Map from www.nationalgeographic.com, Copyright 1996 NGS Cartographic Division, developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp.

Thursday to Saturday, April 4-6 -- Los Angeles to Sydney to Kuranda, QLD

Just another gorgeous day in Sydney! Our United 747 descended at the end of the 14+ hour flight into Sydney at 6:30 AM, giving us a wonderful view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House before touching down. We cleared customs fairly quickly, and said good-bye and good luck to our seat partner Peter, a USC EE grad coming to Sydney to propose to his girlfriend. A short shuttle bus ride took us around to the Ansett domestic terminal, where we watched a little television (and saw Andrew Clarke of Snowy River: The Macgregor Saga in another series!) while waiting for our flight to Cairns.

Ah, the tropics. The heavy sticky air, palms swaying in the sun, and a temperature of about, oh, 85° or so conspired to remind me that although I loved the idea of being in the tropics, the reality was usually something slightly less than comfortable. And so we found ourselves in Cairns, the gateway to Australia's tropical north. The three-hour flight from Sydney went quickly, aided by a game of Monopoly on a borrowed HP OmniBook laptop computer. (I won!) After calling ahead to Cassowary House in Kuranda, we spent the afternoon at the Flecker Botanic Garden in Cairns, getting our first birds of the trip. There were lots of tropical plants from around the world (including heliconia from Costa Rica) and we sweatily enjoyed a walk along the rainforest boardwalk over to the Centenary Lakes.

By 4:00 PM we had driven up the 23 kilometers nearly to Kuranda and found the Cassowary House off Black Mountain Road. Rustic, to be sure; the moths and at least one big grasshopper so far look like they have the run of the place, not to mention some tiny "no-see-um" type annoyances, thanks to the open, screenless windows. Without a fan, though, one would swelter if the windows were closed, so open they remained. In return, though, we had a great view into the surrounding canopy from our balcony, and could hear the birds all around us. Plus we had a little kitchenette, so with the "tucker" we picked up in Kuranda proper, we could be reasonably self-sufficient. All we really needed at that point was some sleep -- we did quite well today, but the jet lag and time difference were catching up with us quickly.

Sunday, April 7 -- Kuranda

Illness struck again! And not me for a change; this time it was Robert who was visited by our old travel companion, la turista. Apparently it was the pineapple drink he had at the Botanic Garden the day before that did him in. It didn't help much that his bed had an electric blanket stuck on "3" (out of 3) all night. I myself was fine, sleeping well despite lingering bug worries.

While Robert tried to recover from his attack by puking his guts out a couple times, I went on out for a relatively short walk up Black Mountain Road into the Kuranda State Forest. I got rained on a bit, but I was well protected by my handy Drizabone hat, and otherwise I figured I would dry out soon enough. What a great feeling it was, knowing I was walking up a road in a Queensland forest, not really caring if I got wet or not! It was strangely liberating.

I did manage to see a few good birds: Pale-yellow Robin, Spectacled Monarch, Little Shrike-thrush, and White-throated Treecreeper. I heard lots of Eastern Whipbirds with their distinctive whip-crack call, but only got a glimpse at one.

Robert was doing better when I returned; we met the caretaker April, and did some good balcony birding for awhile, picking up Mistletoebird, Sacred Kingfisher, Peaceful Dove, et al. Later I visited Barron Gorge and Kuranda alone. Kuranda was hopping with tourists, and the open-air market was fun to walk through. I was able to take my time looking at all the crafts, and bought a sun-dress for Margaret that used an aboriginal-design print.

Monday, April 8 -- Kuranda

We both conked out early the previous night, although I slept much better than Robert, who was sick again. He was apparently recovered by morning, though, so after breakfast we went out on Black Mountain Road for a short walk. The blue skies and relative "dryness" soon gave way to clouds and a brief shower; luckily we were back indoors before the rain really fell.

Either the weather improved, or we got used to it; if I had to guess, probably a little of both. We paid a visit to Barron Gorge, got a look at the Kuranda Scenic Railroad, went into Kuranda for lunch (I had a ‘Roo Burger), then headed up onto the Atherton Tablelands. Our first stop was Lake Eacham, a busy place on this Easter Monday. The picnic area was prime Brush-turkey habitat; they were everywhere, plodding along with their huge feet, and lying down with wings extended to sun themselves. We also got our first look there of the cute little Grey-headed Robin.

