I won’t bore you with a blow by blow description of the road south from Mackay other than to say it came as quite a shock to see the magnitude of coal exports from the mines in the Bowen basin which is about 170kms inland through the port facilities at Hay Point, Dalrymple Bay and […]

In truth I found Mackay to be yet another overgrown regional town with not a lot to commend it. I have also made my thoughts known about transplanted lighthouses although it has to be said that Pine Island is something of an exception in that it is fully functional not just an ornamental shell like […]

This might seem a bit, if you’ll forgive the metaphor, ArseBackwards, but there is both logic and opinion in this title! The logic is that it describes my travel from Bowen to Airlie Beach, the opinion is that I’d put Bowen well ahead of Airlie Beach! Bowen was an unexpected delight, a quintessential Queensland town […]

It was with both relief and disappointment to know the worst roads were behind me, at least until we get to the notorious Gibb River Road in WA. Relief in that Max came through a very tough initiation on Cape York relatively unscathed, and disappointment because notwithstanding all the shaking, rattling and rolling associated with […]

I enjoyed my time in Cooktown more than I expected, it’s uber relaxed, super friendly and obviously very proud of its history. Leaving Cooktown on the Mulligan Highway I crossed the Anan river which is now infamous for it’s “crocodile bend”. Previously this had become a tourist attraction due to the prevalence of large wild […]

On leaving Thursday Island I suppose I could have felt a bit downhearted, I was currently batting at 0 from 2, I didn’t get to see the Morning Glory or set foot on Booby Island, but I wasn’t! In fact as I got to reflect on my trip so far I was more than happy, […]

Having “summitted” by reaching Pajinka (the tip of Cape York and continental Australia’s most northerly point) last week the final hop, step and jump to my first lighthouse at Booby Island seemed to be a given. I was to take the ferry from Seisia to Thursday Island (TI to the locals), where I would rendezvous […]

Despite Lawrence’s reassurances I admit to being apprehensive as I set of to conquer the Cape. Over a thousand kilometres of notoriously rough roads and it was coming to the end of the dry season which meant the roads were at their worst, and if the rains arrived early I could get stranded for months! […]

Dropping down into Cairns from the Atherton tableland is an extraordinary drive, initially through verdant farmland, followed by dense rain forest and then 20kms of the longest, steepest most winding road I have ever driven on. Finally arriving in the outer suburbs of Cairns which was a bit of a shock, as far as I […]