We left Airlie Beach and headed south to Rockhampton. The roads through Australia are long and boring with unchanging scenery. No wonder they needed signs every 5 KM telling you to stay awake, “Stay awake, take a break,” “Power nap now” or “Stay alive, revive.” Some rest areas even offered free coffee for drivers, of course it was only instant. There are also lots and lots of dead wallaby carcasses along the roads.  We haven’t seen a living one in the wild but we sure did see lots of dead ones.  Along with them we saw lots of big black birds hovering over the highway or enjoying a roadside meal. I heard that in Australia it is illegal to move the road kill or use it for other purposes. I don’t know whether it’s true or why that law would exist but it would explain why there was so much road kill.

The typical roadside scenery

Rockhampton is the self proclaimed ‘beef capital of Australia.’ Every business seemed to have a statue of a cow and a ‘witty’ pun as their name which I can’t think of at the moment. So how disappointed was I to later learn that Rockhampton was home to six big things, all cows? These things weren’t any bigger than regular cows and far less spectacular than any on a CowParade. We decided to go hit the town and have dinner and possibly have a drink, since we hadn’t really done that yet on our trip.

Every town in Australia has the same layout like any town in the US. Chain stores, your typical McDonald’s and Kmart, around the roads leading into it and then a nice wide road running through the town centre with a town hall, a church, and what we were looking for a nice pub. I felt like I could have been in any mid-western town in the USA. Granted it was Sunday but the place was totally dead. It would have been like a ghost town if it wasn’t for one pub which was jam packed with people. The whole town must have been there.  I kid you not when I say that some of the people were dressed up as cows. It could have been a cattle festival, but in a place like Rockhampton every day was a cattle festival.

We didn’t want to go to that pub since there was hardly a place to stand with people crowding even the sidewalk, so we tried to find another one, but the town was literary dead. After wondering a bit we just agreed to stop by a bottle shop and just go back to the campsite and drink. It was easy finding a bottle shop on the road full of chain stores and we got a bottle of wine and a Bundy with ginger beer. I had never had a Bundy before and since our next stop was Bundaberg I thought it was only appropriate.

Needless to say Rockhampton was a total flop, and the worst city we visited. At least then we had something to fall back on if we didn’t like something further on in our trip that, “At least we weren’t in Rockhampton.”

Notice the statue on top of the sign (Yeah it's a bad pic since it was taken from a mooving (j/k) vehicle, and we went around the roundabout 2 times to get it)

Unfortunately the next day was overcast and the dark clouds looked as if they were about to let the rain fall, but luckily they didn’t. I had packed my new hat in hopes of a sunny day and before I even got on the boat the string on it broke, and they wouldn’t even give me a new one later because I had thrown away my receipt.

We spent some time at Whitehaven Beach where there was the whitest and softest sand I’ve ever touched. Apparently it is good to polish jewelery on which I can attest to since I polished my old tarnished earrings in similar sand on Fraser Island, and they really did shine. The tides were really remarkable and the changes were dramatic. We were on the beach until the tides started to change and the water receded from the banks creating a stream. We had to leave or the boat would get stuck in the sand. But before we did I took a walk in the “creek” and on my way saw a stingray.

Our boat on Whitehaven Beach

Me on Whitehaven Beach as the tide goes out

Next we were going to go snorkelling amongst the coral and on our way there we saw a whale. We didn’t get very close but we could clearly see it breaching. I’ve never seen a whale in the wild before so I thought it was pretty spectacular. Then at the end it dived into the water and its fanned tail stuck out of the water and slowly sank like I’ve always seen in movies. The sun had even come out when we arrived at our snorkelling site which was nice, but the water was still cold. There were some beautiful fish and I spotted another stingray. There was a lot of Staghorn coral which is coral that looks like daggers and sometimes I’d follow a fish into the shallow end and realize that only a few inches bellow me were only spikes which was a bit frightening since the coral is sharp. Nevertheless, I avoided being stabbed.

