Friday - An O'Reilly Sad Day.

Up again in time for the bird walk. Today this was led by Michael O'Reilly, a second generation member of the family, who was much more focused on the birds and trees than gobby Glen. Rosena doesn't think that he makes toast as well though. No new species this morning but Michael did identify some of the birds that we saw and photographed yesterday afternoon. After another hearty breakfast we packed up our belongings before doing a bit more birdwatching to kill the time until smoko. On our way down from the mountain we stopped to do a quick 4.5km stroll to visit Moran's Falls which were pretty spectacular.


We were sad to be leaving the Green Mountains but hey - there's a lot more of Australia to do. We skirted the Gold Coast, which looks like Manhattan from a distance , but which apparently makes Blackpool look refined. Heading south on the Pacific Coast Motor way into New South Wales we were joined by most of the population of Brisbane as this is a Bank Holiday weekend in Queensland (for the second week running). On cue the sky turned an ominous grey colour. After an hour or so we reached the Byron Bay turn off - today's destination of choice for most of Brisbane. The traffic congestion in this small town was horrendous but we eventually got to our lodgings for the night. A very pleasant spot with a palm tree full of lorikeets outside the front door.

After unloading the car we headed back into the town centre to explore. It was pretty ghastly if you are over 25. Both of us felt somewhat out of time. Rosena absolutely rejects the idea of wearing cowboy boots with her rah-rah skirt which makes her very much the odd girl out here. Australia is a land of evolutionary oddities and there have been some remarkable survival stories such as the amazing tale of Woolworths who have evolved into a supermarket rather than becoming extinct like back home.


The Dolphins Motel is the billet of Rosena's dreams as they not only supply an electric wok for tonight's banana prawn stir-fry, but also have galahs on the lawn and a small but perfectly formed lizard in the en-suite. The management apologised for the lack of frogs - it's a problem which is toadaly out of their control.

Thursday - Rainforest Ramble

Woke up early. Too early for the morning bird walk which started at 6.45 a.m. It was Glen again and he started things off by telling most of the same stories that he told yesterday but eventually he did get round to showing us a few of the birds and Dave was able to get some good photos. These are Eastern Robins.


By now we had an appetite for a hearty breakfast (included in room rate) and we tucked in. We decided that we had had enough of Glen's chippy digger act and opted foir a self guided walk through the rainforest to a couple of sets of waterfalls. This was quite an exciting path, much of it on a ledge cut into the hillside and with a couple of challenging creek crossings. When we spoke to the National Park Wardens later they said that it is normal to have to wade these crossings but we kept our feet dry. By the time we got back to the hotel we knew that we had been for a walk - 11km with plenty of ascent and descent.


After lunch and a shower we took Stanley to watch the bird feeding. Amazingly people pay to stand and have parrots pull their hair and scratch lumps out of them, We didn't, content with watching the spectacle from the other side of the fence. Most of the birds were rosellas, a type of parrot, but there were king parrots and scrub turkeys, as well as a tiny finch. Stanley's next visit was to the tree top walk and then the mountain garden after which we paid a call on the Satin Bower Bird's bower and were lucky enough to spot him.


By now it was tea time with scones, jam and cream - too posh to be smoko. Half an hour on the internet saw the cocktail hour upon us and we sipped beer on our verandah as we watched the sun set over the mountains. What a great place.

Wednesday - Goodbye galahs

Today it was time to say goodbye to John, Anne, Brisbane and the galahs. John and Anne really have been very kind to us and at their suggestion we have been to some fascinating places and done some very interesting things. We had an early start, breakfasting and packing the car in time to leave before 7.30 but then had to return to give John his specs back which we found in the car. We set off properly at about 7.45 and spent nearly an hour battling the rush hour traffic before we hit the clear road south towards the Lamington National Park.


After a pause to buy essentials such as beer and a wine box and for smoko (cinammon doughnut) we took the wibbly wobbly road up into the Green Mountains. Rosena says that the scenery is spectacular, Dave was concentrating on not falling off the road. We arrived at O'Reilly's Rainforest Resort just after noon and were able to check in straight away. Our room has a balcony with a splendid view out over the mountains on the Queensland - New South Wales border.

The resort organises lots of activities so we signed up for an afternoon guided walk. This was led by a self confessed celebrity, Glen, who spent all of his time telling allegedly funny stories and only talked about the flora and fauna in passing. We did see a few interesting trees and the amazing strangler fig which afflicts bunya trees and after a hundred years or more strangles the life out of the host tree. Worst of all Glen overran by half an hour and by the time we got back for smoko all of the best buns had gone.


