Hello, all you lovely people out there who take the time to follow my travellers tales.

It does seem to be becoming a habit of ours … trotting off across the country for yet another trip to Far North Queensland. Since much of this journey has been covered in other previous posts (There and Back Again – for a Birth, A journey across the wide brown land of Australia and others), I thought I might give a slightly different spin to this tale.

The Sky Above

The common perception of Australia’s climate is sunny beaches, outback deserts and so on, all with blue skies from horizon to horizon. The big skies of flat land country. The reality is somewhat different as we have discovered living where we do with a big sky view from our window. So for this trip I will be looking upwards more often to see what the sky has in store for us.

Common perception … gum trees with a blue sky somewhere is South Australia.

Off we go then.

Before we even start, we have a good example of what I am going on about. Jacqui often gets up in the night and this time, finds herself there as the sun rises, trusty iPhone in hand.

Sunrise from our window (Photo: Jacqui)

We have decided to spend as many nights free camping as we can before the cold gets to us. We stop at the small freecamp on the Pallinup River, only 100km down the road. This gives us a chance to feel what it’s like to be in the caravan once more. Darkness gives us our first night with no light pollution.

Stars, stars and more stars on the banks of the Pallinup River.

Onwards east we go to the beginning of “the crossing” with four or five days of driving to get to South Australia. Refuelling at Norsman I can’t resist these trucks.

Refuelling at the BP in Norsman

Another night free camping … just us and the bush.

Onwards we go towards Madura and the lookout where weather begins to catch up with us. At this time of the year (and on into September) a series of cold fronts sweep across the south west, indeed the whole of the south of Australia.

First sign of trouble coming.

The rain hasn’t arrived but an amazing sunset has.

… and the aftermath is just as pretty.

We’ve reached the border in under three days – the east coast still 3000km away before we turn north.

Here comes another one! Steel grey skies over very flat country.

The clouds paint filigree patterns across the sky as we continue east.

What a display above our heads today.

Dead branches provide a roost for these Pink and White Gallahs. Alas, here in Quorn, South Australia the trees are dying through lack of water.

What a backdrop to our journey to Queensland.

At the campground in Dirranbandi, Queensland, we find this wonderful shed art. Bit of nostalgia here.

Oh dear … that’s definitely rain.

But luckily it has missed us

… to be replaced by a sky that looks like it has been painted on.

Over East

After ten days or so of driving we have reached the east coast. Interestingly, in Western Australia people always talk about “going over east”. In eastern australia I think they just ignore the presence of Western Australia … nobody would think about saying “going over west”.

We are in one of our favourite campgrounds in the small settlement of 1770, so named after the visit of Lieut James Cook in May 1770. Cook’s second landfall in Australia, the first in Queensland, gives rise to the area’s claim to be the birthplace of Queensland. On the entrance to Round Hill creek it offers the chance to see spectacular sunsets. Although there are no clouds, the crescent moon is given a glorious backdrop.

Moonrise at sunset over the pacific ocean.

Walking along, low and behold, an Echidna. Apparently, one of only three egg laying mammals so far known to us.

Such vibrant flowers on this young gum tree. Could it be called a yellow gum?

You have to be careful where you park these days. Looks like they left this one in the rain too long.

Townsville at last

Having arrived in Townsville, I drop down to Proserpine airport to collect the lovely daughter Zoe and grand daughter Mahli who have come up from the Sunshine Coast to spend a week with us. Off we go to another of our favourite spots in Mission Beach where we are camped right next to the ocean, with our caravan and Pippa and Tara’s, placed back to back, we have set up camp for the week.

Zoe, Jacqui and Mahli, amazingly, now thirteen

Here we all are enjoying the perfect winter weather of northern Queenland.

The lovely Jacqui, rugged up against the coolness of the evening.

Once again, the tropical clouds over the Pacific at Mission Beach steal the show.

Just south of Cairns there is a very pointed mountain which is really black, probably named Black Mountain

And the moon rose over an open sea.

Back in Townsville with Zoe and Mahli having retreated back to the Sunny Coast, and Tara off to Antwerp for a two week job with the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (OBV), Pippa gets us walking.

These giant trees along the banks of the Ross River manage to extend their branches to ridiculous lengths.

The infamous Strangler Fig at work devouring this tree.

The view from the top of Castle Rock in Townsville.

The black termite trails show starkly against the gnarled white trunk at Crystal Creek.

Look down and see the earth, definitely one of the hard bits.

Myself, Jacqui, Pippa and Satori in their garden in Townsville.

The Samaya Wives and the almost year old Satori (Photo by Pippa).

How to turn a water tank into a plunge pool. Just right for those hot summer days.

This pair of Tawny Frogmouths spend their days in Pippa and Tara’s garden, before flying silently away to hunt at night..

Further north we go

Having spent the best part of a month camped outside Pippa and Tara’s house, it is time to move further north to another of our favourite spots, Port Douglas. Here we will finish our northern trip before setting off south and then west once more.

Nice tree shaded spot to camp in Port Douglas and enjoy the magical weather.

A Stone Curlew pretending not to be there. We call these Squealers since as soon as the sun goes down they start up a real racket, which continues through the night.

More of those tropical clouds.

Sometimes looking up involves seeing very hairy trees.

The lovely Jacqui.

And so back to the sky with an amazing sunset.

Wow!

This time an inland sunset, in Broken Hill, New South Wales.

And so we are now back in South Australia. What a welcome.

Sometimes the clouds are just a bit too low. Unfortunately, shortly after this image was taken we came across a horrendous crash in which a motorcyclist died and his machine was in bits scattered all across the road.

Back to Ceduna in South Australia and a beautiful afternoon display of clouds beyond the end of the pier.

Someone’s been throwing paint about again.

Serried ranks accompany our trip back towards the west.

And then here we are back in Albany, drinking a quiet coffee at Emu Point. Another beautiful sky to welcome us home.

Jacqui and the rainbow outside our window.

Once again the moon rises over the islands in King George Sound as seen from our from garden. (Photo Jacqui)

Love to you all from us both. (Judging by the tea shirt, this must have been taken in Townsville!)

Enjoy!

Alan