Townsville....Magnetic Island

The four of us piled in the car and headed south to Townsville. Luckily the cyclone hit south of the town...so although the water was murky and the rivers flowing high, there was no damage. I found us another two bedroom apartment...this one with an incredible ocean view!!! We looked down on the beach and across to Magnetic Island from our patio. One morning we drank our coffee and watched sea turtles bob in the surf.

The view of the pool and Magnetic Island. It was a saltwater pool, and the perfect temp for a swim!

The next day we took a ferry over to Magnetic Island. It was named by Captain Cook- when his ship went by his compass would not work. Later research showed that the island is not magnetic, but the name stuck.

The island is known for being a Koala sanctuary. On one of our hikes we passed this little guy (later named George by my facebook friends) he was SOUND asleep almost at eye level. You could almost reach out and touch him.

The island is covered with WWII buildings...we peeked into one bunker and I discovered (after hearing much squeeking and fluttering) this group of bats. Lucky for me, they stayed put. I'm not sure how I would have handled bats flying at my head. I was already wary from the sign that said "warning...watch out for Death Adders (deadly snakes)" Note how they are in the formation of a bat. Pretty cool.

The view from one of the lookout towers over to the other. They also had a large gun that only had been fired once...by mistake. Luckily the Japanese never attacked. The view was amazing...360 degrees. We also found a snake in the grate of one of the ceilings. We decided NOT to poke it.

After our hot hike...some girls told us about a waterfall. It was soooo refreshing! Here are Rick and Paula enjoying a swim.

We then climbed down a treacherous trail to Rocky Bay....note all the rocks. ;) Very secluded and beautiful. The island had probably 10-15 bays you could explore...all very different. Unfortunately we did not get to snorkel...the water was not clear enough. We were also told not to swim due to "stingers"...the man at the local store said that if we got stung by one of their jellyfish we would "be in the hospital for a week and scream for a month". Okay. Nuff said.

The next day we drove out west to a old gold mining town. It was really quite boring..and none of us took pictures. We ate lunch and headed back to Townsville! After a swim in the pool we watched the sunset off our deck and headed out for dinner. The blog will be quiet for a while. We are currently at the airport heading back to Portland to be with family...time undetermined. I promise we will be back on the road and blogging soon!

Cairns...Port Douglas...Great Barrier Reef!

We left Brisbane and flew into Cairns after midnight. Cairns is a tropical town, right off the Great Barrier Reef. It's also a tourist "trap"....so our plan was to head north to Port Douglas the next morning (cute little fishing village) PRONTO. But first....we went to the airport to pick up Paula and Rick, Dean's sister and bro-in-law.
I found a killer two bedroom apartment right between the beach and the marina, and stumbling distance to all the cute shops, restaurants and bars. We even had a hot tub on our patio!

We ate dinner at the marina....found a "club" that allows visitors. This is a view from the patio. The cyclone was about to hit the coast of North Queensland...luckily to the south of us...but the weather was pretty tumultuous.

The next morning we woke up to improved weather...and we hit the road to Cape Tribulation....part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. (ie. Rainforest) We explored Mossman Gorge and took a Crocodile cruise on the Daintree river. Above (in the very center) is a 2 week old crocodile. It has a 1 in 10 chance of surviving. Tiny, tiny little thing.

Next up...a 25 year old female. We gave her space. Apparently there is one big daddy of a crocodile who rules the area. The rest are all females. The waters are dangerous...apparently a five year old child got snapped up only a few years back.

On the log is a one year old croc. We also saw some colorful birds and butterflies. As well as a python curled up in a tree....

View of the river...we called it the Jungle Book Ride.

The drive to Cape Trib was full of walks and lookouts. Here we are with Paula and Rick. We even stopped for homemade ice cream...wattleseed, coconut, mango banana and something I have never heard of before....hmmmm....

We encountered this sign wherever we went. This bird is endangered....and I later learned it can DISEMBOWEL you with a single toenail. Later...after we came upon the bird. Note the "do not run" are you kidding me?

