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Steven R. Livingstone
2004-05-04
Requiem.net.au :: 5 day road trip from Brisbane to Cairns and back
This volume chronicles #permafest's epic 5-day road trip from Brisbane to Cairns and back. Over 3800 Km driving in 5 days (plus half a night)
Trip Begins - Thursday Night
The volume begins with Shawn loading the newly acquired Celsior at 7:30pm
First stop: Matilda Truck and Travel Stop at 11:30pm
Some of the trucks
"Truck Port" reads the pretty sign
Truck lights
omfg, a Neo Geo arcade machine. I don't know how many years it has been since I've played on one of these
Neo's advanced game selection technology in all its glory
m8's
Plans go awry. Due to wet and cold weather, along with a lack of tents, we do not find suitable sleeping accommodation until 4am
Day 1 - Friday
The day gets underway with some serious day driving action, 10:50. As an interesting activity Lui brought along her French language CD set; currently taking place at the time of this photo.
Vous aiment des collines?
Some road works as we enter the town of ...
Miriam Vale @ 11:30am
The Big Crab ... minus the crab itself
Lunch time (or breakfast perhaps) at the "Star Bakery & Caravan Park"; 11:50am
Lui's drink of choice
Road trip hits Rockhampton at 1:40pm
We decide to stop at the Tropic of Capricorn information centre so Lui can purchase a postcard, and for the group to plan its next move
The sundial tells the future. I head off to visit my Nanna (the side that used to play in string quartets) while the rest of the group goes shopping
We depart from Rockhampton; driving recommences about 4pm with me at the wheel of a 4.0L straight 6. Yummy.
BUSH FIRE FAIRIES
Charred landscape
A little more char
Some surviving trees
Optical Tricks
Mes propres yeux
Shez plays with some glare photography
Still more glare
By chance we stumble upon the secluded Clairview after I propose a rest stop at the next place we find. This would later become our camping location on our return trip; 5:30pm
Children used to play here
Stingers inhabit this area
This places also houses a TV transmitter, of all things.
The mud flats of Clairview
Shez's water impressions
Eric and I go exploring
Sparseness
Nice trees
I only walked a fraction of the way out, this shot gives you an idea of just how shallow an incline these mud flats are on
Pretty water colour reflection
Multiple m8age
We head out in search of accommodation. We find some road-side cabins and make camp. I found this Bonsai tree on one of the tables; 7pm
The first BBQ of the camping trip begins!
Obligatory drinking shot
While well fed and full of mead, sleeping arrangements were not the best. Sleep deprivation begins to hit.
Day 2 - Saturday
The next morning we find the two unconsumed bottles of Makers snuggling in Shez's car; 6:40am
We stop for breakfast about 9am. We inspect some of the wildlife Shez has collected
Exotic
I like the horizon effect this bridge creates
Some random mountains
We hit Townsville about 12pm. We head on through, waiting for a certain special place to buy lunch
No drive up the North East coast would be complete without a shot of sugarcane harvesting. This stuff is grown along much of the East part of Australia
We stop at the town of Lucinda! 2pm
"I've seen bigger"
Now with added boy for scale
We hunker down on some fish and chips, the meal of choice for beach spots
Eric enjoys his food
A landmark of some sort, I'm not sure what it was about
The park we ate at
After a much needed break at the town of Lucinda we head off again. Our next quick stop was at a small town called Cardwell, 3:30pm
Some of the spectacular island mountains. This shot really doesn't do them justice
More of the islands
EXTREME PHOTOGRAPHY
Some harvested sugar cane fields
mm, symmetry
As the weather heats up we pass some Banana trees
We arrive at Cairns! (almost, I am then told) 5pm
The beautiful green lands of the North Coast
omg, a Slush Puppie!
Cloud covered mountains
We finally hit Cairns. We pull up to the famous ...
Ye Olde Gordonvale Pub. Shot of the drinkers
We finally arrive at Sarah-Jane's place. Her family graciously put us up for a few days. My first shot was of SJ's piano, go figure.
