Allright... a week without internet, or with very dodgy internet and no energy to post anything. We've been too busy having fun and we're feeling fortunate every day. We've driven nearly 2000 km at this point and accomplished about 5/6 of our drive from Brisbane north to Cairns along Australia's East Coast. We've seen dozens of dead kangaroos and wallabies along the side of the road, so we were excited to see live wallabies yesterday at a nice wetland park (photos below).
Anyway... Those of you who know me (Aldona) and the extent of my arachnophobia will appreciate the sacrifice I'm making to post this: it's after dark, I'm sitting in a chair outside the reception of the place we're staying in in Cardwell, and there are no nets to separate me from the fauna of this place, which is fierce. We're in crocodile country (OK, not likely to be a threat at this place and time) and we're in serious bug/spider/insect-nastiness country, which IS likely to pop out unexpected, especially after dark. So... I've uploaded the photos and I'm going to breeze over some basic captions to say what's what. We miss you all and thank you for your comments!!! Probably no internet again until we're back in Cairns on the 26th or Brisbane on the 27th. Our phone seems to have a problem picking up your calls, although we can call Canada no prob. We've extended our time before it goes to voicemail, so keep trying.
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| Still back in Brisbane, Jake and Steve thought this Chardonnay must not be overlooked. :) |
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| Just out of Brisbane, heading north... Oh, Steve Irwin really died before his time. |
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| City Hall at Maryborough, the birthplace of the Author of Mary Poppins. |
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| We thought these vehicles were status symbols until we got further north in Queensland. Flooding appears to be a problem. |
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| Um... draw your own conclusions. Maryborough. |
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| Inside an ancient store/museum in Maryborough. |
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| Bundaberg is the site of a sugar mill and a famous rum factory. Two of my favourite things. |
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| Lunch at Reefworld in Rockhampton. |
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| Lettersaurus was a good choice to bring to the Southern Hemisphere. |
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| Katie and the 45 year old Loggerhead Turtle called... Forget now... |
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| "I want MORE TURTLE!!!" |
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| Oh yeah... Mary Poppins! |
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| At the rum factory... |
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| Capricorn Caves, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn, which we passed after dark. 23 degrees South for those of you who are not map nerds. :) A special imaginary line on the globe, like the Prime Meridian -- but different. The sun is directly overhead this point on earth during winter solstice. |
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| Aptly named Sky Window at Eungella National Park |
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| Eungella |
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| Katie and the Brush Turkey -- we're all about providing her with new experiences. :) |
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| Platypus habitat. Turns out not a good place to swim (see below). Dirty little critters! |
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| Platypus. |
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| Strangler fig tree. Enough said. |
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| Granite Bend -- our first hike with Katie in the "Dry Rainforest". We dragged the stroller backwards. :) |
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| Rum and Cola in a can. Brilliant. |
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| Our accommodation in Eugella. |
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| The lifeblood of Queensland -- sugar. Sugar cane in cage cars on special railway tracks that criss-cross the whole region. |
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| Sugar Cane, heading towards Hatton-something gorge. |
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| Note the flood meter pole in the middle of the picture. Suddenly the cars with snorkels don't seem like status symbols!!! Good thing we're here in the dry season! |
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| Kookaburra -- these things ARE nasty, cheeky bastards! |
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| Sleepy Katie in the Mommy-Mobile. A home-made sling. Worked like a charm for 4 km! |
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| At the Wheel of Fire Falls. Couldn't really put her down during our break because it's deadly snake (Tai Pan?) country. Just kidding Lynn. No, not really. ;) |
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| Emperor Poopatine (Eungella National Park) |
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| The wood boards are about 8" wide. You do the math. Pretty small, according to the locals. BARF! I didn't even go outside to see this MoFo! |
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| Great Barrier Reef Aquarium in Townsville. Kinda maps out our trip from Brisbane (bottom) to Cairns (top). |
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| Makeshift playpen. |
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| Townsville |
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| ... and this is why we didn't stay in Townsville... :) |
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| Cardwell "Jetty" (Pier) YESTERDAY. Nobody swims here because it's Croc Country. Though there was a beautiful turtle handing around the Pier (1 m across). |
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| Some kind of poisonous puffer fish a local caught. Note he's holding it with clamps and not his hands. :) |
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| Sugar-making equipment... |
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| Crocodile warning at Tyto Wetlands in Ingham (45 km S of Cardwell) |
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| Tyto Wetlands -- spent Lotus Lillies and pods everywhere. |
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| Walking the wetlands. |
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| Couldn't resist disturbing this pelican... |
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| Our shadows are touching the Wallabies (small Kangaroo thingies). |
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| Um... there is no such thing as "winter sun" in the tropics and I know that really well. A momentary lapse in judgement about sunscreen resulted in the worst burn I've had in a LONG time. No worries -- I had Katie slathered and she's just fine. :) |
