Brisbane to Cairns

It's October 12th and we're cooking our last barbecue before we leave our cosy nest tomorrow for fresh pastures.

We've decided to take a leisurely twelve day drive from Brisbane to Cairns (about 1700 kilometres I believe), stopping on the way as fancy takes us, and once again we've gone for the camper option.

Unlike the RV we hired for our drive around Alaska however, we've rented a vehicle from the bottom of the range - it's called a Jucy Crib. Basically, you crawl into the back and under a duvet and that's it! There's an ice box and a sink, and maybe even a campus stove, but no shower, toilet or tv this time. Could be interesting!

Queensland - the coast

The mountain scenery of Queensland is impressive and varied, and we took a slight detour around the Glass House Mountains on our way up to the Sunshine Coast. We'd spent happy days on several glorious beaches with the family, and couldn't resist hiring a car to head further north and see more of them.

We booked into a motel at the lovely resort of Noosa, and parked up by the entrance to the coastal path of the national park. This little fella, our first koala sighting, was sleeping soundly, seemingly unaware of all the trippers passing by within inches of his tree.

Just one of the gorgeous little bays bordering Noosa Head national park.

Although we were desperate for our breakfast, following an early morning walk, we sat here transfixed for an hour watching humpback whales spouting and breaching, clearly full of the joys of spring. Not to be outdone, a school of dolphins appeared for their playtime in the surf. You won't see whales or dolphins on our photos, because we've learned it's more fun to watch than to try and capture them on photos.

A pelican serenely floating down the Noosa River as we skimmed by in our small motor boat, or 'tinnie' as they are known locally.

Arrived back at the harbour just as a mega storm was about to break.

Around Queensland - the forests

We knew that Queensland is an amazing state with a vast diversity of scenery, so we eventually shook off our sloth and set out to see what lay beyond our cosy berth in the 'burbs.

Being supersmart, we left the hot and sunny open areas of the national parks to the crowds, preferring to walk alone on the cool trails of the ancient forests. It was rare that we saw anyone else, and we were enchanted by the loud birdcalls and trilling songs of the many different birds that inhabited these glades.We spotted the satin bower bird, who collects or steals anything blue to make tunnels of love for his mate, green catbirds that snarl and screech like tomcats, and plump looking scrub turkeys wandering unconcernedly through the undergrowth.

On one trip, we spent the night in a village at the foot of Green Mountain, so we could drive early to the summit and take a treetop walk on a suspended walkway fifteen metres above the ground. The drive up was so special; we saw wallabies out for their early morning hop, and a field full of about one hundred large cockatoos roosting in a field. As we left our motel, the bottlebrush tree by our balcony shook with king parrots, their red and green feathers perfectly camouflaged by the green foliage and red flowers. Huge squads of these gorgeously coloured birds swooped from tree to tree like Dambusters - definitely worth getting up early for.

Incidentally, this village had a real pub, with no airs and graces, which sold rum and coke on draft by the pint!

We sat on the terrace of a cafe that sold the best milkshakes in the world, and this cockatoo came to see if there were any pickings for him.

At the same cafe, this king parrot was happy to rest a foot away from our table. Stunning blue and red rosellas flew nearby, together with large black and yellow budgie-type birds whose name we never found out.

We thought we'd never tire of walking in these fabulous old forests; the temperate climate meets the sub-tropical here, giving rise to a wonderful mix of trees and palms, creepers and flowers, and best of all, more wonderful birds.

Inland from Brisbane, gently rolling hills dotted with serene farms and grazing animals made a very pretty picture, and we particularly admired the "Queenslander" style of houses set imposingly on the lush acres.

Home comforts

It's just about four weeks since we left the delights of New South Wales for South East Queensland. Since then we've been snuggled in the bosom of the Australian branch of the Carmichael clan, and we've been so happy and comfortable here we're not sure we ever want to leave!

Sandra and Stephen and our niece and nephews Bryony, Liam and Rory live in a spanking new suburb of Brisbane in a spacious, airy, open plan bungalow. We've shamelessly ousted Liam from his room and made ourselves very comfortable, and Sandra has spoilt us totally, even to the point of bringing us drive-thru cappucinos in bed! It can't get any better than that.

We've had such a great time being part of a family again after being alone on our travels in America and Fiji; with the kids around we've had an inkling of what it might be like to be grandma and grandad, and oh joy we've revelled in unlimited access to a washing machine.

It was quite tempting to do nothing but wallow in domestic bliss, Brian glued to his beloved Skysports and me with my nose in a book, but we were lured out by the gorgeous sunny weather to spend happy days with family and friends on beautiful beaches and lagoons just forty five minutes from the house.

A couple of times we travelled into Brisbane on the train (smarter, cheaper and quicker than driving in) and discovered another smart, modern Australian city with a trendy riverbank culture of cafes, bars and restaurants.

In general we wake up each morning here to hot sunshine and the promise of another perfect day, so we were surprised the time we looked out on a weird sky that was grey-brown with a sun, when it managed to show, that was bright but colourless.

Although we didn't know it we were experiencing our first dust storm. We had the strange sensation of breathing and tasting dust, and although it wasn't blowing in an obvious way it sneakily coated every surface, inside and out, with a thick layer of orange sand. We turned on the tv for a weather report, and found that the effects were much worse in Sydney, which was enveloped in the stuff. The news then switched to Adelaide to report an earthquake, then to Victoria which was being flooded! All these extremes on one day in Australia, and for us they were topped of with a power cut in the evening.

I tell you this just so you don't think we have it all our own way with the weather.