Cairns to Brisbane Road Trip

22nd March - mild panic. Arrived at check-in for Cairns with our pre-approved and prepaid Australian visas. Derek, no problem and boarding pass issued. This would be Derek born in West Africa, lived in Australia, worked in Saudi, China and Malaysia.. Jan, lots of furrowed brow, incessant tapping of keyboard, summoning of superior and we have absolutely no idea what's happening. Next thing we know they are phoning Canberra Immigration office for help! Feel the stare of the mammoth queue behind us.. on hold for a long, long time. Twice asked if I've been to Australia before and when. Check-in lady goes for tea break.. Her superior dials Canberra again. This time we get an override reference number so I can be checked in! Derek finds it very funny..

Never flying Jetstar again, they have the most uncomfortable seats in the world. Plus I'm sat next to a young lady that has not seen a

shower or bath in a while. Surrounded by Aussies that 'got sick' while on holiday and have no idea of the concept of blowing their nose. Probably got 2 hours sleep at most. Landed at 06:40 and it's a beautiful day in Cairns. Complicated immigration with four different checkpoints including a sniffer dog but we're through and the most pleasant car hire rep we've ever encountered! Well done Hertz Australia. We're on our way incredibly quickly and headed straight for the esplanade for breakfast. Reality hits, the prices have gone up so much since we were last here 15 years ago... 2 rounds of toast and a tea and coffee cost nearly £15. Lovely walk around the marina watching all the tourists off on their day boating trips and to do the helicopter flights over the reef.

We can't check into the hotel until 2pm so decided to drive down the coast a little bit to a place called Yarrabah which looks out over Mission Bay. It was a beautiful drive, we barely saw another car.

On the way back we stopped off at a shopping mall to get a few supplies and to see if we could get lunch. The food court had various options but again the prices were ridiculously expensive, the budget isn't going to last long here. Interesting chat with the man in the 'Bottle Shop' about why I could buy the Australian wine on sale cheaper in Tesco Petersfield than here... it's all about the taxman.

Checked into the Cairns Sheridan which is on the

outskirts of town, its pleasant enough but not fancy. As it's still so hot we rethink the suitcases putting all our warm clothes and jackets into one suitcase and lightweight clothes in the other. We've packed too much..

Back to another area of the esplanade tonight for a longer walk and it's such a nice atmosphere, people walking, jogging, skateboarding, kids playing or people just sitting watching the water. There's a lagoon which is really busy, some just waiting for community aqua aerobics to start. Wish I had my swimwear on, it looked great fun!

Just a pizza to share tonight but once back at the hotel we decided to go to the pub next door - let me liken it to a Harvester (or Beefeater for the older ones amongst us)! Glad to get to bed tonight, lack of sleep last night has caught up with us.

23rd March - Blue sky and sunshine this morning as we set off for Mission Beach, about 92 miles. Stopped for breakfast in a quiet town called Gordonvale. We're in the heart of sugar cane country and there's an old processing plant here but we don't think it's active any longer. It's so old fashioned here and they even have an historic air

raid shelter on the street detailing the towns experience of the Second World War. Bought a couple of (huge) Danish pastries and drinks from the local bakery and the staff were so friendly and chatty, wanting to know immediately where we were from. We said we were expecting cooler weather than Asia, this being the beginning of their Autumn Season but they said forget Seasons in Queensland, it's either hot or slightly less hot (in June and July)! It's 32 degrees today and very humid. But apparently we'll lose weight due to the heat - every cloud and all that!

We diverted a couple of times on the way to Mission Beach, firstly to Babinda Boulders an attraction surrounded by lush rainforest and popular swimming hole and tourist attraction. It is a classic example of the fast flowing tropical creeks in the area that are perfect for afternoon dips in the cool water to combat the tropical heat.

The creek is lined with huge boulders and the clear fresh water weaves between the obstacles to fill large pools where people can swim. Visitors to the Babinda Boulders are often amazed that the water is quite cool, even during mid-summer.

