Travelling around Australia: «Our trip to Cairns» — short version in English
Three states: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Australia
05 January 2011
8000km craziness adventure throughout Australia
Hi, It was a late evening in Nov. 2010. Our friends from Sydney called us and said that they had found a very interesting tour to Cairns (a city in the north-east of Australia) on Christmas holidays and suggested we join them.
We did want to do this, but our friends from St.Pete (Russia) were coming the same time and they didn’t want just to lie on a beach in one place, they wanted to discover Australia. Thus, that time the idea was born – to go to Cairns by car, so that we could meet our Sydney friends there and make the trip to Great Barrier Reef all together as well as to show our Russian friends a big part of Australia.
While preparing, I asked all my Holden colleagues about this idea and asked for some advice regarding the weather we should expect and places to visit along the way. Some of them had no idea what to see, some of them even provided a proposal route for us!
But everybody told me that Cairns is the place which must be seen, we just should be aware of crocodiles, jellyfishes, snakes and spiders. Hmm… Russian bears do not seem to be so dangerous compared to this list.
The friends arrived on 18th of Dec. In the evening we climbed up the Eureka sky deck (Melbourne).
After that, fed possums in Fitzroy garden (Melbourne). Thus, guys started to realize that they were in Australia.
Ok. The next day after all discussions and searches on the Internet we made a plan.
We will go to Cairns on land road (Melbourne – Dubbo – Roma – Townsville – Cairns), will spend 3 days there and the way back will be along the Ocean (Cairns – Whitsundays – Rockhampton – Brisbane – Gold Coast – Sydney – Melbourne). We spent 3 hours booking all accommodations and attractions and were ready to go. It was 19th of Dec. 2010.
DAY 1 (20th of Dec. 2010)
Woke up at 7am. Our friends still couldn’t get used to the time change and were somewhere between reality and dreams. Today we should do ca. 1000km. to Dubbo. With real difficulties we put all our luggage into the boot and the Adventure began. 
On the way there we decided to show our friends Australian Alpines, and Mt. Horn in Buffalo national park was the best candidate to stop by as there is a scenic 360 degrees lookout on the top of this mountain.
We visited this mountain in July 2010 and it was so cloudy and windy that we couldn’t see anything further than 5 meters and we expected to see more this time.
All the way from Melbourne to Alpines the sky was a little bit cloudy. +21.
And just as we were close to the mountain, a lot of clouds appeared. We crossed our fingers. The road was open and we could drive almost to the peak. When we passed 1500m above sea level, we saw snow on the road!
Sensors reported +4 outside the car. Alex exclaimed, “We covered 20 000km from Russian winter no to see snow!”. Natalia and I were surprised as well. On the top 5sm. snow was everywhere. We were wearing flip-flops :). So, we took out and put on all our clothes and sneakers and did 1.5km bushwalk to the peak.
There was no difference on the top compared with July visit. The same wind, snow, cold and clouds! :((((
July 2010 December 2010
Nice start of the trip. Ok, guys, let’s go – Cairns is waiting for us! Sun, ocean, beaches are there! 
We came to the car completely wet and frozen. Go, go, go! Down, to warm.
3 hours later we started to meet signs on the road, which told us that all fruits should be left before we enter fruits restricted area otherwise penalty could be applied.
Wow. We didn’t know about that. As it was just a beginning of our trip, there were lots of bananas and apples in the boot. As we were a little bit hungry we decided to eat them. Before this I had thought that I could have easily eaten couple of bananas and apples. I was wrong.
Somehow we ate most of fruits, left the rest in the special container on the side of the road and continued our trip.
We were confused seeing much water in the forest aside the road.
Having passed 100km, we saw the sign “road closed” :-/ and a couple of cars in front of it. The same time one car went behind the sign to our direction and the driver told us that police were standing further and had turned him with penalties as the road behind this point was flooded. Not funny. Flood in the driest continent in the world during summer time? We reckoned that this was something very special and exceptional.
Our navigator showed detour with additional 200km! But there was nothing we could do. Went back. With bitter smiles we passed the container with fruits as the by-pass was aside the fruit-prohibited area and it meant that we overate for nothing.
Completely exhausted, we came to a caravan park at 1am. It was agreed that the key would be in the cabin and light switched on so that we could find it easily and felt down to sleep. We did 1200km that day. Tomorrow we should do 800km to Roma. Hope this day was an exception. Further everything should be better.
