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THE BLOGGETTE IS GETTING BACK UP-TO SPEED AFTER WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS A SLACK FEW MONTHS...

DAY 20: March 9th, Rockhampton to Moranbah, via Mackay

We left Rockhampton early and got to Habana (north of Mackay) to pick Ben up at about 1pm. He was very excited to see us, although he was looking for the rest of his family… We took him to the beach and let him have a good run and swim in the sea to make up for his captivity of the last week and a half!
After our last (and very difficult) two and a half hours of driving, we never wanted to get in a car again! We got home and unpacked the car for about 5pm – just as mum, dad and Kate were driving home from Manchester airport!! To think that they got all the way to the other side of the world, into Heathrow and then flew up to Manchester in the time it took us to get back home from Brisbane, gives you an indication of just how big this country is!

THE END

"Hey Miss, why don't we run off with their camera..."

We got to the airport about 11am and mum, dad and Kate checked their luggage in. We then had a drink together before the painful goodbye session as they went to enter the departure lounge and we had to leave. I don’t know whether it will ever get any easier to leave people you love, especially after having such a memorable time. The strangest thing was waving goodbye, it felt as though we should be going back to England with them. Thankfully, we had the comfort of knowing that we would be going back to England in eight weeks, so it wasn’t as painful as it might have been. However, after being so close to everyone for all that time, it was very hard to let go.
And then we went our separate ways, mum, dad and Kate boarded the big bird to England, and Andy and I set off on the eight hour journey to Rockhampton where we were hoping to stay that night.
It was an incredible adventure and we all took away unforgettable memories that we will treasure forever.

The Famous Five

We had our last photographs taken here; we all looked distracted in the last one as a group of school children were telling their teacher to steal my camera! It was a nice sunny day to end the trip and it was nice to have this lovely walk complete our adventures of the last three weeks.

A rare one-legged Ibis!

A Goanna enjoying a walk around the gardens

The Brisbane Botanical Gardens are beautiful, lots of paths to wander along, and so many varieties of palm tree you wouldn’t believe it, as well as lots of other plants and trees. We saw a huge goanna wandering along the path as well as lots of Ibis.

Me amongst the bamboo at Brisbane Botanic Gardens

DAY 19: March 8th, Brisbane Botanical Gardens and Airport

We were so full from the night before that we couldn’t even fit a breakfast in! We had to be at the airport for about 10.40am, so we decided to go for a walk to the Botanical Gardens and then check out of the hotel and drive to the airport.

Kate and I having a dance

We had a lovely evening and Kate and I even had a dance in one of the bars - Kate was so eager to dance that she fell flat on her bottom trying to get to the dance floor in time!
Unfortunately we couldn’t party into the early hours as mum, dad and Kate had a big few days ahead of them flying back to England, and Andy and I had to drive for about 16 hours over the next few days to pick Ben up and get back to Moranbah.

Mum and Andy having a natter

We went for drinks afterwards at a variety of bars, and had our last round of cowboys! I got asked for ID at one bar, so I indignantly protested that of course I was old enough, ask my mum and dad!!

Dad and Kate on the beers

I had booked a table at Il Centro restaurant on the river front, which according to my guidebooks, is a casual but elegant a la carte restaurant renowned for its modern Italian creations with a uniquely Queensland twist – perfect! It didn’t disappoint, the restaurant was full and the atmosphere buzzing, the menu was mouth-wateringly impressive and we had trouble deciding what to have. I had heard that the signature dish, the sand crab lasagna was legendary and so mum and I decided to have that. It was a taste sensation! The restaurant even gave us the recipe for it but I doubt my culinary skills would be able to create such a wondrous dish! We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals, and I would not hesitate to dine there again, if only it weren’t 12 hours away!!

