For Thai trip diary go to WEB page indicated on the right.
For first part of Aussie trip go to Aussie trip North.
7 Dec Walked around Lake Eacham a �Crater Lake�, on the 3 km walk we saw Musky Rat Kangaroos, Wallabies and a snake. After lunch we walked 5 km around Lake Barrine but saw very little wildlife.
8 Dec Walked up Mount Baldy near Atherton, a 4 km track ascending 320m to 1016m, it was very steep and we both found it hard going, coming down proved to be just as difficult. What was described as a one and a half hour walk took us over two hours. After lunch the heavens opened and it rained for a couple of hours, well we are in the wet season!
9/10 Dec We decided to drive south and inland to see some of the remoter areas. Went through loads of flat tree covered terrain for most of the way. After 400miles stopped at Charters Towers an old gold mining town. The next day we headed for Emerald, as we made such good time we finally got to Rockhampton on the coast. Driving on the counrty roads got a little boaring so we timed the interval between the oncoming traffic, at one time it was 26 mins before we saw another car. These roads turn into single track with hard sholders for passing, they are used by road trains which are over 50m long with three trailers travelling at 100 km/hr. We drove through a tropical downpour for 45 mins, the road was flooded in places and visibility down to 50m. It's sunny again today! 12 Dec. After a couple of days in Rockhampton which is on the tropic of Capricorn we decided not to drive as far. We headed for the coast for a few days and finally ended up in a small town called Tin Can Bay (derived from Tincunbar). This is in the Great Sandy Strait overlooking Fraser Island.
13 Dec Drove round to Rainbow Beach and watched the car ferrys picking up 4x4s off the beach to go to Fraser Island. We went to a paddle in the sea as I walked out 200 yds and the water only came up to my waist. Went and found some shade to have luch as it got so hot.
14 Dec Left Tin Can Bay heading for Brisbane via an inland route over Mount Glorious (720m). We arrive in Brisbane at about 2pm and took a walk through the botanical gardens and by the river. It was very hot and oppressive � about 35 C (95F). We then went shopping and bought 5 CDs, one by Jools Holland called Friends 3 which turns out to be the same as �Jack of the Green� which I have with me! We decided not to stay in Brisbane and headed south as we wanted to cool down some, we ended up at Ocean Shores about 20 minutes north of Byron Bay in New South Wales.
15 Dec Drove to Byron Bay and checked into a Breakfree Apartment (same company as we stayed with near Cairns), got a nice 1 bedroomed place for A$130 (52GBP) per night. We went to the beach and had a swim, it�s amazing how much cooler the water is here than in Tin Can Bay. At 5pm we went for a 3 mile walk up to the lighthouse which is about 300ft above sea level. We decided to eat in, so I cooked salmon & steak on the BBQ.
17 Dec Left Byron Bay for the New England Tablelands, stopped on route to view some pretty impressive waterfalls. On arriving in Armidale we went to the Information Centre for details of accommodation in the town, drove round and viewed them but decided to move on to Uralla. The guy at the Information Centre was very helpful giving me some history of the area and he persuaded me to go to a B&B in the country about 20 km out of town. He phoned the owners of Cruickshank�s Farmstay and I arranged to go there. Our hosts Ann & Mike made us very welcome for the 2 nights we were there and we enjoyed 2 very nice evening meals with them.
19 Dec Continued driving south through lovely undulating farm country until we reached the small town of Lithgow in the foothills of the Blue Mountains where we checked into a motel.
21 Dec Staying at a place called Mittagong in the Southern Highlands about 90 mins south of Sydney. Went to Fitzroy Falls this morning and walked around the rim of the escarpment pretty impressive with 300ft vertical drops from the lookouts. We saw some Glossy Black Cockatoo�s flying in the valley, they had yellow in the tail feathers. Tomorrow we move on to Bawley Point on the coast where we will be staying until Jan 5th. We don�t think we�ll have access to the internet there so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, remember to update the guestbook as I wonder if I�m the only one to read this!
Go to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roland.smith5/xmas.html for our christmas greeting
