Friday 21st June Cairns

We have left Castlemaine's particularly cold mornings – ice until 11am in the birdbath – to come on this trip to Cape York. While I always find preparations for trips busy and a bit stressful, this was more so because we've spent the last ten days or so assembling and putting into place the wall bed and its adjoining cupboards, and then sorting / culling a lot of the other cupboards in the house.

But, it was all straightforward today. Up at 6.30am, breakfast, walk to the Bread Club for a baguette to make our plane lunch with; walk to the station, train to Broadmeadows, 901 bus to the airport. And check in with no trouble at all.

It was a full plane. (Virgin, because according to Webjet their seats have a greater pitch than either Jetstar or Qantas – and I think they do.) Takeoff at 10am, land in Cairns 1.35pm. Taxi to Travellers' Oasis hostel, and into our old original room – no. 22. It is good coming back to somewhere like this, which we know quite well.

We replaced jeans and shoes with shorts and sandals, and went out for a walk. Into town, through Rusty's Market, down to the marina; it was all a bit quieter than we'd expected, and there were lots of vacant shopfronts. We were looking for a nice quiet cafe, but didn't really find one; we ended up having a coffee at a quite swish place near the lagoon. But it was OK.

We walked back through Cairns Central, looking for food for dinner, and ended up buying a (heavily reduced) roast chicken in Woolworths. Neither of us are any good at just going and buying things; we both always look for the cheapest option, though we both also know that, really, we can afford anything we like. We ate back at the hostel, and it was very nice.

Now, it's nearly 10pm, and we both feel quite tired. But it is very nice to be in a warm climate again, for a while!

Saturday 22nd June Cairns

Today was much better (not that yesterday hadn't been!). We slept quite well, half under the thin doona, and with the ceiling fan on for a while. A nice relaxed normal breakfast on our balcony, and we went out for a walk along to the Op Shop in Draper St., where I bought a new shirt and some zip-off pants, but Alison – nothing. We dropped the purchases off at the hostel and continued into town; down to Rusty's market, where we had a very nice coffee, accompanied by very disappointing pastries from Frenchie's patisserie, before Alison bought a coral necklace birthday present for Elsy.

On to the Art Gallery; a good place to visit. Sweet potato chips on the way home – very nice indeed – talking to a local couple who are going on an extensive trip to Alaska next month.

Back home, it was soon siesta time. The climate here lends itself to a siesta.

After a coffee made here (using both Ric's portable expresso maker and the Italian stovetop cafetiere, for comparison; the results were similar) we went out for another walk – down to the port, where an enormous cruise liner, the P&O “Pacific Adventure” was docked. Neither of us felt inclined to go on a cruise on a ship like that!

We walked home, arriving after dark, and cooked our dinner. We are nearly out of food, which is fine as we join our “Outback Spirit” tour tomorrow, which supplies all our meals till we are on the plane back to Melbourne.

We're not nearly as tired as last night. Because we've had a more active day? But we are enjoying the warmth here!

Sunday 23rd June Port Douglas

We had a relaxed wake-up and breakfast, before packing up and saying goodbye to Kathy and Travellers Oasis. We walked down to the Shangri-La hotel, which we found buzzing with people; we found the concierge and left our bags for Outback Spirit, and our bag of cold-weather Melbourne clothing for them to look after until we return there. And we went for a walk along the Esplanade, then to Rusty's Market for coffee, with rather better biscuits to accompany it this time.

Then – what? We had an hour till it was time to return to the Shangri-La and join our tour. We headed off looking for the little park in town near the Council offices; and found it; but also found that the library there was open (on a Sunday morning!) So we spent the hour there – a good way to spend it.

At 12.20pm, the appointed time, we were at the Shangri-La and joined the tour group. There are 18 of us, in a 26-seat bus. Nice. And with a schedule for daily seat rotation; we sat at the front, in seat 1. Every day we go up a number, till the end on Day13; but with the luxury of some empty seats to use, if we choose to.

