Catch of the day

Lake Tinaroo, quiet and beautiful, we were the only ones there. Windy and cold in the shade but quite nice in the sun... Fishing, well what can I say, maybe its me, my set-up, my bait, or the turtle. I caught one apart from catching a cold, and from experience where there is turtles there is no fish. Great spots around the lake, and well charted as to where the different species are most likely to be, not for me through.
Next fishing spot in mind is Karumba, and if I don't catch a meal there I might as well give it away, hook, line and sinkers... and will only keep the nets, kill nets. 648 kms from here to Normanton on mostly sealed roads, then 719 kilometres on the Savannah way, national route 1 to Borroloola from Normanton, now I don't know whether the Phantom will make it through on that road, as there is a few river crossings and according to my map its 4x4 vehicles only. If we go the other way it will be 1900 kilometres that will mean going back to Mt Isa and coming around through Daly River, tooooo long, so I will do the Savannah way and hope for the best, glory, glory halleluia. Hey I do have a 9 and half ton winch: the Phantom weighs 22 and half ton, rolling weight I don't know, so all in all, it's the adventure... Let's do it... before that first comes the pain, then the gain that we will all love and have with us for the rest of our lives, and once that is done, the rest should fall in place....says l.

Never give up

Beautiful Lake Tinaroo

Man made lake Tinaroo

Keeping warm

Wildlife education of the day

Come on Aussie Come on

Porridge on this fresh crispy morning, its about 12 degrees and feels 3. Yep it was hard to get up at 6am this morning.... had to, like every morning, Evander always has a warm, good morning wrap for me to change, or else, well lets put it this way.... I want to have a good day.
Rocky creek war memorial park in the Atherton Tablelands 428m above sea level and rising towards south. About 22 kms south of Mareeba, 6 kms from Tolga. Great free camping spot (gold coin donation) with toilets, water and lots of campers, legal stay is 72 hours even though some campers look like they've been here for 72 weeks.
Today I'll be forced to dive into the man cave for the fishing rod, ha ha can't wait, barra, long toms, perch, bring it on lake Tinnaroo... Yes! the man cave is all sorted, was redone yet again at Mareeba, had to fix the cameras after driving through tree friendly North Queensland cities Townsville, Cairns, Kuranda, Port Douglas, Daintree...
Well the count down is on and we have three bags packed, mum's, and boy's or girl's - either one we cant wait... Come on.... We love you and will love you long time. Come on Aussie come on.

Young photographer's shot at Ellis Beach

Ellis Beach - I'm spoilt, all to myself!

Rainforest meets beach

Coastal road from Port Douglas to Cairns

Port Douglas offered us some rain and a beautiful parking spot.

Lush Daintree village views

Crocodile spotting at Daintree

Cairns waterfront walk, Esplanade

Some friendly city trees

Kuranda trees

Rocky Creek camping place

Great spots for big rigs, Rocky Creek

Still waiting...

Camping within and without grounds

We do a lot of free camping. Caravan parks are often not an ideal option for us because you often have to pay for every extra person (including children), and also because with this tribe, we'd rather stay away from crowded caravan parks where vans and buses are parked right beside each other with no room to move. Also, some caravan parks can't accommodate a big rig, and others don't take dogs. When staying in a facility, showgrounds are often our preferred choice with big open spaces - easy parking for the bus - and lots of room for the children and the dog.

In far north Queensland we have, however, stayed in three different camping spots. First, in Cooktown, the council provides a parking spot with a dump point for self-contained RVs. On the web site they say there's a $5 fee per night, and the council ranger will inspect the motorhome for built-in grey and black water tanks, but when we made inquiries with Cooktown council we were just advised to find a spot to park for free. The location is quiet, and a short walking distance to town, so no complaints there. Sand flies can be too friendly at times, but so can they be anywhere in Cooktown, especially near the mangroves.

Our next paid overnight stay was near Cairns, at Lake Placid Tourist Park. We initially chose this park because they are dog friendly, but it ended up being like a little luxury holiday for all of us after weeks of free camping. As usual, we did a whole lot of washing, having access to mains water and power after relying on solar and water tanks for quite some time, and made sure our battery bank was fully charged. But then came the best part of it all: the swimming pool with a lovely BBQ area offered us relaxation for hours! The amenities block is also brand new, so you really don't feel like you were in "just another" caravan park. As the park is nestled at the base of Barron River Gorge National Park, there's a feel of being hidden in a rainforest. The staff at the park were also very friendly and helpful, and although a bit hesitant if our Phantom could be accommodated due its size, they found a perfect spot for us in the park.

