Refuge of the Roads

31^st July

Just a short update.

It's Saturday night here in Townsville. We catch the ferry from here tomorrow to go to Magnetic Island for 3 days. After the simplicity of camping in the outback, the Holiday Inn seems almost overwhelmingly luxurious.

The last few days have been amazing, we've been right up close to - kangaroos, wallerroos, minature wallabies, kookaburrahs, lorikeets and a small flock of emus.We've climbed extinct volcano cones, walked along bush tracks, drank fizzy wine and watched the sun go down with a mixture of Belgians, Kiwis, French Canadians and Swiss people - them trooped off together to watch microbats muster in the pitch black of a lava tube...

The size of outback Queensland is unimaginable, we drove 468km from Undara to Townsville today on empty, at times barely surfaced roads. Some idea of the size of the place can be gleaned from one sign - it said next petrol 248Km. I counted 45 minututes in the middle of the day when I did not see another car.

I think the wilderness slightly freaked Laura, as we got within 20km of Townsville we passed a small collection of houses, 'civilisation' Laura exclaimed, then counted us back into the known world...'lamposts! a roundabout, traffic, a supermarket...and so on.

Anyway, we'll keep in touch one way or another.

Love

Dad, Mum and Laura

Up with the lorikeets

July 30th

Hi all,

I’m writing this on the netbook’s little word processor sitting on the deck outside of the our tent in the middle of the bush in the middle of nowhere. We have left civilisation as we know it and drifted beyond, much to Laura’s discomfort, the world of WiFi.

I know this seems a dumb thing to say, but it never struck me why the Australian Bush is so called. It IS full of bushes, or rather small, spindly, water starved gum trees - for more square miles than a European mind can conceive.

We left Port Douglas yesterday and drove over the Great Dividing Range, through wet and dry rain forests, past sugar cane plantations, peanut farms and mango orchards which cover the Atherton Tablelands.

It’s about 300km from Port Douglas to the Undara National Park, the last 120km on long, straight roads through empty bush land with hardly another vehicle in sight apart from occasional 50m road trains pulled by huge American-style trucks sporting enormous bull-bars - in in this case, I suppose, roo-bars, judging by the road-kill.

It is very wonderful camped out here, the stars last night were just amazing, and we woke this morning, just as the sun rose, to a chorus of lorikeets feeding on the flowering bushes outside our tent. Lorikeets are rainbow coloured small parrots -they swoop and flash between the lower branches squawking and bickering over territory. 

Mum is not over-impressed with the giant magpies however, as it would seem they’ve nicked our last banana while we were at breakfast. 

Breakfast was cooked-up in a clearing in the bush, bacon and the works with coffee served up from a billycan heated by an open fire - Australians, it would seem take the Jolly Swagman myth very literally, though I have to say, Matilda has yet to invite me to waltz.

Then there’s the wallabies…from time to time they hop through the campground, sometimes alone, sometimes with a joey in tow - we’re going to drive 9km to another part of the national park and climb up an old volcanic cone - apparently there is a good view (of more bush) from the top.

By the time I’ve sent this we’ll be back on the coast heading for Magnetic Island.

Love you both,

Dad, Mum and Laura.

Fish are Friends not Food

July 26th

This 'Finding Nemo' sentiment seems lost on most Australians who having got down green and ecological on the Barrier Reef today, snorkelling up close to the entire cast of Finding Nemo, were not averse to devouring with gusto fishy friends and relations over lunch.

Today has been brilliant (if mind crunchingly expensive). We took a fast boat about 50km offshore to a pontoon moored on Agincourt Reef on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Good snorkelling, lots of pretty fish, informative and a friendly crew - we're all knackered here having exercised flipper muscles none of us knew we had.

We have some fairly hilarious video of the three of us in black lycra one piece 'stinger suits' including close fitting hoods. The effect should be sleek Ninja, but in reality the result looked more like a re-enactment of the Three Bears by tadpoles.

Yesterday was all very ecological too, we visted the Daintree Rainforest a few miles north of here and took a 4km walk through the forest - giant hardwoods, ferns and creepers straight out of Tarzan, The place is supposed to be teeming with life - we did see some brightly coloured butterflies the size of bats - a very friendly wild jungle turkey and a small rat-like rodent - but most of the creatures are either shy or nocturnal.

Later we drove further on through the forest, over a ferry (the Daintree river is full of crocs) to a remote beach called Cow Bay - an empty tropical cove at the end of a track through the forest.