We picked up some others at another hotel, and at the airport, then drove along the coast road to Port Douglas. It was quite scenic, but also very busy; there were cars and people in many places along the road. We drove into Port Douglas at 2.15pm, and all disembarked.

We had an hour there. We began with sitting and eating our lunch of biscuits and dip, and fruit, by the river; then went for a walk. There was a Sunday market in the process of packing up; we found ourselves on a coastal walking path, which tended to go up, and up. We didn't have enough time to go to the end (at 4-mile beach) and back; just before we thought we'd have to turn around we found a side-track up to a road.

The road went to Flagstaff Hill lookout, and we were very close; so there we went. Then a steep descent on the road to town, and the bus; we got on and were driven back up to Flagstaff Hill lookout! From there, it was on to tonight's hotel - the Sheraton Mirage.

This hotel is very large, very swish, and not our sort of place. There are six (!) swimming pools surrounding the rooms, and 4-mile beach just beyond. We made a coffee while Alison did more mentoring with Chrissie, then went for a walk (it's easy to take the wrong path, here) down to the beach and around. We had a shower before joining the group at 6pm, and then having dinner together. A pleasant sociable dinner with a waitress from Madrid, but with fussy food and a long gap between courses; and the whole place is too pretentious (my favourite criticism).

Monday 24th June Daintree

It was a too-big bed, and despite turning the fan off on the airconditioning switch, the room was too stuffy; neither of us slept very well. The alarm was on for 6am; up we got, left our bags outside by 7am, and went off to breakfast. There was a lot of choice, but I had muesli and a croissant. We had ½ hour to spare before leaving at 8am, so we went for a walk down to and along the beach a little way. There were already quite a few people walking on the beach.

Back onto the bus. Seat no. 2 today; but the seats across form us were empty, so Alison moved into the window seat over there. And we left Port Douglas, and the Sheraton Mirage; neither of which I feel the need to ever visit again.

We went north, to Mossman Gorge, and took a shuttle bus up to the far end of the gorge where we went on a walk (slow, of course) with Tom, a local aborigine. He was a good guide and quite informative; as for a gorge – it so heavily tree-covered you can't see a gorge, as such; just a rocky river running through the bush.

Then it was up to the Daintree River, where we went on a river cruise, seeing quite a number of crocodiles on the banks – more than usual, as it turned out to be a cool and cloudy day and the crocodiles were all trying to warm themselves.

From here, lunch. After driving past some of the Daintree's tea plantations (nothing like Sri Lanka's, but.... tea, nonetheless, we went to the Daintree Tea House for lunch. We'd pre-ordered our lunch; I'd selected kangaroo. What I got was a piece of (very nice) kangaroo, with chips; but also some salad, and samples of: longan, custard apple, dragonfruit, plantain, papaya, pomelo, pineapple, watermelon... And the proprietor giving a talk about all these fruits , their history, and their nomenclature.

It was a really nice and very impressive lunch.

Then, on and across the Daintree River on the ferry – which looked little different from when we last took it 31 years ago. Along the bitumen road on the other side, past various one-lane sections where the road had been washed away by severe tropical storm Jasper late last year, which also caused many of the landslides we could see on the hills around.

We went to Cooper Creek, where we turned in to go on a rainforest walk through the only area of private land in the World Heritage-listed Daintree; led by it's owner, Neil – who was really informative about the area and its flora and fauna, and quite disparaging about some of the restrictions – especially about the “protection” of the large number of feral pigs who live in the world Heritage area. This area of rainforest is apparently the oldest wet tropical rainforest still in existence anywhere in the world. And we saw a blue Ulysses butterfly here, as well.

By the time we finished, it was getting dark. We drove a short distance to Heritage Lodge, where we are staying tonight. We have a cabin to ourselves in the bush, and it is much more to our taste than the Sheraton last night. We had less than an hour before going over to a very nice but very big (no-one finished their main course) dinner, chatting to Val and the two Normas. A pleasant evening, and we were back in our cabin by 8.30pm, with the alarm set for 6.15 tomorrow morning.