Just behind The Boulders is Mt Bartle Frere, Queensland's tallest mountain, from which Babinda Creek's cool water originates. The section of the creek where the water rushes over massive granite boulders, smoothing and shaping them, is referred to as The Babinda Boulders.

OK I confess, I just copied and pasted that part from a website! There were a few people taking a dip in the still water but we just paddled. This place has free parking, changing facilities, toilets and BBQ area - UK take note. We saw the most beautiful butterflies here, one was the most vivid blue, it was unbelievable.

We stopped next at Josephine Falls which was equally lovely and there were a group of youngsters there (backpackers?) that were having a whale of a time sliding down the smooth boulders into the pool below and to our amazement taking selfies while they were doing it! If only we were 30 years younger... Derek kindly pointed out a massive spider as big as his hand hanging in the trees which I wouldn't have otherwise noticed...

We got to our apartment in South Mission Beach at about 2.30 this afternoon and it's literally a stones throw from the long, sandy beach. It's also the last property in a dead end road so there's no traffic, all we can hear are waves lapping. The property is split into 4 units but we appear to be the only ones here. Bliss....except the air conditioning is not effective and we are so, so hot!

I feel sad that I'm so excited at the sight of a washing machine - we got some laundry done in Thailand, Cambodia and Bali but we still had a load to do.

Went to the local supermarket to buy food for the next couple of days. On the way into the area we saw signs saying that all water needs to be boiled before drinking - that's an unexpected pain.

It's 'stinger' season so you can only swim in the sea in designated safe areas, luckily there is one a minutes walk from the apartment.. we went in at about 5.30pm and the water is even warmer than Bali. Our view is Dunk Island and other than us we can see just 3 people on the beach.

I 'cooked' ( for the first time in 3 weeks) chicken skewers and salad, it was so nice to sit outside alone with no noise other than the wildlife

and sound of the sea. It's now 9.15pm and we're still so hot...I do have 5 anti mosquito bands on - two on the wrists, 2 on the ankles and one in my hair, plus deet spray plus 2 burning spiral thingies on the table - not taking any chances.

24th March - what a difference a day makes... poured with rain this morning and was forecast to do so all day. We had a rotten nights sleep as we were so hot, the air con really is rubbish. In fact we think it's cooler outside than in. And I have a sore throat, I swear I caught it on the plane surrounded by all those sick people.

We went for a drive to Wongaling Beach and Mission Beach and noticed that the majority of properties seem to be empty implying that they are holiday homes. There are a few caravan parks/camping grounds around so presumably this is a popular area.

This region is a Cassowary conservation zone and we were hopeful we might see one but sadly not. Maybe if we had walked into the forest but it was too wet.

It had stopped raining by the time we got back to the apartment so we

walked along the beach. The cloud cover makes such a difference to the temperature and it's the first time we've felt comfortably cooler outside since we left the UK. And then more rain.

Late afternoon we drove to the bottle shop for more grape juice and heard a couple in the car park discussing cyclone preparations, we thought they must be a bit mad. Then the guy in the bottle shop serving us asked when we were leaving and we said tomorrow and he replied "getting out before the storm are you?" Back at the apartment we switched the TV on and sure enough there is a cyclone heading our way! There are regular updates and it all sounds really scary. We are going to be in for a rough few days.

Massive downpour again the this evening but we still sat outside on the covered terrace and played cards because it's still cooler outside than in. The wildlife were going crazy, what a racket - quite glad it

was dark and we couldn't see what was making all the noise!

25th March - we left at 9am to start our 235km drive to Townsville. It's a beautiful day again and it's hard to believe that it's going to change so dramatically. Latest cyclone news is that it's still heading this way and gathering strength but it's moving slowly so now due to hit the coast on Tuesday. We will be at Airlie Beach where torrential rain and high winds are forecast for our entire stay.

On a cheerier note we saw a Cassowary by the roadside! Unfortunately couldn't stop to take a picture but it was worth seeing, sort of a cross between a shorter legged emu and a turkey.

We made a couple of stops along the way, Cardwell was nice and looks out at one end of a big island called Hinchinbrook. The better view was from the bottom end at Rungoo.

