Meet Sydney
It was the coldest October day in 30 years, according to the pilot on arrival to Sydney airport. We staying at Eva’s Backpackers in King’s Cross, a neighborhood with a saucy reputation as a red light district. You know you’re there when you pass the huge Coca Cola sign. Being from Atlanta, Donny felt right […]
Open Water
Diving the Great Barrier Reef was near the top of our not-to-be-missed list. The amount of information available to tourists in Cairns is absolutely overwhelming, and we did quite a bit of research on possible ways to get there. Carmen, from Experience Cairns wasn’t the first agent we chatted with, but she was the only […]
Departing the Daintree
On the way out in the morning we did the last boarwalk: Dubuji, which looked different than the others had on previous days, due to the heavy rain the night before. There was lots more water in the creeks and everything seemed sort of steamy. This was a longer walk with lots of lowland rainforest, […]
Exotic Fruits
On Sunday, we drove up to Emmagen Creek and followed the path back from a huge strangler fig to the swimming hole. We had read at the Bat House that someone had seen some cassowaries here recently, but still no luck for us. North of the creek is 4-wheel-drive only, and the route continues north […]
Where the Rainforest Meets the Reef
In the morning, our hosts had laid out a gorgeous fruit plate: papaya, grapes, kiwi, apples, oranges, mandarin and the sweetest pineapple ever. A lot of fruit is grown in the region, and our plates benefitted. There was also toast, jam, cereals, and a pot of hot coffee all enjoyed with a lovely view of […]
Epiphyte
Next in our series of weekend wanders was a trip up the coast to Cape Tribulation. After a few days on foot it was nice to have our own wheels again. After a quick stop in Port Douglas for a look around, we head directly to Mossman Gorge. The traditional owners here (and in the […]
QLD for short
Luckily, Cairns City Backpackers was amazingly accommodating when we arrived before 10 am. Our room was vacated, but not yet cleaned, but they let us store our luggage inside until we were ready. We immediately had a good feeling about the place. The owners, Dave and Hiromi checked us in themselves, and were eager to […]
They call it a “red-eye”
Darwin was named for Charles Darwin, who explored the harbor on his ship the Beagle. Established in 1864, and having survived bombing by the Japanese in WWII, Darwin faced the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history, Cyclone Tracy, in 1974, Darwin is now a multi-ethnic, modern capital for the Nothern Territory. After driving back from […]
Lord of the Flies
We awoke early again for an 8 am guided walk with a ranger in the Yellow Water billabong. Helen had given the talk at the Anbangbang shelter the previous day as well, and we really liked her style. One person was particularly interested in birds, so she pointed out each of the 27 we spotted. […]
Hotter than…
We couldn’t wait to get out of the van in the morning, so we head back up to Ubirr in the morning for another talk, this one about one of the galleries of rock art. We learned lots more, and when someone had a question about how old the art was, it was interesting […]