Most recently, we have found Kerribee Park Rodeo Ground in Mareeba to be a great stop for a few nights. The amenities are basic but sufficient, and well maintained. The park seems to be very popular as there is a whole caravan village on the other side of the park, but we've found our own corner as there's lots of parking space. There might not be swimming pools or playgrounds to entertain children, but there are other goodies to keep them busy. Firstly, there's so much room to run around, and near where we parked there's even a little sealed path that the children have been using for scooter riding. There's also a horse, shetland ponies and chicken within the grounds, and they all seem to be friendly and used to the attention from visitors. If we didn't have enough horse madness in our family yet, these ponies have converted us all. Unfortunately we can't have one while living in the bus... There's some magnificent termite mounds for the kids to explore on one side of the park, and a whole lot of kangaroos come grazing around the place in the late afternoon. Just because of all the animals, we could easily stay here for quite some time!

At Kerribee Park rodeo grounds, parking is plentiful.

Ant mound castles, but no playground at this park, Mareeba.

This resident pony we named 'Nippy' for some behavioral reasons, but he seemed to be the kids' favourite all the same. Mareeba.

'Punk' is the most laid back, cuddliest shetland pony I know! Mareeba.

Maybe not black, or a stallion, but this pony got the nickname 'Black Stallion' from us. Mareeba.

Hungry mob of kangaroos starting their dinner early. Mareeba.

Room to roam with a mountain view at Kerribee Park.

RV friendly free parking (limited to 48 hours) in Cooktown. 

Free sunset at free camp ground, Cooktown.

Downtown Cooktown Crooktown Hooktown

Our family has developed a somewhat interesting relationship with Captain James Cook while we've been on the road. It all started from Sydney's Botany Bay, for us on Australia Day 2015 and for Cook quite a few years earlier of course. We were lucky to be able to spend some time in La Perouse and Kurnell while in Sydney a few months back, and this is where we first discussed Captain Cook and Australia's indigenous history with the children. Our five-year-old insisted on calling him Pirate Hook no matter how many times I gently reminded her of his real name.  Well, a home schooling lesson well learned and never to be forgotten with nicknames and all, I thought at the time, after visiting Cook's first landing place and his memorial.

But when travelling up Queensland coast, even the Phantom will be haunted by Captain Crook Cook, appearing in the form of numerous memorials and place names. The name of the Town of Seventeen Seventy, of course, marks Captain's second landing on the east coast in the year of 1770. And we've learnt that the singing ship in Emu Park is standing there, marking Cook's discovery of the Capricorn Coast. Thus by the time we reached Cooktown in far north Queensland, I was rather bored with all things Captain Cook, and thought I wouldn't even like the place. But what a pleasant surprise Cooktown was! The Endeavour River - yes, here we go again, lack of imagination I say - was a great spot for fishing as soon as I relaxed slightly about children and crocodiles and stories about dogs going missing... And Mount Cook does give a beautiful backdrop to this charming little town. ALL the memorials in Cooktown commemorating Captain Cook, his crew and their contact with the first Australians also proved to be very informative, even creative and entertaining, and I truly fell in love with this small historical town.

I doubt it if I met any of Captain's (or his crew's) descendants while in town, but we were warmly welcomed by the Aboriginal people of the area, who were more than happy to teach our children a few words of local Guugu Yimithirr language too, the most famous of them probably being gangurru, which was originally recorded by Captain Cook as "Kanguru". Somewhat ironically though, even the Guugu Yimithirr people introduced themselves to us as "Hope Vale mob" instead of by their true country name. Perhaps that says something about our (white) attitudes and ignorance towards Aboriginal culture and language? But as we have seen in the last few years, there seems to be a very welcome trend towards re-introducing indigenous names alongside the Anglo-Australian place names. So maybe Cooktown will one day also be known as Gangaar?

- M -

Long time no see, but we hear about you all the time, Captain Cook.

Celebrating the origin of the word kangaroo - Cooktown style

Awaiting for this day to come. Recognition, respect, reconciliation. Milbi wall, Cooktown.

