Rainbow Beach

We then headed to the Tin Can Bay where everyday at 8am, dolphins come to be fed by tourists! Mai Anh could get to hand-feed a dolphin, and was very happy about it!

Mai Anh feeding the dolphins

After so much driving, I was quite hungry, so I ate a complete breakfast, and we started driving again. We stopped in Nambur to take a picture with the Big Pineapple.

A Big Pineapple!

We drove all the way to Brisbane to discover the city in about an hour time! I drove in the CBD while Mai Anh took pictures though the car window! We stopped near the Story Bridge to take a few more ‘still’ pictures.

Brisbane CBD

Then we went to the airport, direction Sydney. Once arrived in Sydney, Mai Anh rushed to the bus to get to her classes, while I took care of the luggage!

And that was the end of another of our crazy journeys!

The boat was much smaller than the one in Cape Tribulation, and more crowded also, but that day was not about the boat, it was about the Whitsundays, these beautiful islands near Airlie Beach!

The boat left the Marina passing many sailboats on the way. Depending on the tide, it would go first to the snorkelling location, and then to Whitehaven Beach, a beautiful white sand beach, or the other way around. We had been advised most often, the snorkelling was first … nevertheless, we took white and pink clothes to take pictures on Whitehaven Beach. And we got very lucky! Whitehaven Beach came first that day!!

Sailboat

But just before Whitehaven Beach was the Hill Inlet Lookout, providing a magnificent and constantly changing view on the white beaches and the turquoise blue ocean below.

Mai Anh & Nico at the Hill Inlet Lookout

Hill Inlet Lookout

Once down on the beach, we took many pictures on the white sand. We wanted to get some sand back home, 90something% pure silica, but the fine was discouraging ($40,000 as they told us …). We got some on our clothes though, as this sand was as fine as salt!

Whitehaven Beach

The boat took us next to a snorkelling site, and Mai Anh and I spent about two hours marvelling at the fauna and flora underwater. We saw lots of fishes virtually coming to see us rather than the opposite! We got really surrounded by them! We stayed in the water longer than all the other tourists, and got back to the boat only when our sugar level started to be low!!

Masked Rabbitfish

Colorful fish!

Mai Anh surrounded with fishes!

Bicolor Parrotfish (female)

Bicolor Parrotfish (Male) and Pink Parrotfish

The boat brought us back to the shore where we could see a beautiful sunset over the Marina.

Sunset on the Marina

But the day was far from over … after a quick shower at the caravan park, we hit the road. As a matter of fact, while preparing the trip (at the last minute …) I underestimated the distance between Airlie Beach and Brisbane … about 1200km! and our flight was the next day at 3:20pm … so I started driving at 7pm in the evening, and would only stop at Brisbane airport! No sleep … lots of coffee!!

Sunrise at Mission Beach

Mai Anh at Mission Beach

When our bellies started to groan we headed to a café to have breakfast. Then we walked to the market nearby and spent some time there.

Before starting driving, we stopped in front of the Visitor Centre to take a picture with a Cassowary!

Mai Anh, Nico and a Cassowary

On the road, we made our fist stop in Cadwell, mainly to get maps at the Visitor Centre. But we could also catch a few good pictures of the Welcome Swallow birds and the Purple Climber Crab on the jetty.

Welcome Swallow

Purple Climber Crab

We continued driving to Townsville where there was a regional fair on the Strand. We entered and watch traditional dances from many countries while eating good food including churros with chocolate dip!

Townsville regional fair

We took a few pictures on the Strand, and continued driving.

Townsville Strand

We wanted to get to Bowen early enough to book our tour in the Whitsunday Islands for the next day. We arrived in time, booked everything, including a cabin at a caravan park for the night! Wow luxury!!!

Before going to Airlie Beach which is very famous for … not having any beach (!!!), we stopped at Dingo Beach for the sunset. While this beach is supposed to have white sand though, it does not nearly compare to Western Australian beaches …

Sunset at Dingo Beach

We continued driving to Airlie Beach and had seafood dinner at a food court in the center before falling asleep in our cabin.

Mai Anh & Nico on Cape Tribulation Beach

Around 8:30am, we boarded the Rum Runner, a trimaran with a fantastic crew that took us to the reef in just about 45 minutes. I talked to Mai Anh about diving, and after some hesitation, I could convince her to try it! We went 10m underwater with an instructor, and approached the corals from closer than ever! We touched a sea cucumber, so soft!! And while diving, we were lucky enough to spot a shark, just a few meters in front of us!!

