SEGMENT 11

Upon our return from Cape York on June 18, we paid another visit to our dear friends Christine and Peter with their beautiful and talkative huskies (pic01) and Pete's awesome vintage DeSoto, only one of three in Australia. Then we relaxed another few days in Cairns and took a daytrip to the Great Barrier Reef during which it was raining almost all the time - to our consternation, as we had deliberately postponed this diving trip in hopes of calmer weather. The day was still a great success and we spotted a green sea turtle, a black-tipped reef shark about 10 feet (3m) long and tons of colorful fish and coral. When we emerged at the end of the second dive, we were surprised to find our boat moved further away by 650 feet (200m). The anchor line had torn in the heavy surf and the crew had to tie it down somewhere else. With the help of their own inflatable dingy and another boat's larger pontoon, they collected all divers from the choppy waters and gave us a ride to the boat - so much excitement and laughter! "Boy, you've probably never seen so many surprised faces pop up on the surface!" I mentioned to the skipper. "You should have seen mine when the boat drifted towards the reef!" he drily replied.

We left Cairns for good and headed south. Wallaman Falls (pic02) are the largest single-drop falls in Australia with approx. 900 feet (286m). The pool at the bottom is 66 feet (20m) deep! The area also offers some spectacular rockpools where we relaxed for the remainder of the day. Then we reached Townsville and took the ferry to Magnetic Island, known for its resident koala population and magnificent beaches. We rented a jetski (like a motorcycle on water) for half an hour and had a blast - literally. As opposed to previous jetski experiences, we were quite surprised to realize that this thing (four-stroke) could do 50mph (85km/h) - and probably more, but we stopped pushing it here.

Airlie Beach is a backpacker's dream with bars that are open all night and inexpensive meals and drinks available everywhere. Mostly it is known as a starting point for cruises through the lovely Whitsunday Islands and we enjoyed a day in this spectacular environment. After snorkeling at a protected reef, we cruised to a popular lookout point with a breathtaking view of magnificent Whitehaven Beach, known for its incredibly white and soft sand and turquoise water. The crew took us to shore in a small inflatable boat that hang dangerously low under its load...(pic03). We also got to enjoy some time on the beach itself, an experience which was spoilt only slightly by the heavy rain moving through.

Back on the mainland, we explored Eungella National Park where the rockpools looked deceivingly inviting but proved too frigid for a bath, and ventured on a fun and thrilling ride over the treetops and under the canopy of the rainforest with www.forestflying.com (pic04). It was also in this park that we finally got our first glimpse of the shy and elusive platypus (pic05), only one of two animals that lay eggs AND nurse their young. With a duck's bill, a beaver's tail and a turtle's feet, it looks like an evolutionary joke and it is no wonder that first drawings of these animals were regarded as hoaxes.

We continued south along the coast and reached Rockhampton on July 3 where we gave an interview for the local ABC radio station - the team there received us warmly and was very interested in our experiences and impressions of country and people (click here for ABC web summary and here for audio). We had barely left town and stopped for a coffee when a local spotted our truck. He had listened to the broadcast earlier, recognized us driving by and wanted to chat about our trip. Our welcome by Australians was incredible!

A 500km ride west through the more arid highland got us to marvelous Carnarvon Gorge National Park, a quiet region with spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife. Along a few of the many hikes we explored idyllic forests, icy creekpools and narrow gorges. Some of these are tight enough that you can touch both sides with your outstretched arms! In this high desert, temperatures were noticeably lower and at night they dropped to around freezing. It was time to return to the coast!
We were gearing up to visit Fraser Island, one of the most beautiful spots in this part of the world! (view report)

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for more pics click here