Undara - Romance hot like a Vulcano <2009.7.28>

After all those wonderful beaches in the tropical north it is time to see also the other side of this country - the Australian Bush!

And even older the Lava Fields and National Park in Undara - around 400km west of Cairns.



Let`s say goodbye to the lovely oceanfront campsite





and we are already on the way to the Atherton Tablelands which rise high up to 1000m above sea level.





Via winding roads you reach small sleepy villages with a real laid back character. That`s really refreshing after all the hassle along the beaches.
Here you just relax at one of the crater lakes...












or have a rainforest walk to spot 500year old curtain fig trees ...



or hike along volcano crater and with it coming hidden waterfalls.






Guess what - if there are vulcanoes, there are also thermal springs! Correct - there we are: Innot Hot Springs! Here you can splash in 35 - 48 deg hot water in one of the spas or even in the local river next by.





Arrived at Undara Lodge - you enter a complete different world: You are welcomed in a wooden forest hut reception where all surrounded houses, bars & restaurant are restorated train wagons like the orient express.



At the campground you sit below the stars at your own fireplace, roasting marshmellows and observe the wild animals.












The highlights here are the lava tubes - which is one of the worlds biggest system. We booked a half day tour and where perfeclty hosted by our guide Ross.










Of course you can also explore this area on your own, but you easily can get lost if you not carefully read the signs of mother nature ;-)







The Romantic highlight is than to overnight in one of those historical train cabins with your Ensuite cabin - EXTRAODINARY!







Time pass by quickly - same as the roaring, dustwizzling Road-Trains,



who tought as a new specious of kangaroohs: Grey`s, skippys, wallabies, kangaroohs and the new wasaroohs!
Here you can see the different of those:
Here a Kangarooh & Skippy:



And here the Was-a-Rooh:



Your Wally from the Never Never Safari

No Troubles at Cape Tribulation <2009.07.24>

Today we are going to our most northern stop in our Australia Trip – we go up to Cape Tribulation.



This cape was named by Captain James Cook in 1770 as from this point all his troubles start.

On the way there we stopped by the Mossman Gorge, a wonderful place to explore rainforest habitat or have rest and swim in the heavenly lagoon of the river.







Refreshed we are heading to Daintree to river with the hope to spot some crocs which are living in this area.





It`s said that this is the secret of the success of Australia’s National Swimming Team. They all are doing here there trainings and you can imagine … only the fastest survive ;-)









We escaped the crocs by a quick car ferry ride to the other side of the daintree river and we finally arrived at Daintree National Park & Cape Tribulation.



The name really doesn`t fit this place – Troubles? NOT AT ALL!

Here you can find the most beautiful and picturesque beaches in Queensland. And on top – you have them all for yourself!





If you call this TROUBLES – than we want to have a lot of them!



If you have enough from the beach you can spread out and look for the local wildlife like cassowaries along the self guided bush board walks.







But look out – wild creatures are everywhere!!!



At the end of the paved road we finally reached Cape Tribulation where the rainforest meets the riff.







It’s really a pity that you can`t swim here as there should be crocs around.
So to escape we went high above the water to look out for them…







To Good To Be True

Bubble Maker @ the Great Barrier Reef <2009.07.22>

Spending three days in Port Douglas – the upper class holiday town of Cairns – we took the chance to visit the world’s biggest reef, the Great Barrier Reef.



There are plenty of daytrips or live aboard operations around this area so check carefully before you make your choice.
I looked for a small group of people & a new reef location rather than the big ones operating for 30 years at the same spot!

We were lucky and found the Calypso – which offers a very personal service, max 70pax, 5pax each dive group & they operate at the newer Opal Reef, which is big enough to provide 3-5different dive sites.
http://www.calypsoreefcruises.com/



Everyone was quiet excite for this trip as we all 4 are going to dive the first time at the GBR!!!



For Carmen it is her first dive after she made her licenses and Nong & Thanthep never even dove before. So here we are sitting, can`t wait what we are going to see…





After the first exhausting minutes and the struggle with the new environment, the weight of your heavy equipment disappear, you start floating & the only thing you can hear is the slow breath of yours as Darth Vader in Star Wars.






And it pays off – there is so much to see and experience, I don`t know where to start:

Huge corals all around you





Small friends like the funny clown fishes (Nemo)



A shy gobi


Or the really huge one (Napoleon)



Of course nudi branches and flat-worms








The dive buddies – Nong & Thanthep (with very special nose mask technique :-)



And even a Mermaid ;-)



Yeah – we did it!!!


Sailing back with a lot of impressions of the deep blue…


Found Nemo