8 July 2021
We have left the dry, flat and open country of western Queensland and have landed on the coast these past few days. The transition is quite confronting, from largely empty country to the hustle and bustle of the east coast tourist city of Cairns.
It’s clear that all those people who might have travelled overseas during winter are now on the road in their newly acquired RV or caravan. No longer cruising down the Danube or the Mediterranean, no tours of South America or the UK. Oh no, now its travel within the Australian landmass. The migration north this year must have some effect of the earth’s tilt. Maybe it will effect global warming?
Up until now we have had no difficultly in finding campsites. That’s all changed. We are now hearing phrases like ‘it’s never been this busy’ and ‘we have never been so full’. This is great for regional economies however it has created lots of vacant job opportunities that foreign backpackers once filled.
We have now been on the road for 9 weeks and have covered over 7,000 kms.
Recent Observations:
Foreign Visitors
There aren’t any.
COVID has meant a complete absence of foreign accents. No French families travelling the outback; no German couples in their rented RV; and no tour groups of Chinese visitors or Chinese families in the camp grounds. No longer do you hear a Belgium accent from the office staff at the camp ground or maybe a UK accent from the young guy pouring a beer at the pub. The baristas are all from here.
Beyond the lack of foreign accents there are no foreign visitors asking for directions or assistance. Everyone is a local and speaks English or at least a variation thereof. This changes the whole travelling experience when you don’t get to explain to an Italian couple that they shouldn’t follow their SatNav down that road, its 4WD only.
Everyone is from here, how boring!
Campground Etiquette
You are packing up your site, ready to move on. A young boy who has been collecting fire wood for his campfire walks past and says hello. You acknowledge his greeting and then notice his gaze.
He is checking out the remains of your campfire and assessing whether you might leave firewood behind on your departure. He is quickly analysing how long it will be before you leave so he knows when to be there as soon as you go. He will be ahead of any of his friends and will score any of your abandoned firewood.
He is not being friendly and polite for the sake of it, he has a plan. You have to smile and appreciate his thinking.
Industrial Archeology
We have visited many old mining and mine processing sites. It is sobering to think of the conditions these people worked in with none of the modern conveniences like air conditioning that we take for granted.
Men and their families walked to the Chillagoe mine pushing wheel barrows with their meagre possessions. Naturally their efforts are now commorated in an annual run from Mareeba to Chillagoe. Relay teams push a wheel barrow in a race of over 140 kilometres. In their day no one thought of fitness or running programs, they were just fit.
Crocodiles
Shooting crocs stopped in the 1970s. That means the crocs of today have been around for at least 40 years and have another 60 to go. The males never stop growing so swimming up here is a sport for the crazy.
We are told Christmas Day is the worse day for croc attacks. No the crocs are not celebrating Christmas. It seems Christmas cheer, alcohol, and hot and humid weather all cause people to want to go for a dip. This alignment of conditions creates the perfect conditions for a croc Christmas lunch.
In winter the crocs are all on the river banks absorbing the sunshine. As soon as the river water warms up they are back into the water and looking for a tasty morsel.
Crocodiles have been around for 200 million years so maybe laying around in the sun with a heart rate of 2-3 beats per minute and not doing much is the smart option.
Tomorrow we head further north to the place where James Cook careened and repaired his ship after running into the Great Barrier Reef. You will surprised to know the town is called Cooktown.
A Traveller's Tale 