The intrepid explorers at the end of their fun-filled, action-packed journey

We decided that we would spend the afternoon browsing the centre of Brisbane, as mum, dad and Kate wanted to pick up some last presents. Andy and I decided to use this opportunity wisely and get our hair cut at Toni & Guy!! Ahh, the luxury of a good hairdresser! Mum, dad and Kate had a last swim in the pool at the hotel (I didn’t want to get my perfectly coiffured hair wet) and then we all had a relaxing few hours getting ready for our last supper.

Me with mum and dad, all scrubbed up well!

The Stamford is a beautiful, prestigious and luxurious hotel, we got a good late deal on t’internet which enabled us to stay there without too much expense being spared! The rooms were gorgeous, and the bathrooms even had a miniature television in them! Our car was valet parked, an amusing incident was when the valet phoned our room and said that he had wound the driver’s window down and it was stuck… for those who have read the rest of my entries about this trip, you will be well aquainted with said window, and understand my cries of “Nooooo” to the poor clueless valet!! Thankfully Andy managed to sort that out.

Andy and I in the restaurant

DAY 18: March 7th, Rockhampton to Brisbane

Our last full day together began at the hour of 6am when we all gathered at the car for our last leg of the road trip to Brisbane. It was going to be a long one too with about 8 hours of driving to do between us!
We took it in turns to do an hour or two each and had a few stops on the way for breakfast and drinks. We passed Gladstone, Bundaberg and Gympie before hitting the motorway into Brisbane. After some excellent map-reading by myself, we pulled up at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, situated between the river and the botanical gardens in the centre of Brisbane.

Kate and Mum posing in the sunshine at Rockhampton Botanical Gardens

That evening we stayed at the Coffee House Motel which was lovely. It was pouring with rain and so our walk into the centre of Rockhampton was quick. We weren’t too impressed with the central area, not a great deal to do. Mum, Kate and I then drove out to the Botanical Gardens, which I had heard were impressive. The rain was insistent and when we got there we found out that the gates shut in half an hour, so we raced around as much as possible, slipping around in our flip-flops in the rain! It was a beautiful place, the gardens were immaculate and there were lots of themed areas, and also a small zoo. I will go back there one day when I have more time and the weather is nicer, but we enjoyed our short visit!
The evening was a bit of disaster, I had done my research on nice restaurants, and without driving, the best one seemed to be an Italian about a twenty minute walk away. We all trooped there to find it is closed on a Monday (like lots of things in Queensland, grr!). This was disappointing, so we all trekked to find another restaurant that was half decent but not too expensive. After moodiness and tiredness set in and we had walked for about an hour doing a full circle of Rockhampton, we ended up eating at our motel! The food was ok, but not remarkable and we all retired to bed soon after to dream about crocodiles, ready for our penultimate day of the trip.

Now this is better than a bloomin dog anyday, at least it's mouth is taped up!

Kate isn't scared...

Nervous laughter

It was a fascinating afternoon and we had all learnt a lot, and seen crocodiles ranging from newborn to enormous!

Andy holding it like a rifle

Approximately twenty people in the last 35 years have been fatally attacked in the wild by a saltwater crocodile in Australia. In July this year, an 8 year old girl was killed by a crocodile when she went to the river’s edge to collect water during a family fishing trip. However, research shows that all deaths can be avoided if people understand why crocodiles attack and stay away from the edges of rivers and creeks where crocodiles are likely to be present.

Mum cooing over junior croc

We then got to see a year old crocodile and we all got to hold it! It’s mouth was taped up, because apparently even at this size if the crocodile snapped it could break your arm. It was great holding it, although slightly nerve-wracking as you could feel it’s strength when it wriggled!

Bet you couldn't get it back inside the egg - it must have been tightly packed in there!

The baby croc must have been about 25cm long at birth, all curled up in a relatively small egg.

First glimpse of the world for this amazing little hatchling, already snapping away!

After the tour we were thrilled to find out that one of the eggs at the farm was hatching and we could watch a baby crocodile hatch from its egg!! This was absolutely astonishing, to see a tiny crocodile snout poking through the shell of an egg and then take a snap at our guide’s finger within seconds was incredible!

