Sept 21-24 From Cairns to Mission Beach to RollingStone

I think I have discovered the real reason why we’re here. In Australia that is. It’s 8:10 pm. I have a glass of red wine in my hand, the iPod on, and there’s a cool breeze rolling in off the Coral Sea – which is a mere 40 metres away. The kids and Linton are curled up in our Apollo Camper van watching a video. Full bellies, tons of surf, sand, sun...Unbelievably we are somewhere along the coast of Queensland, Australia at the front end of 13 days of camping and driving over 2000 kms from Cairns to Brisbane. As bizarre as it seems and as out of our element as it seems, life could simply not be better.

I am sitting here trying to recall the last few days having had a little bit too much sun and red wine – indeed it’s all been a bit of a blur. We left Melbourne around 4:00 pm on the 21st flying Jet Star, Qantas’ discount airline to Cairns. There were the usual economy airline issues, including holding the entire plane up while they found seats for us, but we arrived safely in Cairns three and a bit hours later having flown 2300kms to Northern Queensland and the home of the Great Barrier Reef.

We weren’t picking up our van, or as they say in Oz - our caravan, until Monday morning so we stayed in the Queenslander Motor Inn for the night. A decent little 3 star place in the middle of Cairns – all we really needed and with a great little pool that the kids just loved...Sorry, Dave Matthews Crash into Me just came on the ipod – I will be right back... Okay, I’m back. Anyway, we dined at an amazing Malaysian restaurant 2 blocks from the motel – The Bay Leaf I think it was called. They kept the kitchen open for us and we had beautiful sates, nasi goring and Linton and I toasted the start of the trip with two of the best tasting Coronas ever.

The night was uneventful other than a busload of partying scuba divers coming back from the bars at 1:00pm coinciding with the kids’ need to pee and have a glass of water. When morning broke, far too early, the kids were back in the pool and we were paying extortion-like prices for a coffee and some toast. We packed up early, which was clearly not to Alex’s liking – he figured we had got our hotel, our pool – we were good-to-go for the balance of the 2 weeks! Ooops! How we continually forget to think like the mind of a very quick and stubborn six-year old! As the taxi pulled up to take us to the rental depot he was inconsolable – why did we need to leave a perfectly good room, pool, ??! He had no concept of the beautiful mind-blowing scenery we were planning to see. Why would he? He could not have cared less. Note to self. When planning trips that you think will alter your child’s entire world view and stand as a cornerstone to their whole sense of self for the rest of their lives – be ready for a 3 star motel swimming pool in the middle of Cairns fully trump your ace.

Still doing that sort of sobbing-sniffling thing, we pulled into the Apollo rental place and signed on about 10 dotted lines for the right to become trailer trash. Well, not really but if I said that we knew what we were getting ourselves into that would be a complete lie. What we did get was a four berth diesel five speed camper complete with toilet, shower, stove, fridge, a/c, dvd player and tv. A sweet ride really. Now all I needed to do was drive the damn thing.

Now this was going to be a bit of a turning point in our whole year for me – the driving. I had had many thoughts about how I would fare and here was about to be my moment to shine or fail miserably – on the left side of the road, the left side of the vehicle with the added bonus of a manual transmission with the left hand in something the size of a budget cube van. On top of that as I soon found out – the main highway south from Cairns, in fact the national highway(!) – the Bruce Highway – is little more than a decent cottage road in rural Ontario. There are often no shoulders and a 10 foot drop on either side and many, many rigs or road trains as they call them which made me grip the wheel at 3 and 9 just like Young Drivers of Canada had taught me, a little tighter. But more about the driving later.

After a thorough walk and talk through, learning how to dispose of our grey water and black water and how not to drain the battery or blow the whole thing sky high, we were off. Well, off for all of about 2 minutes to the local IGA actually. In that brief commute, I managed to negotiate one roundabout without killing us all or grinding the gears or stalling the thing outright. My mother would be so proud as memories of learning how to drive stick in the K-mart parking lot – stalling out that fancy Ford Probe – came flooding back with every lurching gear change. We loaded up on the essentials, including Tim Tams, Doritos, and all of the ingredients necessary for some killer vodka tonics and then gingerly headed out down the road, out of Cairns, and south bound to amazing places yet discovered.

Having been in these parts almost 20 years ago, Linton had booked us into Big 4 Caravan Parks in places and on beaches that weren’t too far to drive to and would be fun for the kids. So our first destination was a place called Mission Beach. Well, South Mission Beach actually and a Caravan Park called the Coconut Beachcomber – altogether about 160 kms of driving. A short distance made longer by the amount of road work, the general state of repair of the roads, the several and very long sugar cane trains (“Hauling cane!)” that cut across the highways, and the frequent oohing and awing at the amazing scenery going by. The boys were great - and sequestered to their little car seats in the back of the camper with no control over time, destiny, or anything else – they did well to keep their “Are we there yets?” to a minimum.

About 1.5 hours later and desperate for a picturesque moment around every corner, we “negotiated” getting off the beaten track and headed toward the ocean and a place called Bramston Beach for lunch. I was fully not into the diversion until we rounded the bend and saw the ocean...wow...though I think a stronger word came to mind. Crashing surf, islands on the horizon, beach as far as the eye could see...this was a good diversion. The boys went for an improvised swim as did I as I became increasingly concerned about the strength of the surf and after hauling everybody out – we had a Spartan but tasty lunch of salami sandwiches on the beach. After a quick change we were back on the road and again headed for South Mission Beach.