When we arrived at the dock we noticed that instead of one flight of stairs (which we had climbed down) to get up to land we had two. The tide had uncovered a whole flight of stairs, with shells growing all over them. I thought that was pretty remarkable.

That morning we decided to go on a short hike to one of the beaches on the other side of the famous Mother Beddrock. Since we were going to the beach we opted not to take our camera, which was the wrong decision, because there was noone at the beach to take it and there were some nice sights to take pictures of. We ended up in Murray Bay which was a small secluded beach at the edge of a private property. We went for a snorkel since we had our gear with us now that we owned the gear. It was a refreshing activity after the hike and in the morning with a few interesting fish, but nothing like on the reef, but we had expected that. Bowen has many little secluded beaches and it was a nice visit.

Then we were headed down to the major tourist destination, Airlie Beach, the depot for the Whit Sunday Islands. On the way we flew by the big mango, and didn’t stop, which I wasn’t particularly happy about, even though it didn’t look very impressive from the glimpse I got.  It was just a discoloured misshaped spherical thing. Australia is full of “big things” which by definition the thing has to be bigger than the real thing which people built to attract tourists to make money since in most places there is nothing there. Some of these are so unimpressive you don’t even realize it is a big thing like the big Captain Cook in Cairns.

We found a nice campsite which ended up being the best one we stayed at the whole trip. There was a bouncy pillow which is great fun, mini golf, a pool and even outdoor movies at night. Of course they play only kiddie movies but seeing Bee Movie was okay. I could have stayed there all day but we went to town where we had a barbecue by the beach.

Australia is renown for its barbecues but they don’t barbecue with coals like the Americans do.  Instead barbecues are basically smooth steel grill plates that fry the food more than barbecue it but they are free and clean in many public places so we took advantage of them.
The town of Airlie Beach itself is not impressive, just a bunch of tourist stores where I bought myself a hat, to keep the sun off my face and neck and tourist tour centres where they sell you tours. We went into one of the tour centres and looked through the brochures on all the different trips we could do around the Whit Sunday Islands. We spent a great deal deliberating and comparing prices of tours. We wanted something that would only take one day and be good value for money and settled on the Fury which is the high speed rafting boat which would take us snorkelling and to the famous Whitehaven Beach. We booked the tour for the next day.

There are also lots of insects all over Australia, more so than in other places I feel and this ant is just one of the many we saw.

We spent the day in Townsville and were really surprised at what a nice town it was. I know there is rivalry between Cairns and Townsville and Cairns people believe it is so much prettier but my unbiased vote is for Townsville. We visited the Townsville museum which was actually really nice and gave us something to do. Unlike the rest of the tourists we did not go to Magnetic Island, which we do regret, but we decided to save some cash and since we were definitely going to go to Frazer Island we figured we didn’t need to go to every Island.

Townsville Jungle Gym

Then we drove down to Bowen, where we had trouble finding a campsite since they were either full or no one answered at reception. At least there were a lot there so we found one that was open but it was the oddest campsite we had been to. It was full of travellers who were fruit picking and huge groups of them were sleeping in tents and under tarps, so it wasn’t the cleanest campsite we stayed at nor was it too cheap.

We went grocery shopping which was quite handy in the van because instead of having to unload groceries from a car to the house we just moved them from the cart into our “house.” I loved having a fridge and kitchen in the vehicle, because it was so convenient. If we were hungry we’d just pull over and make lunch. That’s probably the only thing that was handy on the van though.

It was only south from here and we left Cairns to go south to Townsville. On the way we passed a billboard for Paronella Park and decided to go since I had seen brochures for it and it seemed nice. It was a bit out of the way and on the old road to Townsville and overpriced, like everything touristy I have found out, but it was a nice detour. It’s basically an old villa and gardens, which have unfortunately seen a fire and a few floods and the owners don’t plan on rebuilding, which I think they should.

