Undara (20-22nd Dec)

I was up very early to get my 7am coach to Undara. It was a mini bus with about nine occupants , seven of them were only there for a day trip - it's a five hour drive each way!!

The driver was really entertaining and informative, he gave us a detailed explanation of each area we travelled through. It was mainly different types of farming, as we drove further inland it changed from sugar cane, to bananas, then coffee, dairy and finally cattle.

I didn't realise how remote our destination was, within a couple of hours we were on single track roads with 55 metre road trains driving straight at us! (A road train is a huge lorry with three or four trailers on the back, they take up to a mile to stop - if you're in the way they won't swerve or brake)

On arrival at the resort I was given a map and shown to my tent (it was raised off the ground and semi permanent). After dropping off my bag I walked back through the resort, it is comprised of about 30 tents and also renovated victorian train carriages. There is also a bar/restaurant, shop, information centre and swimming pool.

Within 10 metres of leaving the tent I immediately stumbled across a group of Eastern Grey Kanagroos, they were everywhere...

I'd only just finished taking photos of the Kangaroos, when I heard a Kookaburra laughing in a tree. In the space of fifteen minutes I'd seen two of the most iconic Aussie animals in the wild.
I went over to the restaurant for lunch, after eating the people on the day trip were off for their tour. The 3 day people had the rest of the day to relax, our tours didn't start until tomorrow.

The park has many self guided walks with graded paths, by now it was well after 2pm and around 40C so I went on the shortest walk. I was out for around 45 minutes, it was really relaxing and felt like I was the only person around. Below are a few pics from the walk...



When I returned from my walk, I realised that after the day trippers had left, I was one of only five visitors staying at the resort! In the evening I dined at the restuarant and had a beautiful Kanagaroo steak. It's one of the healthiest meats you can eat, less than 2% fat - which means it can only be cooked rare or medium rare (it gets too tough if over cooked).

The next morning, breakfast was served out in the open in the woods. There was a huge spread of cereals, toast, fried meat, beans etc. One of the guides had one of her "kids" with her:

His name is Pepe, the reason being that he stunk when she found him - his mum was hit by a car and had been dead for a long time before he was rescued from her pouch.

After breakfast I met up with the rest of my group, two middle age ladies from Melbourne and a retired couple from Sheffield - they live just down the road from me!

Our guide drove us the short distance to the first cave. These caves were formed a couple of hundred thousand years ago from a volcanic erruption, they stretch for 160km and are the longest lava tubes in the world. Public access to the caves is normally through roof collapses, where boardwalks have been installed.

The area around Undara is very dry and prone to bush fires, there are some eucalypts growing but not much. Inside the roof collapses are small pockets of remenant rainforest, these can't survive a bush fire but the rocks from the cave protect them.

Just before we reached the first cave we saw a Mareeba Rock Wallaby, these guys are pretty small - only a couple of feet tall - and live predominantly on or around rocks.

Below are a couple of pictures of the caves, the rocks had some amazing patterns on them from mineral deposits. We went further into the caves, but it was pretty dark so the photos don't do it justice.

After our morning visit around the caves we returned for lunch. I had a few hours to myself, so I had a wander round the resort and took a dip in the pool.

I noticed yet another marsupial, they have a distinctive white stripe across their faces. My guide later told me the name of the species: Pretty Face Wallaby. Over the next couple of days I saw these guys everywhere, they were almost as common as the Eastern Grey Kanagroos. I never realised how many different varieties there were.

For the sunset tour we had a few more people - a family from Singapore and a backpacking couple (Pele from Sweden and Betina from France). We hadn't driven far when Steve (our guide) spotted a Dingo in the middle of the road, by the time I got my camera out he was on up a hill by the side of the road- if you click on the picture below to expand it you should see him.
We then parked at the base of a small hill to watch the sunset with champagne and fruit, once the sun was down we got to the main attraction of the tour.... If you are a bit squeemish, I recommend you don't scroll down much further (I'm not talking about the picture of me!)
The main attraction is the "bat cave". A huge cave where thousands of bats live, they all fly out at dusk to feed on insects. I was not prepared for how many bats there would be! The only way to describe it is to imagine a powerful fire hose with water streaming out, only the water is bats!

I've uploaded a couple of videos which I took, they really only show about 10% of our flying friends, because it was getting dark I could only film the ones against the sky.

Video 1
Video 2

We walked down some wooden stairs to get to the mouth of the cave. Steve asked us to all refrain from taking photos and stand in a line in facing the cave - the repeated flashes quickly stop the bats from flying out. On the count of three we all took photos until the bats stopped coming out.
Steve had an orange filter on his torch so he wouldn't scare the bats away, so we put our cameras away whilst he had a look around the rocks and trees. His torch was also helpful for spotting Brown Tree Snakes, we spotted three or four of them on the ground.