Look at the size of his head compared to the guide...

There are only two species of crocodile living in Australia, the Saltwater crocodile (salty) and the Freshwater crocodile (freshy). It is a fallacy that saltwater crocodiles only exist in salt water, they are known to reside in rivers, estuaries and swamps, as well as in the sea – and they can be found up to 100km inland! The main differences between the two are that the saltys are a lot bigger and bulkier and have a more rounded snout, the saltys will also quite happily kill humans to defend their territory, whilst the freshys may bite if provoked but generally will not attack humans.
Our tour around the farm was fascinating, our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and had an affinity with these ancient reptiles, they all have a name and a history – sometimes murderous! We learnt so much about them that we were taught not to hate or fear these creatures, but to admire and respect them.

The biggest croc at the farm didn't disappoint

The main building at the crocodile farm, where they sell pre-tour meals of crocodile stew and crocodile steaks, has lots of pictures of absolutely enormous crocodiles as well as actual skins on the ceiling of about 12 foot long crocs! Historically, these ancient creatures (the world’s largest reptile) were a lot bigger than they average now, however due to hunting, it is believed that the smaller creatures were left whilst the large crocs were pursued and killed - meaning that the average size of the saltwater crocodile has decreased. It is reported that the saltwater crocodile has grown to lengths of 8 metres long with a weight of up to 1000kg(!!!), however now the average size is about 4 metres long with the biggest crocodiles to have been accurately measured in recent years all under five and a half metres (18 feet) in length. They can also live to be over 100 years old. The amazing fact we found out at the farm was that the sex of a baby crocodile can be determined according to the temperature they are incubated at, therefore if the temperature is less than 30C all hatchlings are female, greater than 32C and all hatchlings are male!

Open wide... dare you to stick your finger in there!!

Koorana Saltwater Crocodile Farm is mainly a farm that breeds crocodiles for the purpose of selling their meat and skin. However, the farm also has resident crocodiles there that are used as a basis for the tours and to educate people on how crocodiles think and how they live. These crocs have all been rescued for various reasons (usually because they present a human danger) by staff at the farm and are now looked after in captivity and also used for breeding. Koorana does not take any crocodiles from the wild and fulfils the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and CITES (Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species) criteria for self contained breeding farm. The farm produces purses, wallets, belts and handbags which are all made from crocodile leather – apparently the best and most durable leather in the world. Their leather is also sold to huge fashion giants, like Gucci and Prada, to make shoes and handbags.

Feeding time, crocs can leap very high out of water to get to food

My plan was that our last trip would be to a crocodile farm near Rockhampton, I had a leaflet that had one of those maps that look simple and easy in colourful thick lines on a leaflet, but are utterly useless when it comes to the factual information on what road you need to take and the distances between the junctions. Anyone who knows me well will know that this is one of my pet hates; I need to have a good map with me at all times!
The tour of the crocodile farm commences at 1pm every day, and the farm was, according to the leaflet, about half an hour from Rockhampton. We had about an hour, so we weren’t worried, until time passed by and we seemed to be driving and driving and not seeing a single sign or clue as to where on earth we were in relation to our useless map. Just as I was about to blow my fuse, we finally spotted a little sign pointing right. We had to off-road it a bit on some unsealed road and incredibly at the end of this were about six cars all parked up at the crocodile farm. It has amazed me on more than one occasion on our travels here that you can drive for miles and miles with no signage whatsoever, guessing where you are going, and then when you get somewhere where you think no human life could possibly exist – there is a bus trip already there!

A saltwater crocodile lurking behind the fence

We planned a bit of a cross country route to get south east to Rockhampton on the east coast. We drove through Dysart, Middlemount, Dingo (great name!) and Duaringa and got to Rockhampton about four hours later – and yes, the places named above were the only places we passed to get to Rockhampton and they are all equivalent to the size of a small village/hamlet in England!

