The Bruce Highway

We hired a car at Airlie Beach and hit The Bruce Highway running north to Cairns, which then becomes the Captain Cook Highway to Port Douglas. The road runs along the fertile coastal plain, through endless plantations of sugar cane, bananas and mangoes. There’s a narrow-gauge Cane Railway running alongside the road all the way. (See pictures)

On the first day we stopped at the Billabong Sanctuary, a wildlife park 17 km south of Townsville. We saw our first proper kangaroos, wombats and wallabies, and we cuddled a koala named Abby, a python and Jaws the crocodile. (See pictures)

We stayed the night in Townsville, and witnessed a monstrous tropical storm as we were having dinner at a restaurant on the seafront. Just when we thought that it could not possibly rain any harder, the downpour redoubled in ferocity. The streets and pavements were awash, and our poor sandals have still not recovered. We now understand why so many Aussies go barefoot.

On the second day we visited the Murray Falls, and Peter went crocodile hunting in the Murray River. All he managed to catch was a leech, and bled profusely for hours. We ended up in Mission Beach, known as the capital of cassowary country. There are warning signs all along the road, some of which are so entertaining that we could not resist stopping for photo opportunities. We stayed in a B&B which had its own small swimming pool, and wild cassowaries roaming the garden. Still raining. There was no air conditioning, so we were free to experience the sounds of the rainforest and the mosquitoes. We both prefer the sound of air conditioning. Eco-what?

Thence to Palmerstone and the Johnstone River valley. We’re deep into the tropical rainforest here. We went for a hike in the jungle, and by the end Michèle was heartily sick both of the rain and of the forest. We visited two waterfalls deep in the jungle, described rather whimsically by the Rough Guide as “romantic”, although romance was possibly not on the menu given Michèle’s jungle fatigue.

We ended up at the Rydges Sabaya Resort in Port Douglas, where we intend to stay for the rest of our time in Australia. Very luxurious, very chic, but also very empty, so they are offering unbeatable room rates. Michèle back to normal.