Thursday, February 28, 2008

They Have Different Reef Fish in the Whitsunday's





We drove the long green road from Cairns to Townsville, a very pretty drive through sugar cane fields and green mountains. We missed seeing kangaroos though. They do have some interesting and different looking cows here! They have to be able to adjust to extreme heat and humid conditions.

Lisa Lead Foot got a speeding ticket doing 12 km over the limit! (they should see how I usually drive) And they make you take a breathalyzer here. There is a first time for everything. The pimpled face police man was very pleasant. He asked me if I had seen their red car sitting there and I responded, "No, our police cars in Canada are white". When I asked him about the ramifications if I don't pay this $100 ticket, he shrugged. There isn't any, I think. Guess I will be keeping that for my scrapbook. I love the breathalyzer though! They are serious here (a good thing).

Once Lead Foot discovered the cruise control, we coasted at exactly 100km/hr to Townsville and stayed the night. Townsville is the Capital of North Queensland and offered a 'different' perspective of Australia, including the lesser socioeconomic people. We visited the Queensland Tropical Museum, did some shopping and then got back on the road again for Arlie Beach, the heart of the Whitsunday Islands. By the way, Lead Foot was cruising at 100 km/hr but the bloody transport trucks were passing her!!!!! For all of those who know how much I love to speed, you are having a good laugh at this one.

Karin got her snorkel fix again (bad addiction starting here, folks...) on a day cruise to the Reef and the famous Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. The Whitsunday's would have been particularly spectacular if we had a sunny day but, alas, it rained on us. The coral and reef fish were even different from the ones we saw on the northern reef, with electric blues, pinks, yellows and greens. Had to drag that Karin out of the water again.

We have an early morning rise scheduled for tomorrow as we have a 12 hour drive from Arlie Beach to Hervey Bay. Then, we are off to Fraser Island which all of our fellow travelers have said we MUST SEE.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Lisa/Karin,

The trip sounds soooo good. I'm forming my pictures in my head of all the places you have visited.
Of course this may be all I have to go on since I still haven't seen pics from Africa, South America, and India/Nepal. No sarcasm here.

Do you know what car race was in Adelaide?

Steven and Michael said...

Well is cetrainly sounds like the 2 of you are having an amazing trip - can;t wait to see the pics!! (or will we???? hmmm??)

Michael and I made it home safe, just in time for -28C windchill - with the base temp of -18C the other day, this was exactly 50C difference from where we were on saturday - what a way to stress the body!!!

I know how you feel about the heat and humidity (and on the Orso Peninsula on the south coast of CR you could add sheer wetness to that mix!!!) - but believe me - it beats the cold here - and snow now - yes - it's snowing!!!

Enjoy and can't wait to read more!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Karin and Lisa

Well you should be in Fraser island by now and enjoying your new surroundings. Look forward to your next post.

Bob

Anonymous said...

Hey Lisa, Karin
I agree with Nic. Your descriptions are so picturesque that you don't need to show us the pix. NOT...You'll need to have some kind of slide show when you get back. Hopefully from more than the camera!! :)
So, LLF strikes again. I particularly enjoyed that story. But $100 for 12 miles?? That seems abit outrageous. Guess you'll just have to get blacklisted for Oz in the future.
It's actually going to be +8 today! I'm very excited.

Take care, all the best! Keep enjoying.