Our last breakfast together in Moranbah

DAY 17: March 6th, Crocodiles and Rockhampton

After an early morning bacon sandwich, we all packed up and mum, dad and Kate said farewell to Moranbah… for the time being anyway! It was very sad for Andy and I when everyone was packing and loading up the car, it had hit home that our fun was nearly over and we would soon be saying goodbye. It had been so wonderful having my family share our lives for a while and see where we were living.

Me with a real miner!

It was so interesting to see what Andy has actually been doing for the last 10 years and experience what it is like to be underground. It is one of the few jobs where nobody else knows what it is like and after my experience there I have a lot of respect for the people who work there.
That evening, after scrubbing the coal off our faces, we had our last meal in Moranbah with mum, dad and Kate which of course in true Aussie tradition had to be a barbeque! We went all out and ate loads, had a few drinks and then retired to bed for an early start for the drive to Rockhampton in the morning.

After!

We got into the Toyota Landcruiser - purpose-built for underground mining and stripped of any comfort, and took the bumpy ride down a steady decline to the coal seam approximately 200 metres underground. We had to walk a few hundred metres to get to the most important room – the ‘crib’ room, where everyone has their break. I find it interesting that in Australia these rooms are called ‘crib’ rooms and you eat crib, whereas in England it is called ‘snap’, i.e. “Have you made my snap for tomorrow?” One theory is that they are called snap/crib because these were the card games commonly played whilst the miners were on their breaks. We then went through to where they are cutting the coal, walking in the dark with just our lamps shining the way, through mud – at some points a foot deep! We passed the pump station and then got to the longwall where the beast which is the shearer can be found, its two huge rotating drums with picks on the end cutting the coal. We walked along some of the chocks (there are 150 of these holding the roof up while the coal is cut) and dad got to operate one! There was a bit of a hold up due to a piece of coal the size of a car that had fallen and blocked the conveyor belt. Andy showed us loads of things that he works on during his shifts and explained what everything did as we walked along. We got back into the land cruiser, stopped to look at a transformer on the way out, and then saw daylight again as we emerged from the dark and dusty world of coal mining.

Before...

DAY 16: March 5th, Underground Mining and last night in Moranbah

I did my speciality smoked salmon and scrambled egg breakfast to set us up for our trip underground in the afternoon. We had to go to the mine over a week ago to take the induction training that allows us to go underground. It involves being able to put your self-rescuer on and what to do in an emergency. We had to watch a short programme and then take a test afterwards – which we all managed to pass with hardly any cheating! This is all good, however, a lot had happened in the last ten days and I don’t think any of us would have survived had we had to operate our self-rescuers!
We got all kitted up in our orange or green overalls, wellies, big weight-lifter’s belts, helmet and goggles and, after a quick photo shoot, made our way to get our lamps and rescuers. I could not believe how much it all weighed, I could hardly move by the time my belt had been loaded up with the necessary equipment!

Resting near the river as we neared the end of our huge 8.5km walk!

We had no time to rest though, I was now panicking because the supermarket shuts at 5pm on a Saturday and is closed on Sundays, so it was looking horribly like we would have no food in the house for mum, dad and Kate’s last few days in Moranbah! So we had to leave the beauty of the Eungella area and hurtle back home. Andy managed to get us back with half an hour to spare and we raced around the store as though we were on a trolley dash! We therefore had a nice meal that evening and some drinks whilst playing ‘Cranium’, which Dad, Kate and Andy’s team managed to win convincingly due mostly to dad’s amazing ability to do impressions, particularly of Prince Charles!

Dad and Kate stood in front of one of the enormous trees we saw on our walk. There is also some bamboo growing to Kate's left.