In a matter of seconds they were up in the trees and hanging from branches directly above our heads - a couple of them were only a foot or so above our heads! They were hanging down ready to pluck the bats out of the air.

We managed to see two kills, we were instructed not to take photos until Steve gave the shout - if we were too quick the snake would be surprised by the flash and drop the bat.

Below is a good shot of the snake injecting venom and constricting it's prey at the same time. The poison doesn't affect humans and their bite only feels like a kitten's bite (Steve has been bitten "loads of times")

This really was an amazing place, after the Whitsundays I thought my holiday had peaked too soon - how wrong I was!

I had the next morning to myself, I was planning to do another walk but by the time I'd made up my mind it was pushing 40C. So I decided to stay by the pool, after lunch we drove back to Cairns. We had another friendly and informative driver on the way back.

Kuranda (18-19th Dec)

After leaving Airlie Beach I caught the overnight Greyhound to Cairns. I arrived pretty early on Sunday morning and spent the day walking round the shops and along the esplanade.

The next morning I caught the bus to the Skyrail terminal. From there I took a ride on the 7.5km cable car system above the rainforest canopy to Kuranda. Here are a couple of shots from the journey.

There are two stations to stop off along the way, the first has a short 10 minute guided walk through a small section of the forest, the second station looks out over the Barron Falls. The Barron River is dammed and there hasn't been much rain yet, so the waterfalls weren't as spectacular as they could be - but a still a fantastic view.
When I arrived at Kuranda it was around 11am and Flintoff & Peitersen were batting trying to save the 3rd test. So I had a couple of drinks at an Irish bar and watched the cricket, had my lunch there and then had a walk around Kuranda. It's a small town mainly comprised of shop & markets selling local crafts, plus some small wildlife parks.

I'd informally arranged to try and meet up with Matt & Kari tomorrow, so I decided not to do any of the major attractions today and instead went on one of the rainforest walks.

I was surprised how deserted it was, Kuranda is packed with visitors but I only saw three local kids swimming in the river. I wouldn't say it was quiet though - the rainforest is teeming with life, although you can't see it you can definitely hear it (mainly the chirping of Cicadas and other insects).


The next day I spent the morning looking around the markets, it was early in the holiday so I didn't buy anything - just looking for present ideas for later on. I knew Matt & Kari wouldn't be arriving until around lunch so after I'd eaten I decided to give myself 30 minutes or so around the markets and if I didn't see them I would do my own thing.

It didn't take me long to spot them and we all agreed the best place to go was the Koala Gardens. They had a few other local animals at the gardens, the main highlights were hand feeding Wallabies and cuddling the Koalas. Below are a couple of shots taken by Matt.



We didn't have a lot of time before the last ride back on the Skyrail, so we took a short walk through the rainforest (luckily the one I didn't do yesterday).

M&K had a transfer back to Cairns included in their package, I was just getting the local bus. So we arranged to meet that evening for dinner near their hotel, it was a pretty decent meal at an English pub - so I obviously went for the curry!

We had an enjoyable, but short evening - I had to be up at 6am for my trip to Undara...

Whitsundays & Airlie Beach (13th - 17th Dec)

My apologies for the lack of updates, a I've not really had much time for updates - and when I have had time I've not been near an internet connection.

I arrived in Airlie Beach on the morning of the 13th and the weather had vastly improved since Fraser Island. I checked into the hostel and had a walk round, it's not a very big place and is pretty much bars/restaurants/hostels/shops etc.

I bought myself a book to read from the local second hand book shop - I figured 3 days on a boat I'd need a book.

I got some food supplies then spent the next 2 days relaxing by the pool at the hostel over looking the bay, swimming at the lagoon, drinking with some people from the hostel avoiding anything remotely strenuous.

The next day I was up early ready to head down to the marina, stopping off at the bottlo on the way for some beer.

We were greeted at the marina by Cookie, he was the dive instructor and general tour guide too (and a Kiwi). He introduced us to Bree, a girl from Canada who was in charge of the food and then Brad our captain from Tazzy.

After a briefing on general safety, we all introduced ourselves (we had a group of 15) then the 4 of us who were going to dive had a separate talk about diving.

An hour or so later we arrived at our first destination, blue pearl bay. I had enough time for some snorkeling before my first dive, it was amazing how many different species of fish there were. Below are just a couple of photos to give you an idea.

