Long Island, Australia

December 18th - December 21st 2011

We woke up early as we were due to catch a boat to Long Island, one of the Whitsunday Islands. The boats first stop was tiny Daydream Island which looked like paradise. After an hour on the boat we were the only two to get off at Long Island and were greeted by a man on a golf buggy to take us to the resort. When we booked the day trip through Base backpackers we had the choice of an organised day trip with lunch which would include full access to the resorts pool or we could just buy the return boat trip to the Island. We decided to take our own lunch and booked return boat tickets but as it turned out we had access to all of the resorts amenities anyway. We were very happy that we decided to buy the boat tickets ourselves which cost $60 each as we saved ourselves $29 each which would mostly have gone towards the travel agencies commission.

Long Island walk

Once we had been shown the lovely pool area and beach we decided to start our day with a circuit walk around the island. We climbed some steep steps and were eventually surrounded by nothing but trees. As we walked we noticed how many spider webs there were in the trees and also crossing over the path. Craig and I both have a fear of spiders which was made worse when we accidentally walked into the webs! The path seemed like it was abandoned and was littered with sharp stones and rocks which were painful to walk on and it wasn’t very peaceful as crickets shrieked everywhere that we went. Despite the beautiful sunny day we felt like we were walking in the wilderness and couldn’t wait to get back to the safety of the beach. After an hour we made it back to the white sand of the beach and found some sun loungers to sit in while we ate our picnic lunch. It rained for a couple of minutes but the clouds soon cleared again to reveal beautiful blue skies which along with white sand and turquoise water meant that we truly were in paradise.

Long Island Beach

View from the sun lounger

After a relaxing afternoon under the shade of a palm tree reading books and listening to music we decided to cool off with a swim in the resorts pool. We walked back to the pier and saw a manta ray gliding through the water as well as what locals referred to as a ‘sea cow’. We enjoyed the boat ride back on the open deck and looked out for other sea life and were treated to the sight of a turtle coming up for air. The salty spray misted our faces as we came in to the dock at Airlie Beach. We treated ourselves to pizza before heading back to Flametree where we had spent a lovely evening a couple of nights before.

Tropical flowers

The following day we packed up and headed south to Cedar Creek Falls which was a small detour on our long journey to Rockhampton. The falls were more of a drizzle due to the lack of rainfall in the area but funnily enough as we got out of the van to take a look it started to rain. In heat like this rain is a welcome respite. We drove south for hours stopping at Revive and Survive areas which were set up by the Australian government to reduce accidents on the roads due to tired drivers. Volunteers run it and you can stop off for free tea, coffee, juice and biscuits. We stopped at Yaamba rest stop for free to save some money on camp sites and planned our trip to Capricorn Caves for the following day.

Inside Capricorn Caves

The next day we drove to Capricorn Caves and paid $26 each for a ticket. I’ve always loved caves having explored Cheddar Caves and Wookey Hole in Somerset, England when I was little. The guide met us and our small group and took us around the caves explaining each interesting feature. He took us to Cathedral Cave where weddings are actually performed and played us a piece of music demonstrating how the natural acoustics here are nearly perfect and actually better than in the Sydney Opera House. With the music playing and the lights and candles extinguished to demonstrate ‘cave darkness’ the place took on an eerie yet magical quality. During the last part of the tour we followed a zigzag path carved through the rock which was surprisingly tight and not for those with claustrophobic tendencies. We crossed the swing bridges and were back outside in the daylight. After the Capricorn Caves we drove on to Agnes Water and Town of 1770 where we stayed the night paying $36 for a site and that price was discounted! The closer it gets to Christmas the more expensive everything gets.

Craig and I in Town Of 1770

The next morning we parked up in Town of 1770 and went for a leisurely walk along the boardwalks with views over the ocean, golden sands and boats bobbing gently in the breeze. It was another hot day but noticeably less humid. The further south we went the more we noticed that the sun still shone brightly but the unbearable humidity had begun to disappear. We climbed some steps and found the stone monument dedicated to Captain Cook commemorating the year that he first landed on Australia in 1770. We walked back to the van and drove to Agnes Water where we admired the people having surf lessons but decided to give it a miss ourselves. We drove on through Bundaberg and Childers and some beautiful landscapes and arrived at Hervey Bay. We found a beach front campsite and got a night for $25, much more reasonable than in Agnes Water! We got chatting to the friendly manager and booked a tour of Fraser Island which cost $185 each. It’s very expensive but Fraser Island is a must do and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it.