AND....here is the Cassowary....a mommy no less. Kind of like a momma bear. Apparently a stream of explatives came out of my mouth when the MASSIVE bird came out of the woods right next to my side of the car. We fumbled for the camera...and managed to snap a few quick photo's. Talk about Big Bird.....yikes. It was as tall as Dean.

The baby.....cute little thing. Note Momma's massive backside. They had traffic at a standstill.....

Next day we dove the Great Barrier Reef....We did a combined snorkel/scuba trip....so that Paula and Rick could join us. Our "superhero" suits are for avoiding "stingers". I wholeheartedly agreed with them, having been stung previously. The dive was incredible...although the water was still a bit cloudy from the recent storms. We saw two turtles...got to pet a fish larger then ourselves (Marvin)....Dean and Paula saw sharks...the coral was brightly colored and we saw huge schools of fish. Great day!

The next day we RELAXED. Above is a picture of our pool...which we lazed next to....we walked the beach and we cooked up a delicious dinner of fish taco's...probably the best meal we had. After four days in Port Douglas it was time to move on. The cylone hit hard...but it hit just south of Townsville...which was our next vacation destination. Time to hit the road!!!!

From Manly Beach to Brisbane....

Sadly, we left Manly Beach (loved it there!) and headed north for Brisbane. As we drove the air grew warmer and much more tropical. We were heading to the land of surfing, yoga, banana's, dolphins and cockroaches. First stop was Port Stephens, a nice little beach town.

After walking the beach we headed into town for some Indian food. At dinner, Dean sweetly asked "Can I take your picture?" After taking the photo he then told me to look over my shoulder..and there was the cockroach. Luckily a man from another table (he called himself the Great White Hunter) came over and disposed of the large man eating roach. The owner's of the restaurant didn't even blink an eye.

Next day we drove on to Coff's Harbour where Russel Crowe has a ranch (would have dropped in..but no time). We made our way down to the harbour for some delicious seafood (Paella to be exact...Mom yours is better!)

Coff's has been growing banana's since the 1880's..they even have a theme park (that we skipped!)

Next stop Byron Bay...a town with a hippy vibe. You surf AND do yoga. We went out to Cape Byron where after two months of traveling along various coasts I FINALLY saw some dolphins! A pod of bottlenose were riding a wave....too quick for me to take a photo.

We wandered down to the beach and poked around the tidepools. Very picturesque.

Wish we could stay another day!

That evening we went out on the town to celebrate St. Paddy's Day!!! Australian style. They even brought in the Guinness. In fact we introduced some young Aussie girls (drinking age is 18) to their first sips of Guinness. They bought one of their own and stated, "his (Dean's) tasted better!

Next morning we hit the road for Brisbane. We passed along the Gold Coast....the Vegas of beaches. Luckily for us we managed to take the wrong road...so skipped most of the glitzy stuff. We did stop in beautiful Tweed Heads...above is a famous surf beach. Interestingly enough all the action was happening on the other side of the point, where the Cyclone waves were coming in.

We found a spot in the shade and watched the surfers hit it hard! Note the Brisbane city skyline in the background....

The waves were HUGE. We saw some impressive moves. It was actually more fun to watch then the surf competition we saw on Bondi Beach.

Made it to Brisbane for dinner and our late night flight to Cairns. In Cairns we are meeting Paula and Rick, Dean's sister and bro-in-law. Ten more days of beach and rainforest...and hopefully some diving on the Great Barrier Reef if the cyclone allows....! Cross your fingers!!!

Canberra, Kiama and Manly Beach

After Snowy River we hit the road, with no real destination in mind. After a few hours we came into Canberra....the capitol. We road up their "sky tower" to capture the view above. Nice city...but just another city. We decided to head for the coast.

But first....at the Visitor's Center we noticed that on our way out of town was the National Sheepdog Trials. We decided to check it out! Fun to watch....they have to navigate a course and drive the sheep through different obstacles.

Over the bridge...not easy. This sport requires good whistling skills and lot's of patience!

We landed in the town of Kiama...and found a motel right across from the beach that had a cancellation! Yeah! This is a rock pool for swimming. No sharks! It looked like fun...but it wasn't exactly warm out...and the water was chilly.

