Far North Queensland trip part 1: Wonga Beach, Mossman, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation

I have just had a week in Far North Queensland, visiting my sister Jacki. And I met her new partner Dave who is a good man, but who beat me at both pool and backgammon. We both stayed most of the week at Dave’s place in Mossman where there is more space than at Jacki’s more remote place at Wonga Beach.

Jacki picked me up at the airport in Cairns and we drove north to Wonga Beach, which takes about 90 minutes at the moment. There are a handful of stops on the highway which is being rebuilt after the most recent cyclone damage.

We stopped at Ellis Beach for lunch and for a look.
The beach is patrolled and netted; this massive cable is here to hold the net. 

This beachside bar by the highway brought back deep down memories
of stops on bus trips in Peru and Ecuador, where the climate was similarly steamy.
But this place was clean, had good food and the beer was kept in the fridge. 

There are automated traffic lights instead of stop-and-go lollipop men,
but the lights have to be supervised.

A walk on Wonga Beach itself. The tide was in and we had to hop
over a lot of recumbent palm trees. That is Snapper Island out there.

Jacki has a couple of immense orb weaver spiders in her driveway

Mossman District Hospital is a jaunty art deco / Spanish mission hybrid

Dave’s local, the Post Office Hotel (cash only).
The cane trains used to run right past it.

Still from an YouTube clip only a few years old

On Day 2, Jacki took me down to Port Douglas for a look. It’s 8km as the fruit bat flies and 20km by road, because of swampy mangrove flats. We took an interesting boat tour up the creek; and I learned a lot about mangroves and crocs. I saw my first croc; about 60cm long.

I think Port Douglas is the first hot and humid yet swanky place I have been. The main shopping strip has galleries and designer fashions, as well as many gentrified pubs. I had occasional vague flashbacks to being a kid taken to fancy enclaves on Sydney’s north shore in summer; and to visiting the bourgeois side of Lima, Peru.

Full of crocodiles

I’ve heard Jacki talk about the Sugar Wharf; this is it.
Recently redeveloped; the shed is used for events.

This is the view north from the wharf towards Mossman and Wonga Beach.

St Mary’s By The Sea in Port Douglas, a very popular place for weddings.
Wonderful stained glass.

On Day 3 Dave did the driving and the three of us went ‘over the river’, north of the Daintree to Cape Tribulation. To a Tasmanian this feels like you are just about in New Guinea; and you are closer to PNG than to Brisbane. But there is so much more Queensland to go. 

The ferry across the Daintree River costs $50 return for a tourist car and is free for locals.

We did the Madja boardwalk through the rainforest at Noah Beach which was terrific.

Then we had a walk along Noah Beach (or this might be Thornton Beach?)
and I imagined sharks, crocs and deadly jellyfish lunging at me from every rockpool.

Dave and Jacki

Above is today's haul of critters, starring a wild cassowary. We had pulled up at one of the traffic queues, I think we had just crossed a one-lane bridge; and there he was. I snapped him heading left then he changed his mind, crossed over again and disappeared into the rainforest on the right. This was obviously exciting for me but more so for Jacki and Dave who understood how rare this is. Neither had ever seen one.

We got home, showered and changed and then it was time for a night out at the Mossman Bowls Club where both Jacki and her son Malachy work. She’s on food and beverage service and he’s assistant chef. He's also one of the club's star bowlers. 

We were there for a birthday party for one of Dave’s friends, who happened to be manager of the Mossman Woolworths. 

Dave and I snuck into the ‘Sports Bar’ and he beat me at pool but it was really nice to see the traditional colourful set of balls; you mostly just see reds ‘n yellows these days.

Dave said again and again what a wonderful day he’d had. He’s lived in Mossman for 10 years, but he works pretty hard and he has never once been over the river before.

 

Another Maths Medal for Marcus

The high school is so big, and full of kids and activities beyond our ken. So the school newsletter usually gets a cursory glance from me. This week it opened up on this beautiful picture and exciting news about Marcus. He hadn't heard about it and either had we.


It turns out he is going to Brisbane in early November to get his medal, presented by the Governor of Queensland. 17 medals have been awarded in Grades 7-10 across Australia. The rest of us are going along as well - we think that the Australian Mathematics Trust pays for Marcus and a parent to travel and stay, but all that of that is still to be confirmed.

I am very proud of course, but also a little excited as I have never been to Queensland in my life. I am imagining Government House will;

1. be on stilts; and 
2. be surrounded by pineapple plantations, mangroves and burning canefields.

The simultaneous translation of extremely dire news

I sat up on Wednesday night watching the news channel, as Cyclone Yasi spun towards Queensland. The outlook grew worse as the night went on. The Queensland premier, Anna Bligh, appeared every few hours to give press briefings. She is considered to have done a sterling job dealing with the recent massive floods, and gave every sign that she was the woman for the job of fending off Yasi.

She spoke with only the barest glance at her notes, and the the message she had for Queensland was unequivocal: tomorrow we are going to wake up to a heartbreaking disaster. Lives will likely be lost. Millions of people will probably be without electricity for weeks.

I was very scared for Queensland - the sheer enormity of Yasi on the radar was like something from a disaster movie. I am not a prayerful person but every now and then in life I think: - hmm, situation calls for a couple of Hail Marys. Can't hurt.



At the same time I was transfixed by the simultaneous translator for the deaf. There have been different ones at the various briefings, but this one is the most vociferous. The juxtaposition of a) Ms Bligh speaking plainly about the great dangers on the way, and b) the clownlike facial contortions and flappy hands of the translator was surreal - especially combined with c) the completely impassive man in the middle, who I think was the head of emergency response or something like that.

I understand that there are hearing impaired people in the community with every right to as much information as everyone else. The skills of the translators are very impressive - it's an important job they are doing. But I have never before laughed out loud at the TV while I am being told that I will wake up in the morning to a disaster.

I wouldn't even be mentioning this bizarre moment of extremes, except that thanks to wonderful planning and co-ordination, and a switched-on populace who took the whole thing very seriously, there have been no direct deaths or even serious injuries attributed to Yasi as of Friday night. So, by the very precise rules of disaster-related comedy, it is in fact NOT too soon to start making fun of Yasi coverage.

Interesting political blog

I just came across this blog, by Sen. Andrew Bartlett of the Aust Democrats, from Queensland. Sometimes its good to delve into the world of Queensland for a while, it makes the rest of Australia seem so sensible.

There is a very interesting and feisty debate going on among his commenters, about the Queensland lungfish. Is it a highly endangered crucial link in the history of evolution, or reasonably common and a lucrative business for lungfish breeders? There are threats of libel. The Queensland Govt seem determined to dam its favourite river. Click on heading above to check it out.