It turned out to be more of a "Disney world" a la aboriginal culture and it was very disappointing ans sometimes even cringe worthy. The ethnic dance was almost embarrassing as the all the dancers looked over weight and not particularly enthusiastic and proud about showing their culture. When a aboriginal woman showed us all the berries and plants which were important for their survival in the outback, she cracked a bad joke about one plant being especially good against hang overs. When alcoholism is a massive issue amongst aborigines, I don't think it is suitable to make jokes about it.
The 100% aboriginal culture experience!!
Happy to be on holiday!
We didn't have enough of the tourist experience from Tjabukai, so we signed up to "Uncle Brian's tour" together with Slava, a Russian/German guy who we got to know on the dive trip. We were highly suspicious about this tour since it looked very cheesy in the brochure. "Fun, falls and Forest" were the three magic words mentioned several times, so we weren't sure what to expect from Uncle Brian.
We wanted to learn more about what nasty creatures to look out for in the forest since we were planning to climb Queensland's highest mountain the following day. We hoped that Uncle Brian could give us some pointers how to survive in the bush without getting eaten and stung.
Uncle Brian turned out to be "Coussie Kay" in stead. After 15 minutes in the bus, I wasn't sure if I could survive the whole day with Coussie Kay talking/singing in the speaker system, however I gradually started enjoying it. He turned out to be a brilliant entertainer and throughout the day, everyone transformed into a children, playing silly games and waving hallo to all the road workers by the road.
Gus the Bus (you were not allowed to simply call it "the bus") took us to several swimming holes and falls. I really enjoyed this one, except for some Chinese guys who were smoking in the water and biffing the cigarette butts into the water. Respect the nature, dude!!
This is the site where the Timotei shampoo advertisement was shot many years ago. We tried to synchronise the famous hair flick trick, but we failed miserably...
There were many swimming holes and water falls around Atherton Tablelands. The water often looked quite tropical, but it was too cold for most Aussies. Ok, it was on the chilly side but coming from Sweden with a typical bathing temperature of 10 degrees, I thought it was very nice.
Last bathing stop for the day: One of the large lakes crated by a crater, surrounded by rain forest. There were lots of fresh water turtles swimming around and I was worried they may have a go at my tiny toes, but they were kind to me.
Back into Cairns, greeted by James Cook goose stepping down the road. Cairns is full of class and with a taste of delicate fine art.
During the tour, we had learned about a few spiders and trees which we were hoping not to run into during our rain forest adventures. A golden orb was making me a bit nervous, especially since it was already about 20 cm long despite just being a juvenile. I was pleased we never met the parents.
One of the highlights of the trip was to spot platypus in the wild. The platypus is such an amazing animal; a beaver looking creature with a beak, that lays eggs. How fascinating!! We visited a 20 m wide river at dusk and to have the chance to see them we had to stay very quite. That is not very easy with a group of 15, but many impatient soccer discussing smokers gave up quickly and Slava, Charlie and I lingered for a bit longer on the river bank.
When I finally saw a platypus I was surprised how small it was. They only grow to about 30-40 cm and compared to the rest of Australian fauna they seem very harmless. It was very beautiful to see a couple of platypuses fishing for food and ascending to the surface to breathe. We had a long discussion the next day what platypus is called in plural: platypuses or platupi? Both sounds equally stupid and are both used.
Climbing Mt Bartle Frere - Queensland's highest mountain
My friends Caspar and Nadine live in Townsville, which is only about a 3 hr drive south of Carins. Caspar is always keen for some missions in the bush. We have had many fun adventures in Chch where they lived before. Caspar suggested that we should climb the highest mountain in Queensland; Mt Bartle Frere, which is no more than 1622 m high. The Aboriginal name is Chooreechillum, but everyone has forgot that now since they were "only" the traditional owners of the land, as they were often described around Cairns.
During the tour with Gus the Bus, Charlie and I had visited the site from which the walk to the mountain started. A sign recommended that you should take two days to climb the hill, or for very experienced and fit trampers it would take 10-12 hrs. Coussie Kay sounded a bit worried when I told him about our plans to climb the hill in one day. -She'll be right! I said in a no worries-kiwi tone.
Just to be on the safe side, we wanted to start the tramp pretty early. I think Charlie and I got up at 4.45 am, which turned out to be utterly stupid since Caspar (the slacker) picked us up almost 1 hr late.
We came across quite a few stinging trees along the track. The vicious tree has large leaves that look harmless, but they are covered with thousands of microscopic pricks that embed themselves into skin if touched. And these little blighters itch like crazy. The itch is intense, painful and extremely frustrating – especially if you have used the inviting-looking leaves as a substitute for toilet paper.
Once we stopped for more than a few seconds, we were attacked by hundreds of tiny leeches. The buggers sneaked into my socks and found some favourite spots to suck on. I was so happy that Caspar had the dodgy insect repellent, DEET, which did the trick.
On the way to the staggering height of 1622 m.
We passed some dense rain forest along the way and climbed up into the mist. Apparently the top of the mountain is covered in mist 280 days per year. We were still hopeful to get some views.
At the top of Mt Bartle Frere and STILL in the thick rain forest!! In New Zealand I am so used to pass the bush line at about 1000m. When I tried to climb a big rock to admire the views, we were still surrounded by mist and I couldn't see anything . The one way from there was back down again.
Rain forest..no monkeys
Butterflies
We managed to run a bit on the way down although there were slippery roots everywhere. I really enjoyed the day out after been pretty stagnant for many days on the reef and in Gus the Bus. We were safely back to the car park after about 7 hrs. We could have slept in much longer that morning. We finished off the great trip with a swim in a water fall.
The massive Curtain Fig outside the cosy village of Yungaburra. A strangler fig species, The curtain effect results from one tree leaning against another tree on a 45-degree angle. The strangler vine grows along the oblique angle of the leaning tree, dangling 15 metres to the ground to create the curtain affect.
Nadine joined us in Cairns and we headed north to the Daintree river. Our initial naive plan was to hire a dinghy and cruise up the river and look for crocodiles. When we heard about the how large some of the crocs are, we decided to go on a larger (commercial boat).
We saw a couple of young males looking like beached whales and they didn't seem too dangerous . Further down the river this female was sun bathing. She was about 7 m and I was happy that I wasn't sitting in a tiny dinghy.
The guide jumped onto beach and took care of one of the crocs:
This is where the guide ended up:
No, just kidding..our guide was safe, but it is true that these deformed body parts were found inside a crocodile in Australia. (Internet never lies :-) How scary is that picture???
After a week in Aussie, we were ready to go home...
Home to New Zealand where you can bash through the forest without worrying about spiders, crocs, snakes or stinging trees..or aussies :-)
1 comment:
Crazyness!! Where the hell did you find that picture?
Casp
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