We got to Townsville at lunchtime and dropped the car at the motel called the Beach Front. It does face the sea but our room faces the car park. It's quite a comedown from our South Mission Beach apartment but it's clean and has all we need. Had a walk along the

sea front and got ice creams for lunch and sat and looked at the view of Magnetic Island. The sun was so hot again, we were constantly looking for the shade but we tried not to moan though in light of what we've got to come over the next few days. One of the attractions in Townsville is Castle Hill which has amazing views from the top but it's an extremely long and tough walk - no way we could attempt it in this temperature so we're going to drive up in the morning if the rain isn't too bad at that particular time.

Dinner at a pub a short walk from the motel, busy and lots of big screens showing live sport. Food was good and after a couple of drinks we went back to the motel and sat outside looking at the car park , with a bottle of wine and constantly checking the cyclone situation.

26th March - had a message from Lisa in Sydney saying that Airlie Beach (our next stop) is being evacuated..

We decided to leave Townsville just after 8am and get to Airlie Beach early and take advice from the resort that we're booked into. Not sure what we're going to do if the turn us away! Although it's breezy it's still hard to believe that there's trouble brewing. Sunshine and cloud and the odd minute or two of rain are what we see for the whole journey.

The receptionist cheerfully books us in saying not to worry about the local council and police instructing residents to leave! We are on a slight hill above the marina and slightly tucked away so we're less worried about the flash floods forecast for later. The resort also has a cyclone shelter that can sustain a category 5 cyclone- the one due is a category 4 so that's OK then... The lady told us the resort is full because all the boats have had to come in but the place looks suspiciously quiet to me! She handed me an envelope with Rebecca's handwriting on and it was my Mothers Day card! Must confess to shedding a tear or two, our daughter is very thoughtful.

Our apartment is really lovely, large and the best we've had and it's on the second floor with views over the marina. We drove to the nearest supermarket to stock up and we're now prepared to sit it out for 3 days. The worst isn't due until Tuesday morning. Derek's happy enough, the Melbourne Grand Prix is on this afternoon! So I did some ironing..

Rain on and off, kids don't seem to care, there are a couple in the pool.

Heavier rain this evening, we tried to watch television but the reception is not good with the picture breaking up and the picture and sound out of sync.

27th March - we kept listening to the news hoping that by some miracle the cyclone would change direction and not effect us but no such luck. We drove into town early to find a Pharmacy (Strepsils £10 a packet!) and to get our bearings. It's a shame the weather is so lousy because Airlie seems a really nice place. At least we got to wear the rain jackets we had packed. We had a drive around the area and could see for ourselves how high the rivers were already.

The news reports were getting worse and worse and we asked again if we ought to leave even though we didn't have any idea where we would go. The staff said " too late" nobody can go anywhere now..we just have to sit it out. They also said that it was guaranteed that the power would go off but hopefully only for a few hours and not for days on end..and gave us a torch!

We managed to get the TV sorted out so that we got the film channel and watched a film to pass the time. We could hear the wind increasing and the frogs started going crazy, they are so damn loud! The power went off at about 11pm and the cyclone hadn't even hit us yet. No air conditioning or fan which made sleeping difficult.

28th March - we got up at 6:45am thinking we might as well witness the cyclone as we were part of it. The Duty Manager, Nigel, banged on the door at about 8am to check we were OK and to say the worst was still to come but things should calm down after lunch and if we got nervous to move to the shelter. Sure enough at lunchtime it got a bit calmer and we hoped that was it. That was naive to say the least because then the second whammy started and it was worse than the morning and it just went on and on and on relentlessly. It had changed direction so the wind and rain were now directly hitting the apartment and the window and balconies doors began to leak badly. We spent hours trying to stem the water and mop up. That was OK while it was daylight but not easy when it got dark and we were working with a torch. We went to bed but with the noise of the wind, the frogs and a generator whining close by it was impossible to sleep plus we kept having to check the leaks. We were completely fed up.

29th March - Up early again and it's still blowing but not quite as bad. We should have been leaving this morning for Mackay but had cancelled the hotel a couple of days ago because we were warned that there was no way we would be able to leave the day after the cyclone as the roads would be cut off by either flooding or trees down.

