February - Rockhampton - Cows - Cairns

The last days in Rocky and work in the Queensland Outback

February 1st was a Saturday and we had a day off. After our beauty sleep lasted a little longer than expected, we set off to Byfield National Park shortly before noon. After about 1 hour drive, we reached our first destination: Stony Creek. Unlike the Rockhampton River, this waterway did not host hungry saltwater crocodiles, so we enjoyed the refreshment, even without the company of other people, after a short trail run. Next, we stopped at Waterfall Creek, deeper into the national park. The vegetation became increasingly dense and rainforest-like. For the last part of the journey, we had to let some air out of the tires, as in Fraser, the 'road' turned back into a sand dune. When we finally arrived at Stockyard Point, we had a beautiful view of the ocean. In the water directly below the viewpoint, we discovered 2 turtles gracefully maneuvering through the long waves. Rain veils crossed over the sea, and a beautiful rainbow appeared, then the rainfront also reached us, the wind was so strong that we stayed dry on the windward side next to the car. Back in Rockhampton, we just fell into bed. Early the next morning, we drove to Yeppoon and took the ferry to Great Keppel Island. We found a good deal for the transfer including lunch and kayak rental. We walked through most of the island but didn't quite make it to the other end. As we looked for cooling down near the sea after the heat of the inland roads, we met the nice owner of the Svendsen Beach holiday house, who provided us with drinking water and tips for snorkeling and exploring the rest of the island. We were lucky that there were no nasty jellyfish this season. At one point, we had to wade through a river that flowed into the sea. Matze lifted the backpack high above his head as the waves licked hungrily at his arms. A boat anchored in the bay came over and invited us to ride the rest of the way to the restaurant; they had the same destination. Totally amazed by so much kindness, we got in and off we went on a speedy journey. After a very hearty lunch, we got into our double kayak and paddled about 1.2km to the neighboring island 'Middle Island'. There was an observatory where numerous fish lived on the columns, I had never seen so many fish at once. Some were as long as my arm, others tiny - a mini fish that looked like a wild goldfish followed Matze the whole time. We saw a green turtle and a large school of sardines shimmering in the water. After this beautiful experience, we paddled back, and then the ferry back to Yeppoon started. The last days in Rockhampton went by extremely quickly, we visited the local brewery, and I attended my first (not really my thing) laughter yoga class. On the morning of March 6th, we packed up all our stuff and set off to Blackdown Tablelands National Park. It was raining when we arrived (it was already noon), but combined with the slightly milder mountain climate, it provided the first pleasant outdoor temperature in a long time. In Rocky, it had been extremely hot and humid, even with light physical activity, sweat had formed waterfalls. After climbing around in the water-eroded rock hollows and caves and admiring Aboriginal rock art, we set off on a waterfall hike. For the first time since visiting numerous waterfalls in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, we actually found a larger amount of falling water and enjoyed the ice-cold refreshment in the pool under the waterfall. On the subsequent off-road track, Matze was able to try driving over stone plateaus and wildly growing tree roots instead of sand. It went quite well, only a somewhat confused-looking cow ran in front of the car when the darkness of the approaching night had already settled over the national park. We continued driving until we reached Bluff, where we were allowed to set up our camp on a backyard meadow for $10. The next morning, we continued our journey to Emerald, where we found farm-appropriate long-sleeved work clothes (farewell, UV) at an op shop and headed to the dam in search of refreshment. The dam was nice, but the water was muddy due to the rain, and the first meter of surface water was about 40 degrees warm. It was another 2.5-hour drive to the farm, the last hour on a dirt road. The road was in good condition, but suddenly the car started sliding sideways, which panicked me but initially amused Matze. With 30-40 km/h and no trees on the left and right (although the landscape was overall much greener than we had imagined), fortunately not much could happen. We finally reached the Glenmyra property, where we would spend the next 13 days. The farmland was easily the size of Dresden and housed 7,000-8,000 cattle. Colleen and Lance warmly welcomed us, and we also met one of their sons, who lived in the neighboring house with his wife and son. We stayed in a former farm worker's camp, consisting of construction containers (not very comfortable, but functional). The next morning, we started with our first task: spraying a tree called 'Black Wattle' that was spreading like a weed with herbicide. It would be a flat-out lie to claim that it was in any way a beautiful or enriching activity, but we were well paid for it. As with the previous evening, we were invited for a drink and dinner after work. We had actually bought groceries, but of course, we couldn't say no to so much hospitality. Luckily, we only had to spray the next day, then Matze went with the men to the second cattle farm, about 2 hours away, while I helped Colleen clean and tidy up the hobby room and the office in the main house. That kept us busy for almost 10 hours, spread over 3 days. The work was generally sweat-inducing due to the 40-degree outdoor temperature and mostly sunny sky, but there was a break every 2 hours: 'smoko', as the people here call the morning coffee break, lunch, and a little coffee get-together in the afternoon. I found it rather strange and often skipped half of it, I just wasn't used to it from the hospitality industry. Besides the family and the masses of cattle, there were several other animals on the farm, including 3 adult dogs and a very lively dachshund named Digby, as well as 5 cats. Among them, the fluffy Marty and the delicate Bluebell were definitely my absolute favorites, and even Matze, who was somewhat plagued by allergies, could not resist their charm. One particularly interesting resident was Snowy, a white parrot that had been rescued and raised by Colleen as a baby and adored her, he occasionally talked like a waterfall but only answered her.

