Monthly Archives: March 2009

Cairns to Darwin – Day 2

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Breakfast on the go

Breakfast on the go

I woke, packed up the van and headed south to the first picnic spot I could find. Here I parked up again and prepared breakfast: sausage sandwiches and HP sauce. Yummy. It was stinking hot and not even 9am when I put all the food stuff away and headed south.

I’d have preferred to have continued west along the Developmental Road but as it’s unpaved in parts I wasn’t allowed. So south it was to Cloncurry and through Mt Isa again. Legend has it that once you cross the river in Mt Isa then you’re bound by supernatural laws to return to the city. Well, I crossed the river a few days ago and I was indeed back again! This time, though, my stay was barely an hour.

I filled up (twice), had a McFlurry so I could get some free wi-fi and bought some beers for later. The reason I filled up twice was due to a problem with the van. When it was hot (pretty much after it had been running for more than an hour) it would make any fuel squirted into it “froth” and spill back out. As such, filling it was a very slow and tedious process. At some times I was lucky to get 1l of diesel per minute into the tank. The first time I stopped, I thought I had filled it but when I got in I found I’d only made it to the 3/4 mark. Hence a second stop to put another 10l in.

Another border crossing

Another border crossing

West it was. I passed the border into the Northern Territory at around 6pm and duly put my watch back half an hour to cater for the time difference. As duck fell, the insects arrived in their droves and made little “tak” noises as they squirted their innards all over my windscreen (which now sported an impressive chip courtesy of a road train and a piece of gravel).

Some of these insects were the size of small birds, although the effect when they hit the windscreen were different. Birds made more of a “whump” sound before whipping over the top of the van and not leaving a mark.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t aim for birds. The opposite, I tried to swerve and slow to avoid them but the smaller ones in particular were just intent (it seemed) on bouncing off the van. Maybe it’s some weird avian version of “dare” but they’d fly into the path of the van, often flutter away and then cut back in again at the last second in a bid to make me duck pointlessly behind the steering wheel as they “whump”-ed harmlessly (for me) overhead.

Oh, I think I got a snake as well. Although it could have been a bit of old tyre rubber. I couldn’t avoid it as there was a car coming in the opposite lane at the same time so there was no swerve space.

Anyway, after driving through the dark for some time I made it off the westbound road and up onto the Stuart Highway which connects Adelaide with Darwin. I’d been up here before, but there was little other choice. I had toyed with the Tableland route, but the distance between roadhouses was too far.

Food, drink, expensive diesel

Food, drink, expensive diesel

I hit the 3-Ways roadhouse for some fuel and a leg-stretch, pushed north a bit and pulled into a picnic/rest area. Amazingly – and wonderfully – a lot of these are clearly marked as allowing 24-hour camping. So if you’re not bothered about showers or electricity then they make for a great place to pitch for the night. Many have toilets and barbequeues as well as seating areas and information posters. The one I stopped at already had about six vehicles parked up, the occupants – I assumed – already in the land of Nod.

After prepping the van so I’d not concuss myself should I roll over in bed, I joined them.

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Cairns to Darwin – Day 1

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Pretty view

Pretty view

I walked up to Apollo’s office early doors to collect the camper van. After filling in a gazillion bits of paperwork and watching a DVD on its operation, I was handed the keys and sent on my way. There were various provisos: I couldn’t take it off unsealed road except to get to campsites and the like; I had 2950km allotted for free; $750 fuel allowance. This restricted the route I wanted to take slightly, but hey-ho. At $1 per day I wasn’t going to complain.

The van I was relocating turned out to be a 3l Toyota Hilux with a small house stapled to the back of it. The inside had basic furnishings and the roof was raised and lowered for camping to give more headroom. Nice enough. I checked everything was OK and set off into town.

First stop was Woolies to get some food, then I tried to find somewhere to get a cable to connect my MP3 player to the van stereo. A simple 2-ended stereo jack lead was going to cost me $20 in the places I found them so I decided not to bother and just listen with my headphones instead.

As I headed back to the van after my third stop, I suddenly realised my head was a day out. I thought it was Sunday and therefore free parking all over Cairns. But it wasn’t. It was Monday. And if I hadn’t paid, I risked a ticket. Oops. Fortunately, nothing awaited my return so I got away with it. I don’t think parking wardens care about “honest mistakes”.

