After Winton we headed back to the coast looking for rain forest and ocean. We loved the Outback and will return in a few weeks.
We had to drive a long way east and after a stop over at Charters Towers, we headed onto Big Crystal Camping area north of Townsville. This was a fun stop. The national park camping grounds were fantastic and the swimming holes in the area kept us entertained for hours. Now we were in crocodile country, but luckily there were no crocs here.
Then we continued to South Mission beach. This delivered everything we hoped for… beach, sun and beginnings of rain forests. Cassowaries live in the area and regularly come into the caravan park we stayed in. These are endangered and very rare to see. We were told that they have started attacking dark cars at night, but luckily ours is white. Still though, we did not see any here. Swimming at the beach is not a good idea with crocodiles living in the area. Instead, the kids could swim at the caravan park pool, which remains Mei’s favourite caravan pool to this day.
A few relaxing days, and a few driving lessons for Mia, were just what was needed after the long drives we finished.
After Mission beach, we headed for Cairns. We were excited to see Emma and Matt. We hadn’t seen them for a few years and they are in a different home than the one we visited 8 years ago. Matt and Megan lived together at University. We, again, were well looked after and loved staying at their property just outside Cairns with their horses, dogs and cats. Mei overcame her fear of big dogs and did go a lot closer to Tequila the horse than we thought she would.
Leaving Matt and Emma started the next stage of our trip. We had been discussing for weeks the issue of the Western Australian borders closures and whether or not we take the risk to go towards WA as originally planned. In the end we decided to change our plans, which was the right decision as right after, WA extended their COVID restrictions. So now we will not complete a full lap, more like a half lap if things continue to go in our favour. So now we can spend more time in Queensland and go to places not on the original itinerary. This means going north, as far north as we can go in a car. Our Cape York Penisula adventure will be in a separate blog coming soon…
Fast forward 1.5 weeks, where we pick up again with us back tracking to Daintree National Park. And I’m so glad we did! You cannot come to tropical North Queensland and not come to the Daintree. It did not disappoint and we saw 3 Cassowaries! The rain forest here is beautiful and a few options for hikes both short and long. Our campsite was a good choice and we managed an unpowered site for 4 days and without wifi! It feels so remote here and so peaceful. We are starting to really miss Beijing as our friends and colleagues start school again. Our body clock is saying its time to work, but then we remember that we are unemployed and try to redirect our thoughts to the rest of the trip.
Below are Oliver’s photos of the rainforest.
We stayed at Safari Lodge who also organises half day tours to the Great Barrier Reef called Ocean Safari. Again, this is a highlight of our trip so far. A few hours snorkelling in a nearby reef allowed to get a glimpse of the beauty of the reef. We saw so many different types of fish and coral, and the occasional jellyfish. We were disappointed not to see the sea turtle, which we couldn’t swim fast enough to where he was before it swam away. Mia, who has a fear of fish, also jumped in, thanks to Oliver holding her hand. Mei was a little scared and spent a lot of time on our back, but was still curious enough to put her head in every now and then.
The Daintree was a good finale to our trip to Tropical NQ, but it was time to start heading west. We will be going back into Outback Queensland for the next stage of our journey.
Bloggingtons 