Paronella Park

Cane Train and sugar cane

Then we passed through acres and acres of sugar cane and saw lots of cane trains on the rest of our journey to Townsville. We had found a campsite in the brochure but without a proper map we got a bit lost and it was a mess because when we called the campsite I think they also didn’t know where they were located and we spent a good 2 hours driving around the outskirts of Townsville.

I was in a mall parking lot, turning around when a lemon of a car drove by me with a heavy-set woman in it who stuck up her middle finger and yelled obscenities. I felt right at home, as if I was back in Philly. In Philly this is a normal everyday occurrence and on a journey to and from the city this happens at least once for sure and sometimes even three or four times. That’s when it hit me that this was the first and turns out only person that had road rage towards me, and believe me there were countless times people could have had road rage with me driving the bus, and this wasn’t even one of those occasions. I realized there is no way I would want to drive the van anywhere near Philadelphia, because I couldn’t even imagine the abuse I’d get, but here, at best when I was driving my worst I may have gotten a beep.

After the fiasco of driving then turning around four or five times we decided we had it with Townsville and would move on. As we were leaving the city, what did we see? The entrance to the campsite we were looking for all along. We could have strangled ourselves and the teenagers behind the desk since their directions were for a wild goose chase.

We woke up to the sound of rain pelting down on the roof of the van, so we didn’t bother waking up early like we had planed and going for a 2 hour hike but instead slept some more. At least the rain forest was living up to it’s name. We had booked a crocodile cruise up a river in the afternoon and luckily it had cleared up then. During the cruise we saw four crocodiles and about a thousand mangroves. The crocodiles were all asleep and could have been statues for all I know. The mangroves had little crabs living around their roots so it was cool to see the creatures scurrying around the tangled roots of the mangroves.

(A Croc and mangroves)

Then we had to drive back down to Cairns. Hendrik was to drive to the ferry which he did only smashing the side mirror into a tree causing it to crack, which we thought was job well done, and I was to take over from the ferry again. We switched seats while we were waiting for the ferry to come to our side after I had purchased bananas from local Aboriginals. We were the first in line for the ferry and when the man waved me to come forward I stalled, again and again getting more nervous every time. After a good long embarrassment I finally made it onto the ferry but we both decided that it was best if Hendrik drove the bus off the ferry since it was a steep incline off. It appeared like a game of musical chairs because once we were off the ferry I was supposed to drive again, which I did all the way back to Cairns, to pick up our teddy bear from the hotel.

One thing I still noticed was that I was incredibly land-sick or had a case of mal de debarquement or “sickness of disembarkation.” Ever since I had gotten off the Kangaroo Explorer I had to keep swaying to feel normal. Riding in the van was ok because I was in motion but sitting in the pub in Cairns that night I had the feeling I was going to fall off my chair. I was dizzy, and if I didn’t keep bobbing I probably would have. I looked into it some more on the internet at the campsite and the symptoms matched perfectly and what scared me the most was that said it could last years. At least it only lasted about two weeks, but it was incredibly uncomfortable and I’ll think twice about going on a boat overnight ever again.

We stopped by Port Douglas in the morning before heading up to Cape Tribulation. Port Douglas is a very cute town with a nice beach and a busy street for shopping. Definitely recommend spending time in Port Douglas rather than Cairns if you’re heading that way and not going SCUBA diving.

Then I had to try driving again since Hendrik was getting scared he’d have to drive the whole way. This time the road was wide and flat and it was a new day so I was less nervous and managed to drive the bus well on the road all the way to the ferry for the crossing to Cape Tribulation. We swapped seats on the ferry since the roads were going to be narrow and windy in Cape Tribulation. It was another scary drive through the northern jungle as we wound our way upwards. As we soon found out there wasn’t too much to do in Cape Tribulation if you don’t feel the need to do lots of hiking and don’t have money to spend on tourist traps such as the 80 dollar zip line through the canopy. Yeah it would be fun but worth it? Probably not.