We went back on the boat, took a few pictures and had lunch.

Mai Anh & Nico on the Rum Runner

Close to paradise ...

Then we went back for some snorkeling, and took with us the camera in the plastic pouch that we bought to take pictures of the amazing underwater fauna and flora!

Nico ready to snorkel

Mai Anh snorkeling!

Giant Clam

Beautiful fishes!

Steephead Parrotfish

Six-banded Angelfish

Nice fish: anybody knows its name?

Mai Anh & Nico back up after snorkeling!

When the pool closed, we returned to the shore and got a complimentary glass of wine and fruits. On the way spotted humpback whales, and a pink dolphin!

Humpback Whales

The coastline was beautiful, the rainforest ending on the beach in front of the turquoise sea!

We returned to the campground to take a shower and starting driving back to Cairns to save time. Over the car ferry were flying dozens of welcome swallow birds! We made our way to Cairns through the fields of sugar cane. Sugar cane is everywhere in Queensland, and they even made railways just for transporting the sugar cane.

Tractor near sugar cane fields

In Cairns, we ate at the same food court, and then walked on the Esplanade near a man-made lagoon. We ate some green tea ice cream crepes and left the city. We drove about two hours to Mission Beach where, too tired, we fell asleep in the car.

As usual we had not planned much, so we desperately needed a Visitor Centre, which happened to be inexistent! Instead, each and every hotel had its own tourist information … we collected a few flyers, and went straight to the food court where we ate Asian style seafood. Once full, we headed to Avis where our luxurious Huyndai Getz was waiting for us (for those of you not familiar with this car, there is a bit of irony in the sentence …). We made our way to Coles to buy a few groceries, and hit the road!

Our first stop was Crystal Cascades near Cairns. Although not so famous, this place is very good for spotting blue butterflies, including the Ulysse Butterfly. This butterfly unfortunately opens its wings only when flying, and only the inside of the wings are blue, so taking good pictures of it is quite tricky!

Butterfly with blue wings

We could also spot a few spiders, including a big one that scared me!

This one scared me when I was taking pictures of the butterfly!

Funny spider!

We left the area for the Butterfly Sanctuary near Kuranda. Although we had little time inside, it was a wonderful place to sport colorful butterflies!

Beautiful Butterly

Beautiful Butterfly

Beautiful Butterfly

Ulysse Butterfly

We continued our way to the Barron Falls. Despite the dim light in the following pictures, the Barron Falls are quite impressive and quite original as the water falls over a myriad of cascades before reaching the bottom. Near the falls, a guy was selling coconuts for $2 in a campervan! We bought one that we drank and ate!

Barron Falls

We came back to Kuranda to take a few pictures in the city, especially of those fig trees.

Mai Anh next to fig trees in Kuranda

The, we left the Cairns area and took the road to Cape Tribulation, stopping at the Rex Lookout for sunset.

Sunset at Rex Lookout

We boarded the car ferry over the river at night, and arrived to Cape Tribulation around 7pm. We ate at PK’s pub, and parked in the parking of a resort, sleeping in our car!

We went to see the Big Hole right after a breakfast of bread slices with jam. Although still quite dark, the gorge was nice.

Ellery Creek Big Hole

We started a walk of 6km right after, climbing up the hills around the creek. I went out of the trail to the very top of a hill, asking Mai Anh to take a picture of me when I would reach the top. Unfortunately, Mai Anh messed up the lenses and used the macro lens instead of the zoom … which is why I look so small on the pic … ah women!!

Nico on the hill

Nico downhill

Mai Anh & Nico on the trail

Back to the campground, we left for the next place to visit, Serpentine Gorge. The gorge was a bit similar, but the light was better which allowed us to take better shots.

Serpentine Gorge

On the way back to the campground, we heard many “chip chip chip” on a bush. I tried to approach as much as I could to take pictures of these lovely Zebra Finches, which happened to be anything but scared by me!

Zebra Finch

We took a few flowers too, and continued our way to Ochre Pits. Ochre Pits was a long wall full of different colors that you could use to paint your body for example!

Ochre Pits

The next stop on our busy morning (yep, it was still morning!) was Ormiston Gorge, and we are glad we did not miss this stop. We were going to do only a short walk to the lookout but actually were tempted up there to continue down further into the Gorge. That was a very nice walk, and we could take quite a few pictures.

Ormiston Gorge

On the way back to the car park, we could spot the cute Spinifex Pigeons running around (you have to see them hurrying around on their tiny legs!), and for some reason, we seemed to be the only tourists interested in them!!

