Cyclone Debbie

Over a few days in Airlie Beach, we’d come to know Debbie quite well, even though we missed her by six weeks or so. It seems she tried her best to create havoc and heartache for people living in her path, but we also saw them snub their noses at Debbie and get on with their lives. Business owners thanked us sincerely for simply coming to stay. We certainly didn’t feel that we’d missed out on anything – we had a great time despite some businesses still being closed. Our caravan park had done a remarkable job in clearing up tonnes of flood debris and fallen trees. The local tavern might have had its carpet ruined by the torrential rain leaking through its roof, but it was still open for business, and was well patronised.  

Airlie Beach is surrounded by hills, and on top of one hill sits a lone house, surrounded by forest and must have a commanding view of the town and the sea. We were told that this house was built by Don Algie, founder of the Hogs Breath chain of restaurants. He opened the very first Hogs Breath in Airlie in 1989. Who knows what the house cost to build, but we’re told that the 4 kilometre road that winds its way up the hill cost a cool $100,000 to construct on its own. There’s some serious money invested in Airlie Beach. The marinas are full of very large and very luxurious boats, and the hills are covered in equally large and luxurious hotels, resorts, apartments and homes. Clearly most of them had survived Debbie pretty well intact.

The mansion on the hill.

When I went snorkelling in the Whitsundays from our sailboat, I saw that the coral had been decimated by the storm, as if the underwater gardens had been destroyed by a ferocious wind. All the colours had gone, leaving fields of white debris crumbled on the sea floor. Large areas of what used to be coral had been covered in a slimy green carpet of algae, and I was told it was due to the abundance of fresh water from the mainland. However the abundant fish life ensured that there was some colour to provide a spectacle.

Dealing with the tonnes of fallen trees after Debbie.

On the outskirts of Airlie, Cannonvale and Proserpine were paddocks containing mountains of mulch. There must’ve been thousands of tonnes of green waste from the trees that had fallen and had to be cleared. On our journey further south to Mackay we saw countless broken and fallen trees. We stayed at Black’s Beach on the coast, just a few kilometres from the Mackay city centre, and this park, too, had to contend with Debbie and her aftermath. The resilience of these people is amazing, and we’re happy to do our little bit to aid in the recovery.

Debbie, showing her presence yet again.

The Whitsundays

The road southbound from Port Douglas to Townsville was familiar for us, having travelled it just a few weeks before. This presented an opportunity to repeat our stay at Rollingstone caravan park, and it also happened to be a weekend, which meant that they’d have live music in the outdoor bar on the Saturday evening. Neal and Debbie followed us, and within a short time agreed with us that this was a splendid place to stay for a few days. And the bonus was that the live music was again supplied by Anu and Lawrie, who entertained us on ukuleles a few weeks before. They were happy to see us again, and even called in to see us the following morning before leaving for home back to Townsville.

Anu Grace and Lawrie Bycroft, wonderful musicians from Townsville.

Ever onwards to the south had us following the coast, while Deb and Neal turned right at Townsville for Charters Towers and their way home to Perth through central Australia. Our destination was Airlie Beach, which was a mission that we’d set ourselves six weeks before. On March 25^th, the area around Bowen, Proserpine and Airlie Beach was pounded by Cyclone Debbie that left destruction and hardship in its wake. We thought that the least we could do would be to stay and inject a little business to help the recovery. Of course the gorgeous location of Airlie Beach being central to the Whitsunday Islands was an added bonus.

Airlie Beach is a large town that has some very trendy shops as well as the stock-standard range of commercial stores and fast-food outlets. However tourism as its main commercial focus. The forecast for later in the week was ominous with rain on the way, so we immediately did a trip out to the Whitsundays the following day. We sailed around many of the islands that make the Whitsundays so famous – Hayman, Hamilton, Daydream, and Molle Islands. The resorts on Hayman Island were still closed following the cyclone, and while the other islands were open for business, we could see many buildings surrounded by scaffolding while still under repair. We spent some time on spectacular Whitehaven Beach, seven kilometres of absolute white sand and crystal clear water on Whitsunday Island. It reminded us of Tassie’s own Bay of Fires north of St Helens, apart from the hundreds of tourists that, like us, had also been deposited on the beach.

Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island, with evidence of Cyclone Debbie.

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We learned about Cyclone Debbie after speaking to many locals. The winds began about 4pm on the Sunday and blew for the following 30 hours, and reached more than 250 kilometres an hour. I find it difficult to imagine the power of that ferocity. Then came the rain, as relentless as the wind but lasting for days longer. Six weeks later we can still see the aftermath, even with the massive clean-up and rebuilding. Most buildings have been restored  but we see many trees that have been broken off just a metre from the ground or stripped of all their leaves. The trees have unleashed new life by sprouting new offshoots, and the fresh green signifies survival.

