I feel compelled to start this autobiographical narrative the way that many of my students like to begin their narratives: Have you ever had a leech stuck to your leg? Well I have.

We were quite pleased to get a prime spot in the Wooroonooran National Park campground. (I admit, the name is a bit unwieldy). The park is within the rain forest area and in that respect it did not disappoint. Fairly early in the morning we headed off on a hike to the falls. Continue reading “Leeches Suck” →

However, the grammar police can ask questions. Can you please tell me about this mystery person quoted here? I would like to know who is telling me that I have to put my foreign objects in the reciprocals. Also, what is a reciprocal and where can I find one?

Cardwell is another one of those Australian towns that, minus the different accent, might be mistaken for a town in the mid-western US. Sad looking buildings? Check. Shops that close at mid-day on the weekends? Check. Locals eying us suspiciously? Check. We stayed in Cardwell because we wanted to go to Hinchinbrook Island which is close by. Our plans were thwarted by the steep price of $85 per person for a ferry ride there.

The most exciting thing about Cardwell is what happened before we got there: I got to hold a koala bear. Continue reading “How Much is That Koala in the Window?” →

Cape Hillsboro turned out to be one of the best beaches we’ve seen. We got to the park early in the morning and were pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the beach was. We immediately took a walk to explore the place, and came upon a trail that led from the beach up to a lookout and back down to the campground. It was hot out, but the trail was full of life. Brush turkeys (which I cannot say without sounding the way that Jimmy Walker would say, “jive turkey”) scratched in the dirt searching for food. Continue reading “Getting Old in Cape Hillsboro” →

Capricorn Caves is one of those places that you pretty much know is going to be a tourist trap, but feel compelled to frequent anyway. We wanted to see some caves and since we didn’t have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get to the free caves, we ended up paying for the privately owned caves. Of course you have to go on a tour there, you can’t just walk around and check the place out, so that becomes a minus. Continue reading “Falling into and Climbing Out of the Tourist Trap” →

Bowling Green National Park was somewhat of a disappointment. There weren’t really any walks listed except for the one to Alligator Creek falls, which sounded interesting, but it wasn’t a caravan park and that made it appealing. We called from Airlie Beach to make sure that we could get a spot. The phone conversation that followed was just as maddening as the one at Blackdown Tablelands. This time the person who was making the booking couldn’t figure out if the one spot left was accessible to campervans. It said it was, but it wouldn’t let him book it. I was put on hold many times for several minutes as the payphone and the meter that we were parked at ticked away. Continue reading “If This is the Pony Ride, I Want My Money Back” →

We’ve been staying at a lot of caravan parks in Australia which is not really something that we planned on doing. The problem is that to get to most of the actual campgrounds, you either have to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle or you have to hike in with a tent. We are equipped with neither of these things (renting a vehicle like that would have taken up our entire budget for Australia), so usually we either have to camp on the side of the road or in a caravan park. Most of the side-of-the-road campsites are pretty sad – not somewhere you want to spend a good deal of time, but caravan parks have their downside as well. Continue reading “Blackdown Tablelands” →

After leaving Carnarvon, we thought it would be prudent to call the campervan company and let them know that the van was broken. After much deliberation and at Adam’s insistence that we did not need a tow truck, they directed us to a little town called Springsure, which has a nice name, but is one of those towns that I would rather be killed by any means of slow torture than to live in. We were directed to a Toyota dealership where the manager of the shop who looked to be about 12 or 13 tried to solve the problem of not having the correct parts while the older gentlemen in the back tried to rig up a temporary fix without said parts. While this was happening, we were sitting on a rickety white wooden bench in the shop which was the only thing in it, and watching what was going on outside. Continue reading “Springsure and Rockhampton” →

Our original plan in Australia was to go from Sydney down towards Adelaide and then all the way up the Stuart highway to Alice Springs, continue north an unspecified distance, and end up in Cairns sometime before the 17^th of September. When we picked up the van, we decided that maybe we should stick more to the east, and the plan was revised. The bottom line was that when we left Sydney we really didn’t have a clear plan, which began to cause some problems. We were driving, but not seeing anything interesting. We were cooped up in the van or at least in the vicinity of the van for five days without having much to do. In New Zealand we were going out hiking every single day. In Australia, we were sitting in the van either driving or parked. Not only that, but the van, as was to be expected because that’s the way things go, was having some mechanical issues. According to Adam who is one of those men who can look under the hood and actually diagnose a problem unlike many who just stand and stare hoping the answer will come to them through osmosis, the radiator overflow reservoir was sliced through and was leaking. Continue reading “Thank Goodness for Carnarvon Gorge Park” →

Our campervan was charged by an emu today. She had five or six babies with her and to protect them, she ran right at us as we were driving and then proceeded to chase the van until she felt that we were far enough away. That was the greatest thing I’ve seen in a long time.