The last days in the Outback and the journey to Cairns

Our last 4 days on the farm were really annoying. It was spraying again. We worked from Wattle Tree to Wattle Tree, hour after hour. Only one day, Tuesday, I was allowed to go on the other farm to herd cows. On the 19th, our last day, we had to mow the lawn in the afternoon, and then we were done. We were already looking forward to the free time afterwards, even though we had a very nice time. In the evening, we packed most of our things and the next morning we set off after a short farewell from everyone. First stop was a tourist mine in the Sapphire Gemfields, where you could sift sapphires from a bucket full of dirt. We found a few, but unfortunately not big enough to do something effectively with them. After a delicious lunch in the next town, we continued to "Theresa Creek Dam" to refresh ourselves. Clara loved it, but I didn't as much, because the water in the upper half meter had a delicious urine temperature (and the color of what you usually excrete). We set up our camp for the night in Clermont, where shortly after our arrival, a big thunderstorm came in and gave us a good 3 hours of rain. We finished the next day after a long drive at Eungella in a small forest camp on the Broken River. We took a short hike with a lookout, saw flying foxes and fruit bats, and turtles and platypuses at the river. In the morning, we drove back down the road into the valley and up to the Finch Hatton Gorge on the other side. It is a beautiful river framed by a rainforest with a stunning waterfall and amazing waterholes for swimming. Crystal clear water, cold, and beautiful sunshine again after a lot of rain. After that, we were ready for our next major destination: Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia, quiet and peaceful due to the rainy season and the off-season. It was actually raining for most of the time, but we didn't let it spoil our mood. We rented a spot at one of the campsites, and the lady at the reception had a fantastic Whitsunday tour special for us (without a tour or our own boat, there isn't much to do there). $75 discount on the premium tour on a catamaran sailboat with food and free drinks (including alcohol!), thanks to the cancellation of a cruise company that usually rents the boat on Mondays (Thanks, Corona!). On Sunday, we explored Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach a bit, but were somewhat limited by the rain, which persisted all day. Monday morning it was still raining, but luckily it cleared up at the start of our tour and stayed mostly dry. The boat was really beautiful (except for the color) and the tour very relaxed. Whitsunday Island wasn't quite as spectacular as it looks in the photos due to high tide, but still really beautiful with white sand, rays, and a few lemon sharks. On the subsequent snorkeling at a small neighboring island, on the other hand, was really awesome. It's not the main reef, but still many colorful corals and a lot of fish. Fortunately, the rain then disappeared completely overnight, so we could pack up dry the next day and hit the road again. On the way to Townsville and Magnetic Island, this time without major stops, we reached our destination in the early afternoon, checked into our hostel, washed our stinky laundry, and treated ourselves to a delicious dinner of potatoes and broccoli with kangaroo, followed by 'Bad Boys for Life' at the cinema. After all the time we were working and driving around, I needed a day of laziness. Clara explored Townsville a bit and I enjoyed the offerings of Netflix. In the afternoon, I picked her up in town, and we had a bite to eat and a drink (well, I'm back to fasting again, so it was ginger ale). Then we returned to the hostel, relaxed a bit more, and prepared for the trip to Magnetic Island. We set off at 8 in the morning, parked our car in the city, and took the ferry to the island. 20 minutes later, we were already there and started hiking right away. First to the equipment rental to get stinger suits for snorkeling (similar to wetsuits, but for protection against Portuguese man-o'-wars, which like to swim there), and then a circuit route towards the northern part of the island. The trail led us through the island's forest over some mountains with beautiful views back to the coast, from where we continued to an old WWII military base. Here, the Australians had a position for cannons to repel incoming Japanese ships; a magnificent view from up there over the entire bay. The (not quite official) path we took from there brought us to a small, deserted bay, where we swam around a bit. However, we didn't stay long because it was getting late, and we wanted to go snorkeling somewhere else. We followed the 'road' along the coast towards the south, visited Florence Bay, snorkeling with the last sun in Arthur Bay, and walked back along the main road to Arcadia with the darkness setting in and a storm approaching, where our accommodation was. Due to growing hunger, we stopped at Hotel Arcadia, where we were immediately invited to join a family at their table to play trivia. The food was delicious, the family super nice, we came second, got a $25 drink voucher, and the storm was over when we left. A successful evening. In the morning, we had a coffee, walked down to the beach, and to the ferry terminal in Acadia. There were supposed to be more or less tame wallabies (mini kangaroos) there. We didn't have to wait long before we saw one, and after I held out a blade of grass to it, it let us pet it. Super cute! From the ferry terminal, we jumped into the water and snorkeled a bit. We found a coral-covered wreck, a lot of fish, and a small reef shark. After getting out of the water, we climbed up to a lookout, showered in a waterfall, returned our stinger suits to the rental, and then it was unfortunately time to catch the ferry back. Cairns was calling us. At 3 pm, we were on the boat, and at 4, after a little shopping, we hit the road again. We made it to Bilyana that evening, a small free campsite about 140km south of Cairns. After a kangaroo curry, we watched a bit of series, and then we went to bed, the last night before Cairns. We woke up in the morning to the sound of traffic, made ourselves a coffee, and set off to Etty Bay and the beach. We had heard that you can see cassowaries there, a mix between an emu and a dinosaur. A huge flightless bird with a blue head and a big horn on its head. We hadn't even arrived yet when we saw one, a very young specimen, and then at the beach an adult one searching for food. It ate a few fallen fruits, stole a few chips from a family's bag, and didn't mind all the curious looks and photos. Fortunately, it then went away, and we could have breakfast in peace. On the rest of the way, we stopped at Babinda Boulders, a pretty cool creek with lots of whitewater (signs everywhere saying 'look, don't swim'), and swam in the bathing area. Around 5 pm, we reached the most famous city in Northern Queensland. Cairns: The pearl of the Queensland tropics, our home for the next time, surrounded by stunning nature and more Germans than at Oktoberfest. We checked into 'The Jack' hotel and are now waiting for the arrival of Elli, one of Clara's friends.