We saw people heading towards reception carrying kettles so Derek went down and discovered they had a little petrol generator running so he got boiling

water so we could have a cup of tea and coffee. I can honestly say that was the best cup of tea I've ever had. They'd also set up the BBQ and there were people cooking their bacon and eggs on it!

We could see from our balcony that the damage was extensive, people had started to come out to investigate and take photos. Lots of people's headed towards the Marina to check their boats and we saw a few cars on the road above. We went for a walk and the resort we're in had roof tiles blown off the rear block and the corridors were flooded in places with leaves and twigs everywhere. The swimming pool was a mess and the cafe flooded. Outside the resort there were uprooted trees, massive branches down and in and across the roads, one of the marina walkways wrecked and a couple of boats smashed up. Flag poles were down and flags and sails ripped to shreds.

After lunch we drove into town and it was carnage - it's going to be a hell of a clean up job. Unbelievably there was somebody's kite surfing in the sea, he must have been mad. There was a convenience store open at the top of the street and about fifty people queuing to get in two at a time. We thought about stocking up on water but couldn't face the queue. At the bottom of the street there was a bar open and they were doing fish and chips and beer plus

you could use the loo but not if you needed number twos! We shared a portion of fish and chips which by their standards was a very small portion but still cost us nearly £10. Nothing else open, that was it. Later on in the evening we saw a search and rescue helicopter and we had to wonder if they were looking for the kite surfer.

Word was that roads are flooded and there's no way out. Managed to text Rebecca to let her know that we were OK but stranded here for the foreseeable. She was glad to hear from us!

Water pressure has dropped dramatically so extremely difficult to shower. It's been so humid that even 5 minutes after struggling to shower we felt we needed another one.

And then the storm came at about 6pm. Sheet lightning lit up the sky and it was all very dramatic. Fun to watch for a while but after 6 hours of it and crashing thunder it all got a bit too much and we knew the rain was going to compound the flooding and scupper our chances of escape tomorrow. And worst of all we ran out of wine.

30th March - we drove to the Police Station (in the rain) to see if we could get any information about the state of the roads but it was shut.

Driving me mad not having access to the internet! Another guy said that there was no way out as the highway was shut at Proserpine as were surrounding roads. We drove into town to the Supermarket to restock...as had every other resident in the area. It was like a scene from Waitrose on Christmas Eve but worse with shelves stripped and queues to pay the length of the shop. Later rumours were of people pinching things out of other people's baskets and trolleys whilst they were distracted. No point buying any fresh food as the fridge isn't working anyway. The bottle shop was shut so no wine for tonight either.

We saw many backpackers roaming the streets, their hostels had been flooded and they were frantically trying to find accommodation as there was no way to leave Airlie. On their budgets we couldn't imagine what they were going to do.

We came back to the resort and I had to borrow Nigel's mobile to call the hotel in Rockhampton to cancel tonight's room. I've also cancelled Bundaberg for tomorrow night as even if we could get out of here it would be too far to drive in one day.

The weather changed at lunchtime to blue skies and very hot and humid. There's a large family staying here with two young girls that shriek at the top of their voices in the pool - its piercing.

Had to go for a walk to escape the noise for a while. On the way back met another resident carrying beer so enquired where he got it from. He gave directions and said the shop would only be open while it was light and it was cash only. We jumped in the car to get wine! Once it started to get dark we sat on the balcony and saw a cockatoo up in the tree opposite us - noisy devil! Derek managed to knock a glass over in the dark so we were clearing glass up by torchlight! He's only allowed plastic glasses now. Unbelievably the noisy family came back to the pool with waterproof light wands and balloons that were lit somehow inside and floated on the pool surface. Another hour of shrieking. Is it just us or should people really have more consideration for others?