There's been not much exercise today, but it's been a good interesting day.

Tuesday 25th June Cooktown


After a walk by Cooper Creek, and breakfast, we were on our way again at 7.45 am. The usual. It had been a much better night's sleep, for both of us.

We continued north. Along the bitumen road to a stop at Cape Tribulation, and then - we were lucky! The Bloomfield Track, up the coast to Cooktown, was re-opened on Saturday; we were the first Outback Spirit trip to be able to go that way. As it turned out, it was quite a good road; problems with landslips in places, with very steep drop-offs; and some steep gradients, the worst being 31º. We passed views of landslides on the hills around, one of them looking almost like tiger stripes, there had been so many.

Then – a tyre blew out. A loud “bang” and Ian stopped the bus; the inner right rear tyre. So Karen set up our morning tea on portable tables, while Ian and Adam changed the tyre. They had been able to find a scenic off the road spot to do this in; for us, it wasn't a worry.

We continued on, past more landslides and scoured-out creeks, until we got to the Lion's Den pub, at Helensvale, for a buffet lunch.

On to Cooktown, with a brief stop at Black Mountain lookout on the way. We went to the museum for an hour – quite interesting, but having heard over and over again about Captain Cook and the Endeavour here, I am feeling “cooked out”. The next scheduled stop was the Botanical Gardens; Alison and I had looked at a map and decided that a walk from there back to the hotel we're at, the Sovereign, would be nice. So, we were dropped off there; only one other couple got out to see the gardens, the others all missed out, and went straight to the hotel.

The walk, along the “scenic rim”, was really nice; very up and down, via Finch Beach and Cherry Tree Bay. It took us an hour. We got to the hotel, made a coffee, and then joined the others for a trip to Grassy Hill Lookout for sunset; but the sky was very overcast and a good sunset view didn't happen. But a view did.

Then it was back to yet another very nice dinner.

2½ days since we started this tour, and it seems like ages!

Wednesday 26th June Lotusbird Lodge

We were late to bed last night – after 11pm. And were woken by the alarm at 6.15am. Packed up, again, and went out to breakfast – to find Norma had tripped and fallen, and was quite shaken up. But nothing serious; Alison attended to her, we got her on her feet again, and – no problem.

But – Ian, the tour director, put her in what would have been our seat, at the front of the bus; because it's bumpier down the back. So we had to use one of the other empty seats – which in the end was the other (better) front seat. We were happy.

We drove around, and then out of, Cooktown. Out along the Battlecamp Road, which has also only been open for a few days. It was in much better condition than when we drove it in 1993; we passed a number of other vehicles going the other way, and I felt glad to be doing it this way, now; I had no desire to drive myself.

We got to Laura at ~10am, and stopped for morning tea – produced next to the bus by Ian and Karen – before driving down to the Split Rock Art Site. We'd been here, too, in 1993; now it had a much bigger car park and a $30pp entry fee (via honesty box). We went up (slowly) for a guided tour by an aboriginal man, Roy. Only as far as the first (Split Rock) gallery; then back down again, back to town, and a look around the Quinkan Centre while Ian & Karen prepared our lunch. A very good lunch to have been produced out of the bus!


Time to go. We drove back to the Old Laura Homestead for a quickish look, and then it was on; a long drive through Lakefield National Park. Past lots of waterholes and billabongs, seeing brolga and a few jabiru; but... it was a long drive. It was after 5.30 pm when we drove into Lotusbird Lodge.

Nice, nice, nice. This is a lodge owned (now) by Outback Spirit, with ten cabins ranged around a billabong. We are here for two nights, and we don't have to either pack our bags or get up early tomorrow. And there's not so much on tomorrow, either, which everyone is happy about.

We “exploded” our bags, and went over to dinner in the open air dining room. A very good and not too much dinner with pleasant conversation; we left at 8.30-ish with some others streaming a rugby match and getting het up about it! Not for us; we retired to our lovely spacious and comfortable cabin.