From Lake Eacham we drove to the Curtain Fig Tree, a great example of what a strangler fig can do if left alone for a few hundred years.

A trip south of Atherton to Wongabel State Forest followed, where we took the 2.6 km circuit walk through the cool forest, finding lots of robins and little marsupials. The Forest Service had identified about 190 species of trees there; most had familiar-sounding names (ash, cedar, oak, walnut) but didn't look much like what we were used to. Perhaps the names were the result of wishful thinking by early, forcibly resettled Englishmen.

At any rate, we cruised back into Kuranda to pick up some more groceries, and got some ice cream -- yum. ("Anzac Bikkie" and "Chokko Chunky", great stuff.) Town was fairly dead in the late afternoon; the open-air market was closed (as it was on all Mondays) and most of the other shops were battened down, as the last tour buses and the scenic train had bailed out about an hour prior to our arrival. The town lives and dies by tourism, it would seem. But we got what we needed, and spied some more birds (including White-breasted Woodswallows and lots of Rainbow Lorikeets, plus a quick look at a Helmeted Friarbird, a very unattractive little devil) before semi-collapsing back at the Cassowary House.

Tuesday, April 9 -- Kuranda, day trip to Michaelmas Cay

Completing the twisty drive down from Kuranda onto the coastal flat of Cairns, we were struck again by the similarity to Hawaii. Fields of sugar cane lined with palms and other tropical flowering plants ran up to the lush green mountains. Except here the mountains were mostly covered with distinctively wispy, grayish gum trees, tops splayed toward the sky.

Cairns was gorgeous in the early light. We had driven down to see about getting a boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef, and indeed, Robert secured us spots on a big catamaran on an all-day trip out to Michaelmas Cay.

[Robert] The variety of scenery and the dramatic contrast of green tropical mountains meeting the aquamarine coral sea were both serene and stimulating. The weather has been pleasant both on the higher tablelands and at sea level. The gentle warm breeze was another reminder of Hawaii. Crested Terns plied the route and Brown Boobies alighted on pylons of harbor lights. Common Noddies crossed the path of our catamaran. The sea was flat and gentle with the backdrop of the coastal mountains behind us.

Michaelmas Cay, one of the many sandbar cays along the reef, was astoundingly beautiful. Perfect turquoise water lapped against a pristine sandy beach, itself guarded by thousands of noddies and terns. The birds patrolled the beach and nested in the sparse salt scrub vegetation, paying little attention to the human visitors. Much of the cay was restricted anyway; the birds clearly and deservedly rule over their domain.

The water around the cay progressed from the impossibly light turquoise to a darker shade of same, punctuated by dark navy splotches that signified the coral reef lay below. A 30-minute ride in a semi-submersible, semi-claustrophobic boat gave us close-up looks at the colorful fish, giant clams, and an array of pulsating corals that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. A "beach buggy" took us from the anchored catamaran to the beach, and we soon took to the water ourselves. Swimming in the warm, very salty sea with fish gently swimming around us (who was checking out whom? we wondered) gave us superb looks at the raucous birds wheeling and soaring at eye-level. We reluctantly dragged ourselves out of the water before we were totally burnt, and watched the comical Crested Terns running on the sand, beaks agape.

Totally spent, we went back to the catamaran. Robert gulped down his Victoria Bitter beer and went back to shore for a short, guided bird walk; I stayed on the cat and sipped my beer more slowly, to recover from the sun- and water-induced lethargy. Robert in his turquoise Arizona Nature Conservancy t-shirt and turquoise shorts was very visible from the cat; I watched him through the binocs as he took part in the "tour".

Eventually everyone was back aboard and we were headed back to Cairns. We were fed some more and given champagne before docking.

Our last night at Cassowary House -- and Robert found two leeches! Or they found him; hard to say. They were very small and thin, not what we expected. They do move right along, it will be interesting to see whether we'll have a problem with them or not. The only problem I could see would be they could be up and in your boot before you know it.

Oh well, not much point in worrying about leeches. Instead, we'll note that we both have bright, shiny red sunburns to keep us warm, and a new spider appeared on the balcony that made the first behemoth look puny. The new spider was a striped, hairy beast, very likely a kind of tarantula. We hoped he was too fat-bodied to get in under the door.