31st March - had early morning (here) text exchange with Rebecca (9 hour time difference is frustrating) as she's trying to get us information on the roads situation. Not good news with reports of roads flooded, bridges collapsed and closures all the way to Brisbane. She told us it's the worst Cyclone Australia has experienced in terms of area covered and that having read the reports she's just relieved we're OK. Perhaps what we don't know isn't hurting us - maybe there's some merit to being cut off from the world? We wondered if we could go back North to Cairns and fly out and Rebecca told us that there is an airport at Townsville which is where came from to get here (250km) but she said there's two closures on the highway North. Wondering if we can get a boat to somewhere.

Nigel called his son in Brisbane to see if he could get any more up to date information. He'd heard that power was back on in Mackay which is 150km South of here and they have an airport with regular daily flights to Brisbane..if only we could get there! Another chap standing with me waiting to boil his kettle for his breakfast cuppa said he'd heard Brisbane was being evacuated - I really didn't want to know that.

We drove to the police station again. Still closed but I managed to catch a policeman in the car park and he said that there were 2 closures South towards Mackay, one of which would probably dry up today but the other more of a problem- something to do with a dam. He had no info on other routes but said he wouldn't want to risk it and suggested we wait another day.

Borrowed Nigel's mobile again to cancel tomorrow nights accommodation at Hervey Bay. The lady told me a storm had hit them last night so they were cleaning up today. At least they have power and she said the road from Rockhampton to Hervey Bay is OK....if only we could get out of here tomorrow and past Mackay. She'll hold the room for Sunday night in case we can make it down there by then.

It's a beautiful day again so we went down to the pool and got chatting to our fellow stranded residents! Nice couple from Melbourne 'celebrating' the husbands 60th birthday. They had chartered a boat last week and at least got to see the Whitsunday Islands before the havoc hit. A young British couple, very chatty and just waiting to get a greyhound bus to anywhere they can. And a young Aussie lad desperately trying to get to Townsville to see his girlfriend before she flies to Thailand. The couple from Melbourne had gone to town early this morning and treated everybody at lunchtime to sausages from the BBQ wrapped in bread with tomato sauce and cold beers. It was heavenly!

We now have no water in the apartment as the pressure has dropped too low. We were given a key to the room below as the ground floor still has a tiny bit of pressure left. We sat in the bath in an inch of cold water as we couldn't get more than a dribble from the shower. I came back to a text from the local council saying all water for drinking must now be boiled first. That would be the water we don't have in the taps! As it gets darker we get more miserable, everything is more manageable in the daylight but once it's dark and we try to do everything by torchlight it's just a pain and we desperately want to move on and escape from here.

1st April - happy birthday Neil! And celebrations for us too as we hear that the road to Mackay and beyond is now open. We packed up quickly and went to settle our bill. Nigel, at that point, asked whereabouts in England we were from. Turns out he'll be in Gosport in July on a sailing training course - small world! Felt a bit guilty leaving when others were still stranded and still no power although the electricity trucks and staff managed to get through overnight so fingers crossed they were back on by the end of today. The water was back on so at least people could wash!

The drive out showed more of the damage, so many power lines down and evidence of the flooding up at the main highway.

Our next challenge was getting petrol, the stations were either closed or only accepting cash, and we have no cash left.

Luckily we got to Mackay no problem and because they had power we could use the credit card.

Long drive to Rockhampton but once we were nearly there we detoured slightly to see some caves. As we pulled into the car park there were some very glamorous ladies wandering about and suited and booted gentlemen. There was to be a wedding in the cathedral cave half an hour later. We could still have got an hours guided tour of the caves before the wedding started but at $60 we thought it was a bit steep!

The hotel at Rockhampton was very nice and the check in guy so sympathetic to our last few days. Shame he had to ruin it by telling us about the horrendous flooding that is due to hit in the next couple of days. We're cool again as we have a/c, had the pool to ourselves, the showers powerful and the wifi works! Could finally respond to all the messages people had been sending asking if we were OK. Also two lots of laundry done and dried, very satisfying.

Dinner in the hotel and damn the expense, we deserved it.