Thursday 27th June Lotusbird Lodge

It was nice to not have the alarm on; though birds woke us anyway, before 7am. But no hurry! Over to breakfast at 7.30, and then a guided walk (by Ian) around the billabong – at a pace similar to U3A bushwalks. Not strenuous!

And then, our “day off” began in earnest. We went over and made ourselves a coffee, and then had another one at 10.30, mornig tea time. Looked at my photos, read my book; lunchtime came. A very nice lunch.

At 2pm, time for our helicopter flight; Alison, myself, Sally, and Nathan the pilot. We sat in the back, strapped in – there were no doors. We went across various billabongs, the largest of which was Low Lake, out to the coast at Princess Charlotte Bay, and then back home again – a total flight time of 45 minutes. Some crocodiles in the billabongs, some feral pigs on their banks. It was good to see, but I felt we'd been rather spoilt by being able to fly across Arnhem Land last year; it was not dissimilar.

We were back by 3pm. Yet another coffee (we've overdosed on it today); and a walk back around the billabong, on our own this time. Magpie geese, ducks, a jacana, and various others in the trees around.

Over to canapes and dinner at 6.30. Excellent, as usual.

It has been very good having a quiet day here in an exclusive Outback Spirit property; they are in lovely locations, and well run with everything you may need provided, unobtrusively.

And our cabin had two double beds in it – so for the first time this trip we slept in an ordinary double bed again. Much better than a queen or king!

Friday 28th June Weipa

Today, the usual alarm at 6.15, bags out and breakfast 7am, leave at 7.45. But quite easy as we are getting used to it.

And it was a long driving day. Thankfully, the last one; a stop at Musgrave Telegraph Station, where we rejoined the main road – the Peninsula Development Road, finding lots of very dusty 4WD's and trailers there. This road has alternating sealed and unsealed sections, and the bus is impressive in really not getting any dust inside at all. But a long drive, sometimes bumpy, sometimes not. I read a lot of book and did a couple of sudokus. We stopped for morning tea at Coen, at another old Telegraph Station, and then lunch at the Archer River Roadhouse – where a massive new bridge is being built well over time and well over budget.

On we went. The commentary from our guides seemed to become more annoying – because we'd all been driving for too long? But then we got to Weipa – a bauxite mining town, like Nhulumbuy, owned by Rio Tinto. We arrived at Albatross Bay Resort at 3.30pm; at least getting here at a reasonable hour. The resort is, as we expected, a step down from last night. Into our room, turn off the aircon, and throw open the windows!

We went for a walk down to the back beach, behind the resort; the tide out a long way, lots of mangroves, muddy in spots and sandy in spots. We had to both wash sandals and feet when we got back, before going for a brief walk towards the shopping centre – past green areas (on the map) which were swampy areas of bush, and not parks.

But then a fine dinner when we got back.

Saturday 29th June Moreton Telegraph Station

A good sleep and a later than often breakfast; and we were taken down to go on our boat trip. This was intended, I think, to see birds, and crocodiles, and such; but it was high tide and we saw little of any wildlife. A bit here and there. But it was a pleasant two hours at a sedate pace, and Mel, the skipper, had no problem with us standing up for a lot of the time. We've been sitting a lot.

Back on shore, we spent ½ hour at the shopping centre. Things were quite expensive, there; we bought a tube of Chlorsig ointment as I had developed a sore right lower eyelid. As it turns out, it seems to be meibomianitis, so I haven't opened it; but such things are not widely available here on Cape York.

We went to Lake Patricia for a picnic lunch. It was very windy but everyone coped well with it. The lake looked inviting, but... there may be crocodiles in it. Makes it a bit frustrating.

Time to drive. Goodbye to Weipa, past Batavia Downs Station, and we got to Moreton Telegraph Station ~ 4pm. Past the campground, past the group campground, past a “no vehicular access” sign, and we were greeted by the staff of the Outback Spirit section. Another open-air dining area, and small motel-type units; not as nice as Lotusbird, but very adequate

We are here for two nights, again; a good unpack (though there's limited space to unpack to), a walk down to the “Barra Hole” on the Wenlock River, and then canapes around the fire and dinner in the dining area. With a little Spanish practice with one of the staff, Gabi, who is from Slovakia but fluent in the language.