DAY 2 (21st of Dec.2010)
In the morning in Dubbo we visited their famous Taronga Western Plains Zoo. It was sunny and the zoo was really very nice. We enjoyed looking at feeding and cleaning of hippos, listening to stories about cheetahs and elephants.
After this, in a good mood and smiling we jumped into the car and went further. Cairns was waiting for us.
Having covered 400km, when we did half of the way to Roma, we stopped in front of water. Aprx. 200m. of the road was under water. Didn’t we pass all this yesterday? Doesn’t matter. We are Russians and this is Adventure! Yahoo!!! ;))))
And once we bridged over this, the sign appeared telling us that “the road in 100km is under water so please follow another way”. Our navigator found another way but told us that in Roma we wouldn’t be earlier than 8am next day. Hmm… 14 hours – 400km. Hard to believe. Something wrong with this device.
Go ahead. 100km. Passed, sealed road finished. A lot of birds were flying and rabbits were jumping across the road. Speed 60km/h and breaks each 100m because of animals. We laughed that GPS had known the conditions of these roads calculating accordingly. :-))))
But it was pure Australia with all these animals, forests, fascinating sky and sunset. Hello Queensland – sunshine state…
To Roma we came at 2am., even more tired than the day before.
A cabin was waiting for us. Tomorrow will be better.
DAY 3 (22nd of Dec. 2010)
We had breakfast in Roma and stopped by Visitors Information Center to check road conditions around. And were shocked learning that all roads to the north of Roma under the water up to 7 meters!!! 7 meters! And the only way to Townsville where we should be this day was through Rockhampton but this detour pluses 400km to 1000km we should do today.
That’s a challenge. Ok, guys, the way is long, Captiva feels good, there are 3 of us who can drive, thus we will just change more often.
After 3 hours’ driving, the weather changed and became cloudy, small rain started. Hope, something temporary.
Because of rain we slowed down the speed and realised that we couldn’t come to Townsville today. Called to a caravan park there, cancelled our booking, lost money as cancelled less than 24 hours before.
We decided to stay at Rockhampton and have some rest after 3 days of 3000km driving. Rain finished at the end of the day but anyway it was stuffy and 90% humidity. Tomorrow definitely should be better. We still believed that sun, warmth and beaches were waiting for us in Cairns.
Day 4 (23rd of Dec. 2010)
Very stuffy, indeed.
Come on guys! The last effort!
The weather is still not so good. There was a conversation with the receptionist in caravan park during check out:
- — Could you advise what is happening here? Why so many rains?
- — Guys, all you have seen is just a preview and real cyclone is coming soon.
- — What?! We were told that Queensland is a sunshine state and the weather this time is good.
- — Who told you that?
- — My colleagues in Melbourne.
- — Tell your colleagues that they don’t know Queensland
So, with this mood, thinking about the cyclone we drove off to Cairns from Rocky.
Today we should do the last 1000km. and tomorrow morning we will see the Great Barrier Reef. We must be there! Everything has been booked and our friends from Russia are dreaming about this as we are.
Going through Rockhampton we were wondering why buildings in Queensland differ from what we had seen before. The ground floor is usually just a garage and living area on the first floor which stays on pillars. Now we understand…
The river in Rockhampton was already out of shores.
Couple of hours later, I decided to chew a gum. And a couple of minutes later I was about to cry as a crown on my tooth came out. Dammit! Fortunately, it was top 5th tooth and gap couldn’t be seen even if I smile. Anyway, it is not good :(((((
Frustrated, I suggested Alex drive.
Each couple of kilometres we saw signs like on the photo with questions and answers. Interesting idea.
The further we went, the more depressive was the weather and everything around. We started to be nervous and wished to come to Cairns asap, thus even didn’t notice that increased speed somehow… After a while, we saw a police car coming on the other side of the road with lights turned on. Something happened somewhere we thought… Suddenly, the car made a police turn and pursued us. Mama mia!
The policeman came to us and explained that we had been not right speeding 23km/h more than allowed and moreover in such rainy conditions. In details, he described in what size of a box we could have gone home if we had crashed at such speed. Advised us to go back to Russia and speed there, not in his state and walked to the car to fill in papers. A couple of minutes later he gave us a paper with penalties of $333. What is the day?!!!
Only Russians can start speeding when weather becomes worse…
Closer to Townsville, the rain rushed as the Niagara falls…
Very slowly we passed Townsville. There were 350km to go.