Some light coffee table reading: Prolog
Some of the paintings
The party is underway after a feast on some local Domino's pizzas; 9:50
luilui, Lisa and Eric
The incomparable Sarah-Jane in a Japanese Kimono
What else does one do when drunk but play Monopoly? (midnight)
I am getting pwned. SJ and I pool our resources to defeat the forces of evil
We decided to hit the town after hearing Cairns shuts down on a Sunday night; 2:40am
Shawn's feeling fat and sassy. This is the final shot of the night. Suffice to say, the table-top dancing was the highlight of the evening eh fellas ;?)
Massively sleep deprived, we finally get to bed around 5am. I arose about midday after my first full night of sleep on a comfy bed in days (thx to someone's kindness :)
Day 3 - Sunday
Breakfast time; 1:30pm
The next morning I decide to take some photos of the house. The pool and drinking area.
The house has a lovely open feel. Shawn's already up for some coke
"The 4.0 L's of love" parked outside in amongst the trees
Check out that altitude
Nifty architecture
Yeah, the view's OK ...
... I guess
The pool and bubbly spa
We decide to make the most of our day in Cairns. First stop, the rainforests; 3:30pm
We go climbing
Little waterfall
SJ leads the way
Matt in close pursuit
We arrive at a secluded rock pool. The water was colder than a Reindeer's arse
We pose for some group photos only I didn't quite make this one
So Eric does the honours and we get our shot
We look out over the plains of Cairns as we head down the mountain
Nice, the water pool you can see here (full size) is where they have pulley-assisted water skiing
Port Douglas; the beach we would later eat our fish & chips at ...
... and drink two bottles of white wine :~D
After heading back into town for the goodies, we settle in for a great night; 7:20pm
Shawn gets animated
A nice group shot
After feasting and drinking we head back towards Cairns. We stop at Yorkies Knob for a beach fire and marshmallow roasting (yes that's really its name); 8:40pm.
Second favourite shot of the trip
Moon and fire
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon Little boy blue and the man on the moon ...
The fire licks around our skin as it warms the crisp night air
Shawn prepares the toasting rod of power
Contentment.
Shawn plays with my white balance part 1; 9:30pm
part 2
After a fantastic day and half in Cairns it's time to head back to Brisbane. A special thanks to the Roberts for putting us up.
Day 4 - Monday
Smeg! With the highlight of the road trip now over, we make an early start around 7am. This shot was taken about 11am
We arrive at Clairview for our only real night of camping; 6pm
The beautiful horizon colours
My original sleeping spot for the night. During the night the tide rose to just below where Shez was standing, I decided to move back a few metres in case there were any crocs around.
Landscape 1
2
3
"The House of Wag", the shelter at which we BBQ'd for the night
Food preparation begins!
In reality, carried out in near total darkness :D
The cooking gets underway at our gas BBQ, as does the drinking; 7pm
After the enormous amount of food and alcohol we settle down to watch the moon rise, and what a treat. The following is a time-series; 8:41pm
8:43
8:46
8:47 (best)
8:50 and starting to lose the red tinge
8:54 and getting yellow
Shawn's moon blob 1
blob 2
As the campsite is in near total darkness, Shez had the unfortunate luck of falling into an effluent well during a session of moon photography
As dawn breaks, we wake to a beautiful sunrise on this our final day. Sleeping in the open air without a tent was an interesting experience, something I had not done before. I'm glad I had tarps above and below my sleeping bag to shield me from the dew
Day 5 - Tuesday
The first shot of sunrise; 6:16am
Shawn and Lisa trade stories
Some things just don't need explaining. My favorite shot of the trip, 6:20am
Eric prepares for the day ahead
Shez goes in search of some additional filters
My sleeping spot
The sun appears! 6:29am. The following is another time series
6:31
6:35
Time to pack up
Lime peruses the campsite
Shawn decides to light a fire to warm things up
toasty
Tailgating cattle can be dangerous; 8:30am
After our first break of the day I decide to switch cars for a while.
Shez waves to the Celsior
Eric plays with the dell
Lisa throws us a smile while some limes may be closer than they appear
We decide to stop at Gin Gin for some nutritional supplements; 1:30pm. If you ever stop in Gin Gin you must stop by "Good to the last crumb" and pick up a Stockman's pie
A beautifully maintained Falcon that's "built for cruising"
We did!
Desert time for the gang
The rebuilt Palace backpackers hostel
We finally arrive back in Brisbane about 5:30pm on Tuesday afternoon. So ends our memorable 5 day road trip from Brisbane to Cairns and back.