And then yet another very nice dinner, before going to bed in our little room here.

Sunday 30th June Moreton Telegraph Station

Today was Sunday, and it was a Sunday. A day of not too much. And despite the opportunity of a sleep-in, it didn't happen; we woke at the usual time, before dawn. So we got up and went for a walk, around past the Barra Hole to Cave Creek, and back via the lagoon; then had a shower, and went to breakfast. Here, I ate too much – because they had Eggs Benedict as an option, and I succumbed to temptation. So I had to cut down on food, later in the day.

The only “official” activity today was a guided walk around where we'd walked before breakfast, and of course we went on it. Much more slowly than the earlier walk. Back for morning tea, and then I went to sit outside the laundry, where there is good wifi, to tidy up our email.

This is when things changed course. Greg was sitting there too, and showing the “blood blister” which had appeared on his right foot overnight to Karen. A medical opinion was asked for; we got out the first-aid kit, I opened the blister, expressed its contents (bloody but not too purulent) which led to relief of the pain he had in the base of his foot, since injuring it on the reef nine days ago. Good. But... insulin-dependent diabetic, overweight, nearly lost his other foot after an infection in it last year (ICU; IV antibiotics via central line, renal failure); and metal screws in his toes as well. Karen looked up the medical form he'd filled in before the trip (as everyone has to) which said – almost nothing.

With the would dressed, we walked over to the homestead, rang the flying doctor, and got him some cephalexin from the RFDS box. Tomorrow, he'll be taken to Bamaga Hospital. Good luck. He seems blithely unaware of the danger he is in!

It's not been a good day medically for the crew; another of us, Jenine, is going to be helicoptered out with severe neck pain and arm paraesthesia.

We had lunch. We walked down to the main road, through the camping ground – which last night was full, and now was empty, and to the bridge over the Wenlock River. We walked a little way beyond down the road, and back again.

It was now a warm Sunday afternoon and no-one was feeling very active. Alison got out the Finska and we played a game – us and Norma. No-one else wanted to join in.

Soon it's time for canapes and dinner again, and tomorrow – back more to the normal routine.

Monday 1st July Bamaga

After having one of Dan's delicious croissants (which we saw him making yesterday) it was a sort of normal departure this morning – but for a little waiting as the RFDS has still not picked up Jenine. So we left Scott & Jenine, a little late. Back to the main road; a stop after ½ hour at Bramwell Junction, where we had a group photo next to the bus and a large termite mound; then on. A picnic morning tea at Edmund Kennedy's Camp 84 (where he left three men, who were never seen again), and on to Fruit Bat Falls.

This is a big attraction here; a large swimming area, both above and below, the very wide falls. Most of us had a swim; it was very pleasant (though we have been spoilt, having been to many other similar but less populated spots). The other features here were large pitcher plants, bigger than any I've seen before. We walked back to the bus (Alison telling me that I was out of place here, with so many other men sporting large beards and large beer guts) and had a picnic lunch there. They do very well with their picnic lunches – today it was a nice salad.

On. We were told that the gravel section of road before getting to the Jardine river ferry was the roughest in the whole trip, and it was! A real bone-rattler. We had a little walk at the ferry (which was both short, quick, and expensive – though not to us) and continued. A stop at a lookout at Injinoo, from where many Torres Strait islands were visible over the sea, and then on to Bamaga, where we dropped Greg off at the hospital (he was kept in overnight for IV antibiotics) and continued to our hotel, the Cape York Peninsula Lodge. A nice spot.

It was ~3.30pm. Karen told us that there were washing machines and dryers here, and they were free; so we put a load on, and we'll arrive home with less to wash than we would have done.

And then a walk around the resort, and into town. A small town, but the centre of this area; and with a large population from the Torres Strait, as after WW2 some of the island communities decided their islands were too borderline to live on, and migrated entirely to the mainland.