DAY 15: March 4th, Broken River and back to Moranbah

After a hearty breakfast, and purchasing some wooden platipi (is that the plural for platypus?!?) which you may have been lucky enough to receive as a pressie, we packed our things and checked out of our cabin. We then had a walk planned, at 10am the ranger drove us to the start point of the ‘Crediton Creek’ trail and then we had to walk all 8.5km back to our car at the resort! The walk starts off at Crediton creek and then follows Broken river all the way back to where we spotted the platypus yesterday. The ranger told us that we might see some pythons in the rainforest as he had seen some a few days earlier, also there may be green tree snakes about. Due to the bad weather we had been having there was also a lot of tree fall in places that we may have to navigate around. We set off on what was to be a lovely walk mainly through the forest, amongst the most amazing trees and plants. We passed wonderful places like ‘Horseshoe Bend’, ‘Orchid Rock’, ‘Crystal Cascades’ and ‘Platypus pool’ and dubiously named ones – ‘The Bogie Pool’ which I didn’t fancy taking a dip in! Despite endless scouring for snakes, we didn’t see any at all – although I am quite sure that lots of them saw us! The walk took us about four and a half hours to complete so our feet were aching when we got back to base.

Possum eating some fruit

To complete our action-packed day, we sat on the balcony of the restaurant and watched a possum eating fruit right in front of us!

A gastronomic delight! There's nothing like eating the national coat of arms!

We returned to our cabin very proud indeed that we had spotted one of the most illusive and extraordinary creatures. We were ready for our meal now, and the food was delicious and very nicely presented. Mum had a game boomerang which included crocodile, emu and kangaroo!

You can see the rounded tail of this platypus

They are a lot smaller than you would imagine, an adult platypus is from 45 cm to 60 cm in length and may weigh up to 2.7 kg, with females generally smaller than males.
The platypus with its duck bill (which is actually soft and pliable) and webbed feet, is a unique Australian animal. It and the two species of echidna are the only monotremes or egg-laying mammals to be found on earth. Monotremes have lower body temperatures than other mammals and have legs which extend out, then vertically below them. These features together with their egg-laying are more like that of a lizard than a mammal.

Platypus darting around in the water

Just as we were beginning to despair and run out of alcohol, there was a splash below us and in a second we saw it – a platypus unmistakably darting in and out of the water. The cameras were back out with much enthusiasm, and we had a wonderful half hour watching them darting about. They are so fast though – which made it very frustrating trying to take a photograph as the darn things had long gone before you had hit the button.

Platypus at last!

We kitted ourselves like true nature observers, with plenty of alcohol to keep us going and made our way to the viewing platform. The rules are that you have to be extremely quiet and just watch for any ripples in the water. We sat for ages watching terrapins swim about and staring at anything that moved, or our imagination thought had moved, for ages. The water was totally brown due to the nature of the river so you couldn’t see below the surface at all. We were joined by another couple, and a guy with the most enormous lens. There was lots of whispering between the other people, and the big-lensed guy started to focus on an area to the left. We all started looking and I asked the man where it was, he pointed out the most enormous and still looking platypus which looked more like a dead seal, but we all got excited and took photographs anyway. After the subject of our excitement neglected to move at all for over 10 minutes we began to realise that it may not actually be a platypus.

The side-show terrapin

From the chalet we drove through Eungella about another 5km to Broken River where we were staying that evening. Broken River is famous because it is one of the few places in the world that you can see a platypus in it’s natural environment. Broken River Mountain Retreat was a beautiful place to stay, we had a two-bedroomed hut to ourselves, with a living area, bathroom, kitchen and balcony. Our mission was, of course, to spot a platypus, and the reception gave us a guide telling us when and where to go for the best chance of spotting one. The best times are at dusk and dawn so we had a few hours to kill before going on our hunt. Some of us had a little nap whilst others made the agonising decision of what to eat that evening (we had to decide beforehand – oh the dilemma).

Don't Jump!

Having a swim in an idyllic setting

The pool was lovely apart from the minor trauma of finding three or four dead frogs in there which had hopped in and then been unable to get out. The pool being in the middle of a rainforest obviously attracts lots of creatures and I found it strange that they hadn’t got sloping sides at any point for the poor things to get out. We fished them out, along with some of the other flying creatures that had ended their life in the pool, and then went for a swim – with our mouths shut!