Tomorrow we're just going to spend a day in Port Douglas - partly because it's a lovely, quite posh tropical resort - all lo-rise colonial style buildings developed since the 1980's - though the roots of the port go back to a goldrush in the 1880's. It is very lovely here - a manicured tropical paradise with all mod cons. We've been travelling and going flat out for almost two weeks - we just need to chill for a day - and do boring necessities like laundry.

Then it's off camping in the outback in the Undara Volcanic Park - bushwalking and giant bats....hmmm

love from the upside down three. xxx

Tropical Paradise

July 24th

Hi,

We left Sydney somewhat blearily after an all night party....no, we have not reverted to over-aged 20 somethings, it's just the area of Sydney where we were staying consisted of a heady mixture of backpacker hotels, massage parlours, both therapeutic and ‘adult'. all night drinking establishments and Asian fast food outlets. Consequently, although the intrepid Turpies were all safely tucked up by 9:30pm. sharp, the neighbourhood wasn’t and, although Laura slept through the subsequent whooping, hollering, Harley Davidson revving, baroque brass horn concerti and general merriment, Mum and I spent the small hours experiencing every whoop, holler and rev. 

We were up at 7:30am. to buy breakfast from the very German bakery across the way, and still the revellers had not gone home; they'd reached the alpha male stage of inebriation, so we bought our kaffe and kuchen as burly Polynesians faced-off pissed-up scrawny Australians with much chest poking, and gorilla-like posturing fuelled by a dangerous cocktail of testosterone and Tooheys.

Well, it beats popping out to W H Smiths to buy a Sunday Times.

But, the airport shuttle turned up on time, Qantas duly plucked us from Sydney and plonked us in Cairns three hours later, and we drove 60kms up the James Cook highway to Port Douglas on a road fringed by gum tree covered hills overlooking palm fringed coves, each one seemingly trying to outdo the other as candidates for the next cover of a Kuomi brochure.

And so, here we are, on the balcony of our apartment in 'By the Sea' in Port Douglas. We're about 50m from 'Four Mile Beach'. I can't actually see the Pacific - we're on the garden side of the block, but I can hear it, and above the Southern stars are twinkling away - maybe after I've finished this glass of beer we'll take a stroll down to the beach to take a proper look at the stars and think about tomorrow - Mossman Gorge - the oldest rain forests in the world...or snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef....oh the challenges of having choice!

On the plane I read half of Walt Whitman's 'Song of Myself' - I think Mr. Whitman would like it here, it seems very much a place of ones own making, unconstrained by received ideas and hierarchy.

Time for star watching.

love to you both,

Dad xxx

Manhattan Feet

 July 23^rd.

Remember the day we walked from Battery Park, though Greewich Village, through the Financial District and the WTC site, a quick visit to the UN building then split - Matthew and I went to the Witney, Mum, Sarah and Laura to Bloomingdales......do you recall what our feet felt like.. You've got it, it stopped raining - with one day left before flying to Queensland, we had to DO Sydney in a day

So, this morning we went to Bondi Beach, big surf, big surfers, a big boomarang shaped bay with breakers rolling in. We found a great restaurant at the north end of the beach serving italian inspired food - beautifully cooked and presented - the atmosphere was really lively and buzzy playing a nice mix of late 50's beebop - very cool!

Coming to earth with a bump, we caught to bus into the city centre through the eastern suburbs. Sydney is odd. On the one hand it is a recognisably Victorian/Edwardian City - think Manchester or Liverpool. Paddington could be Withington - but the Victorian archetype has been transformed - partly simply being translated to another hemisphere, but mainly by being changed by outdoor culture. Even in mid-winter people are sitting outdoors in cafe's - I've never seen such commitment to cafe culture.

The other transformational factor is affluence. The CBD is packed full of landmark tower blocks - shimmering glass above the shimmering harbour - that's where the Manchester analogy breaks down.

Next, we caught the ferry across to the North Shore, walked back across the Harbour Bridge (built by Australians, forged in Middlesborough!) - the sun came out, yachts and ferries crossing the harbour - an amazing sight.

By the time we walked through Central Quay to the Opera House it was evening, and as we walked the couple of miles back our hotel in Kings Cross the lights of Sydney's skyscrapers lit up the horizon through silhouetted eucalyptus and palm trees. A day to remember.

Up early tomorrow - to fly to Cairns

Hope you are both ok.

We'll stay in touch - but I'm not sure how the internet will work in the next place.

big hugs

Dad

xxx