Below is the first entry I made during our wonderful, Ansett frequent-flyer points tour of Australia's Top End - Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. We took some great photos along the way and you may enjoy reading my impressions which can no doubt only improve with the passing of time!
I have decided to place the entire word file in my public folder on .Mac which means you can read it all at once if you like. There is a sample below. I will also publish a selection of the shots we took when I work out how to do it. Click on the link below to go to the Word document:
http://file///Volumes/vinesfam1/Public/Travel%20Diary.doc
21/6/01
Dear Friends,
I'm up at 4.30am after keeping some odd hours during the first 3 days of our Top End Tour. We enjoyed a very civilised start to the holiday with dinner at Amanda Stedman's in Marrickville. The next morning we transferred our luggage from the Magna wagon to her more compact Honda HRV for the short drive to Mascot. Can't think of a more relaxing way to get there. We only had two concerns, the first being how we would get from Cairns to Darwin now that our airline, Flightwest, had just gone bust (a la Compass in '91) and secondly, whether we were lugging a useless laptop on our travels (more later). Anyway, our flight on one of the noticeably aging Ansett 767 jets left promptly with the kids slumming it in economy while their parents were trying the footrests in Business Class. The wines flowed freely up our end even though it was a 9am flight. I was restrained.
Trinity Beach Photos
Of course the hotel transfers we had been promised on arrival at Cairns 3 hours later failed to materialise but a friendly bus operator called George, the first of many Torres Strait (I'm guessing) Islander bus drivers, managed to organise a lift for us. The Roydon Beachfront Apartments are just that - right across a narrow street from Trinity Beach. Very spacious two bedroom/2 bathroom apartment with big white tiles throughout and wide open living room with HiFi and video and fans everywhere as well as air con., which is not necessary in June. A big southerly swell has made the water muddy and the beach unappealing but the sound waves is perfect. Eddie at the desk has been very helpful organising tours and other ways to spend our money. Cairns seems very tourist-centred.
The big attraction is of course the Reef. We realised how many make daily visits on our return to the Port of Cairns last night when we joined a convoy of busses to return to our accommodation. The trip to Green Island had been less than an unalloyed success, however, and in fact in my less charitable moments I considered that I had paid $200 to make Emma seasick. There was a strong wind warning accompanied by gale force winds and coupled with the lowest tides of the year, the snorkelling amongst the fish and coral was less than ideal. I had this nifty disposable underwater camera but given the turbidity of the water, I don't hold much hope for the photos. Fortunately the island itself offered shelter and we were not marooned on it as long as Tom Hanks had been. We hope today's $200 is better spent.
Today we ascend the Atherton Tableland to Kuranda via a quaint old railway that overlooks the Barron Falls. After window shopping in the markets of Kuranda we descend in a cable car called the Skyrail. That is the plan anyway. The weather continues mild with no sign of rain. Will let you know how the day turns out/ Now if only we had splashed out on that digital video camera....
Speaking of technology, we have had our hiccups and our triumphs. The laptop that Rachel Stedman had very kindly given to us had been in for a service - a PC slot modem and a new Flash Memory card all the way from Taiwan. Got it home the day we left for Sydney and it wouldn't work. We had planned to use it given that we were on the road for a month. Tim could write his comparative literature essay and we could keep on the Net too. I was not happy but we packed it anyway and fortunately found that if connected to AC power overnight it works. I'm about to see how the Net part works. That was the hiccup. The triumph has been using the mobile phone to call Mum's mobile at night when it's free (I hope). After a few unexpected disconnections Mum has become expert in its use and we look forward to regular updates. The SMS message informing her of our safe arrival AND Tim's election as school prefect for 2002 was less successful but Oki will inservice her on Friday before the brandies I hope! Will phone our non-Optus friends on the weekend. Better try to send this now. Will try to get Tess's slant on things another day.
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