In an hour we saw that all cars slowed down and stopped. Something happened? We saw a man who was walking along the cars with a lighter and stopped near each car explaining something.
When he came to us, he explained that near Ingham the road was flooded and only trucks and high clearance cars (Land Cruiser, Patrol) were allowed to go:
- — Unfortunately, your car, guys, has not enough clearance.
- — It’s Captiva AWD, SUV can’t be as common sedans which stay here!
- — Sorry, guys, I have strong rules to follow. You should wait until it is allowed to go for other cars.
- — But, how long to wait?
- — Who knows? Might be an hour, might be a week if water depth doesn’t decrease.
— Ok. Thank you…
After an hour or so, this man passed us once again and told us that until tomorrow 4am nobody would go further and we could wait or go back to Townsville.
The trip to the Great Barrier Reef starts at 8am., so we could be there. So, we decided to spend a night in the car. Each next day was more and more “interesting” than the previous one. Could be more “interesting” than now? Tomorrow we will see.
DAY 5 (24th of Dec. 2010)
Very hot and stuffy. We started the car each 30 min. as it was impossible to sleep without AC.
There were no toilets around. Rain didn’t stop even for a minute. 4am, 5am — no news. If we don’t go now, we miss our tour in Cairns, and we already missed one day at a hotel. I went to the border and asked about the situation. Unfortunately, a test car just left and there was no information back.
At 7am still no information. We called our friends from Sydney who were waiting for us in Cairns and with whom we had the tours to the barrier reef and told them that we couldn’t be on time. The guys talked to people from the agency and hotel and, lucky we are, the tour and accommodation in Cairns were cancelled without penalties, but what to do next? At 8am, the test car came back and police informed us that water was too high and next 4 hours nobody would be allowed to go there.
200km. after 3800km, and we can’t go further. Ok, guys, let’s have some rest in Townsville and then we will decide.
Thus, we turned on the way back.
A couple of photos from the Internet about what we would have met if we had been allowed to go further that night.
In Townsville we easily booked a cabin as a lot of people had cancelled their stay. Then we went to the beach. Water in the ocean was warm and after 5 days’ sitting in the car we swam with great pleasure and didn’t worry about rain which was pouring without a break.
There is a mountain in the middle of Townsville. So, after a bath we went up to lookout on the top of this mountain. Fortunately, the rain stopped for a while thus we could make some photos.
That evening was the first one when we sat and chatted without thinking about the next day.
DAY 6 (25th of Dec. 2010)
In the morning we agreed to call to Whitsundays airport to cancel our day trip to Hayman Island. As we had expected, the agency had been cancelling all trips themselves based on weather conditions. Thus, we decided to go straight to Brisbane and Gold Coast as in accordance with the news that the weather wouldn’t change even next week.
Once we left the caravan park we were shocked. A lot of roads in the city were under water!
Water in front; Water behind; Water everywhere…
We did worry about the way back. Without any unnecessary stops just to fill in the tank, we went to Rockhampton. Just before yesterday the pictures were completely different. Now everything was flooded. Fortunately, roads were above water but it could be changed any minute. Queensland – sunshine state…
In parallel we called to Melbourne. +35, no clouds, sunny and warm…
Just for a second stopped on a beach in Mackay.
Not far from Rockhampton we understood that this became not just a cyclone, it became a disaster. On rails which were along the road, there were number of carriages with coal turned over.
Rockhampton met us with rains. We were not surprised. Hi, Rocky.
DAY 7 (26th of Dec. 2010)
We woke up early. Hurry up, guys, we need to escape.
Jumped into the car. It was still raining.
After 30km from Rocky we saw a nice picture and our hearts stopped. Dozens of cars were standing in a queue. We didn’t believe. No… It couldn’t be worse as we had already had. Asked a man who could go and when. His answer was that in 2 hours, they would check and let us know, but it seemed that it was for a long time. Western land roads were already 9 meters under water and all this stuff went to here. My gosh.
We went back to Rockhampton, stopped by visitors’ information centre where we asked a man how to escape. He advised us to stay on a road as long as necessary thus once the road is open we could fly through.
So, we filled in full tank, went to Coles and bought food for some days and went back. LUCK, we know how you look like! Once we came back, the road was open for an instance and we could go through.