A few kilometres beyond Airlie Beach is Shute Harbour, a tranquil bay that also accesses the Coral Sea and provides moorings for many leisure vessels. Debbie was not kind to Shute Harbour. We saw many buildings covered by tarpaulins, windows boarded up and surrounded by safety fencing, obviously unsuitable for habitation. Most remarkable where the large boats and yachts that were lying high and dry, many metres above water level. The tidal surge during Cyclone Debbie swept them into the mangroves on the shoreline and destroyed then in the process. Their fate now rests with what insurance the owners can get and whether they are salvageable. It was very sad to see.

Cyclone Debbie's destruction of Shute Harbour.

Far North Queensland

So after 7,000 kilometres and seven weeks, we reached Cooktown and the most northerly point of our journey. We left the caravan in Port Douglas for a couple of nights and stayed in an on-site van in Cooktown after tackling the infamous Bloomfield coastal track through the Daintree rainforest. The alternative would’ve been a longer and much less interesting inland road that skirts around the Daintree.
The Bloomfield track was not as scary as the legend would have us believe. The several creek crossings were quite innocuous with so little rain of late, but the steep hill sections were quite extreme and tested the low range of the Pajero. Of course the coastal views were fantastic, and then the tropical rainforest would close in around us to block out the sun and create a dark, damp and mysterious environment.  

On the Bloomfield track between Cape Tribulation and Cooktown.

Cooktown was a delightful little place, quite the contrast to the commercial and touristy Port Douglas. Nearby is Grassy Hill, with a lighthouse and lookout at the top. It was from this very spot, in June 1770, that Captain Cook looked out over that section of the Great Barrier Reef and saw the several reefs just off the coast. He realised that he was in trouble and would have to be extremely careful to navigate his way back out to sea. His ship the “Endeavour” had been severely damaged by one such reef just south of here, and he had beached the ship just below Grassy Hill for seven weeks to repair it. It was on Grassy Hill that Europeans apparently saw a kangaroo for the first time.

You have to imagine it's June 1770 and Cook's "Endeavour" is right here on the beach.

Back in Port Douglas, we befriended a West Australian couple Neal and Debbie with whom we spent much of our time, and shared many meals and bottles of wine. We joined them for a day-long “Food and Wine” tour of the Atherton tablelands, and a fascinating day was had. Our tour guide, Brett, was passionate about Far-north Queensland and what it has to offer. We started at 9am with damper and bush tucker at an indigenous cultural centre (“Tjapukai”), and finished at 6pm with a wine watching for platypus beside a little creek in the middle of the bush. In between we sampled tropical fruit wines, drank locally grown coffee, tasted cheese and chocolate at a diary, and had lunch at a whiskey and gin distillery. We saw crops of cane sugar, bananas, peanuts, potatoes, maize, macadamias, avocadoes, blueberries, paw paw, mangoes, coconuts, tea and coffee.

One of many waterfalls in the Atherton tablelands.

When the time came to leave Port Douglas, we said our goodbyes to Neal and Debbie as they prepared to journey west to their home town of Perth and we headed south. We had an overnight stay at Paronella Park near Innisfail, an extraordinary park in a few hectares of beautiful rainforest. It built in the 1930s by Jose Paronella but destroyed many times over by floods, fire and cyclones. Although the buildings are in ruins, it was easy to appreciate Jose’s dream and be captivated by his vision from so long ago. He had emigrated from Catalonia in Spain and wanted to create his own little piece of Spain in Australia. We met the current owner Mark Evans, and his passion for restoring this remarkable place was inspiring.

Just of the charming buildings in Paronella Park.

Moving on the next day, we decided to pull into South Mission Beach for a few nights following a recommendation from a friendly local winery. Who should also be camped there, following a similar recommendation, but Neal and Debbie.  An amazing coincidence. The four of us did a day tour around nearby Dunk Island and some surrounding much smaller islands. Landing on one such small island for lunch, we were compelled to throw caution to the wind and take a swim in this idyllic location. We were assured that it was getting too cold for stingers now. As we sailed along the coast on the seaward side of the islands we could see several buildings, many being former resorts, that had been damaged by Cyclone Yasi in 2011. Instead of rebuilding, the owners simply collected the multi-million dollar insurance payouts and walked away, selling the properties for very little. It was quite strange to see so many unused and derelict beachfront buildings in a tropical paradise.

A swim and lunch on a remote beach.

Going cheap - one resort destroyed by cyclone.

The Great Barrier Reef, Qld.

I visited another planet yesterday. We left Planet Earth in a twin-hulled silver aluminium catamaran from Port Douglas that took us to a moored pontoon some thirty kilometres off the Australian coast to the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. There I donned a stinger-proof Lycra body suit (hardly flattering), a snorkel, mask and flippers, and I entered another world.

The pontoon where we explored the Great Barrier Reef, and the view from the submersible viewing..

We had three hours out on the ocean on a floating pontoon that provided easy access into and out of the water. Anne had a good go at snorkelling before exploring more of the available options on-board the pontoon – a stationary underwater observatory and a semi-submersible boat that roamed around the reef while you sit comfortably below water level watching life beneath the waves. As for me, I couldn’t get out of the water, other than to visit the toilet, and I explored an area no larger than a couple of football fields for hours. What I saw blew my mind.