We went on a few different boardwalks through the rainforest and along the beach. What makes Cape Tribulation such a natural wonder is that the rainforest comes right up to the beach like in movies set on tropical islands. As we walked along the beach heading back to our campsite after doing the mangrove boardwalk (I’ve seen enough mangroves on this trip to last me a lifetime) we saw a man dressed in only what looked like a red diaper. His hair was so wild I couldn’t see his face. We were some distance away because we didn’t want to get too close but this man was throwing sticks at the palm tree in hopes of knocking down a coconut as if he was recreating a scene from “Cast Away.” This was probably the highlight of Cape Tribulation.

Our Britz van compared with others.

Day 6. We went to pick up the van we had rented to start the road-tip part of our vacation. I was excited since I had never been on a proper road trip. We got the model of van with a shower and toilet because Hendrik wanted the luxury, if it was up to me, I would have gone for the basic model. We had to watch a DVD which showed us how to operate everything and I wanted to hold on to the DVD for the future, but we weren’t allowed.
Then we were brought to our new home for the next month. We were excited to see that it was a Britz, and not a backpacker campervan which meant we were upgraded to the newer model since the one we had ordered wasn’t available, but it was huge. It was the size of a small bus. We were both quite terrified of the look of the thing since neither of us had ever driven anything that size. We wondered whether we needed a special license but AU allows any tourist to drive a bus if they want, I guess. It was daunting. So we had a bus with the stick on the opposite side than we were used to and we had to drive on the wrong side of the road. At least we were well trained from Ireland to drive on the wrong side of the road. Hendrik had to drive it first because there was no way I was getting behind the wheel.
I was one terrified passenger though and gritted my teeth and tensed my muscles as Hendrik inched the vehicle out of the rental lot. He stalled quite a bit, and I was only glad we got the vehicle in a small quiet town and not Sydney. It was a hair-raising start to a vacation. We loaded our suitcases and then decided to drive to Kuranda a small tourist trap village in the mountains surrounded by a rainforest. We saw it on a lot of brochures and it was close to Cairns so we thought why not. We drove to the sky rail which is a gondola that takes you up to Kuranda but it was so expensive to ride we decided it wasn’t worth it.
Since Hendrik was determined not to drive the whole month he said I should try in the parking lot which I did. I stalled over and over again and ran over curbs that he soon took the wheel from me, which I didn’t mind since I was shaking.
We decided to drive to Kuranda instead, which was a really bad idea since the roads were windy and narrow and we were first timers driving a heavy bus. I clenched my muscles and held my breath on every turn, and when we finally got to Kuranda it was deserted. Everything was closed. Apparently all the tour buses from Cairns come there in the morning so by the afternoon the town shuts down so there was nothing to do. One last pie shop was opened and we asked the owner where the tourist train was since we had seen it on many brochures. “There’s no tourist train here, but a real one that goes to Cairns like you have in London or New York.” Right, except that it was designed for tourists and only went twice a day, but we thought it was hilarious that he compared Kuranda to New York and London. With nothing else to do we went on a rainforest boardwalk. It was nice and relaxing to be out of our bus.
Afterwards Hendrik decided I was going to drive again. To get out of the mountain top parking lot I had to go up a small hill on which I stalled, of course, and had a car behind me. I had trouble starting the engine and whenever it did start I would stall again so I panicked and Hendrik had to take over and my dread for driving the bus became worse.
We regretted going to Kuranda and decided to go into a nearest campsite and the nearest one was around port Douglas. At least after the descent from Kuranda the road became straighter but it was also dark. Once checked in we were both trembling and hating the bus, me especially since I didn’t want to drive it. Our first day on the road and we were already behind schedule because according to plan we were supposed to be in Cape Tribulation. To make things even worse we realized we left our stuffed bear, Walibi (not to be confused with an AU Wallaby) at the hotel in Cairns.

