1st Nov to 4th Nov - Airlie Bay to Cairns

Monday 1st Nov - Airle Beach to Magnetic Island


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It does not feel like November. I was really happy that I was not going to see a winter this year however now my body feels like it is expecting a winter. I did not think that I would feel this because I usually hate the winter. I am going to miss skiing this year - oh well, can't exactly complain ;-)

Up at 7 and packed up stuff, got coffee and breakfast in town and then headed of towards Townsville. We passed the Harley Boys on the way and waved and took a slight detour to a look out. The views were great. We spent a few hours faffing at the tourist information going into town and then trying to book diving in the center of town. It meant that I just missed the ferry over to Magnetic Island so we went for lunch just off the Stand over looking the beach. It actually worked out really well as we had a great meal of fresh salad (picture is of view from the restaurant).


Having spent a lot of time together over the last few days, me and Kim decided to have an evening apart - no issues or problems just wanting a bit of space. I took the ferry to Magnetic Island and got there about 4. Kim stayed in Townsville and went out for a meal with the Harley Boys (who where also staying in Townsville).


I went for a bike tour of the whole of Magnetic Island. It was great to be back on the bike again and burn off some energy. The roads are windy, hilly and go through some beautiful bush. Exhausted myself nicely.







I was going to camp at "Base" on Nelly beach but it turned out to be an extremely busy backpacker place with loud music playing till 2 and having spent the last few days in company I was not really in the mood for it. I really wanted to get up early to run some of the bush trails around the Island. I decided to "Free Camp" i.e. but up tent in the bush somewhere in the national park. As it was dark by this point it was a bit difficult to find somewhere and I ended up tiding my tent to some trees rather than my bike. It was fine but it was very dense forest and I kept on waking up worrying that a snake or a spider had crept into my tent while I was putting it up! Silly really..... Not the most comfy nights sleep ever but I really enjoyed some alone time again.

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2nd Nov - Running on Magnetic Island, Diving Great Barrier Reef


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Up at 4.45 with alarm. Packed up and biked down to the harbor and looked up the bike and equipment and then ran along the nature trail from Nelly Bay up the hill and round back to the harbor. Cold shower using the free showers by the beach and then bought a coffee, changed and was ready to go when the dive boat picked me up at 7.20. I was in a great energized mood. I am now much better company having had a bit of time to myself. Kim did not do anything to irritate me at all but I needed some time to myself. It taught me more about myself. I do not find the idea of traveling on my own at all daunting.

The boat ride out to the reef was 2 hours 30 mins. It was a lovely ride but pretty choppy and many people were throwing up. We chatted with Amy who works for the dive company.






The first dive was with Alex (guided dive instructor), Mick (dive master along for fun) and Sebastian (another punter) along Shark Alley (19m). It was amazing but not that much better than the diving in Kenya. We did not say any sharks or turtles - which was unusual. After lunch I went off with Amy, Mick and Sebastian (12m). This second dive was out of this world! The coral was so colourful. We swam through caves and through shoals of fish. Now I see why the Great Barrier reef is so highly rated. I had loads of air left but we ran out of time. I wanted to continue on but Amy would not let us :-(

Kim went snorkeling in the shallower areas and swam with a turtle. I would have been gutted if I had not already seen several before. She really enjoyed the snorkeling.

Amy invited us back to her house of a bbq in the evening and to stay over. Great. We got back to Magnetic Island at 4ish and I picked up my bike from the harbor and then got dropped of with Kim to Townsville.

We went for a shower at her hotel room and then drove up to the top of Castle Hill. There were hundreds (literally!) of runners going to the top. It is obviously the thing to do after work in Townsville.





The views were amazing. We just caught sunset. Thanks to the Harley boys (Alan and Andrew) for suggesting it.





We had an awesome, alcohol fueled BBQ with Amy, Daniel, Amy's mum and Step-dad. We ate "Bugs" for the first time (small lobster), fresh prawns caught locally (they knew the name of the boat and the owner that caught the Bugs and Prawns that we were eating), mackerel and locally farmed pineapple.