I am very glad that the bulk of the driving is over. A good way to see the country but I don't need to do much more!

Followed by yet another very nice dinner with plenty of chat.

Tuesday 2nd July Bamaga

For a few days now, we've heard people talking about going to the tip. And eventually it dawned on us that it was not the rubbish tip, it was “The Tip “ of Cape York.

Which is where we went today. Despite the drive being only ~40km, it took over an hour; through some very dense rainforest, past some brumbies, which are common here; through more creeks, over more corrugations; but we arrived at the car park to find it empty. (Ian, the guide, said he'd never encountered this before.) And despite the slow progress of our group on the walk to The Tip, with some talks on the way, we were the first there for the day.

It was a pleasant walk over rocks, and I was able to divert myself from the slow group walking by going off sideways here and there. Alison and I were first to the sign; but then everyone had their photo taken there, with a group one at the end.

By now, others were arriving; and when we got back to the car park, there were perhaps fifteen cars there. Our timing was so good!

We had morning “tea” back at the bus, then drove on to the extremely windy Fly Point, and then to Somerset Beach – the site of an old settlement which has only graves to mark it now. While a barbecue lunch was prepared, we walked through the graves and then along the beach, then through intricate mangrove roots, to the old well and the defunct windmill above it – used to pump water up to the homestead, but now swamped entirely in rainforest. A windmill in dense bush is an unusual sight.

The barbecue lunch was slow, and, really, not as nice as yesterday's picnic lunch. But that's what happens on tours like these sometimes. Eventually we drove out again, and stopped at the Croc Tent, the most northerly retail outlet in Australia, which was full of Cape York kitsch. A stop at the remains of a Douglas DC-3 aircraft which crashed in 1945, and we went back home to the resort.

We walked down the street and bought a postcard to sent to our GP, Louise Bettiol, who used to work here. And the pack for tomorrow, when we leave our big bags on the bus (which drives straight back to Cairns) while we go the Thursday Island for the night with day packs only. We're leaving early tomorrow, so dinner tonight is early as well.

Though – perhaps this was due to the cultural dance performance we had straight after dinner. Not aboriginal, but Melanesian culture, as most people in Bamaga are from the Torres Strait.

Wednesday 3rd July Thursday Island

It was up extra early today; bags on bus at 6.25am, leave by 7.15am. A short drive to Seshia, where we bade goodbye to Ian, who is driving the bus back to Cairns, and got on the ferry to Thursday Island; seeing, just before we left, a couple of Palm Cockatoos.

The trip took 70 minutes, past Entrance Island and Prince of Wales Island, then around to the left to go to Thursday Island. There are islands all around here! At TI, we got Into a big bus with some other people, for an island tour; up to Green Hill fort, built into a hill about a century ago because of the Russian threat, where we were allowed out to walk around. Then more tour, a stop at the cemetery (many Japanese pearl divers' graves), before we were dropped off at the Jardine Motel.

It was a tour I could have done without – very passive and slow, as they often are, with a guide who'd done it countless times before and knew what she was going to say off by rote.

But then it improved. We went out and bought a coffee at a cafe – the first money we've spent since joining the tour in Cairns, and then had a nice buffet lunch at the motel. We went for a walk down the main street here (it's not very extensive) before going and meeting the others down at the jetty; where we had a little wait before getting on a water taxi for a 15 minute trip to Kasu Pearls, on Friday Island. This island is a little larger than Thursday, but has a population of 5, compared to Thursday's 3,000. The pearl farm there is the only one remaining in the Torres Strait.

The presentation of how the pearls are seeded and produced was very interesting; it's quite a fine and precise operation, and one oyster can produce up to four pearls in its lifetime. We had a look in their shop (which in the evenings is their loungeroom) and a coffee before returning to Thursday Island again.

A well-known textile artist, Rose Ware, was taking people up to her studio. We walked, instead, getting only a little lost on the way. It was quite nice stuff but we weren't tempted to buy, and walked back down the hill home – where I checked in to our flight home on Friday, and paid Auswalk the balance of the monies for our next booked holiday, in September.