The next morning we hike out to a point that had lava rock formations. The ocean was like a huge washing machine. Would not want to swim there!

We drove back up to Sydney and hit Bondi Beach (the famous) on a Saturday afternoon during a surf competition. Talk about traffic and TONS of people. The competition was fun to watch. The people a little annoying....

Some tourists did not want to carry their shoes onto the beach. I told Dean we should pick out a pair after they left...but I think our feet are to big.

We headed to Manly beach...which is just as famous...but more our speed. Kind of the Carmel of Australia. I called the Visitor's Center and they gave me the number to the greatest B&B. What a find. We had the entire upstairs to ourselves....we decided to stay 2 nights!

This is the view from our room and the porch...not bad!

They have a walkway that goes for miles....we started walking and snapping photo's....this is looking back at Manly. Our B&B was right next to the tall apartment building.

The view from the point looking out towards Sydney. The ferry goes every 30 minutes or so....

That evening we took the ferry over to Sydney right at sunset! So beautiful. We saw the fruit bats flying overhead. We grabbed dinner...and headed back after dark to see the city lights at night. Quite a cruise. Heading up the coast now towards Brisbane....

Snowy River...heaven.

We flew from Tasmania back to Melbourne...and realizing we had 10 days before we had to be in Cairns we decided to rent a car and drive all the way to Brisbane. We would be getting a lot of "beach" later in the trip...so we decided to head for the mountains. Growing up I was a big (horse crazy) fan of "The Man from Snowy River" film. So why not check out the Snowies? We headed for a YHA that was on a cattle, sheep and horse ranch right off the Snowy River. The man on the phone assured me that they could arrange some horse riding...although they had something going on...but his accent was so strong that I didn't have a clue what it was. We arrived late in the evening in the dark...and slept in our little cabin that was once used by loggers. The next morning we discovered that a "camp" of 40 kids was arriving at noon. No horse ride...We decided to move on....but first we walked around the property playing with the dogs, pigs, cattle, horses....and waking up a very sleepy little Koala in a tree!

We packed up and decided to take a TINY, wee, little dirt road all the way to the Snowy Mtn's.
We met some Scot's who assured us that the road was horrible. We were driving a compact Hyundai, but what's a little adventure? It's a rental. On the way we stopped at many scenic lookouts....above is the biggest gorge in Victoria. Actually fairly impressive...in the middle of nowhere!

Another stop along the Snowy River. Founds some huge burrows that later we discovered were dug by Wombats. We were waiting for a giant wild pig to come running out. Smart? Maybe not.

At the end of the road we found rolling green pastures....and beautiful Snowy River horses! We headed in to Jindabyne....a ski resort town that is sleepy in Autumn. We found a visitors center, and discovered a bunch of cabins and chalets that are on the same property as a place for horse riding. SOLD.

Our little cabin was beautiful...all windows looking out on green pastures and horses (and soon to discover ALL kinds of wildlife). We were on acres of property, and had the place to ourselves. We decided to stay two nights.

Our view from the cabin. The horses we would get to ride the next day...and feed carrots to

On our little nature walk we discovered tons of colorful parrots...red and blue, green and blue.

When we opened our curtains the next morning we found pink and grey cockatoo's in our driveway. The bird noises are incredible here. If you ever get a chance to hear a Kookaburra....you will crack up. They make a "laughing" noise...sounds like a monkey. Makes me smile every time. There is also a black bird that sounds like a dying cat. Creepy. Heard it the first time in the middle of the forest...I think I started running...;)

We got our cups of tea and went for a morning walk, only to discover a "herd" of Kangaroo's right outside the door. At night and in the morning they are EVERYWHERE. You can't NOT see a roo. The big male in the middle is on all four feet, but when he stood up, I backed up.

Took a two hour ride on Boofhead and Flora. Our guide was great...he "rehabs" most of his horses. Both Boof and Flora were headed for the slaughterhouse. He trains horses to ride without reins or saddles. We left the snowies and decided to stop in whatever town appealed to us! Traveling by the seat of our pants....