Day 77 – 86 Whitsundays and the Queensland Outback
It was time to leave the Wet Tropics behind and start putting some good amount of kms behind us. Because after more than 20 days in Queensland we were still in the northern parts. Our next “must-see” location was the Whitsunday Islands and Airlie Beach (from where you reach the islands). But as always we did a few stops along the way. Firstly, we took the detour through the Great Dividing Range to Wallaman Falls. An impressive 268m high waterfall. It was a very pretty, yet steep, walk through rainforest to get to the bottom of the fall. Before reaching Airlie Beach we stopped one night at Hydeaway Bay and got to enjoy the morning and lunch at the beautiful Montes beach. We didn’t know much about the Whitsundays to be honest, and all tours turned out to be pretty expensive. However, we had made it all the way there and we didn’t want to leave without at least sailing some parts of the islands. To skip the crowds (sharing might be careing but we really don’t like to enjoy the views with too many people at once) we booked a day sailing with the Derwent Hunter, a stunning old schooner that took us snorkeling at the Hook and Langford islands. With only 12 people on board we got a nice and relaxing day exploring the waters around the Whitsundays. We also got to help raise the sails! A nice and calm day, as it was, unfortunatly, meant that we couldn’t do much sailing even with the sails up. 1.8 knots almost means moving backwards… but it was a great day nevertheless. We left the coast once more for our next destination; the Carnarvon Gorge. We took the way through the mountain town Paluma and the Enguella National Park. At Rock Cafe near Finch Hatton, we had one of the best homemade lunches. Ever heard of savory chicken cheesecake (only for Anna) with cheese bisquit crust? If not, Google a recipe and try it! We stayed the night at Enguella Dam. What a spot to wake up to! Think we had our longest breakfast so far, it was just too calm and relaxing to leave. Many kms later, and one more overnigh stop, we arrived at the Carnarvon Gorge. To explore the Carnarvon Gorge you need to walk and so we did. A 14km track took us through half the gorge with four side tracks along the way, all unique in their own ways; there was Aboriginal rock art, a hidden amphitheatre, a canyon with massive king fern trees, and a moss garden. Plus heaps of wildlife, both in the gorge and around the Takarakka bush camp resort where we were staying. Distance between Wallaman Falls and Carnarvon Gorge is 1400kms or close to it and we are once again below the tropic of capricorn (meaning, it’s a lot colder). Next stop; Fraser Island (to be continued...)