Spinifex Pigeon

Our tummies started to cry, so we stopped in Glen Helen for food, some very traditional fish and chips … we jumped back in the car, forgetting to refuel … fortunately we could finish the day without an empty tank, but it was close!

Glen Helen Gorge

We headed to Tnorala, a big formation created by a comet!

Tnorala

Then we made our way to the start of the Mereenie Loop, a dirt road to Kings Canyon.

Beginning of the Mereenie Loop

Mereenie Loop

My excitement to be able to drive on a dirt road with a four wheel drive (we often did that with a normal car) got slightly affected when the tyre started to sound like “flop flop” … oops, flat tyre! No worries, I’ll change the tyre … oops, not a true spare tyre, but one of those temporary tyres that require you to drive at less than 80km/h … and still 40km to go before Kings Canyon, and the sun was starting going down … I changed the tyre, and while doing so, three or four cars passing by stopped to offer help. Our misadventure discouraged a family who wanted to engage on the Mereenie Loop just before dusk …

Bloody Mereenie Loop !!!

We started driving back on the road, slowly to ensure no other tyre would get a puncture! On our way, we saw something quite surprising, paddy melons, right in the middle of the desert. But not one or two as we spotted in Flinder Ranges, but thousands, millions of them!!

Paddy Melons

We could reach Kings Canyon in time for the sunset! Phouh!!!

Kings Canyon at Sunset

We finished the day at the BBQ of the resort, a bit expensive but still good after our emotions of the afternoon!

It started with a few setbacks though, as Mai Anh forgot her ID at home (it was fortunate we realized it when we still had time to go back to get it!) and as Tiger Airways delayed our flight by more than three hours … so instead of arriving in Alice Springs at noon, we arrived late in the afternoon …

After getting our baggage and the hire car (a Mitsubishi outlander), we made our way to Coles to buy tuna cans and Asian instant noddles, as we remembered from our trip to Kakadu the year before that these can prove to be fabulously tasty when the closest supermarket is 200km away in the remote outback …

Then we left for the West MacDonnell Ranges where we were supposed to spend our afternoon … the colours on the Ranges in the late afternoon were splendid, turning red as the sun was going down.

Mai Anh in the Outlander

West MacDonnell Ranges

We walked (swam?) to Simpson Gap.

Mai Anh swimming to Simpson Gap

Simpson Gap

Down there, we spotted a Black-footed Rock Wallaby. He let me approach him to less than a meter as he was drinking out of a water hole!

Black-footed Rock Wallaby

We skipped Standley Chasm as the best time to see it was around noon, and it was more than 5pm already …

We continued our way to Ellery Creek Big Hole where we found a campground from the National Park. It was minimum facility, no shower, no food, so we were glad we had bought a roasted chicken just before leaving Alice Springs!

Campground at Ellery Creek Big Hole

After dinner, we lied back in the car, watching the billions of stars that populated the sky and that we never imagined existed! We fell asleep watching this beautiful clear sky.

First, I could withdraw money again

Second, I got a call from the photo shop: they received the lens! So after work, Mai Anh and I went to get the “in dream” Canon Macro Lens 100mm f2.8. We were so excited that although we had not much interesting things to picture, we started shooting all around the apartment :p here are some tests!

PS: as you can see on the pics, Mai Anh had a third luck: green tea cake for dessert!! I could not even get a bite!!!

First, I went out to withdraw money at the ATM and got a very friendly message “card denied” …

Second, I went to the photo shops to find the macro lens MAi Anh and I have dreamed about for the last six months (it was our last Christmas gift from my family … never found time to actually buy it!). Of course, out of the six shops, none of them had the lens available …

Third was the worst of the day … I actually registered a few days ago for “Around the Bay in a Day”, a 210km bike ride around the bay in Melbourne, and decided to train for it … except that when I went to get my bicycle in the parking … it was gone!! somebody had stolen my bicycle …. nothing left, not even the locks!!! I checked all the parking floors with Mai Anh, it was nowhere to be found …

Fourth, to comfort myself, I started baking Kouglof, a recipe from the East of France that I haven’t made for quite a few years … well it was a disaster!!! I did not even dare to put it in the oven! I was so pissed-off, I did not clean anything (poor Mai Anh who had to clean all that the next day … thanks honey, you’re a sweetheart!!).

At least we could have a nicer dinner. Mai Anh cooked the snapper I had bought at the market in the evening it was very good as you can see by the pictures!!

Ah food !!!! makes life better !!!