Day 5. The last day of diving, which was relieving because the whole thing had been so exhausting. The first dive was again at 6:00 AM and I was cold and tired. Knowing I had to go down 30 meters was scary and I didn’t want the dive to begin. I went to get a wetsuit early to have a newer one and pulled the tight black rubbery thing around my skin, then slung the rest of the equipment on. We swam around the coral and way sooner than I expected we were on a sandy patch 27 meters underwater. I hadn’t noticed the descent, which was comforting and I didn’t feel much different from 5 meters to 27. At least the pressure mostly affects the ears only 10 meters deep so they were fine too.
One curious silver flat fish which was about a foot long and half foot high swam around us inspecting the new creatures in its environment. The instructor cracked open an egg and because of the pressure the white had sucked itself around the yoke that it appeared to be in cling wrap and was unbreakable. It felt like a mini rubbery stress ball. After we passed it around the curious fish got to have an unusual snack. Then we had to take a narc test in case the nitrogen was affecting us and making us high or “narced” I had to point at numbers in order on a chart and after each touch my nose. No one in the group was narced.
The second dive of the day after breakfast was a fun dive and Hendrik and I got the camera this time since we missed our turn and we took lots of pictures, and saw a sting ray which was exciting. It went well except that Hendrik almost ran out of air which was bad since I missed his signal for ascent, but it wasn’t a big deal because we were just doing our safety stop and we were close to the surface but it still gave me a scare.
I was sad that our last dive wasn’t a fun dive but we wanted to get certified as an adventure diver and therefore had to pass a navigation course. In between our two dives we had to learn how to use a compass underwater. We had a lesson while the ship was moving which was terrible since I felt incredibly nauseas because it wasn’t the best weather and the sea was quite choppy. I took a pill but would have still enjoyed being in the fresh air and looking at the horizon. I said I understood everything even though I really hadn’t paid attention at all since my stomach had taken all my attention. After the lesson I went outside ASAP and Hendrik explained what I needed to do with the compass underwater, which was very easy.
I had to use the compass to swim in a straight line and Hendrik had to count 30 kicks and then I had to make a 180 and go back to where we came from. Then we would switch rolls and make a square in the same fashion. It was very easy and everyone accomplished the task during the dive. Then we explored the reef a bit more and I got to pet a huge turtle which was the last animal I really wanted to see because I had already seen nemo, a shark, a sting ray, and lastly I wanted a turtle to make diving complete. The only thing I didn’t see which I had wanted to was Dory. Then it was time to get back on the small boat and endure another long bouncy wet journey back to Cairns.
We went out for dinner with our diving class mates that night and had a go at salsa dancing which the lessons I took were of no help since I’m hopeless in rhythm.

As a whole I was really glad I made it through the week and got certified, because diving was something I’d always wanted to experience but I can’t say it was super amazing. Many people found it freeing but I found the opposite. I felt constrained. Constrained to a computer and air supply which I checked obsessively, and constrained by props that weren’t natural like a mask, flippers, wetsuit, and silence. I found the underwater to be eerily silent. Also the air was so dry it would dry up my mouth making it uncomfortable. It wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it would be but I would do it again, definitely especially since I would only have fun dives now since I’m certified. I also think that a nice saltwater aquarium might bring me more pleasure, but that’ll be another investment.