YES! 6 hours later we saw TV news in Brisbane and were shocked learning that all roads around Rockhampton were closed and even trucks couldn’t get through. And you know what is happening there now… If we hadn’t gone exactly that minute, we would be still there sitting somewhere on a roof.
Late in the evening we came to Brisbane. We had booked a hostel there. Had struggled to find something else but during the hot season :)))))) there was nothing available. There was a nice big red cat on the reception
As it was raining all the time, all students who should be somewhere in the city were sitting in the kitchen and on the stairs, were playing guitars, drinking beer and not only, singing and laughing. But all we wanted was sleeping, and how to do that in such circumstances? Hopefully, at 10pm they were asked to finish the party and we could fall asleep.
DAY 8 (27th of Dec. 2010)
Still raining.
We went to the Brisbane downtown, there we wanted to do a boat trip but the rain became so heavy that we decided not to do this and went to the Gold Coast.
On the way there we struggled to book any kind of accommodation but even after 30 calls didn’t have any success. Did we deserve it? Fortunately, in one caravan park there was a van available. We cried to the receiver, “Book! BOOK!”, but the women on the far end told us politely to come first and see.
Ok. We were there in 30min. Got a key and went to see. Now we understood. Tiny, with ants, with specific smell, without shower and toilet… Katya exclaimed “Where is a door?” Believe it or not, we even didn’t notice that van didn’t have a door Came back to the reception and asked for something different. There were a couple of rooms with double beds in one floor big building with a shared toilet, shower and kitchen. Hmm… hostel in Brisbane was even better.
Nothing to do, got this. Organised a kind of lunch… And smashed it onto the floor…
After that decided to go to swimming on one of the best beaches in the world not all of us were ready to swim under the rain with strong wind.
But couple of hours later, the rain stopped and the first time after 5 days we saw the sun. Better to say, sunset.
Thus, we went to the city for dinner and did some walk around. I saw an attraction (don’t know how it is called in English, but in Russia it’s called Catapult). I’ve never done it before but dreamt about. There was no queue thus I was able to be fired off straight through.
Awesome! One of the most exciting things I’ve ever done!
DAY 9 (28th of Dec. 2010)
This day we wanted to go to the Wet&Wild aqua park. But the weather thought that it was not a good idea and released a very strong wind. Ok, let’s go to Sydney where there is sun, sand and waves. So, completely wet and really wild, we left the best Australian resort.
On the way to Sydney we went to the Tropical Fruit World. A very interesting place. This is a farm but with a lot of attractions for tourists. First, you taste all fruits which grow in this place.
Then, we were carried across plantations by a tractor and saw how some fruits grow.
Then, we tasted natural macadamias.
After that, we had a little bit of “pet therapy”.
Then, we fed birds while boating. Afterwards there was a funny trip on a small train.
And all these were included in one 2 hours’ tour.
That day we couldn’t come to Sydney and spent the night in a small town of Maclean.
DAY 10 (29th of Dec. 2010)
This day became the first day of our holidays, I mean holidays as we had expected — with lots of sun, ocean and warmth. We stopped by in Port Macquarie and couldn’t finish swimming, relaxing etc…
Last 400km to Sydney were easy as we were full of energy and enthusiasm! HO-LI-DAYS! ;))))))
DAY 11 and 12 (30th / 31st of Dec. 2010)
Our friends in Sydney are living close to the Cronulla beach. Thus, we spent almost two days there. Better to allow photos to say about these days:
Nearly the same time a year ago in Russia Just imagine how different could be rest activities ;-p
On 30th we made a walk in the centre of the city and showed our friends from Russia the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
And in the evening of the 31st December we went to Sydney downtown to see the New Year show.
It was amazing! 1.5 million people! Tonnes of fireworks! 15 minutes of constant numerous flares! Fantastic! Actually, in this case photos can’t express how awesome it was.
DAY 13 (1st of Jan. 2011)
It was the last day of our trip. We stopped by the Sydney Olympic Park and went to Melbourne. Home, sweet home
Victoria was dry and sunny.
Here are the maps with planned (left) and real (right) routes:
Conclusions? We wish more! But will plan more carefully.
Directions? Hmm… Darwin, Perth, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Antarctica, South America, Africa…. the whole world and more!
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH!
Good luck! And travel! This energises and charges your life!
Artem and Natalia
P.S. Irina, thanks a lot for your help and support!!!
P.S. Our photos are here — www.natalyvlad.com/photo