Wednesday 3rd Nov - Townsville to Cairns


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Woken up at 6 by Amy but then went back to sleep till 9. Lovely shower and cooked breakfast. Watched a diving video. Amy was rubbing it in that I did not dive Yongala Wreck when here (one of the top 10 dive sites in the world). It was either that or the Great Barrier Reef as I did not have the money to do both. I needed 6 logged dives to do Yongala (on top of Padi Open Water) and I only had 4 when I booked on Monday. I now have 6 dives and could have done it today but we need to get to Cairns for flights tomorrow and to spend some time with my cousin Jenny.

Seeing loads of wild Roos now :-)







We left Amy's (20km north of Townsville) about 11 and stopped off in Ingham at the Tyto Wetlands. It is a swap walking distance from the back of town. It has over 230 species of birds, crocs and wild Roos. We had a lovely walk round in the rain (ironic as it is the wetalnds) and got bitten alive by mosquitoes.




We did not see any crocs to Kim's disappointment.








We met my second cousin, Jenny, at her cafe south of Cairns about 5.30 and followed her back to her beautiful house in the rainforest West of Cairns. It was great to get to know her and see how she lives in Aus. The house was amazing. I love the heat and the sounds of all of the animals and insects in the forest. It is really mountainous. We had a great meal of fresh, locally caught fish and salad. Jenny was very tired having been really busy for the last few days and so headed to bed early and me and Kim went out into Cairns to meet the Harley boys (Alan and Andrew) who are following us (also in town).

Cairns was quiet and as a town felt a bit run down. A lot of places shut at 10.The surrounding countryside however is absolutely beautiful. The picture is the water front in Cairns.


We managed to get nicely lost on the way there (GPS said we were in the ocean!) but we got back ok.

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Thursday 4th Nov - Cairns to Darwin


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Up at 7 with the light and spent some time on net and organising my things. Me and Kim went for a walk along the Crystal Cascades through the rain forest, just down the road from my cousin Jenny's house. It was beautiful. So many insects and butterflies.

Kim went off to the airport to go to Sydney and I went with Jenny to drop off my bike to get the pannier rack fixed.

My cousin, Jenny, then dropped me off at all of the awesome tourist things to do in town and as she is a tour guide she managed to get me in for free! It was fantastic.

I went to:

Butterfly place
Bird Sanctuary
Sky Train over the Rain Forest (well worth a visit)
Drive around town
Market



To you think it is love??











This guy decided to eat my shoe!







Views from the Sky Rail.







When I went to pick up my bike it was fixed perfectly! Jenny then gave me a lift to the airport and managed to get me on with no excess baggage charges (I even checked in my really heavy hand luggage) as she knew the person on the desk!

It was a perfect day. The fact that I was not expecting to do much today and just potter round town with Jenny meant that it was even better as it was unexpected.

Thanks SO much Jenny!

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The flight to Darwin was great - just organised my pictures and read. Went I arrived, I met a guy getting off the plane whom had also done some serious bike touring around the world. He recognised me as a tourer straight away (carrying front pannier with all valuables and cleats on my shoes). He gave me some tips for biking around Alice Springs and also a lift with my bike in the box to where I was staying (so that I did not have to put it all back together at the airport).

It was great to arrive reasonably early (9.45pm) at a safe place and crash. The first thing that struck me was the number of insects and the humidity in Darwin. I thought that it would be a bit more than Cairns but not so much. I do not usually mind the heat and humidity. I wonder whether I will still be saying that after biking here for a week.

I am staying at Jonathan Gramham's house only 2 km from the airport. He is an old family friend who used to teach me the piano and baby sit me when I was a child. He moved out here years ago but is currently back in England for 6 months. He kindly put me in contact with Bridget, who is renting out the house. Bridget offered me the self contained Granny flat under the house. It is really good to have some space and time to myself :-)