Cairns to Sydney (Part 2)

Next stop on the journey was Rockhampton, the 'beef capital' of Australia. After 600km of driving (stopping only for a Mrs Mac's pie) we were looking forward to beef-overload with our hard-earned steak dinners. We chose a convenient camping ground on the banks of the Fitzroy River and were slightly concerned by the relaxed attitude of the sign next to our plot warning of crocodiles nearby.

The next morning we continued South to Hervey Bay where we hoped to spot a whale. Humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the sub-tropical coastal waters of eastern Australia to give birth and mate between July and November each year. We set off in search of Moby Dick in our boat captained by an energetic man with only one tooth. It was not quite Captain Ahab with his one leg, but it was close enough for us! The sea was very rough, visibility was poor and we needed to wear sunglasses just to keep the driving rain out of our eyes.

After one hour of fruitlessly scanning the horizon in search of a leviathan we were beginning to lose hope when our captain scared and delighted us by shouting "there she blows" and changing his direction to follow a pair of humpbacks. For an hour we continued to spot the whales as they swam nearby and were amazed when one leapt out of the water and fully breached less than 50 metres from our boat.

En route to Brisbane we stopped over in the stylish resort town of Noosa for a night and treated ourselves by checking in to the 'luxury' of a backpacker hostel. And after covering 2000km in 10 days we arrived into the relatively cosmopolitan city of Brisbane (i.e. some people don't have a mullet haircut) where we intended to do a little sightseeing, look around the shops and go out for dinner.

Cairns to Sydney (Part 1)

After enjoying two relaxing days in our mountain retreat we had begun to miss the cramped, awkward confines of our Jucy camper. Fortunately Mark's Mum, Helen was due to arrive into Cairns airport that morning and had invited us to join her in driving her Jucy camper 1700 miles to Sydney. It sounded like a challenge and one that we were up for.

The new van was worryingly the exact same size as the afore-mentioned Rubik's Cube, but with a granny box sleeping compartment on the roof which made popping to the toilet for a midnight pee fairly precarious! Our first three destinations were Ellis Beach where we sensibly had a few glasses of wine before trying to climb into our 'penthouse' suite; followed by the Atherton Tablelands stopping to feed kangaroos en route; and finally Mission Beach where Mark climbed a palm tree to grab a fresh coconut for lunch.

We then spent two nights at Airlie Beach which gave us the opportunity to experience the Whitsunday Islands. Our tour boat was a former racing yacht from the 1980s which took us out to Blue Pearl Bay for some spectacular snorkelling. Mark took advantage of the low-season numbers by snapping up a bargain 45 minute private scuba-diving session. Helen has always had a total fear of water so we were delighted when she tried snorkelling for the first time and loved it. Meg of course was a seasoned snorkelling pro by now and promptly set about finding Nemo.

On the journey home the captain decided to show us why the yacht had been the winner of several prestigious races in its day and we clung on as the speeding vessel cut through the water, all the time keeling over at an impossible angle.

Rubik's Camper

After a few days in Cairns we downsized ourselves further from the relative luxury of a backpacker hostel into a 'Jucy' camper van which would be our home for the next 10 days. We headed off North on the Captain Cook Highway to Ellis Beach.

We spent two days lounging around in our hammock and having lots of BBQ food before continuing North into Cape Tribulation. It was everything you'd expect from a rainforest - wet, humid and full of creepy insects. We stayed one night before heading back to the sunny beaches!

Life in the camper van felt like living inside a Rubik's Cube with every simple action like making a cup of tea requiring countless complicated moves in a confined space. And doing anything after dark was a dead cert to result in banging your head on something!

Our final camping ground was Cowley Beach, about 20km South of Innisfail which was memorable for spectacular views of the stars at night.

After four nights on Cowley Beach Meg's birthday arrived and Mark performed a series of magic tricks as balloons, a birthday cake with candles, champagne, a card, a cup of tea and a camper-friendly plastic flower appeared from the not-so-far-corners of the van. He then drove up into the Atherton Tablelands and checked us in to the Eden House Retreat and Mountain Spa for two nights of luxury to recharge our batteries and allow the bumps on our heads to heal.

Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef

Not content with simply overcoming her fear of deep water by snorkelling in Indonesia, Meg quite literally blew that fear out of the water and went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. We took a boat to the Outer Reef and spent 40 minutes diving to depths of 12 metres to get a closer look at the coral and tropical fish, and were exhilarated to spot a turtle.

