We landed in Cairns dreaming of Koala Bears, Kangaroos, Dingos, Wallabies, and meeting couples named Bruce and Sheila whilst humming “Suddenly” by Angry Anderson incessantly…(you know you remember it off by heart!…think it was my first every vinyl way before vinyl was considered cool). Disclaimer up front that I’ve never had any real desire to travel to Australia so I had little expectations….surely the best way to travel!
First stop was Cairns where we stayed at a brilliant hostel called Bounce, to be honest probably much more enjoyable if you’re 19 which most of the people staying there were……I styled it out whereas Pads maybe not so much (!). I couldn’t avoid the looks of horror on people’s faces as the kids tried to join their game of pool and volleyball in the pool – nothing like a 6 and 7 year old to disrupt the drinking games and heavy petting! To stop us sinking into depression we hit the Vietnamese Banh Mi shop….these things are seriously addictive!
We spent a few days driving up the North Queensland coast to Palm Cove, Port Douglas and Daintree Rainforest. An unbelievably beautiful coastline with blue seas, pristine rural beaches all surrounded by lush rainforest. The only slight problem with exploring Northern Queensland in February is the heat and humidity….we had no idea it was going to be quite so sticky….even the sea was like sinking into a a warm bath! It’s also jellyfish season during February so you can only swim within the stinger nets…gave it a try but quite quickly jumped out as I’m sure I could feel things stroking my legs and the kids kept looking for sharks and jellyfish!
Queensland is home to the Great Barrier Reef so first opportunity we had we jumped on a Catamaran to explore the northern reefs – we had an amazing day sailing the Low Isles, Coral Cay Island, swimming with sharks, and snorkelling around the reef. It was a great opportunity for the kids to do some school work on climate change and the oceans…letter to António Guterres winging it’s way to UN Headquarters from G asking for a global ban of plastic!
A leisurely drive back down the coast allowed us to explore Mossman Gorge and hike up Stoney Creek waterfall…the fresh water pools were amazing to swim in and offered some relief from the stifling heat. We were all going well until E, G and I decided to walk back down the Waterfall through the rock pools and G cut his leg on a rock…with blood rushing from his leg and screams of “I can see my bone” (he seems to have inherited the Bayliss exaggeration gene – it was just a scratch!)…I had it totally under control well until E & I fell into a deep waterhole and both kids started shouting for Daddy!…..Pads came to the rescue and fished us all out – quite clearly no one would pick me for their team for SAS Survivor.
No Koalas, Kangaroos, Dingos, Wallabies, Bruce or Sheila’s yet….utter disappointment! Thankfully it gets cooler the further down the coast you travel….here’s hoping so as my hair has never been bigger and my freckles never quite so many!…
Worldwide Wanderers 