Another fine dinner. A buffet this time, where I was tempted to have more than I really needed. Chatting to Sally and Adam, and Karen. Back to our room and problems with Alison's phone camera. After failing to download her photos, I gave up and went to bed.

Thursday 4th July Cairns

We didn't need to get up till 6.30 this morning, but woke earlier. Breakfast was at 7.00; we went down a tad early and found many of the others “stuck” outside the restaurant; the doors to both it and reception we locked. We found the after-hours exit and went across the road to the park with exercise machines instead.

It's nearly at the end of this trip and both of us have begun to feel that it's time to go home. It's been nice being warm in the middle of winter but we are not tropical people.

So, breakfast; then a walk back to the jetty and the ferry over to Horn Island. The tide was very far out and it all looked really nice – sand, green seagrass, blue sea. Not blue sky, though; it was overcast and rained off and on. Into a bus on horn Island, for the two-hour tour of WW2 sites and the museum, with Vanessa Seesee whose ABC TV session we'd seen on the bus a couple of days ago; she seemed to me to be “on the spectrum” and I was not looking forward to it.

But things are not always as expected. Vanessa was sick, so we were picked up by her husband, Liberty; and he was a scream! Very not politically correct, very ad-libbing, and going off on tangents - unlike yesterday's tour guide; and very funny. He had the whole bus laughing. Added to that, the museum, which I'd expected to be a bit “dry”, was quite interesting and entertaining. He did take us to a number of WW2 relics and sites, and he did know quite a bit about it; but it was all done in such a fun way!

He dropped us off at the airport and we all got onto a Qantaslink Dash-8 for the flight back to Cairns. Uneventful, with cloud most of the way but a glimpse of the Barrier Reef; and Ian picked us up in the bus at the airport. Off to a large impersonal restaurant (Dundee's) on the esplanade, for a lunch which was too slow. Not our sort of lunch – but it was dragged out because check-in at the Shangri-La Hotel was not until 3pm. We managed to last the distance.

At the hotel – we hit the jackpot! We were given a room on the mezzanine floor, which were larger and more luxurious than the rooms on the floors above. Balcony over the marina, and a large bathroom with bath, and shower, behind a glass wall behind the bed. And some couches, and a desk. And a clock! Very nice.

Despite the nice room, we went out for a walk; up past Cairns Central to the Lifeline op shop, then home again. Repacking, ironing some clothes for the final dinner tonight, and then a bath followed by a shower.

Well dressed – me in long pants and Alison in a lovely dress – we went down to dinner. Too early, so we went for a short walk along the Esplanade and back. And then a good dinner – again. For the last time. Scott came along but Jenine's neck is still a big worry and she was unable to come. A pity.

Alison came second (to Sally) in guessing how many kilometres we travelled in the bus; she said 1,632, but it was 1,658 – using 956 litres of diesel (35l / 100km).

We returned home to our room at 10pm. Time for bed, after a cup of tea, and with no alarm for tomorrow.

Friday 5th July Home

It was a comfortable bed, and we left the balcony door open all night; I slept reasonably, but not perfectly; too many different beds? But it was a pleasant night. We slept in – sort of – both waking by 6.30am, as usual. Shower,  a cup of tea, we packed our big bags, and went down to breakfast. It was, unsurprisingly here, a very good breakfast. Our last “supplied” meal, so I ate more than often. It was very nice. Most of the others from the trip were there, but now were more scattered; we ate at a two-person table.

A few more goodbyes, we checked out, with Alison asking how much it would cost us for a night in our room. $525.00! Though Outback Spirit had a substantial discount to that, of course. Then Ian & Karen drove us – just us – to the airport in the bus. Check in, wander around, get on the plane.

It has been a very good trip; well worth going. The group was good; no-one we “clicked” with very closely, but all quite reasonable. And despite being annoyed at times with Ian's and Karen's commentaries, in general they were very good guides and driver.