Day 9: Cape Hillsborough - Eungella NP - Airlie Beach

June 30, 2018

On time at 6:15 we are ready and walking in complete darkness to the beach. In the moonlight, we can already see the kangaroos hopping around.

Wow, it's exciting. Shortly after, more tourists arrive and take pictures of the kangaroos with their flashlights in the darkness. The disturbing procedure is stopped by the ranger who prohibits taking pictures with flashlights, sets up a barrier between tourists and kangaroos, and then feeds the kangaroos. From a safe distance, we can now watch the kangaroos in the sunrise. Very cool!

We spend about 1 hour on the beach, then the rest of my family gets too cold and they go back to the camper. I watch the kangaroos jumping away for a while when a lady speaks to me in English and asks if I'm from Germany.

We start talking. She is a native Danish and has been happily married to an Australian in Melbourne for 40 years.

She can even speak German (she lived in Germany for a few years) and is happy to exchange a few words in German with me. After she has told me about her travels, she shows me pictures of Sydney and Melbourne. By the way, she is a real "Grey Nomad". Her husband joins us and they both enthusiastically talk about their last vacation in ITALY - and he is absolutely thrilled with the European highways and the lack of "speed limits" ;-)

Very funny! We say goodbye and they wish us a "great trip". In the RV, I treat myself to a coffee, then we leave our site and drive a short distance to the "Mangrove Walk". There we see, among other things, a huge nest of green ants and a very strange-looking spider.

We continue inland. We want to go to the "mountains" to Eungella National Park and hope to see a wild platypus. The weather has deteriorated in the hinterland.

It is very cloudy and the forecast for tomorrow is not good at all.... but we hope for the best.
On the way to Eungella National Park, we pass countless sugar cane fields, some with tracks and railway & wagons for sugar cane transport. Wow!

Passing fields and meadows with herds of cattle, we drive up the "very steep climb" road into the clouds. That definitely has something mystical about it!

We stop at the parking lot of the "Sky Window Lookout" and walk the short trail, which has several view points...

But as you can see in the picture below, you can see: NOTHING!

Just fog.... Hmm.... The "jungle" looks especially cool in the fog. Everyone can see it in the sun ;-)

We continue to the Broken River Visitor Center. We first walk the Platypus View Route to the lake. At least the sun is shining here.

After a few minutes, we have already found something: right in the middle of the lake, a small platypus is swimming around before it quickly disappears and no longer appears! What luck!!

We spend about one hour at the lake, river, and viewpoint under the bridge, but we don't see anything else but turtles, frogs, and squawking cockatoos.

With the feeling of having seen something "rare", we treat ourselves to a lunch at the Broken River Cafe before continuing the journey.

On the way back, we stop again at the Sky Window Lookout because by now the sun is shining, and - oh miracle - you can actually enjoy the breathtaking view! It's amazing how different everything looks here in the sun!!!

We have a 170 km drive ahead of us, first back to the coast and then further to Airlie Beach. When we arrive in Airlie Beach, our first thought is that we don't like Airlie Beach at all...
Since it is still early afternoon, we continue towards Shute Harbour, where we park shortly before and climb a small trail to a viewpoint on the mountain.

The weather on the coast has visibly deteriorated compared to the hinterland. The sun has disappeared behind thick clouds, and it looks like rain. There is no trace of "turquoise blue" water. The wind has picked up, and the thick clouds announce rain.... Menno....

After the trail, we briefly drive to Airlie Beach Town Beach between the yacht club and Fairy Tree Park and take a look around. Airlie Beach somewhat reminds us of Ballermann in Mallorca (where I've never been, but if it's high season here, it must be a hell of a place...).

Dozens of shops, souvenir shops, restaurants, and tourist offices line the street as far as the eye can see.

While the "Ride the Duck Bus" quacks past us (we already know it from Seattle and Halifax), we stroll along the beach back to the camper and drive to our campground for today, the "Seabreeze Park", where we occupy our Powered Site 12 with Slab.

At the reception, we are recommended to enjoy the beautiful pool area, especially for the kids! When asked if the pool is heated, the nice lady almost bursts into tears - with laughter, of course.

"Where are you from???" she jokes and tells us that she goes swimming every morning. The pool has a proud 22 degrees water temperature, but with the current 18 degrees outside, nothing can tempt us into the water anymore.

Our site is located on a large meadow, around which many other trailers and campers are parked. The camp host shows us the connections, and even before I can ask why there are so many hoses lying around on the grass, he points to our greywater connection and tells us to simply lay the wastewater hose somewhere on the meadow - like everyone else!
Whaaaaat?????????? They just let their greywater drain onto the grass??? Seriously? I'm speechless...

He seems to have noticed our bewildered looks and asks if we have already "released" the greywater during the drive. Huh???? Is he joking!? No - no joke! We actually learn that it is completely normal in Australia to "release" greywater during the drive, "direct it onto the grass" with a hose, or collect it in an egg and then pour it "somewhere". I am shocked.... Isn't that disgusting???? So my greywater, in addition to soap residue and dishwashing residue, may also contain leftover food from washing. Who knows what kind of creatures that attracts!

We opt for the bucket option. So far, we have dutifully done the dishes and washing up in the camp kitchen - and we will continue to do so. The bucket content finds its end in the nearby toilet. Pfffffff............ draining it onto the grass is out of the question for us!
After dinner, I enjoy the luxury of fast Wi-Fi and check the weather forecast for tomorrow. I could cry. Rain is predicted with a 90% probability, with temperatures ranging from 16-18 degrees. Oh no.... please not bad weather tomorrow!!!!
Tomorrow we have a day trip to the Whitsundays! I booked it months ago.... for a lot of money!!!

And we were looking forward to the white beach and turquoise blue water at Whitehaven Beach.... I could cry.
After saying a few prayers to the sky, asking the weather god to please show mercy, we fall asleep pretty quickly.

However, I can still hear the first raindrops drumming on the camper's roof...
Such bad luck..... :-(


For the statistics:
Campground: Seabreeze Tourist Park
Cost: 42 € / Powered Site with Slab
Distance driven: 304 km
Wildlife sightings: Kookaburra, kangaroos, turtles, frogs, platypus, cockatoos, ants, and a strange spider
Weather: sun & clouds, 18-24 degrees
Conclusion: In search of the platypus!