Nothing to do with beans

Nothing to do with beans

And so the journey began. With the fridge and food box laden, I headed south as far as Ingham then tweaked west along one of the lesser-used roads. Rather than driving all the way south back to Townsville, I thought I’d go for variety.

My first rest stop was at Crawford’s Lookout, over the Johnstone River. I hopped out here to enjoy the view and decided to walk down the 1.7km trail to the next viewpoint. Around 100m in I encountered my first ever wild snake. Thankfully he/she wasn’t that wild, and slithered off into the undergrowth when I stomped nearby. I have no idea what kind of snake it was – just black and about a metre long.

The view from what turned out to be the emergency helicopter landing pad was quite impressive. I could have walked down to the river itself, but I didn’t feel that I had the time. Instead I walked back to the van and drove further down the road to a picnic spot where I used the free stove they provided to make myself some soup for lunch.

High up

High up

Following the windy road to Normanton – which I aimed to reach before sleeping – I passed an enormous amount of nice countryside. It was lush to start with but as I progressed west, the greenery gave way to scraggy dry bush. Windy Hill was the last green place I stopped – an area with 20 wind turbines which proclaims itself happy to serve the community. Rather than the usual case in the UK where these things are built and then ignored by everyone except the people who complain that they make too much noise and spoil the view. Deal with it – it’s clean energy and they’re better than burning coal. Oh, and they don’t make much noise. I was stood 20m from one and it was quieter than a ceiling fan.

Welcome!

Welcome!

I passed briefly through Ravenshoe – Queensland’s Highest Town at 920m above sea level – and them just ploughed on until I finally reached Normanton, the “Home of the Gulflander” (one of the main train routes in Oz). It was closed. The town, that is. All of it. I was hoping to find a bar where I could share a drink with the locals before sleeping, but it wasn’t going to happen.

Instead, I parked up on a verge, extended my roof and went to sleep. No point in paying for a caravan park even though there was at least one nearby.

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Townsville to Cairns

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One big issue with Townsville – the public buses run fairly small routes and virtually none run at all on a Sunday. This means I had a hell of a walk out to the edge of town towards the highway and Cairns.

An hour took me to a McDonald’s a few kilometres out where I stopped for breakfast and internet access. Around half an hour later a very attractive young lady accompanied by her son (about 8 years old, I’d guess) stopped and drove me out of town to a petrol station. Certainly not the demographic you expect to be picking up hitchhikers and I’m very glad they did so!

Within twenty minutes, a minibus pulled up and two guys and a young girl from the Pacific Islands ushered me on board. They’d just been to a funeral in Townsville and were heading north of Cairns. They shared drinks with me as there was no aircon (other than the open windows) and they dropped me off on the Esplanade at around 3:15. If I’d caught the bus, I’d have been on the road for less than half an hour at that point.

I checked two hostels before I settled on the Esplanade Backpackers (I think one of the Nomad chain) as it was only $15 for the night, including free dinner at the Rhino Bar downtown.

McDonalds was required for free-wifi, and despite buying a meal I was harassed by the manager after some time to pack up and move out. The restaurant was near-empty, nobody was waiting for a seat and the internet policy online states that the time limit is only as long as your laptop battery lasts.

Had they been busy I’d have fully understood, but it just seemed like someone taking their own personal “20 minutes” rule at face value. This is for all customers, not just internet use. So even if the place is dead and you’re enjoying a massive meal and spending a fortune you’re only allowed a short time to eat it. I’ve seen this branch during the busy season and at that point, I’d agree – you need to shuffle people around. But right now, Cairns is dead. All they’ve succeeded in doing is annoying someone who’d not going to pay for food next time. I’ll just sit outside and leach.

Whinge over. I sat on the grass over the road and listened to two very talented musicians play some incredibly relaxing cover versions and ploughed through a couple more chapters of my book. It’s pushing 7pm now, from which time the free dinner is served, so I’m about to pack up and head over to The Rhino.

Hopefully, I’ll get this post online before I leave. Either way, I won’t be online until I get into Darwin – at least I doubt it. I’m hoping to take a route which is very unlikely to take me past a McD’s!

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The Great Hitch is over!

