Whitsundays Islands

Yeah, yeah, we know you’ve all be waiting for the next update – sorry it’s been a while, but we’ve been in cruise mode for the last couple of weeks!


Stuart building the MkII

As it turned out, our planned short stop in Townsville turned into an extended week after I twisted a muscle in my neck (for the second time this trip!) and could hardly move. I was only doing some gently stretching exercises! So while I rested on doctors orders, Stuart kept himself busy dismantling the wooden storage box he built back in Alice Springs, as it had gone really mouldy in the wet, damp weather we have been experiencing. Enter a trip to Bunnings, and ‘Wooden Box - MkII’ was constructed, being of much sturdier plywood and more functional design utilising plastic tubs as drawers. He has painted this one to try and ensure it doesn’t go mouldy like the last one!

One night we decided to have a seafood cook-up, as Stuart really wanted to have a mud crab. We couldn’t find any mud crabs, so we settled for Moreton Bay Bugs, king prawns and some barramundi cooked on the BBQ. This was also coupled with fresh vegetables we bought at the local market. I also found a fantastic stall at the markets selling vintage clothing, buying four dresses for $65!

Whitsunday Island

After three extensions on our stay in Townsville, my neck was finally feeling better and we headed off for Airlie Beach and our Whitsunday kayaking/camping trip! Yah!!!

We booked a water taxi company called ‘SCAMPER’ who ferried us out to the islands and provided us with fresh water and stinger suits. They dropped us and our kayaks off at Joe’s Beach on Whitsunday Island. Originally, we were planning to island hop in the kayaks for four days and get picked up from a different beach, but given my neck was still a bit tender, we opted for a standing camp at Joes Beach, and just do day trips out in the kayaks exploring and snorkelling.

Sunset from our campsite

When we were dropped off we were really excited to discover we were going to be the only ones camped on the beach – we had it all to ourselves for the first two days and nights! Our days consisted of getting up, having a leisurely breakfast on the beach, lots of swimming and snorkelling straight out from our beach, exploring in the kayaks, the odd afternoon snooze on the beach, and fresh entrees of rock oysters (Stuart found them at low tide!), and topped off with sunset dining on the beach. It was really hard to take! Honestly!

Having the kayaks was a real bonus, as our paddles rewarded us with close encounters with numerous turtles, stingrays and reef sharks. In some instances the turtles and stingrays swam directly under our kayaks and we could see them in every detail. It was absolute magic!

Our third day on the island saw a young French couple join us on our secluded beach! Another beautiful day ensued, however that evening the heavens opened in a massive way. Hamilton Island nearby recorded 66mm of rain overnight. We were nice and dry in our tent, but our neighbours tent wasn’t up to the deluge! We woke to discover that they had spent the night floating on their air mattress in their tent, and everything was saturated. To make it even worse, a little local resident (a native marmot) had paid them a visit during the night and chewed through the side of their tent and had a chomp on their food (ours was safely stored in our kayaks). They were cold, wet and not looking forward to spending another night on the island with everything soaked!

Stuart had turned on our phone to check what the weather was doing, when to my surprise, SCAMPER rang to see how we had faired overnight! We managed to arrange a pickup later that morning, much to the relief of our neighbours! It was a day early for us, but the forcast was for continued rain (which it did for the remainder of the day!). We found out when we got back into Airlie Beach, we had to stay the night there anyway as the roads out were all closed due to local flooding!

So we found a cheap motel, and after a hot shower and a warm cuppa, we started trying to dry all of our wet gear. Not sure if the owners of the motel would have been happy having everything spread out around our room! We spent the evening catching up with our caught up with our French friends for a couple of cold beers and pizza’s.

Eungella National Park

Pioneer Valley from Eungella

The next day the roads opened and we headed up into the mountains to Eungella National Park where we had read you have a good chance of seeing a platypus. We camped just out of the national park, in State Forest on the banks of the Broken River. We had the entire campground to ourselves for two nights! Originally, we planned to drive back into the park to a platypus spotting platform, however it turned out that we had our own resident platypus directly out from our camper! We were both very excited and as luck would have it, the little platypus came out every evening and morning that we were there! We were able to watch him up close through binoculars as he duck dived, chased his tail and even rolled over onto his back. He was soooo cute! I loved him!

Just after dark each evening there were also fire flies buzzing around the river banks. One of them actually flew into our camp and landed on the table between us, allowing us to see him up close – it looked like he had a little pulsating LED strapped to his abdomen!

Eungella is actually located on top of the ranges, and given the record wet weather this area has been experiencing, we were actually camped in the clouds. This combined with some heavy showers of rain, the camper’s canvas was absolutely soaked, resulting in everything starting to get really damp. So we decided to pack up and headed out to somewhere a little drier! Driving back out to the bitumen, we found that the tracks were also now really wet and slippery. My heart leaped a little when the car started to slide in the mud going down one of the hills, but Stuart had it under control fairly quickly (coupled with a big grin!) We also had to get out the axe and hack back a tree that had fallen across the track!

After a quick check of the weather forecast on the internet, we decided to head south to Rockhampton to try and dry out for a bit. It was a good decision, as we have now managed to dry out the camper and all of our wet gear. Given Rockhampton is the self proclaimed ‘Beef Capital’ we decided to go out and have a big steak at a little local tavern, as we had been given a tip off by the visitor centre about their 2 for 1 offer on a Thursday night - $24 saw both of us with a beautifully cooked steak, chips and salad!

We have about a week before we take the car and camper out to Fraser Island, but given the unseasonal rain, we are having to revise our plans, as we have been told that there are a lot of roads closed around the place due to all of the rain. But there is no lack of things for us to do!

Love to all!
Mish & Stu