After a stroll along the rainforest boardwalk and the treetop walk it was back to our balcony for sundowners as we watched the sun set over the mountains. We had taken the precaution of packing some picnic meals as the restaurant prices here are even steeper than Brisbane parking ticket and we tucked in to tuna and salad.

Tuesday - Brisbane - You can stick it!

Another bright and sunny morning here down under but our hosts have decided that winter is setting in and wore wooly jumpers for breakfast on the terrace. We wore our pyjamas. After two weeks of life in the sticks we decided that a day in the big city was in order so we headed down to the Brisbane River and took the catamaran into town. It really is a great way to travel.


We got off at the eastern end of Queen Street, the city's main shopping area and took a stroll. We managed to find a couple of requirements for our independent road trip before the need for a smoko prfevailed and we had coffee and shared a muffin. There was a stage at one end of the street where an Aboriginal group were performing traditional music and dance. We watched for a while but legged it when they started looking for volunteers to join in.


We took another cat ride downstream to an area called New Farm where our guide book recommended a few restaurants and had enormous sandwiches for lunch at one of them. By now it was getting quite warm so we rode the cat out to the end of the line then back into town, just to get the benefit of the breeze. We then attempted to walk off some lunch by taking a stroll through the original, city centre Botanic Gardens where there were some interesting trees. A final cat ride took us back to the car and a 75 dollar parking ticket (£45). Dave is very cross as there were no signs to indicate parking restrictions anywhere on the street.

We drove back to John and Anne's in a grumpy mood, not helped by a trip to the supermarket. A couple of beers soon cheered things up and Rosena cooked catalan Chicken with ginger potatoes as a thank you. We also gave John and Ann an SD card with over 100 photos taken during our stay and we watched these and some theirs on John's 15" digital photo frame which was v impressive.

Monday 26th - Rest and Recuperation

Today has been a quieter day to allow us to recover from the tram induced euphoria of yesterday. We all went to visit the Botanic Gardens this morning where we could cheerfully have spent a few days but lunch called. We did see some weird and wonderful plants including tree sized versions of British pot plants.



In the afternoon we started packing our cases, went shopping and Rosena caught up on some ironing. We are really are enjoying the rock and roll lifestyle out here in Queensland. It is amazing to think that we have been here for three weeks now - the time has just flown by.

Sunday - A Desire Named Tramcars

Back in the old routine. Breakfast on the terrace at Pullenvale watching the birds. All of our friends made a return - galahs, king parrots, crested and bronze wing pigeons and the pair of rainbow lorikeets who, despite being the smallest birds here, undoubtedly rule the roost. John and Ann's son David called in with his wife Theresa and they were telling us a bit more about local natural history.



After lunch we went to visit the Brisbane Tramways Museum, half an hour's drive away on the north west side of the city. John and Ann opted out of this major cultural experience for some reason. When we arrived we were the only visitors and were treated to private tram rides. Eventually a bloke turned up with his grandson but even then there were plenty of seats to go round. In total we had rides on six different trams ranging from one built in 1901 to one built in 1964. Rosena was especially pleased to spot a new bird - a Bush Stone Curlew, a pair of which were nesting beside the tram tracks.

Saturday - Arrividerci Roma

Today we had a more relaxed start and set off in the sunshine for Brisbane. Our route took us through melon growing country so we took time out to buy a couple. The road from Roma towards Brisbane is just a single carriageway but is the busiest road that we have travelled on since we left Brisbane. Everybody hammers along at 110kmph - even the road trains. The wildlife stands no chance and every few kms there is a squashed marsupial at the side of the road, some of them big enough to pose hazards in their own right.


We stopped in Toowoomba, Queensland's Garden City, for lunch in Picnic Place Park, situated on the top of an escarpment looking east towards the coast. Rosena was absolutely thrilled to see some Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos at quite close range. We knew that we were back in civilisation as we were able to get uninterrupted mobile phone signals from here on. As we drove on towards Brisbane the sky clouded over and by the time we were nearly home it was raining quite hard, which saved us having to wash the outback dust off the car by hand.

Friday - What a Big Sky There is.

After the excitement of our dining experience of yesterday (Thursday), it was a bit of a come-down to be up at 5.38 a.m. to get organized to move on. Rosena was a good girl and ate most of her left over slab of near raw steak. We headed for Roma today, on the way back to Brisbane. The weather as we set off on our drive looked set fair for the day. Thank goodness the car has AC.