Speeding past miles and miles of sugar cane fields and banana plantations was eye-opening enough but we added to that - mountains, rainforest, the ocean, many many dried out river beds and some seriously challenging roads and there was no shortage of things to consider. As we got closer to our destination, we began to see signs for Cassowary crossings and Cassowary reserves as well as signs to keep our speed down because “Speed kills Cassowaries”. I’m pretty sure speed kills most things. In this case, the creature in question is a sort of prehistoric emu that clearly proves the link between birds and dinosaurs. This thing is butt ugly and truly a freak of nature, but also quite endangered so we were asked to take it easy and try not to bump one off. Frankly, every single car and truck we saw on the road had a “’Roo Catcher” attached to its grill and I figured if anything like a kangaroo or cassowary jumped in front our rental caravan, given the option of ditch or road train or cassowary – the bird would be buying the farm. Incidentally, we saw many grisly road kills in the form of former kanagaroos, about as frequently as you would see raccoons flattened on the side of a Canadian road. The problem with kangaroos is they can be about 10 times the size of a raccoon and would do some serious damage to our cute little camper van if we were to meet head on! Thankfully, there were no cassowaries or ‘roos to be hit or seen and we were soon turning into the first trailer park this guy has ever stayed in. I was looking forward to sporting a “wife-beater” and a perpetual rum and coke. (For the fans of The Trailer Park Boys)

Situated mere metres from the ocean the Coconut Beachcomber Caravan Park caters to families and retirees alike and it would seem the caravan using public comes in all shapes and sizes and with all manner of agendas. From fishing to cycling to swimming to relaxing people are all geared to living life at a relaxed pace and enjoying time with family and friends...oh, and having a few/many pints as well. It is hard to walk by any site without hearing the familiar clink of ice in a cooler or the snap of a cold beer tab being pulled. These Aussies like their drinks! The rigs are incredibly impressive with many people running tv antennas and flat screen tvs out of these tiny trailers that unfold into a hundred different rooms and compartments like some sort of origami tonka toy. People come fully prepared as if the game plan for going camping is to see how much you can make camp feel just like home. There are central laundry facilities and washrooms and hydro and water for all sites and if you can handle living within spitting distance of your neighbour with everyone having paper thin walls then it can be downright comfy.

The kids were swimming in the ocean within minutes of our arrival on what we thought to be one of the nicest beaches we had ever seen. Soft light brown sand stretching for miles in both directions. The tide was high but the break was gentle and they played and played until pruny. I should mention that this part of the country during the months of October to May are bad for jellyfish – particularly nasty jellyfish (the box jellyfish and one other I can’t pronounce) who can kill you if you are unlucky enough to be stung. That is part of the reason we are here now – to avoid the jelly season. They also string nets along some of the more popular beaches making them relatively safe to swim in. There are also vinegar supplies and first aid instructions on most beaches.

After swimming we settled in to a steak dinner and a movie – The Rescuers Down Under, of course and then proceeded to figure out how we turned a kitchen table into a double bed. Linton and I had toasted our success with a few glorious vodka tonics and by the time the movie was done and teeth were brushed, we were all quite ready to hit the hay – entirely pleased that we had moved ourselves down the Queensland coast line without incident, thus beginning the 10 day odyssey of kids, kms, and our kozy little kamper van!


Well, as Macbeth once uttered, “Twas a Rough Night”. New beds (actually a bed that is normally a table), strange sounds - very close, kids up in the middle of the night for water and peeing...actually felt just like home. Eager to get to the very cool pool, complete with slide and life-size crocodile, the kids wolfed down some Froot Loops (ahh yes, the breakfast of champions and caravans apparently!) and we were off to rip the seal off that pool the minute it opened. 45 minutes later and we were off to the beach to run and frolic (there is no better word) in the waves of low tide. With virtually no one on the beach this was a morning that was hovering very close to paradise. Needless to say it was quite difficult to pull them off the beach and get them ready for the next leg of our journey. Just watching the boys run, splash, and play aimlessly in the warm safe water was mesmerizing. So rare is the time we have to truly play without agenda. But this was it.

After getting the van squared away with all of the water drained, plugs unplugged, and hatches battened down we soon headed back down the road to our next Big 4 Caravan site – believe it or not the Rolling Stone Caravan Park about 3 hours down the road. Once again the scenery was gorgeous, the roads somewhat treacherous, and the driving getting more and more comfortable with every klick that zipped by.

Though we were a rolling lunch stop, we needed some gas and a few extra supplies that we hadn’t picked up in Cairns and so we stopped in Ingham to shop at the local Woolworths – which in Australia is akin to an IGA or Dominion. The gas was a shocker as we filled up for a mere $110.00 -diesel was a bargain at $1.65/litre! Stop complaining Canada! A Subway lunch, which is a mirror to any Subway at home was a welcome and familiar respite and we were then off down the road to try to find our next camp site.

It’s quite an experience as you roll into each place – tired of the road and eager to see what this resort offers in terms of amenities, sites, pool, and beach. Though the first few klics off the highway seemed a bit dodgy, this spot will forever be memorable for the beach – because we were almost parked on it! Mere metres from the roar of the wind and surf, this was an exceptional spot, with a huge pool complete with cave and waterfall, as well as some huge fish in a pond that the kids could feed with food supplied in the office. The beach wasn’t perfect for swimming but Colin loved looking for shells and we had to work hard to get Allie out of the pool that came complete with cave and waterfall. We also met a friendly retired couple who gave some sage advice about things to see and offered to show us their recent pictures of travels in the Outback. Perhaps the video show went on a few minutes too long, but I would say this was our first of many friendly encounters with fellow travellers who are interested in our trip and larger journey from Canada. They even loaned us a spare hose fitting which turned out to be an essential piece of equipment.

A good pasta dinner accompanied by that red wine I mentioned at the beginning of this lengthy blog and we were all off to bed content in the knowledge that the first few days had not been a fluke and that we were starting to get kinda good at this caravan thing.