More wild camping

The morning

I get woken up early by a cacophony of wild animals (mostly birds). From the hotel in Cairns, I could hear their screams that sounded like children were being murdered, but this is nothing compared to the tent, where they are surrounding me.

After quickly packing my stuff (thankfully I don't have much, just a sleeping mat and a pillow at the moment, it is too warm to need more), I get out of the tent and see a kangaroo fleeing! (Maybe it was a wallaby, but either way it is novel for me and exciting)

I am fully packed up by 6:30, which I hope is good enough to escape the ranger. I get in the car and continue down the road, to the Jourama Falls track.

The track itself isn't very long, it goes through some rocky sections and I can see traces of wild fires: the forest isn't as dense, and some of the trees are dark. Although that could be just a different layer of rainforest, I'm not completely sure... At least, the view of the falls is pretty nice, although I would have liked getting a bit closer. The weather isn't too great too, which makes sense: it is next to Bartle Frere, the highest point of Queensland, where it rains over 250 days per year.

Townsville

After that, I head to Townsville. What a weird name, is it the capital city of Countryland?

The first thing I notice, from far away, is the Castle Hill: Townsville has a massive hill with cliffs on the side, right next to the city center. I park my can kind of close to it, then start heading up through the Goat Track, which mostly consists of stairs, around 400 steps in 1.6km. When I get around the middle, I notice another track, and look at the map. A kind lady nearby explains that there are many tracks to go to the top, and the one I'm looking at is the one she took, where it starts from another parking location, a bit higher.

The view from the top is great, there are multiple viewpoints showing all sides of the hill. Well, it mostly shows that Townsville is pretty small, and surrounded by the ocean on one side and nothing on the other...

The city itself is fairly similar to Cairns: a grid pattern, no real center except a few streets with more restaurants.

I have a quick lunch in the city, before continuing my journey.

Bowen

On the way to Bowen, I stop by a couple of lookouts. The first is about midway between Townsville and Bowen, and it's just a small mountain in the middle of nowhere. The road to get there isn't good, it is a narrow, very steep gravel road that my car struggles a bit with. Thankfully, I don't meet anyone on the way. It is a Rotary viewpoint, I have seen a bunch of them and it seems like the Rotary association is sponsoring (or maybe building?) those places. It certainly looks like it has more impact than in Europe... Given how boring the view is, I'm not sure it is very worth the effort though.

The second viewpoint is actually in Bowen itself, next to a water tower. It provides a good view of the coast and the beach, and shows the Bowen is another boring city.

In Bowen itself, I go to 2 locations: the Sunset Point and the Coral Beach.

The Sunset Point is a beach that has a large opening on the west, due to being next to a river. There are a couple of fishermen, but the beach itself doesn't have much to offer. I'm sure it's a good place to watch the sunset, but in the middle of the afternoon it is a mediocre beach.

The coral beach is more interesting: as the name suggests, it contains a lot of dead coral, that could be mistaken for pumice rocks.

It is actually not one single beach, but a series of small beaches, with varying degree of coral exposure. I want to get to the tip, to have a good view on all sides, so I go from one beach to the next, until I see a strange indication on the rocks...

Apparently, the beaches at the tip are nudist beaches... Thankfully it also says that nudity is non-mandatory to get there, and I want to enjoy the view so I keep going.

As expected, there are only a few men on that beach, and not all of them are naturists. Thanks to that, I can walk around and take pictures freely, including the view on Gloucester Island.

Airlie Beach

After Bowen, I head towards Airlie Beach. It is very small, but also very active: the port is full of boats ready to be used, there is a lagoon quite similar to Cairns', but with a lot more people in the water, even the birds are quite active. It also has a beautiful beach, that strangely seems less popular than the lagoon... Maybe it's because it is a lot larger, so people are more spread out.

It is a very touristy place though: this is the entry point to the Witsunday islands, so there are a lot of places proposing cruises, scenic flights, even skydiving...

The Whitsunday Island is home to the Whitehaven beach, a beach made of nearly pure silica, and thus white. It is the most photographed beach in Australia, which justifies the activity there. The prices are aligned with the demand, though...

The night

It is getting late, so I head to my camping spot for the night. It is close to Airlie Beach, on a beach itself (I'm hoping to see a nice sunset) but with a bit of a walk to get there. This time, I properly booked it before hand, so no risk getting told off by the rangers.

I arrive at the parking around 5:30PM, and spend a bit of time preparing my bag for the night, then start walking to the Swamp Bay. It is a nice 2.4km walk in the forest to get there, I should be able to arrive just in time to pitch the tent before it gets dark.

The walk isn't as easy as anticipated, and the forest is quite dark and full of life: I see a few spiders, some frogs (or maybe toads given how massive they are) nearly jumping on me, and a bunch of birds.

Around 6:15PM, I'm starting to think that I should be close now, and that is when I see a sign. Perfect timing! Except it tells me that I'm just halfway through, and still have 1.2km to go through... Now that isn't a great news.

The forest was already pretty dark, but with the sun now setting, I can barely see anything. I could take out my head lamp, but that would attract flies, mosquitoes and who knows what else... so I start basically running on a small forest path in the dark, hoping to get there as soon as possible.

The camping itself isn't much of a camping, it's just a shelter with some tables, there isn't even a toilet. And of course, I'm alone. I find a spot between two trees with the perfect size for my tent, high enough that a high tide shouldn't reach me, and put it up as quick as I can. It's fine, I can do it in the dark, I've done it yesterday already.

Once this is done, I go in and quickly close the tent. I'm safe now, I think. I still haven't had my dinner though, thankfully it's in my bag, so that is the first thing I do, before closing my hermetic bag and hopefully not having to open it again, as the food smell could attract predators.

I read a bit, then, only hearing the waves crashing against the pebbles from the beach and the wind flapping against my quickly put tent, I fall asleep.

... only to be waken up around 1:30AM, when I feel a weight against my head. Something just sat on my tent. I didn't have time to check for crocodile signs, surely that isn't one of them, right? If it was, I'd probably be in its belly right now... Unless it didn't realize I'm here, and just happened to sit there. Should I check what it is? Getting out of the tent doesn't seem like the smartest choice right now... But it could also just be a bird, there is a lot of them here after all. Oh no, did I actually put my tent on a nest without realizing it? Hmm, right now I think the best option is to try to find a way to make it leave. I tried to gently push it, but it didn't react. I don't want to act too agressively to avoid triggering a violent response... Ah, I know, I have some insect spray in my backpack! Urg, that means I have to open my backpack and let the food smell out... Alright, I'll be quick. Open, grab the spray, close. Cool, cool, no reaction. Probably not a crocodile then, right? I open a tiny hole in my tent, just big enough to get my hand out, and start spraying in all directions. I can smell it from inside the tent, so it must be soaked in it right now... but it doesn't react at all. Damn it. Oh well, looks like I'll have a friend for the night. Will I make it through the night though?