I’m sure Townsville is lovely, and there’s plenty to see there – but choosing to come over to Magnetic Island for 3 nights rather than stay in Townsville is possibly the best decision we made in planning this trip. It is a brilliantly relaxing place, and the weather in winter is spectacular. This morning we headed around to Geoffrey Bay to see the rock wallabies that inhabit the area. There are just so many of them hanging around! They have…

Today was just the day we needed – slow paced, relaxing and full of beach. The kids were up at about 7am, but with no rush to get moving, Debbie and I enjoyed sleeping in until about 8am. Magnetic Island is known for its snorkelling – but rather than snorkelling from boats, you snorkel just off the beach! There are two proper “snorkel trails” on the island – one in Geoffrey Bay, and a much closer and easier one in…

Magnetic Island is our home for the next 3 nights. This island is known as Yunbenun by the Wulgurukaba people, who are the owners of this land. We pay our respects to the Wulgurukaba elders past, present and emerging. Late this afternoon we hopped off the ferry that brought us across to Magnetic Island and we’re now settling into a really nice Airbnb place down in Picnic Bay. The weather down here is perfect – not too humid, and not…

About an hour and a half south-east of the Atherton Tablelands is the beautiful Mission Beach area. We started the day at Charley’s Chocolate Factory – one of the only chocolate producers in Australia who make chocolate from the tree to the chocolate bar. We arrived for our 10:30am tour, along with quite a few other people. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much – they just have a big, open shelter that we sit under, and most of…

This evening, we’re enjoying a beautiful time in a treehouse in the town of Tarzali on the Atherton Tablelands. This area is the traditional land of the Dyirbal people, although I also found that the Ngadjon people hold the native title over this area of land as well. So we want to acknowledge the elders of the Dyirbal and Ngadjon peoples past, present and still to come. This morning we packed up everything in our apartment in Cairns. It was…

Today we headed north up into the Daintree National Park, the lands of the Kuku Yalanji people. We acknowledge the Kuku Yalanji elders past, present and still to come. It was wonderful to know that the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people took formal ownership of the Daintree National Park two years ago, and now manage it in partnership with the Queensland Government. Today was always going to be tricky. We initially looked at a couple of day tours up into the…

What an absolutely spectacular day! We spent all day out on a beautiful boat, or snorkelling in the water. And it was something I think we’ll always remember. We headed down to the Reef Terminal at about 7:30 this morning, and were greeted at the check in desk by a really friendly staff member. We headed down along the marina walkways to the Passions of Paradise boat. I honestly can’t remember what made me choose these guys to do our…

Today was a day I’d looked forward to for quite a while – I’d organised a bit of a surprise for Debbie’s birthday (a bit over a week ago) here in Cairns, and the day had finally arrived. We were picked up from near our accomodation a bit before 8:30am, and we made our way to Cairns Airport for a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef! We were heading on the Reef Hopper flight with GSL Aviation. Given we…

Today we headed up to Kuranda via both the Scenic Railway and the Skyrail. We headed for the Smithfield Skyrail terminal, only about 15 minutes away, and left our car there a bit after 8am. We were taking the trip over to Kuranda on the Scenic Railway, and so we jumped on a coach transfer across to the Freshwater station – just a short trip away. Shortly before 9am, the train pulled into the station and we all excitedly jumped…

We’re in Gimuy tonight, which is what we now call Cairns (or Cairns City). The Gimuy-Walubarra people of the Yidinji nation are the traditional custodians of the area, and we pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging. We made it to Cairns – and more importantly, the car made it to Cairns with no more dramas! We’re pretty thankful for that. This morning we started with a bush breakfast at Undara. It was a wonderful experience –…