Townsville to Airlie Beach, Australia

December 11th –  December 17th 2011


We decided to drive to Townsville so we packed up and got on the road as it would take us three hours to get there. We filled the campervan up for the first time which was $70, not as expensive as we were expecting but still a huge chunk of our budget gone for the day. We drove on passing the crop fields and tree covered mountains in the distance before finding a campsite in Townsville and having a dip in the sites pool. The next day we drove to Reef HQ which is a huge living coral reef aquarium. We saw sharks, rays and various colourful reef fish as well as sea horses which were a highlight. The reef was good but for $26.50 we would have liked for it to have occupied a bit more of our time, you could easily see everything in well under an hour but we stretched it out as long as we could by watching sea life documentary films on the second floor.

Reef HQ

We had plenty of time left on our parking ticket so we walked along the Strand passing loads of amazing children’s play areas, my cousins Lily and Chase and Craig’s nephews Alfie and Aidan would absolutely love it here! The sea front was lovely; it was another beautiful day so the walk past the boats in the harbour was great. At the far end we found a free lagoon swimming area which we hope to take advantage of tomorrow.
As the sun was shining the following day we decided to spend the day at the lagoon in the sun. We parked up for free and found a grassy spot to sit and read. We went for a dip in the salt water pool and generally relaxed. It would be great if England had these types of free facilities although we don’t really have the hot weather to make the most of them. Even free parking in England is a rarity!

I had read about Charters Towers in the Lonely Planet and it sounded interesting so we drove the 90 minutes inland to see it. It began life as a gold rush town and has many interesting buildings and lots of history. We parked up in town and walked along the High Street. We got a walking tour map and walked by each of the architecturally significant buildings and saw some large murals too. We jumped back in the camper and went to Tower Hill.

Charters Towers

We drove to the top and saw amazing panoramic views over Charters Towers and the surrounding area. We did a little walk at the top and then went to see the old abandoned war bunkers which were very eerie and the old mines too. We saw a huge wild kangaroo watching us from a distance before it hopped away into the dry bushes. With the sun beating down on us it felt like we were in an old American town in the Wild West. In the late afternoon with the sun still very hot we found a campsite and jumped in the pool to cool off.

Views from Tower Hill

Abandoned war bunker

The next day we took one last look around town before driving back to Townsville along the highway. It was pouring with rain on the way back which was actually quite a relief from the usual intense heat. Once in Townsville we grabbed an umbrella and went to the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery where we saw an exhibition called Desert Country which included lots of colourful aboriginal paintings with fascinating narratives. We stopped at an internet café to catch up on news from home before driving our van to the top of Castle Hill. It was a bit of a misty and grey day but the views over Townsville were pretty.

Airlie Beach

After some shopping the following morning we drove to Airlie Beach which was roughly four hours away. On the journey we crossed a bridge which reminded me of my friend Sally’s beautiful paintings at our degree show. It’s on these long journeys that I think of home and my mind wanders back to what my friends and family are up to while I’m not there. Once in Airlie Beach we decided that it looks like a party town as there are backpackers, tourists and bars everywhere. We stayed at Flame Tree Tourist Park a few kilometres away which is lovely as it’s peaceful and the place is full of animals and amazing birds. After a relaxing day at Flame Tree we drove back to Airlie Beach and checked in at Base as we had a spot reserved with a voucher for just $5 a night which was too cheap to pass up! We went for a walk and to the Saturday market which was selling pretty handicrafts, sweets and food and drink, unfortunately we couldn't afford anything as we were planning to spend a good chunk of the budget taking a boat out to one of the Whitsunday Islands nearby the following day. We walked along the Bicentennial Walkway which runs along the coast and admired the pretty views and tropical flowers and mangroves en route.