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I am now sat in McDonald’s in Cairns as it has free wifi. They’ve had a lot of business out of me in Oz since they rolled this out across every branch.

However, the reason I’m posting is that I’ve finished hitching all the way from Adelaide to Cairns (with brief uses of public transport and a hop out to Mt Isa – not a hitchable journey). And I think that’s pretty darn impressive. I had a heck of a walk out of Townsville this morning until I was picked up by a very pretty 30-something and her young son, then shortly after by a family originally from the Pacific Islands. They dropped me right on the Esplanade in Cairns, about 100m from the hostel I checked into.

£15 for the night, hot shower and a free dinner at 7:00. Awesome.

Tomorrow begins the long trek by campervan to Darwin so I’ll be off the radar until then. They don’t have many McD‘s in the Outback.

[I have some more posts to backdate, but I’ll get these up once I reach Darwin]

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Around Townsville

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Not windy today

Not windy today

The train pulled into the new Townsville station at around 10:15. In case you’re using an old map, this is about 500m further out of the town to the west than the “proper” station. While walking into the city, I passed the old station which looks like a traditional British one. Fairly recently, I think, this was closed and the trains now only stop at the new station. It’s hard to tell, but I think the travel centre still operates at the old one.

Tourist information in the mall pointed me in the direction of the backpacker area, which is essentially South Townsville. The first hostel I spotted was the one built over the bus terminal and it turned out to be the same price ($22) as everywhere else. No need to walk any further, so I checked in.

It’s OK. All the rooms are airconned and have a fridge. Mine even has a telly. I’m sharing with a Korean guy and one other person I’ve not seen yet. The reception also deal with bus tickets so I checked the Cairns prices – around $50. The bus departs at 2pm and gets in after 7pm. The train also runs on a Sunday, takes 6 hours and costs a shade under $100.

So tomorrow I’m hitching. There’s a public bus I can take to more or less where the highway starts and I’ll thumb it from there. It’s only a 3½ hour drive, after all. I may as well aim to get to Cairns in the early afternoon than depart from Townsville at that time.

Right, I’m off for a walk up the hill (which apparently is only metres short of being classified as a mountain) and a stroll along the beach.

[later that day…]

Castle Hill

Castle Hill

I decided to start things off with a visit to the library to see if I could check any maps out. Only it closed at midday on a Saturday. So scratch that plan.

Instead I walked directly to Castle Hill and started up the “Goat Track”, a pretty steep climb up the side. It’s hard going, but not impossible. Water is definitely recommended – you can refill your bottle at the top. Partway up, the track splits. Stick on the Goat Trail until you reach the road at the top. The summit’s just around the corner. On the way down, follow the other route to be taken more toward the northern side of the hill.

The view from the top’s quite pleasant and you can see virtually the entire city from up there. The most impressive view, obviously, is out to sea. Magnetic Island is clearly visible only 8km off the coast.

Sweaty and hungry, I hopped down to ground level and through the Queen’s Park to Red Rooster where I picked up a burger. In a small shady spot just off the Strand, I munched on unhealthy food and read some more of my book.

Strong gusts

Strong gusts

I then walked the entire length of the Strand, starting at Kissing Point. This is the northernmost end and still has some military significance if the fences and “do not enter” signs are anything to go by. There’s an artifcial lagoon which is filled with seawater and about the safest place to swim between November and May when the jellyfish are in abundance. It’s sealed off from the sea and the water is replaced every three hours by a continuing pump system.

Further down the coastline are a couple of “stinger nets”. These are inflatable tubes with nets hanging off them. The idea being that the water within these nets is stinger-free and (hopefully) stays that way – although they’re not 100% safe. Canisters labelled “VINEGAR” are dotted along the coast where you’d normally expect to see flotation devices, along with instructions on how to deal with sting victims.

Typically Australian – Queensland in particular – is that it’s a beautiful place but there are natural dangers everywhere.

Beware of jellyfish

Beware of jellyfish

Again, I paused to read a book for a while before ambling further down towards the southern point and back to the hostel. Nobody was up for a night out, so I picked up a 6-pack from the local bottle shop and sat and watched films on the large projector telly. I had a good natter with a couple of Kiwis and a guy from London, then collapsed in bed just before midnight. I don’t think I slept as well on the train as I thought I had.

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