Sailors on wheels; from Cairns to Darwin

  March 2013

We left Soren Larsen and Sydney Harbour behind, with the big plan to discover Australia. The start of our contract on the Royal Albatross in Singapore had been delayed till the second week of April, due to a refit which takes longer than expected. For us the opportunity to get some red earth between our toes.

We flew to Airlie Beach to visit my friend Karla, with whom I sailed in St Tropez in the Classic regatta in 2005. Unfortunately the weather was very bad; day’s with rain and more rain and a cyclone circling at the ocean. Good for us to work on our blogs, prepare our road trip and socialize with Karla and her friends.

A ten hour drive from Airlie Beach to Cairns

We booked a bus for the 10 hour drive from Airlie Beach to Cairns. For me it felt like the sweet memories from years ago, travelling with friends in Mexico and Indonesia. Listen to music, see the scenery go by and daydream.

Escape the rain and the approaching cyclone

 

We picked up the campervan, named “spaceship”. They boost in their brochure that it works like a “Swiss army knife”. A camper that is like a car to drive but has the basic features of a campervan. I got a shock how small it was and that we had to live a month in a small box, with a little tent at the back for the enlargement of the bed. Billy got the real shock when he looked under the car and found a shock absorber broken. We had to wait a day for the repairs and I could set my mind to camping and living in the back of a van. But no worries, after a couple of day’s I was completely used to folding out the car into a bedroom or a kitchen. Sleeping in the back, seeing the stars through the rear window and wake with the sunrise is very special!

 The plan was to go “outback” and our route was the following:

Cairns to Darwin;

The route we drove, check also the link

Via Wonga Beach, Chillagoe, Mount Surprise, Gregory dawns, Adels Grove,
Mount Isa, Barkley Homestead, Katherine
 We drove 3597 km and used 380 liter of fuel.

The bible for our road trip (look HEMA is worldwide)

http://www.distancesfrom.com/au/map-from-Cairns-to-Darwin-via-Wonga-Beach-Road-Chillagoe-Mount-Surprise-Adels-Grove-Airport-Mount-Is/MapHistory/2525636.aspx?IsHistory=1&GMapHistoryID=2525636

The outback, past the Great Dividing Range, were the sky opens wide and the sun beats down on the tough country. Were the hot Sunny day meets a starry night. The land with the rare colours and the dusty red earth!

Cairns- Wonga Beach;

On the road

First day driving along the beautiful coastal route. But still rain and camping in a little van is not really fun when you have to sit inside. It is low season everywhere (who want to go north in the wet season?)  So most of the time we are “only the lonely” on the camping parks.

From Cairns to Wonga beach

The rain never stopt in Wonga Beach

Our camp in Wonga Beach

 Also in Wonga Beach and we had a spot right at the beach. Falling asleep with the waves crashing on the beach is fantastic. But be warned; here you don’t swim in the sea! There are stingers and crocodiles and both you don’t want to meet.

Wonga Beach-Chillagoe

For the pleasure of camping we decided to leave the rain behind us en go west. We take the wheelbarrow way to Chillagoe. The name goes back to the time when the gold rush was on:

Men from countries around the world toiled in an incredibly hot, hostile environment. Their mode of transport was basic. When work became scarce, or it was time to move on, they walked. Ir- vinebank to Chillagoe, Chillagoe to the Hodgkinson gold fields, or over the wild ranges to Mt Molloy.  "Dad pushed a wheelbarrow in which were stacked all their belongings. A few pieces of iron, which would be used as shelter; maybe some hessian, a spade, a lantern, a few kitchen things and very little else. Mum and the children straggled behind, Mum, usually with a babe in arms. "  (Quote from old-timer Mr. Peel)  It is as a tribute to these pioneers, who trudged the dusty tracks, that this route has been named The Wheelbarrow Way .

Coastal Road to Mossman

Morsman to Mareeba

  Termite Mounds make the scenery into a sort of a space landscape. People have eaten termites in many cultures. They are best gently roasted on a hot plate or lightly fried until slightly crisp!

Termite mounds

Termites as a source of inspiration in architecture. The Eastgate Centre, Harare, is a shopping centre and office block in central Harare, Zimbabwe, whose architect, Mick Pearce, used passive cooling inspired by that being used by the local termites.

To go “outback” you have to leave the paved roads and go “dirt”. We were lucky because the wet season was extremely mild, otherwise we would have had a lot more problems with flooding and closed roads. The good tip for “of the road” driving is; ask the guys in the roadhouses and the truck drivers, they know exactly what is going on.

Besides the flooding you have all sort of hazards like cows, wallaby, birds and road trains what make you understand why most of the people drive 4 WD with an enormous wild rack on the front!

We Leave the paved roads; this is the outback

Roadtrains = danger

They are so close, stay were you are

We Parked our spaceship on the campground of Chillagoe Observatory & Eco lodge. We looked that evening to the stars and planets in the observatory through an enormous telescope. Amazing and of course we from now on we always check the Southern Cross before we go to sleep. Wildlife is just in the backyard from the campervan. What a fantastic way of camping!

Sunset drinks in our camp

Wallibies in our back garden

Not shy at all

We went to the Chillagoe caves, a very interesting limestone formation from millions year old. A nice little exhibition about Chillagoe mining and the pioneers in the information centre and all the info from Jim, responsible for the tourist information centre, made Chillagoe a remarkable place.