2nd April - on the road at 8am for the next long drive on the Bruce Highway (another 450km) to Hervey Bay where we should have been for 2 nights but had to cancel last night as behind schedule. It's a slightly more interesting drive than yesterday with nicer views. Lots of evidence of flooding but no ideal places to stop to take photos. We tried to visit a historic town but it was closed. We did manage to go to a place called Tannum Sands and buy lunch at an extremely busy cafe and then took it to the beach area to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. Yet again it's so quiet, just a couple of dog walkers and a couple of families. You can't ever imagine it being busy like Southsea or Hayling.

Finally got to Hervey Bay at about 3:30 and a quick stop off at the Supermarket. We're a stones throw from the sea again in a studio apartment but it's no bigger than the hotel room we had last night. Allegedly it sleeps four as there are two pull down beds in the wall but you would be tripping over each other! Even with just the two of us I wouldn't want to be here longer than a couple of days. Went for an hour long walk by the marina, along the beach and to a pier where we watched kite surfers for a while. Nice to be out and about after being cooped up in the car the past two days.

It's noticeably cooler, as in it's only in the twenties here. We still sat on the balcony this evening in t-shirts though to make the most of being outside.

3rd April - on our way to Noosa and decided to take the scenic route rather than the main highway.

Stopped off at Tin Can Bay which was a quiet little spot, with just a couple of kids playing on the beach and then on to Rainbow Beach. We were a bit confused about the hype for this place until we got down on the sand and walked along a short way until we could see past a curve in the shoreline and saw the rainbow coloured dunes. Annoyingly our photos don't do them any justice.

The journey in general is one of trees...and more trees...and even more trees. On one of Derek's cigarette stops we were amongst the Pines and we immediately thought of loo cleaner!

Following trusty Google maps and determined to stay off the main road we suddenly found ourselves on a gravel track. With vivid memories of a puncture in Tuscany and absolutely nobody within sight we quickly turned around thinking the main road might be a good idea after all!

Got to Noosa at around 3pm and once again very nice studio (larger than Hervey Bay) just across the road from the water. It's very windy again (Derek's muttering about cyclones) but we had a walk along the river and there are people boating, fishing, walking, running and playing games. Nice atmosphere and the restaurants and bars are busy.

4th April - had a lovely day exploring the Noosa area. It's really nice here and much busier than anywhere else we've been (then discovered the kids are on Easter holidays). Having finally found a parking spot we started off walking Noosa main beach, lots of would be surfers, sand castle making and bodyboarding going on. The Main Street was buzzing with cafes full and we decided to go to

nearby Noosa Heads and do one of the scenic walks along the cliff edge. No chance, the car park was rammed and queuing so gave up on that and drove out a bit to Sunshine Beach. It was blowing a hooley and the sand was whipping up and the waves crashing. Hardly anyone about, we spied a path up to the cliff and decided to climb. After initial path we came to steps (220ish) and then another rocky path which took us to look out over Devils Kitchen and Lion Rock. We could have gone on but without knowing how far the path led we decided to turn back. Back to the apartment for lunch and then a walk in the other direction to find Doonella lake. Didn't find it but ended up walking round a very nice residential area that backed on to the waterways (posh Port Solent without the flats, just very big properties all with private moorings for their boats). Not sure how far we walked today but it was a long way!

Wish we had another day here.

5th April - sad to leave Noosa this morning, it would have been nice to have an extra day. Got some ironing done and Derek cleaned out the car as we had to return it to the Brisbane depot this afternoon.

Another day, another beach! Followed the coast road for a while and

stopped off at a nice place called Mooloolaba just because we liked the name. It was another seaside town with lots of cafes along the front so we had a walk watching the beach activities and a coffee. Next we stopped at Deception Bay which was very different to Mooloolaba, very quiet and nobody on the beach at all. Had lunch at a tiny cafe and were the only two there. We then rejoined the main road to Brisbane and the traffic got much busier. We were prepared to find it difficult to get to the hotel as we could see from Google Maps that the road system was complicated but it was a nightmare! Eventually found the hotel but couldn't do a right turn to get to it. Ended up going over the river and round and round frustrated by closed roads and one way streets. We managed to find our way to the Hertz depot, dropped the car and got a taxi to the hotel!