Red wine and Rummikub

We arrived into Brisbane in the middle of the mild Australian winter and went to stay with Meg's cousin Caeli and his housemate Mike in New Farm. They lived in a traditional Queensland timber house with no central heating (the house is designed to promote effective natural cooling!) so our evenings were mostly spent sat on the sofa in front of a log fire, drinking, talking, and playing Rummikub.

After two months without a glass of wine we'd been looking forward to Australia and quickly set about making up for lost time. Meg was delighted to find that a bottle of sparkling Aussie wine was about half the price of a sixpack of beer and so Mark's previous jibes of her having a champagne taste on a beer budget were completely flipped on their head.

Caeli and Mike had both made plans to go away for the weekend leaving us with the house to ourselves. The first thing we did was to go to the supermarket and then cook ourselves dinner! Not exactly rock n'roll but it's funny the things you miss when travelling.

We did some sightseeing in Brisbane including a visit to the Castlemaine XXXX brewery (according to those from New South Wales, it is so named because Queenslanders can't spell BEER), listening to some live blues guitar in a pub in West End and taking the ferry along the Brisbane River at night. However, we have to confess that mostly we enjoyed the relaxing effect of a slightly more domesticated life with Mark going to the gym and Meg pottering about in the kitchen. We haven't quite started to miss normal life enough to want to find a job just yet though!

On our last day, Caeli treated us to a delicious seafood lunch on the river at Bretts Wharf which included oysters, barramundi, and an unexpected education in cuttlefish by our very charming and helpful waiter. Not sure if it will be this luxurious in the campervan!

The Hong Kong high life

After two months of travelling we reached Hong Kong, which would be our last stop in southeast Asia. Having finally mastered the art of being thrifty, we decided to blow the budget and experience Hong Kong in style. We were extremely grateful to accept Sandra and Stu's offer to stay with them in their flat in Causeway Bay for the 5 nights of our visit. We were even more delighted when they gave up all of their free time to be our personal tour guides.

Other than enduring England's dismal display against Germany in the World Cup, we had a great time. For the first 48 hours, we experienced the relentless Hong Kong rain as we dashed between shops, trams, and the metro. Fortunately, the elevated walkways of the Central area are well designed to provide refuge from the rain and traffic, and also gave Meg the opportunity to do some shopping.

For an adventure, we decided to visit Lantau Island to see the giant Buddha statue. Our journey consisted of a ferry to the island, a coach to the statue, followed by a spectacular cable car ride down past the airport and then two metro trains to take us back to Causeway Bay. The size of the statue was impressive, but what amazed us most is that we never waited longer than two minutes for any of our modes of transport. The efficiency of Hong Kong was certainly a welcome change from Vietnam.

On another occasion, however, Mark decided to forego the transport options and climb the 522 metres to the top of The Peak for a panoramic view of Hong Kong. Meg didn't think this seemed particularly sensible thing to do in the stifling humidity and that a (long-awaited) air-conditioned shopping expedition was more her style!

But the real highlight of our time in Hong Kong had to be the food. We were taken to a number of S&S's favourite restaurants and introduced to some real delights. These included pork and soup in a dumpling, a Korean BBQ where we grilled our own food at the table, afternoon dim sum in a fancy restaurant and homemade BLT sandwiches which made us realise how much we'd missed good western food. We also tried some of the more peculiar Chinese specialities. These included chicken's feet (similar to chicken wings, but less meat and more bones), ox tongue (chewy texture but quite tasty) and pig's neck (like fatty bacon). But the most memorable was when Mark literally put a foot in his mouth by jokingly stating he wanted to order the pig's trotter, only for Stu to actually order it! Fortunately Mark wasn't made to eat his own words so he cannot report on the taste.

Our enjoyable stay in Hong Kong was capped off with a scenic view of the island at night followed by a trip on the Star Ferry across the harbour. Next stop Australia...

Menu madness

As alluded to in an earlier post, we visited a local seafood restaurant with our fellow tour members whilst staying on Cat Ba Island.

We may have managed to upset the owners not only by asking (purely out of curiosity, naturally) how much the large live turtle in the seafood tank cost ("Not for sale! For good luck!") but also by crying with laughter with every page turn of the extensive menu. We think you'll see why.