| North Queensland
22 September 97
D. and K. picked up rental at Hertz, and then
went car shopping. Though we had prearranged to
rent a vehicle, we were struggling with the
exorbitant tariff and thought that maybe we'd
save money in the long run by purchasing a car.
No luck. Car prices are crazy: a seven-year-old
Accord with 120,000 k's goes for $17,000. We
decide to rent.
Had dinner at Fishlips, a great restaurant in
North Cairns. Dan ate crocodile.
23 September 97
About noontime we headed up toward the Mossman
Gorge for walkabout. Stopped in at Dept. of
Wildlife office in Mossman in search for a bird
book. They hadn't any but recommended a good one
to look for elsewhere (Field Guide to the Birds
of Australia, by Simpson & Day. A beautiful
book, but very pricey. T. and K. later found it
in Pt. Douglas.)
We got to the Mossman Gorge parking area and
started up the river. Trail led through lowland
rain forest of giant eucalyptus, ferns and
cycads, and alongside beautiful river pools, most
of which were filled with cavorting (sometimes
clad, sometimes not) tourists. After a kilometer
or so the trail left the river and headed uphill.
Eventually we came to a side trail that was
signed 'Wurrumba Creek', and followed that. The
trail ended at a pretty little grotto where the
creek came tumbling over a huge granite boulder.
Another family was already at this spot so we
started climbing down the streambed of Wurrumba
Creek, knowing that not too far downhill it would
feed in the Mossman River.
It was a steep and slippery climb down the
streambed but well worth the effort. The spot at
which the Wurrumba empties into the Mossman is an
incredibly picturesque stretch of river. The
riverbed consists of huge (railcar-sized)
smoothly rounded boulders, over and between which
tumbles the river, forming deep, gin-clear pools.
This against a backdrop of towering hillsides
shrouded in dense rainforest. Many varieties of
birds and butterflies (including Ulysses and
Emerald Giants) fluttered and swooped overhead.
We had our picnic lunch atop a flattened boulder
in the middle of the stream, and spent the rest
of the afternoon snorkeling in the pools, and
basking on the hot rocks.
24 September 97
We all walked down to the pier for buffet
breakfast. Drove north of Cairns and took
SkyTrain to Kuranda; it's a spectacular half-hour
funicular ride up the mountains and over the
tropical rain forest to a charming old mining
town. Met LeslieVan Pelt at 'Doongal' aboriginal
art gallery. Leslie's passion in life is
didjeridoos, and his great dream is of coming to
the U.S. and playing didj in a rock band.
Checked out of Holiday Inn at 1000. Drove to
Kuranda. Visited market. Ty went to Bird
Sanctuary and Noctarium. Visited 'Doongal' again
and purchased didjeridu from Leslie, four painted
boomerangs, ironbark music sticks. Leslie also
gave Dan three prime blanks of bloodwood for
making didjeridoos; all with bark on, and still
filled with wax and honey. Dan spent a most of
the remainder of the day wrapping up and mailing
the wood back home. Freight (by sea) for all
three pieces came to $150(au). K. later pointed
out that this wood probably will never get past
customs inspectors. That would be a huge loss,
and not just the dollars.
Drove to Port Douglas, where we met Robyn and
son Matt, and checked into the 'Spindrift'.
25 September 97
Dan and Ty went fishing off the rocks at the
'Stinger Pool' with Larry, Matthew, and Steve.
The pool was originally dredged to provide a safe
swimming lagoon, supposedly free of box jellies
('stingers' or 'sea wasps'). The deadly little
beasties won't start showing up for about another
month, after the monsoon rains start.
Tyler and Matt each caught a mackerel.  Small fish, but scrappy
on light tackle, and great eating. Larry caught a
remora. We all returned to the public pier for
evening fishing. Crowd of locals were there, but
no fish were biting. K. fetched fish and chips
for dinner which we ate at pier's edge as the sun
set over the mountains.
29 September 97
Dan, Tyler and Matt got up early and went
fishing off rocks
at end of 4-Mile Beach. Right away Dan hooked a
large fish, which broke the line after peeling 50
yards or so off the reel. This was a significant
loss because, when the 23 lb. trace parted, lost
was not only the special set of gang hooks that
Steve Simpson had put together, but the only
sliding bobber as well. Not much to do about the
hooks, but the bobber was floating about 100
yards off shore. Dan swam out and retrieved it,
quickly rigged new tackle, and cast out another
pilchard. Immediately after the bait hit the
water another mackerel hit, and after a good
fight was slid onto the rocks. D. filleted the
fish as soon as we got home, and when he checked
the gut to see what she'd been feeding on, there
was the original bait with the hooks Steve had
given him. That fish really wanted to join us for
dinner!
At 0800 K. and T. headed out for the day on
one of Steve Simpson's boats (Wavelength II) with
a dozen other folks for a day of snorkeling on
the outer Great Barrier Reef. They saw incredible
corals and fishes . . . including a 7-foot-long
Tawny shark, and a giant Maori wrasse  to which Tyler fed
squid.
In the evening we visited Robyn and Larry
Smith and three kids (Matt, Tim, and Jackie) at
their home in the trees. Larry's a gifted
woodworker and built this gorgeous home in a
grove of giant eucalyptus. All the finish work is
in burnished tropical hardwoods. The house sits
high in the air on posts and the branches of the
surrounding gums gives the sense of living in a
giant treehouse.
30 September 97
Caught 0630 Sunset Airways flight from Cairns
to Proserpine. Juliet (Whitsunday Yacht Charters)
met us at airport and drove us into Airlie Beach
to the "On the Beach" motel. Fruitbats
and Lorikeets outside our window . . .
Whitsunday Islands........
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