I role with the punches so I survive.

One of the best things about the nomad lifestyle, apart from not working, is that we can change our plans at anytime. Nothing is written in stone, yeah, and the man ain’t gonna tell us what to do; fuck your system.

He can, however, tell us that the campsites are fully booked and we’ll have to stay elsewhere.

One thing we hadn’t considered when thinking about our trip to this very popular tourist area, was the Queensland school holidays. I mean, with hindsight, it seems obvious that everything would be very busy in peak tourist season during the school holidays, but this is nothing we could have known before hand. This is just one of those unpredictable things that happens every year and there is nothing you can learn from it. You just have to deal with it and move on.

Our plan for the next week was to head to Cape Tribulation. We’d visited this place before, when Martin S came over from Sweden in 2009, and we thought it was a good place to camp out and enjoy some rainforest vibes.

The national park site was booked solid for the next 2-3 days, so Becky rang a few of the caravan parks in the area, with the same result. We spent the next few hours confused about what to do next. It was a stressful time.  We’d packed up everything but the roof rack, so felt we should move on, but where? We decided on a conservation park called Speewah, just north of Cairns. We’d spend a couple of nights there, then try the Daintree again, get the car serviced in Cairns before taking the Pet Shop boys advise to go west.

We’d originally planned to head further up into Cape York, but the popularity of the route at this time of year and the uncharacteristic amount of drizzle predicted was becoming more and more off-putting. From what I have been told and the pictures I’ve seen, it sounds and looks spectacular during quieter periods. However, the thought of cramming into a campsite full of kids, bogans running their generators and discussions about how I had chosen the wrong type of tyre for the tracks ahead, despite my repeatedly telling him they came with the car, was more than we could stomach. Fuck that and fuck the far north.

 

A morning spider's web with dew

We left Mission Beach around 11am; slowed by a hulk out that resulted in me throwing a camp grill off the roof; it didn’t fucking fit. A brief stop at K-mart and Bunnings in Innisfall where we returned some stuff and replaced it with other shit, we arrived at Speewah just before 4pm.  The camp spot was very picturesque, but on a bit of a slope. For the next day and a half we spent the time sorting out our gear (STILL) and walking at an angle.

You get use to living on a slope

After we packed up and fixed the roof, we were on our way. Yes, I did the roof rack without having a hissy fit that ended with me throwing things off the roof, before clambering down deflated to be consoled by Becky while I blub about my fear of failure and letting people down. Chalk one up for the bushman!

We’ve been going just over a week and I feel we are starting to get the hang of this (taking a shit is still a bit of a grim experience).

NB. Thanks to everyone who has commented. We appreciate them all, so please keep it up.

Baron Falls; we went here too.