After getting up early the last few days, the alarm went off even earlier today. We had to get up just after five so that we could be on the beach by half past five. Five wallabies had gathered there. The more the sun rose and the brighter it became, the better we could see them. We watched the lively activity for quite a while.
We had breakfast at the motorhome and then set off.
Our first stop was at the Mangrove Trail. It led through the rainforest and mangrove forests.
Today there were colorful "bottle brushes"
Our first destination today was Eungella National Park in the hope of seeing platypuses there.
The journey there again led through sugar cane fields with the associated sugar cane trains. The road turned out to be a little adventure again - there were spontaneous changes to gravel roads and the further we got into the mountains, the more winding it became. But we were already used to navigating narrow, winding mountain roads with a camper from Canada and Norway. Unfortunately, we also got more and more into the clouds.
Our first stop was at the Sky Window Lookout. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see as there were clouds all around us.
Lookout without look But the rainforest was also interesting in the fog.
Back at the parking lot, we had our first encounter with a somewhat larger eight-legged creature: a spider had woven a beautiful web above the toilet door and was lurking in the middle of it, waiting for prey. Even though we repeatedly assured our youngest that she was not in the prey spectrum, she preferred to go through the other door - better safe than sorry.
We continued on to the Broken River Dayuse Area. We walked along the Platypus View Route to the lake and looked for the platypuses. And there it was - a platypus paddling around, diving and then reappearing after a while.
Broken River Visitor Center
We watched the lively activity for a while and then walked the rest of the trail. On the way we saw two more platypuses paddling in the water. And also some turtles.
Back at the motorhome we took a lunch break and tried our luck again at the Sky Window Lookout. In the meantime it had cleared up a bit and the clouds had lifted. Now we were treated to a great view of the valley. Then we meandered back down the mountain. On the way back to the coast we drove past sugar cane fields again. Sugarcane Train
Here on this road, too, there were signs at regular intervals warning of possible flooding with corresponding indicator rods at the side of the road.
This also explains why many of the Australian cars (most are large pickup trucks) have "snorkels".
And the Australian caravans are also built much more robustly than the ones we have seen so far. They all seem to be suitable for the outback. Mobile homes, on the other hand, are rather rare.
This time, too, the road felt like it was a single lane. Apparently, there is only the Bruce Highway in this area and otherwise only side roads, some of which are unpaved.
We are already practicing for the outback
After a good two hours we arrived at today's campsite in Airlie Beach at around 3:30 p.m. During a coffee break with ice cream in the sun we thought about what to do with the rest of the afternoon. Airlie Beach didn't look so appealing - very touristy, lots of souvenir shops. So we decided to go in the other direction and drove to Shout Harbor. Unfortunately it was already too late to walk up Mt. Rooper. So we settled for the lookout, from which you could see the offshore islands.
Port of Airlie Beach
We cancelled the trip to Whitsunday Island in favor of the diving trip in Cairns. We wouldn't have had enough time to do both.
For the statistics:Overnight: Airlie Beach Discovery Park Driven: 289 kmWalked: 7 kmWeather: Clouds and sunshine, approx. 24°C