I was swimming amongst coral gardens and schools of fish of every imaginable size, shape and colour. A cloud of maybe a thousand tiny iridescent blue fish were hanging over a large bright yellow piece of brain coral. A dozen bright orange angel fish were darting in and around some blue tipped branched coral. Parrot fish that glided over a red plate coral were coloured green but had orange stripes along their body as if trying to impersonate a souped up GT Torana from the early 1970s. A green sea turtle swam by, fossicked for algae on a large round boulder coral before slowly rising to the surface to gulp some air just in front of me and disappearing into the distance. A white-tipped reef shark (less than a metre long) then came into view and sauntered by, not the least bit interested in me nor the fifty-odd other snorkelers and scuba divers in the vicinity.

Such life went on for the entire three hours I was in the sea, and it was fascinating, wondrous and thrilling. All this activity was happening in the few square meters that I explored, but this particular reef (Agincourt) is one of 3,000 individual reefs along 2,300 kilometres of the east coast of Australia. The sheer scale of this other world is beyond my comprehension. But there it was, and we saw a tiny bit of it up close. It was a memorable day.

A crocodile on the Daintree River, having a midday snooze.

At the other extreme that is from the watery world of the coral reef, was the terrestrial world of the Daintree Rainforest. There are so many ways to explore the Daintree, from an easy stroll by boardwalk to a serious 10 kilometre bushwalk. We stuck to the former but we still experienced some spectacular rainforest, waterfalls and views. We also explored a small section of the Daintree River with a guy called Bruce Belcher who took us looking for crocodiles. We saw several, in their own habitat, as well as a tree python, a colony of fruit bats and a frogmouth (type of owl).

One of the wondrous sights of the Daintree rainforest.

After The Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree National Park, and all places and beaches in between, we’ve made it to Cooktown. This is significant for it is as far north as we intend to travel. Beyond here are the rough off-road tracks up to Cape York Peninsula. For us, we will head south and retrace our steps to Townsville and then stick to the coast to eventually reach Melbourne and our ferry home. However, there is still much of this country to explore before then.

Port Douglas, Qld

We could almost be in a foreign country. Admittedly everyone speaks English, although we have heard the occasional accent, mostly of European or Chinese origin. Things are so different to what we’re used to at home. Apparently it’s cold and wet back home, but here it’s hot and dry. The rare shower of rain is lovely but never lasts long. The trees can only be described as tropical – either large broad leafed canopies or tall slender palms with coconuts strewn on the ground. The main crop is sugar cane and it’s at every turn in the road; the cane plantations go as far as the eye can see. We’ve seen a cane toad – an ugly looking thing it was, too. The beer is “XXXX”, the footy is Rugby League, the seawater is warm and the locals complain when the temperature goes below 30^OC.

We’ve finally made it to Port Douglas, which is a place that we’ve heard many people rave about. Now we can see the reason for its popularity. The hour’s drive north from Cairns is simply spectacular, surely one of the most scenic coastal roads in the country. Your eye is drawn to the blue sea on your right as it extends to the horizon and seems to blend into a cloudless blue sky. The beaches are white sand. There is little or no population, just the sporadic house, business  or accommodation along the way. Until, that is, you reach the turn-off to Port Douglas, and the pace picks up.

Along both sides of the palm-tree lined road leading into Port Douglas are resorts, hotels, beach bungalows, caravan parks, backpacker hostels, retreats, shopping centres, pubs, restaurants. There’s no wonder it’s a holiday destination of international reputation. The marina is loaded with boats and cruisers of every shape and size. You can fish, helicopter, scuba, snorkel, swim (in a stinger-free net) and parasail, or bushwalk in the Daintree Rainforest. For instance we were sitting in a dockside bar with the water lapping just below us and watching a pair of eagles soaring over dense tropical rainforest on the other side of the bay.

Port Douglas

The Mossman Gorge is part of the Daintree National Park, and it is run by the local indigenous people who have lived there for thousands of years, well before James Cook visited three hundred years ago. By the way, this Jimmy Cook fella is pretty influential up here. We arrived via the James Cook Highway, and drove past several campuses of the James Cook University, and we intend to visit Cooktown in coming days. Anyway, we walked the Mossman Gorge on some well-laid tracks and were shrouded in dense green rainforest. In fact it rained but I didn’t get wet, as the overhead canopy kept me dry. It reminded me of Fanghorn Forest in Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings”.

The beautiful Mossman Gorge, Daintree National Park.

Just down the coast is another favourite holiday seaside town called Palm Cove, and the day we visited we stumbled upon an open-air bar with musical entertainment provided by a 42-piece ukulele orchestra. I happened to have mine in the car and so made it 43. It was a surreal few hours – ukuleles, beer and beach under coconut palm trees.