The wildlife was prolific again with emus, kangaroos and brolgas all showing up near the road for us to enjoy as we pass. (Ann McIvor look away now) We saw our first snakes - squashed on the tarmac. The sky as we drove was was huge, blue and cloudless,and the vista was miles wide. The land is very green for Australia as John and Anne keep pointing out to us and the contrasting colours of the sky, the grasses and trees and the tremendous red of the earth is quite stunning.


Our host, Dr John Pope was born in Roma,and was keen to give us a tour. It is a long established community, with classic Queenslander houses and is famous for its aptly named bottle trees. For once we had not booked accommodation ahead so it was a bit of a shock to see No Vacancy signs everywhere. Monday is the ANZAC day holiday here and it looks like most of Brisbane has decided to head for the outback. Luckily we found a cabin on a cancellation but it was frogless (no en-suite).

Thursday - Rosena fills her tucker bag

Today was the day when we went as far north and west as we are going to go on this trip which was a road junction just north west of Winton. Further progress into oblivion requires a 4x4 so we were excused. The endless view of the outback from here was breathtaking, as was look of the increasingly threatening cloud formations. Whilst we were contemplating the scenery the local road team arrived to close one of the roads which overnight had flooded to 0.4 m. Fortunately we still had a viable line of retreat.

We turned about and started to retrace our steps towards civilisation which doesn't run to a mobile phone signal here. We left the dodgy weather behind and the sun broke through, giving us a day's high of 30C again. Cobbers get very warm in these temperatures - perhaps we are doing something wrong. Today's shift was about 300km and ended at Barcaldine, a small town with a lot of pubs and not much else. We have a very comfortable cabin on a site on the edge of town with all that one could need i.e. air conditioning, free wifi and a small frog in the en-suite. Tonight we were treated to a meal out at a nearby steakhouse where Rosena failed to achieve her mission and she has brought back a large piece of rare steak which she says she will eat for breakfast. Ha ha ha.

Wednesday - Waltzing Matilda

Rosena made such a fuss this morning because there was a small frog in the shower, which refused to be removed. Taking inspiration from the book that she is reading, Great Pioneer Women of the Outback, she did agree to be a big girl and shower. Either that or she was walking. Another cloudless start to the day so we decided that it was time to break out the Cobbers, seen here modelled by Davide. Our Australian hosts have not had such a good laugh in years.

Our plan this morning was to visit the railway museum but, in line with the entire station, it was locked up and deserted except for the last few hangers on from the locust plague. It must be cushy being the stationmaster here as there are only two trains each week. As we seemed to have exhausted the delights of Longreach we set out for our ultimate destination - Winton. Just as we were leaving town a massive road train pulled onto the highway in front of us. Overtaking it was very exciting indeed.

The countryside is getting more arid and there are fewer trees about. We are really getting into the Outback now. Winton is the home of the Waltzing Matilda Experience which was actually a museum about Outback life as well as a son et lumiere in honour of Banjo Patterson and his song. The town is also the centre of the Australian dinasour industry and there are exhibitions explaining the fossil finds in the area as well as the local opal mining industry. Best of all the main street features several authentic Aussie pubs and Rosena insisted that we try one.

The other main attraction in town is the outdoor cinema, which boasts the largest deck chair in the world and in the past has doubled up as a roller skating rink. After supper Shanine drove us all into town and we sat in deck chairs under the stars to watch aPopeye cartoon, some adverts, a Movietone newsreel, a trailer for "That's Entertainment" and a couple of black and white shorts. Afterwards we had billy tea with the projectionist. What a hoot.

Tuesday - The Locust Eaters

A lie in this sunny morning. Longreach has been having a plague of locusts recently and Rosena freaked when she found a couple in the en-suite.Hopefully we won't get charged extra. This morning's avian display was provided by the galahs in the tree above John and Anne's camper.

After breakfast we visited the Stockmen's Hall of Fame which has excellent a/c as well as a few interesting exhibits and a cafe where we had our smoko. Rosena was full of praise for the Lamington that we consumed - a cocoa and coconut coated sponge cake that appears to be as ubiquitous as ANZAC biscuits in this part of Oz. On the way into the town centre for lunch we spotted a good example of a truly wonderful Australian invention - the drive in off licence.


In the afternoon we had a wander round the shops and an hour in an internet cafe. By this time it was 30C, our hottest day so far, and we headed for the pub. The Lyceum Hotel was unspoilt by progress and Dave felt a bit out of place as the only man in the bar not wearing a hat. We were still sober enough to make it to the end of the street where we had our photo taken on the Tropic of Capricorn.

All of our backlog of photos has now been posted. Enjoy!

