The next step...

So, the next stage of the journey is underway! I will be spending the next three months in Northern Queensland , mostly around a small town called Atherton on the Tablelands (West of Cairns). It's all part of my internship for Lincoln University and I am working with the threatened species unit of the Queensland parks and wildlife dept.(similar to DoC).

I arrived in Oz three weeks ago now ,on the 8th of September, in the bustling metropolis of Brisbane. From here my Father and I would start our journey up to Cairns. It was around this time that I realised how huge Australia is! Before I started planning the thought was that driving from Brisbane to Cairns; it'll be a breeze! 20 hours driving time; thats nothing! Yet as I planned where we would stop, how long we would drive every day, it became daunting. We had to reach Cairns by latest Saturday morning for my Fathers flight back to NZ and it seems most people took at least two weeks to do the drive. Well, in the end it was a bit rushed but we did and saw some amazing things.

Sculpture in Brisbane city centre

An abandoned log house on Barry and Sharon's property. If only the walls could talk eh. 

10th Sept;
From Brisbane we drove to the Capricorn caves (located a little way North of the town Rockhampton and almost smack bang on the tropic of capricorn). With a stop along the way at the Glass Mountains. A long day of driving in the unfamiliar ,and slightly unwieldy, Jucy camper van made even our first sighting of wallabies a bit anti-climatic but arrive we did and Dad had his first taste of the stuffy decidedly unsquishy sleeping arrangements.

The glass mountains:

From the look out one can see; Mt Tibberoowaccum (220m), Mt. Tibrogargan (364), Mt Beerwah (556m), Mt Cooowrin (377m), Mt Ngungan (253m). These volcanic plugs protruding from the flat plain formed from the molten lava of volcanoes 25-27 mya, erosion over the millennia has given them their unique appearance.

11th Sept:
The next morning we had arranged to go spelunking in Capricorn caves, a dry cave system that had been explored by the original european owner of the land (I forget his name…). This man explored the cave system with only candle light to guide him and if his flame went out…well, he had to feel his way out! As was demonstrated to us during out adventure 0_0 . Thus we begin! Hard hard: check, sexy canvas onesie: check, cumbersome head torch: check, sense of adventure: check? Check!.

The guide started with the archeological site in the caves (an active site that is returned to once a year by a team), we then moved further in and were given the chance to climb through what we thought were very tight spaces, little did we know the worst was yet to come! The 'Whale' …NIcknamed because it feels like you are moving through the insides of a whale…mouth to stomach to..er..sphincter and well, they said it was the blow hole I crawled out of but lets not think too hard on that…At its smallest part the stone hugs and presses in, seeming to grow smaller and smaller with each hyperventilated breath one tries to control. Each joint seemed determined to find a protrusion upon which to jam; my knees, ankles and hips snagged as a wiggled and twisted trying to find that delicate combination by which I could hurtle free. Emerging out into the sunlight above was like that first taste of sorbet on a hot summers day, I felt like I could face anything!…except the next, tighter, challenge…ehem…

Another gorgeous view (albeit over sugar cane plantations). 

12th Sept:
The third phase of our journey; Airlie beach and the Whitsunday Islands! Now, this was a bit of a disappointing stop so please bear with when the mini-rant begins. The idea here was to kayak around the islands and then drive to the next stop. We had spoken to the info desk at the hostel and had been advised that no booking was necessary and we could just pitch up and rent a kayak. This was not the case. The office was closed. Everyone was out kayaking. We were left confused and frustrated. The silver lining was that we had amazing accommodation that night. It was a bit out of the way but we drove to Paluma National Park with its fancy-pants camp site and rich wildlife. It's not often that we are able to fall asleep gazing at the stars, especially not with the sounds of the rain forest surrounding us, very chilled.

On a side note; we went African Style and made off with some sugar cane on the way up!

13th Sept:
And so we reach the final leg of out journey, to Cairns oh valiant steed! On the way there we stopped in on a pretty little town called Mission Bay. We headed this way as we hoped to see a cassowary, no such luck but the beach was a beaut and a break from the car was much appreciated.

Cairns is a pretty little city and reminds me a little of Christchurch; a small city centre with a sprawl of urban and more industrial areas. We didn't spend a lot of time exploring the city itself as our main aim was to see the reef.

14th Sept:
And thus the highlight of our trip (to me anyhow) and 20% more awesome: The Great Barrier Reef!
Now maybe it's merely my academic background but I enjoy things far more when I understand and know a little about them, so I dragged an exhausted Rory off to a lecture the evening we arrived in Cairns; 'Reef teach'. In two hours we covered the very basics of the kinds of species we would see, some of their behaviours and life history. Interestingly, he also touched upon the dangers posed to the reef and how humans are affecting the future of the World Heritage site. Cyclones, global climate change, pest species, nutrient flux from agriculture and ,of course, trawling are all cumulatively threatening the reef and its inhabitants health.

The course did allow me to at least identify some of the species I saw, which I shall extrapolate on in a later post.

A realisation one comes to when snorkelling is that no one looks good whilst doing it. We all have our faces deformed by mask and snorkel, we all strike awkward and ungainly poses as we treadmill our way across the briny blue. So, for all those girls on that boat with waterproof make up; the fish will always be more spectacular than you on the reef might I suggest less revealing togs that stay on for more than 37% of the time?

15th Sept:
What a week! I think both Dad and I were exhausted at the end of it all…In hind site we felt maybe we should have flown to Cairns from Brisbane but we did get to see all sorts of lovely things on the way up so…Six of one half a dozen of the other? The important thing is that Dad and I were able to actually talk to each other without the rest of our busy lives getting in the way. I learned a lot about my Father on this trip. One of the reasons he so enjoyed being able to do this is because he feels such opportunities will become more few and far between as I start to build my own life where he plays less of a part. I sincerely hope this is not so, it seems atypical these days that a father and daughter can get along so well and have so much in common. So, I think we should make a conscious effort to do something like this again :) !

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” -Dr Seuss

Note: All pictures belong to either myself or Rory, if you would like to use them please comment for permission to do so. I would be interested to hear why you want to use them at the least ^_^ .