Eungella Chalet Pool and Views...inflatable frogs included for free

Right at the top, looking over the entire valley, sits the Eungella Chalet. The chalet isn’t the most luxurious of accommodation, ‘comfortable’ is the word used in the brochure! However, this really doesn’t matter, as the views are worth far more. We weren’t stopping there that night, but we had our dinner there and then used the swimming pool which overlooks the valley. There is even a hangliding platform there where you can throw yourself into the valley below if you have no fear.

Pioneer Valley

From Finch Hatton we drove up the steep winding road to Eungella (young-ga-la which is aboriginee for land of the clouds). The views over Pioneer valley were spectacular as we ascended higher and higher.

Batman on holiday in Australia

We all thoroughly enjoyed this unique experience and I’m sure we’ll be back one day with more visitors – I think I’d have to have a go at going as fast as possible next time!

You can certainly see where the idea for batman came from looking at this photograph of the fruit bats.

It was fantastic hovering amongst the bats, which were mostly hanging around (quite literally!) but the odd one would fly right past as I tried to take the photograph at the right time. They looked like little bears with superhero cape-style wings! I left the bat colony and continued my flight through the rainforest back to base.

Is it a bird? is it a plane? No, it's a fruit bat!

Flying Foxes are the largest bats in the world, having a wingspan of up to 6 feet! They feed on fruit or nectar and help in the distribution of plants by carrying the fruits with them and spitting the seeds at other places. The nectar-sucking bats pollinate the visited plants. The down side of a colony of fruit bats hanging around is that they smell, are noisy and also can cause damage to trees because of the sheer force of lots of bats ascending at once actually breaking branches off trees.

A bird's eye view of the palms

Then it was into bat world, there is a colony of flying foxes (fruit bats) residing there at the moment, which was incredible to see! At first I could see lots of black blobs in the distance, which were the bats hanging from the trees, and started clicking away on the camera. But then I found myself gliding straight in amongst all the bats.

Look, no hands!

Kate lays back and enjoys the flight

Dad is in pursuit

Steady as she goes...mum is the guinnea-pig for the day!

Next was the walk up to the top launch platform where mum bravely stepped up to test the strength of the wire. She gradually disappeared into the treetops and along to the middle platform where someone waited to transfer her onto the second stage. We then got the call for the next person to go, and one by one we all slid our way into the canopy. I went last, due to me being chief photographer, and nervously sat in my harness and stepped off the platform. Unless you really tug on the pulley to brake, then you can get up to quite a speed, so I was yanking on the brake straight away so I didn’t fly headlong past everything in a blur! It was a wonderful experience, and really different – you get so used to seeing things from ground level that it brings such a new perspective to the rainforest and palm trees. I passed over a rocky idyllic looking stream and then saw my shadow on the ground as I looked onto the tops of the palms!

Stunning scenery and good weather for the flight (you can see the wire at the top left of the photo)

The practice cable was not that high and we all zoomed along the cable successfully, making sure we could brake so that we could stop along the way. It can take as long as you want to do the forest flying. If you really want to take your time and feel at one with the rainforest then you can inch along the wire and take photographs, (which is actually quite tricky as you have the camera tied to your wrist and one arm clinging to the brake). Alternatively, if you don’t really care about the sights and sounds and are just there for the ride, then it is possible to just let go at the top and hurtle along the course in a few minutes! They do let you do the latter option as an extra second flight if they have the time, unfortunately, due to there being five of us going one by one along the wire, we didn’t get chance to do that.

Me on the practice wire

We were ‘flying’ at 10am and in order to check in, we had to weigh ourselves - in case we were so light that we would fall out of the harness or whiz uncontrollably down the cable, or so heavy that we would plummet to the ground when the harness gave way on us. Thankfully we all scraped though the weight challenge and progressed to be shown how to fit our harnesses – which was like wearing sumo pants!