Above:  Freeform pool set amongst concrete blocks and old trees at our Port Douglas accommodation. Involuntary Extension We begin the involuntary extension of our Queensland stay today (or arguably yesterday), with return to New Zealand impossible until further notice due to Covid-19 restrictions. The additional stay is somewhat welcome as we can have a relaxing […]

Above:  2393 km of driving in ten days. Finishing the road trip Today we drive up to Cairns where we finish our road trip.  Our original perfect plan had been to fly out midday but that flight was cancelled possibly due to poor loads.  The second version of the plan had us flying out last […]

We have the day free to explore the surrounding areas.  Our first idea had been to go to Paronella Park, a fairy-tale castle built by a Spanish immigrant.  But at AUD50 for the visit, we thought we’d be wasting money on things we have seen before. Instead, we took a late morning drive from our […]

Above:  Kurrimine Beach. Continuing north We left Airlie Beach about 0810 for Kurrimine Beach.  We had wanted to overnight at Mission Beach as a substitute for Townsville which was now in lockdown due to Covid-19.  But due to accommodation reasons, we ended up booking for Kurrimine. The driving time was meant to be 6h.  The […]

Bad start So, we had decided against an excursion out to sea yesterday because the forecast wasn’t good enough in terms of temperature, sun and wind.  But we instead committed to a trip for today as the forecast looked better. We woke to on-and-off rain and 100% cloud cover, seemingly far worse than yesterday’s weather.  […]

Cedar Creek Falls We woke to news that Aucklanders had woke to freezing temperatures and frost.  Other parts of the country fared worse with the polar blast. Here we’re complaining, while in shorts and t-shirts, that it wasn’t warm or calm enough to do a boat trip and snorkel.  Oh, and how we don’t know […]

Kangaroos and wallabies at sunrise I had set the alarm to wake early so that we could go see the kangaroos on Casuarina Beach on Cape Hillsborough at sunrise.  I made a mistake and set it for 0440 rather than 0540.  Combined with the fact that I had been going to bed around 2100 and […]

Above:  The beach at Seaforth. Today was the biggest drive on our road trip, driving from Agnes Water to Seaforth near Cape Hillsborough National Park.  Estimated driving time was just a little less than 7h. We hit the road at 0710 with Kim doing the driving at first.  We changed over a few times and […]