I'm not sure if I should feel any different having followed on Captain's footsteps, but here I was, standing in the exact spot of landing.

This is true work of art: a ship-shaped monument that allows children (or anyone!) to make music as it is fitted with marimbas, thongaphones, tok-toks, chimes and doof (bass drum).

Fishing at Endeavour River.

We've been here and there and everywhere

Phantom has covered some kilometres in the last few weeks. We've been seen and missed, while we've taken family on a Queensland roadtrip. We feel like we've been everywhere, but of course we haven't... But we have all enjoyed seeing some very different Australian landscapes even if we've only stayed within one state on this beautiful continent.

We've seen some absolutely amazing coast line from Brisbane and Sunshine Coast to Capricorn Coast, tropical beaches where the rainforest meets the reef, and long sandy beaches that reach for miles and miles. We've seen kangaroo and wallaby country, cattle country, cassowary and crocodile country; and been fortunate enough to see some of these animals in their own habitat. We've also seen endless stretches of sugarcane fields and banana plantations, rainforests and open grassy plains, mangroves and eucalypt forests. We've been bathing in fresh water and salty ocean waves, climbed palm trees and tasted the sweet juice of young coconuts.

We've met happy people and cranky people, experienced some great Australian hospitality from the first and new Australians, and gone through different feelings ourselves. And the roads we've driven have been different too! Some were hilly, others unsealed, some very steep and windy, others flat, straight and boring, and some busy yet well maintained. The driver was wonderful and so was the bus, handling different conditions and lots of kilometres extremely well.

Sometimes we've pulled up in a rest area for the night, other mornings we've woken up to an island view. How grateful we are for the memories we've made together in this beautiful land of Oz, and like I asked and begged and prayed before their flight touched down, our guests have enjoyed plenty of sunshine in this sunshiny state.

- M -

We've been swallowed by giant crocodiles... Daintree.

...and waited patiently for our coconut lunch. Wonga beach.

Walked the devil of a dog...

...and enjoyed some beach walks ourselves.

We've greeted some rigs climbing up big hills...

...and approached some less horsepowered traffic on wide open roads.

Some bystanders stayed still like these cows and ant mounds... Lakeland.

...sometimes we've had to slow down while waiting for a good catch. Cooktown.

Roads were red and vegetation lush... Cooktown.

...while some mountains were piles and piles of black rocks. Black mountain.

Some steep and windy roads were slowed down some more by roadworks... Kuranda.

...others were a pleasure to drive, and surrounded by cane fields. Pyramid mountain. 

Some places were simply magic to look at... Dunk Island.

...others we eventually had to plunge into. Murray falls.

Keep my home beautiful

Oh my, it is so good to be home, and even if I must say so myself the front yard looks so spectacular. Nearly every day the front yard is different, be it sandy beaches, mountain scenes, or roadside rest areas. If only everyone took their rubbish with them or used the bins provided, nah... that would be perfect then, can't have that! It's a shame that people have this mentality or choose not to clean after themselves....?

Normally when we stop at a place for a day or night we do a quick rubbish pick up within the immediate vicinity. The worst place or should I say dirtiest, was Brighton-le-sands. One mid-afternoon we filled three big garbage bags with plastic bottles, food wraps, with piles of peanut/nut shells and half burnt coal. Once we had done that the kids could not wait to get into the water. Oh how nice a big family turns up may be even three families together with seats, own barbecues, the lot. I was making dinner while the kids swam, but now the dog is just not letting up: what is going on? Kids teasing him, kids from that family. "Oi! Don't do that, and get away from the bus window!" Ha ha ha, off they went, only to come back with bigger kids to tease Jiniba. That's it, I'm going to see their parents, wtf bean shells every where,  lolly wraps, empty bottles just left there... Hang on they're all women, where are the men? Oh ok, they bowing to the tree, don't be silly they're praying... praying for someone to pick up the rubbish for them. Well the men came back and they all left without the rubbish, there was a bin right between them and their cars, so while they were getting into their cars I started picking up their rubbish, and all I could hear was laughs... I looked up and smiled... I love Australia, and it really hurts me to see people not caring. I must say this, most of the time it's the people that needed care who often don't care... Is it cultural, or carelessness, surely it couldn't be religious... We are one but we are many, so all we have to do is  "do the right thing".

Beautiful and clean, let's keep it that way

Family enjoying the front yard

Nothing better than home-made bread