vacancies with the Townsville 400 car race on. A couple nights at Rollingstone Beach Resort turns out to be a good choice. We have huge sites on a quiet peninsula, right on a palm-fringed lagoon.  There are few distractions except for yet another lovely beach where we have to keep an eye out for crocs. So we swim in the curvy swim pool complete with a waterfall.

On the next leg of our journey we take a side trip to Wallerman Falls. These are the tallest single-drop falls in Australia at 879 feet, and the 10th tallest in the world. In the USA, only Yosemite Falls beats this. We take the hike right down to the 66-foot deep pool of water at the bottom.

One more stop before Cairns…Mission Beach.  Joe & I were last here in 1981 on our honeymoon to visit the Great Barrier Reef. It’s still unspoiled by high-rises. There are a few more cafes but not much else.  We ride our bikes for miles either side of the town and when we are stymied by stairs, we opt to hike through the rainforest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop…the Cairns area, where we will base ourselves for the next couple months, weather-permitting.