Monday - On the Road Again

Sadly we have to leave Takkaraka today. Terry and Gayle are heading back east towards home, while Shanine is going to spend a few days with us in the outback. We left the site quite early and were the first vehicles on the 20 km dirt road out of the National park which meant that there was still a tremendous amount of wildlife on and around the road. There were countless kangaroos and wallabies but for Rosena the highlight was when the road was blocked by two Australian Bustards which allowed us to drive up really close. These birds were considered to be very tasty by Captain Cook and his crew.

Just as we were leaving the Park Rosena spotted one of her must see birds - the brolga, considered sacred by the Aborigines, probably because it looks much less like good eating than the bustard. Once we got to the highway our little convoy made good time. We had Aussie pies as part of our picnic lunch at a small town called Alpha.




After Alpha the countryside really opened up, making the sky appear to be much bigger than normal. There was less bird life than previously and the vegetation was more sparse although our hosts told us that it is much greener than they have ever seen it due to the high levels of rainfall earlier this year. Our drive ended after 647km at Longreach, just as it was starting to get dark, where we had booked a cabin on a caravan site. This one is quite ritzy, with an en-suite but not as picturesque as Takkaraka.

Sunday - Day of Rest?

Woken at 5.50 by the kookaburra chorus. This morning's dawn is quite chilly, the first time that we have needed anything more substantial than t shirts since we got here. The daytime temperatures are generally around 27C - not too hot at all. Rosena cooked a special treat for brekker - eggy bread.

We have survived yesterday's 15km hike and are really enjoying our stay here. Dave and John went for another, shorter walk this morning up to Boolimba Bluffs, overlooking the mouth of the gorge. From this elevated spot there were views over a vast swathe of wilderness Rosena stayed home to do the washing and a bit of birdwatching which produced some excellent results. Just by our cabin a kookaburra was fishing in the creek, a mother and baby kangaroo were sunbathing and brightly coloured king parrots were to be seen.

After lunch we attempted to upload the blog up to Saturday, using the site's wifi connection but it was extremely slow so we had to compromise and post without pictures. We then went to look at a couple of local spots, one with some aboriginal art and the other a possible platypus spotting site. No platypus but we did see turtles. While we were doing this John was preparing his piece de resistance - a leg of lamb roasted in a cast iron pot, part buried in the campfire. We all tucked in to a tremendous roast dinner, which wasn't even spoiled by the fact that somebody forgot the mint sauce.

Saturday - Carnarvon Gorge.

We were up before sunrise to get a good seat at the campsite's Platypus Pool and we were lucky enough to get one definite sighting as well as a couple of possible glimpses. Sadly there was not enough light for a photo but you all know what a platypus looks like anyway. By the time the hordes were arriving they had missed the action.
Today's main activity is a walk up the Carnarvon Gorge. This is 600 feet deep, cut through sandstone which releases water all year round, and gives the gorge its own micro climate. The full length of the gorge trail has not yet been restored after the rains but we were able to access all of the interesting bits.


The first section of the trail was quite open woodland with lots of birdlife including spectacularly coloured king parrots. There were also butterflies, dragonflies, lizards and to Rosena's immense relief, no visible snakes. There was a bit of cloud cover and a breeze which helped to keep the temperature just about right for us. Further on the flora became more exotic with palms and cycads, some of them unique to Carnarvon. There were a number of side trails to the main trail, each leading to a different natural attraction. The most spectaclar of these was a cleft in the rock, which led through to a natural amphitheatre. Rosena was very brave and went up the step ladders.

By lunchtime we had reached the feature known as the Art Gallery, an overhanging cliff featuring Aboriginal art work dating back hundreds of years. The temperature after lunch was rising rapidly and we considered that the walk done was probably 15km round so we took the decision to return to the car. A welcome shower on our return and then we dined on that well known Aussie dish - tacos! We had never eaten them before but they were great, and of course the wine and the company was good too.

Friday - Deeper into the Bush

We woke up to cloudless blue sky and went shopping for our camping trip. This done Rosena and I sneaked off to get a half hour on the internet in a computer shop and then it was time to hit the road. We are now heading pretty much due west into Queensland, where the countryside is looking lovely after the recent rain. Anne and John say that they have never seen this area so green. The roads in Queensland are fairly empty but you have to watch out for road trains, enormous wagons towing several trailers which give way to no-one. To start with the roads were well surfaced and maintained although straight to the point of being boring although as we got nearer to the Carnarvon Range things deteriorated.