Day 4. I spent the night being rocked back and forth, sliding around on the plastic mattress counting fish, hundreds of them. I still couldn’t fall asleep. I was tired, but the newness of it all would not let me sleep. I was wide awake when the wake up knock came around at 5:45 and sprung out of bed. I didn’t particularly want to go diving at 6:00 AM but I definitely didn’t want to roll around in bed anymore either.
I put on my bathing suit and went to the cafeteria to have a cup of gross instant coffee and a banana. Soon after I was again putting on a wetsuit and tank, for the first dive of the day which is also the deepest. Hendrik and I would have to prefect the out-of-air drill, but other than that it was supposed to be a fun dive. This time we did it well, especially since we had gone over it verbally five times.
During breakfast the ship moved to change location so we could see a new reef and I began to feel incredibly nauseous and worried that I’d have to miss our “graduation dive” when we got our certifications and were filmed by a cameraman. I couldn’t finish breakfast and took a pill, which in a matter of minutes made me feel better, and then I was ready to dive again.
During the second dive we were supposed to do things for the camera and we would take off our mask and put sunglasses on instead and “drink” from a beer can. We got our IDs underwater and got it all on film.
Then it was lunchtime and a bit longer break in-between dives. Underwater cameras were also available for rent and our group decided to rent one and then share it. Since we were certified now we would go alone just with our buddy and therefore were also able to take a camera. We were to have the camera first.
I was excited to finally not be in a group and play follow the leader, though it is good to go with someone who knows the site so they can point out a lot of cool things such as Nemo, giant clams, an octopus, a lionfish, and a cuttlefish which our instructor did before and which I knew I probably wouldn’t find myself.
Hendrik and I went down with another buddy pair because we were going to take pictures of each other and then they were going to give us the camera. So they had it first and as we were descending they disappeared. It’s amazing how fast and easy it is to lose someone in the ocean.  They were right behind us and when I turned around again they were gone. We wondered if we should resurface, but opted against it since we were each others buddies and only needed to take are of each other. I really enjoyed the dive, being able to go wherever I pleased. We even saw a shark. It was only a reef shark because large sharks don’t live near the reef, and they are harmless, but it was still spectacular. We could have resurfaced closer to the boat, but we didn’t know how to navigate, but the swim back wasn’t too bad anyway.
When we were reunited with the others we learned that one of them had trouble equalizing and needed to go back up. I was glad I wasn’t the only one who had problems with it. Then it was dinner and right after was the ever anticipated night dive. Everyone said that every diver needs to do at least one night dive and that it is supposed to be really cool. We were lectured about new hand signals and devices such as a flashlight, glow stick, and inflatable neon orange safety sausage, (that I really wanted to use) in case we needed to be found floating on the dark waters. We were told we’d see fish hunting and sparks in the water created by some sort of sea life. I was skeptical about it, not liking the dark too much, but after hearing about it, it sounded really exciting.
I was unable to get a newer wetsuit and had to settle for an older one, which turned out to be terrible because I started shivering right away after I descended. Before I even descended I had a small panic attack that my regulator was upside down and would intake water which really scared me, but it ended up being fine. I was also pretty tired since that was the fourth dive and the minute I was under I wanted it to be over. It was dark, and a flashlight only allows for minimal visibility. I had to tell myself over and over again to relax because I felt so uncomfortable and was shivering which was a bad sign and meant I should stop the dive. I knew the dive was only supposed to be a maximum of 30 minutes so I would bear it.
The whole time I saw only one fish, and that one fish ate a smaller fish once. I’d seen that in my aquarium when an angel fish that actually just looked like a smaller version of the one in the ocean ate a baby molly. I was not impressed. I kept looking at my pressure gage because by 50 I was supposed to have surfaced and I was down to 70, but just then we got the signal from the instructor to surface, which was very relieving, because I would have had to inform him that my oxygen was low. Instead someone else had ran out of oxygen before me, which made me glad since the instructor said that it was a record short night dive because it was only 20 minutes, though I felt that it was an hour.
When I reached the boat I was shaking and shivering and struggled to get out of the water, I was beat. It was the most disappointing dive, and I learned that the ocean pretty much sleeps at night and that there is nothing to see.   I don’t think I’ll go on a night dive again, but I had to do it if I wanted to get certified to be able to go underwater 30 meters.  Right now I could only go 18.
Tomorrow, we were going to go down 30 meters first thing in the morning to become 30 meters certified and I was not looking forward to that at all especially after this dive. I went to bed soon after because I was incredibly tired and was finally able to go to sleep even through the rocking because I was just so exhausted.

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