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.