At about 4 p.m.we arrived at Takkaraka Bush Resort, our home for the next 3 nights. We have a canvas cabin here while John and Anne have a pitch for their camper nearby. Anne's sister in law, Shanene, and her friends Terry and Gayle are also here so we have quite a party.

Speaking of parties we had a barbie tonight with Aussie nibbles beforehand, which included cream cheese doused in sweet chilli sauce. It was interesting. The steaks and sausages were really good.We finished the evening sitting round a campfire chatting away to fellow campers from all around Australia and then off to our canvas cabin for a good night's sleep.

Same problem with photos

Thursday Farewell to Heron Island

Up at first light and more snorkelling giving us the chance to see myriads of brightly coloured fish in and around the coral outcrops. By the time we were swum out we were ready for a hearty breakfast.Sadly the swell was too strong for the semi sub again so we signed up for the guided natural history walk of the island. The ranger was most insistent that we did not feed the wildlife but Rosena ignored this instruction. After lunch it was time to taske the ferry back to the mainland. The weather was better than the way out but the sea was just as choppy.

On the way back we sailed past the queue of massive coal freighters, anchored while waiting for a berth at Gladstone, before sailing out to ground on the Barrier Reef on their way to China.The next stage of our odyssey was a 120km drive to Biloela, a small town that is benefitting from the massive coal mining boom in central Queensland. We stayed in a cabin on a caravan park on the outskirts of town, handy for the grog shop. Luckily we didn't need to swing any cats but it did have a fridge and a/c so we were happy. We had a splendid meal of sausages and cous cous - just what we needed after luxury resort cuisine.

Problems with internet . Photos to follow.

Wednesday - On the Great Barrier Reef

We are quite getting into the rising at first light routine and today we were on the beach with our snorkels and flippers (plus cossies of course) getting in a bit of beach snorkelling. Once Rosena stopped breathing through her nose while under water things went quite well and we saw a few creatures on the sea bottom. It was soon time for a shower then breakfast.


Because of the fairly strong winds the trip that we had booked in a semi-submersible had been cancelled so we went back to the beach for a bit more snorkelling. This was followed by a bird walk where one of the resort staff showed us the different species on the island and told us a bit about them. These are white capped noddies.



Lunch was sandwiches ordered the previous evening, you can eat lots here if you want to, but it costs. After lunch we went on a guided reef walk which was a bit of a bun fight but we saw some amazing sights. Between the rain showers and the risk of falling in the sea we didn't take a camera but one of the other guests did and we were able to scrounge a few photos. Nobody was fast enough to get a picture of the 3 foot long Moray Eel which glided past us in knee deep water - even the resident guide was rather surprised as she had never seen one in the lagoon before.

Later we decided to do our own little walk in the shallows to see if we could photograph some interesting wildlife and were able to get a few of them.Then it was time for sundowners on the verandah before a sunset walk on the beach to see if we could spot any hatching turtles but we were out of luck. We had a proper Aussie supper of Barramundi (the fish, not the wine) and then retired to listen to the mutton birds howling.

Tuesday 13th Life on the Ocean Wave

This morning travelled about 130 km to Gladstone, a town about as picturesque as Methil, where we caught the ferry to Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef. The weather was more typical of Queens park than Queensland, with steady rain and a high of 19C. The ferry is a modern catamaran, air conditioned and quite ritzy. Rosena even got her own sick bag but didn't need it. Dave went up on top to take photos and got soaked in the process and because the cat was bouncing up and down the pics were no good so have a view of the island taken as we left.

After landing we got settled into our cabins and had our picnic lunch while watching the rain, and then spent a bit of time finding out about what was going on. We discovered that the phone lines and internet to the island were down and no one knew when they would be fixed. We hired the equipment to do a bit of beach snorkelling, the girl in the shop was very helpful and Rosena the novice felt cheered. We also were able to spend a bit of time birdwatching from our verandah - there is no shortage of our feathered friends here.

On our way to dinner with John and Anne we thought we would try and find the turle hatching area but were distracted by the sight of huge manta and sting rays clearly visble in the water from the boardwalk. The mantas attracted the reef sharks which were also sizable and numerous. One of the group of watchers then noticed that there were some turtles swimming in towards us too, it was a truely wonderful interlude, Rosena was especially excited by all of the sightings.

After an enormous buffet supper we headed back to the cabin for the night, accompanied by the most tremendous banshee howling made by mutton birds (aka wedge tail shearwaters). No wonder the resort supplies earplugs in the rooms! The day's biggest downside was that we discovered that the island had lost its internet connection and that there was no mobile phone signal this far out from the mainland.