After 30 mins of snorkeling it was time for my first dive. Cookie walked us through the basics in a shallow part of the water (locating and unblocking the regulator, clearing water from your mask and learning the basic hand symbols). We then lay horizontally underwater whilst Cookie made our buoyancy neutral so we didn't sink or float (we had weight belts and a jacket which can fill up with air).

We were then ready for our first dive, it was very different how I imagined. I found breathing and moving very easy, it was the equalising that I found the hardest - you are supposed to equalise the pressure in your ears every 1 foot you descend by pinching your nose and blowing. My left ear never wanted to equalise and I also kept forgetting because it's hard to comprehend if you are ascending or descending with no landmarks around.

It was a fantastic experience, even though most of the time I was busy concentrating on what to do, so I didn't spend enough time just looking at the marine life.

Below is a picture of me holding a sea cucumber, Mark is on the right.

In the afternoon we headed for a inlet next to one of the islands for some shelter for the night. We ate a massive meal and drank beer whilst watching this beautiful sunset.

That night we had a perfectly clear sky and were treated to a display of shooting stars. We also had a dolphin circling our boat, he would catch a fish and then show off his catch to us before disappearing for a while.

The next morning we set sail for Tongue Bay and had breakfast there. It is a big breeding groung for green turtles and we must have seen at least a dozen surface for air right next to out boat. Below is a photo of one, they are probably 4 feet long.

A short walk from Tongue Bay brought us to the lookout over Whitehaven Beach. National Geographic named it the second best beach in the world and you can see why...

We spent a couple of hours sunbathing on the beach, didn't do much swimming because it is stinger season. Below is a group photo (L to R, Sarah, Sarah, Kirsten, B, Helen, Allesandro, Mark, Mark, Marie-Anne, Me, Lorraine, Torge, Matt, Kari and Jonathan)
In the afternoon we visited another bay where we had time for another snorkel and a dive. This dive was far more enjoyable, I had time and composure to really appreciate the environment. We swam through huge cliffs of coral, some were 6 or 7 metres tall.

On the final day we spent the morning kayaking in pairs, then taking turns to do some snorkeling, with the other person staying with the kayak. At one point Cookie spotted a turtle, so he took a few underwater photos, but we were too far away to get in the water in time.
Most people didn't spend that much time snorkeling, I was surprised because this was our last activity before returning to Airlie Beach.

So I stayed out as long as possible and I was rewarded for my efforts - a huge green turtle swam straight past me, I followed him for about ten minutes, he didn't seem bothered by my presence. It was an awesome sight, they are so graceful in the water. I didn't get any photos of this, but I'll upload one of Cookies photos of the other turtle when I get a chance [EDIT updated below].


When we returned to the boat Cookie was throwing some breadcrumbs off the side of the boat. This encouraged the batfish to come up and feed, these fish were pretty big, I think around 3 feet long.

Eventually we had to return, everyone agreed the trip far exceeded our expectations. We had perfect weather, a friendly and knowledgeable crew, great food and above all a great bunch of people. We all seemed to be on the same wavelength and it made the trip all the more enjoyable.

Brad, Bree, Cookie & Me

Fraser Island (Day 3)

Day Three (Finally)

Only half of our group stayed for a third day, this was by far the best day. After breakfast we set off for Lake Wabby, in the car park we saw a Lace Monitor, he must've been around 4 feet long.

We also saw a couple of Golden Orb Spiders, this one had just caught some breakfast.

A short walk from the car park took us to the lookout over Lake Wabby. This lake is slowly being engulfed by a sand blow, it is an incredible sight - a mini desert surrounded by a forest on three sides and a lake on the other.

We made our way down to the lake, there is a steep bank down to the lake, probably about 40 metres at a 45 degree angle. Greg had provided us with a modify body board and we took turns racing down the slope into the water.

We spent most of the morning there, swimming in the lake with Catfish and Cormorants all around us. Greg left early to drive the bus round the other side of the lake. It was sunny all morning and luckily the clouds came over just as we had a 1.5 mile walk across the sand to have lunch at the bus. It was really strange walking across a desert in a forest.
After lunch we visited another fresh water lake, but it was raining and we'd seen enough lakes. So we decided to head back early and have a bit of time to relax before the journey home. Greg suggested we sneak into the main 5 star resort and get in the hot tub, and if anyone asks we didn't hear it from him.

So we successfully infiltrated the resort, it wasn't hard - the rain had cleared most of the guests & staff inside. So we sat in the covered hot tub for an hour or so. Helen has a good photo of us all in the spa, I'm waiting for her to email me a copy and then I'll add it here.