Stalagmites & stalagtites

Limestone caves of Chillagoe

Mineworkers at the Chillagoe company

 Chillagoe-Mount Surprise;
Another good tip when you are travelling; ask he locals what their favourite place is and for sure you will see nice spots “off the beaten track”. Advice from Jim; go to Adels Grove that is the Garden of Eden! We added this to the itinerary.

The road to Mount Surprise is a dirt road and after some tactics how to pass the floodway, we left. Challenging but absolutely worth it to go into the real nature!

Challenge for our Toyata van

We are still in the wet season

Beautiful nature and well worth the road challenge

View from our camp spot in Mount Surprise

Mount Surprise-Gregory –Downs;

Some serious driving today so we leave at 7.30 in the morning. Camping makes your lifestyle anyway like a bird’s life; “when it gets dark you go to sleep (reading outdoors with light is asking for mosquito attacks) and when the sun rises and warms up the van so our bedroom, it is time to wake up.

Croyden, interesting retail

A lunch stop in Croyden with a remarkable store and hotel and the most beautiful variation in landscape and road.

Some old stuff but rather any new stuff either

The local cattle station boss

The famous hotel in Croyden

...End of the highway

Highway

Still some flooding

Check the burning smell

And the earth colors red

Kings of the road; roadtrains

We have to stop driving when it gets dark, because of the danger of crossing animals and an encounter with a kangaroo is not a pleasant one. We stop at the roadhouse in Gregory Downs. Chat with the truck drivers, enjoy the pub BBQ and get the latest road conditions.

Gregory Downs – Adels Grove;

Tough for our little campervan again

On the way to Adels Grove

Dancing cows on the road

A very short distance today so we arrive early in the morning in Adels Grove. According Jim it was the Garden of Eden, but we see mainly dry rocky hot land. But the beauty is in Badjamulla national park. We rent canoes to peddle in the gorge en swim in the waterfalls. Billy made some wonderful video clips of our trip.

We visited the Lawn Hill Creek and I had a wonderful swim in the emerald green water. No crocks here, only fresh water crocs and they are small and friendly! Around the grove are the former botanical gardens, created by Albert Leslang in 1939. Originally there were 1000 species of exotic and native plants. Today it looks more like a dry Savannah landscape, just enough for cowes to wander around.

 

Adels Grove to Mount Isa;

We wish we had a 4WD

A challenging route via dirt roads, but according the locals we could do it. Maybe the Gregory River was still flooding, but pass the floodway with care, steady low speed and everything is OK! After 1 hour driving we had the not passable hurdle of the Gregory river. If you go till your knees in the water, there will be water in the van. So we have to turn around and take the paved roads and go back via Burk & Wills.

Can we take this hurdle?

This hurdle is too much, we have to turn !

 

Road trains are an integral part of the Australian Outback, just like kangaroos, red dust and endless horizons.The  serious roadtrains, the ones with three or more trailers, are restricted to the Australian Outback regions. Road trains shrunk the Australian continent to a more manageable size (though that's still relative...).

A roadtrain may be over 50 metres long and can weigh up to nearly 200 tonnes!

200 tonnes moving at considerable speed aren't going to stop in a hurry. Those monsters can't even slow down or change direction in a hurry, so don't expect them to do so because you'll end up in trouble and guess who'll win?

 

 

It was an unfortunate day because after 2 hours driving we had a flat tire! Change of plans again; we have to go to a bigger city to find a new tyre. So destination Mount Isa. On arrival we were so tired and exhausted of all the excitement, that we booked a room in a motel and had a nice meal in the restaurant. Mount Isa is a wealthy mining town, far away from everything, were multiple beers are needed to cool down the dusty heat.

Mount Isa-Barkley homestead

We were lucky that one of the six car tyre companies had our tyre on stock and within an hour we were on the road again on our way to Barkley homestead. Kilometres of nothing! No one lives here just emu’s, kangaroos and cattle stations in the “middle of nowhere”.

Just when we set up our camp and had an arrival drink, the flies started their attack. Unbearable and we had to go inside to escape them. Lesson leraned; never stay on a farm station or anywhere near !!

Barkly homestead-Katherine;

Today we have a distance to bridge of just over 800 km. We leave when the sun rises and the route is all highway! What we learned from the locals as well is, fuel up when the tank is half, because you never know how close the next fuel station is.

Our stay in Katherine was relaxing and from our campervan a beautiful view on the wildlife of Australia. To get the best pictures, Billy had to jump some fences and barbed wire and with blood marks on his legs, he came back with the best pictures ever.

 

Katherine-Darwin;

Short distance today and we are absolutely going back to civilisation. Roads are better and more crowded and even traffic lights. In Darwin we stay for a couple of nights in a motel, to give our spaceship some rest and sleep in an air-condition room and wash the red earth from our feet.

 

After 3597 km we made it to Darwin

We did it, drove all the way from Cairns to Darwin. We were in the “outback” and we love it! We are only half way. Next series is from Darwin to Alice Springs via Kakadu national park. Final destination is Sydney, so more kilometres and more stories to expect.

The sea again. Darwin

Ahoy Charlotte