That evening we returned to Hervey Bay and I had a meal with Helen & Richard. We were joined later by three Canadian girls from our tour, had a good time drinking & chatting - there's not a lot to do in Hervey Bay so we just stayed at the hostel bar. Hopefully I'll be meeting up with Helen, Richard & Natalie (one of the Canadians) in Sydney at New Year, I might also catch up with H&R in Brisbane if we have time.

The next day I had to myself before my overnight coach to Airlie Beach, so I went for a wander down the esplanade. It got pretty hot by lunchtime, I grabbed some lunch and spent the afternoon trying to copy my photos to CD on a PC with no high speed USB. Below are a couple of snaps from Hervey Bay.

Fraser Island (Days 1 & 2)

This place was simply amazing, it is the largest sand island in the world and is made entirely of sand - to get around you have to use a 4x4. It is huge, about 150 km long and on average 15km wide.

Day One

The tour I was in had a coach of about 30 people and one guide (Greg), he was really knowledgeable and entertaining.

Our tour started as soon as we arrived, first went to Basin Lake and then Lake McKenzie. These are both perched dune lakes, they contain fresh water and are about 100m above sea level. The water is trapped by an impenetrable layer of composted organic material deep within the sand.

The weather wasn't brilliant, it was overcast but still quite warm. It remained this way for the whole trip, with the occasional shower and an hour or two of sun. This actually aided our trip, there aren't any roads, just sand tracks. If it had been sunny we would've spent half our time digging the coach out of the sand.

This is a picture of me at Basin Lake.

After the lakes, we had lunch a Central Station. This used to be a logging village with its own train station. It now just contains an eating area.

The majority of Fraser Island is a world heritage listed nation park, and there are strict rules we have to follow when on the island. The main things to remember were general stuff like no littering, but also we had to be conscious of the Dingo population on the island. So we couldn't leave food anywhere, or even leave the coach unattended with the door open.

When the logging stopped in 1991, there was a big Dingo population and they scavenged for food. Their natural fear of humans had gone and there were numerous attacks, any offending Dingos were killed. The 200 Dingos now living on the island have retained their fear of humans, and they no longer seek out humans for food scraps.

After lunch we went on a 30 minute walk through a section of sub-tropical rain forest. This rain forest is a long, thin strip of the forest in the centre of the island. The rest of the island is mainly eucalypt forest.

A view from the rain forest

The rainforest was spectacular, there was a fresh water stream running through it. All the water has been filtered through the fine sand and was crystal clear. The water is so pure there is barerly any kind of life in there.

After the walk, we went to another fresh water lake, then back to the resort in the evening. We all headed to the bar for drink & food in the evening. The group was quite a mix, Canadians, Americans, Brazilian, Korean, German, Italian.... I spent most of my time with a couple from London (Richard & Helen) and two girls from Cardiff (Sarah & Sophie). I'm waiting for Richard to send through the groups photos - they were all taken on his camera.

Day Two

The majority of the second day was spent on 75 mile beach on the eastern side of the island. It's no good for swimming because of the vicious currents and sharks. It is one long stretch of beach ( actually 62 miles long not 75), and is the main way to get around on this part of the Fraser. It is the only beach also registered as a national highway and had an 80kph speed limit.

Me on 75 Mile Beach

We drove all the way north to Indian Head - an outcrop of volcanic rock - and spent lunchtime at the Champagne Pools. They are a set of huge rock pools, so you can actually do some protected swimming on the dangerous east coast. We were warned that the rocks are extremely sharp, I only managed to get waist deep before a wave pushed me towards a small rock and gashed my foot pretty badly.


Greg said he is always patching up people who swim in the rock pools here, pretty much everyone in our group had some minor cuts on their hands or feet. Mine was quite spectacular and dissuaded anyone else from taking a dip. It was about 500m back along a wooden boardwalk to the bus and the first aid kit, and my two inch cut left a bloody trail all the way back!

After lunch we drove back past Indian Head and walked up to the top, it was named by James Cook when he first sailed past. Hundreds of Aboriginals gathered on the rock to see his ship sail past, he thought they looked like Indians - hence the name.




Heading back south down the beach, we stopped a the Maheno shipwreck. The ship was wrecked in 1935 when it was being towed to Japan to be sold as scrap. It was originally a lot taller than this, but the boat has gradually decayed.





The Maheno was a luxury cruise liner, after several attempts to re-float it they auctioned off the parts. Some of the beach houses here were built from the timber of the Maheno.


Next we stopped at Ely Creek, this was fast flowing shallow stream - due to my foot injury I didn't take a dip.


The girl in front of me had just stepped in the creek when this eel came out to say hello. He was easily a metre long and didn't seemed phased by our presence at all.

Well it's taken me almost 2 hours to post this, so I'll do a day 3 update on Sunday when I return from my sailing/diving tour.