Wednesday, April 10 -- Kuranda to Cape Tribulation

Our hit-the-road day dawned pleasantly enough. After a great look at the resident Southern Cassowary who had come to call, we took one last walk up a stretch of Black Mountain Road and found Victoria's Riflebirds; what a treat! Acting very much like woodpeckers, the three females and one male foraged restlessly in plain view.

We packed up around 10:00, mailed my postcards in Kuranda, came back to Cassowary House to pay off our debt (had to leave the A$150 with a dreamy-eyed, baby-toting hippie, great) and then off! to the long-awaited, semi-feared trek up to Cape Tribulation. We traded in our two-wheel drive car for a big, shiny Mitsubishi Pajero 4WD, complete with gyroscope, high clearance, heavy suspension, and best of all, a spiffy, polished chrome "Roo Guard". Way cool!

After a brief stop at the mangrove swamp near the airport, we headed up the Cook Highway. The road was in excellent shape, no worries to be had at that end. We ate a late lunch in Mossman (spied our future accommodations, the White Cockatoo cabins, en route) and soon found ourselves at the Daintree River ferry. A$6 and we were across the 150m river; later we heard during the February 1996 floods that the river had swelled to 4 kilometers wide, with the water coming up about 30 feet to cover the shop near the ferry!

The road past the ferry, now on the Cape York peninsula for real, was tight in spots, but perfectly drivable by 2WD on the unsealed stretches. (Insurance would have been voided, however, and the 4WD was so fun!) The dense canopy hung over the road -- mostly gums -- and every now and then we would get a glimpse of beautiful, spotless beaches with no people. (Found out later why: box jellyfish remain a hazard October through May.) For most of the ride we giggled like kids about how great an experience this was, and what we would have missed had we bailed out worried about the road.

When we thought it couldn't get much better, we arrived at the Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort. Wow! The resort, all built of local hardwoods on (nearly all) previously cleared areas (failed cattle lands) consisted of beautiful "villas" dotting an area around a semi-open air reception area and pools; a big restaurant and bar lay across the road between the villas and the beach. After Cassowary House, Coconut Beach was as luxurious as one could imagine. Our villa, #62, was perched on the hillside, with the large, open screened area giving us a wonderful view into the surrounding forest. All around we could hear birds, and the ceiling fans kept the room very pleasant.

We scarcely had time to enjoy the room at first, because straightaway we went on the 4:30 pm orientation walk. A slide show describing the area was given by guide Anthony, a very funny fellow with typical Aussie wit. ("Frogs were put on earth only to feed snakes." "You can eat the local fruit, but they don't taste like much and in fact are kind of annoying." "Stick to the pools -- they're extra-wildlife free, unlike our beaches; no crocs, sharks, or boxes!") Following the slide show we walked around the site a bit, Anthony pointing out various plants and things of interest, and we finished up at the bar with a "jungle juice" fruit drink.

Dinner at 6:30 was next at the resort restaurant, then we rejoined Anthony on the "nocturnal walk". No mammals about, save for a few bats, but we did see a Rufous Owl, cane toads, and an amethystine python.

Thursday, April 11 -- Cape Tribulation

We both slept incredibly well the previous night, luxuriating in the comfy bed with ceiling fans wafting cool air over us, and woke up to the sunlight shining through the greenery into the room. Actually, it was the birds that woke us up -- scrubfowl and butcherbirds, mostly -- and as I slowly surfaced into reality, the kookaburras started their infectious laughter.

We made ourselves some Daintree tea, and sat around awhile being lazy before going down to the restaurant for our tropical buffet breakfast. Breakfast was good, lots of exotic fruits, juices, and cereals mostly, and some wonderful local jams (including heavenly fig and ginger preserves). Afterwards we walked to the beach to inspect the tide; it looked "out" to me but we weren't quite certain which way it was moving, so we skipped the lengthy beach walk we had been considering. Instead we got ourselves together and went out in the 4WD north towards Cooktown.

We knew we wouldn't make it to Cooktown, of course, as we had been told the road was pretty much out at Bloomfield Crossing, about 35 km from Coconut Beach. But we figured we'd go up to Emmagen Creek, or as far as we dared, just to see what we could see. The first creek crossing seemed dicey, water nearly 2 feet deep, I guessed, but the bottom was lined with smooth river rocks and the 4WD plugged through just fine. After that we climbed a number of "ranges", crossed a few more low creeks, and eventually stopped at an unmarked beach that we later decided was Donovan Beach (just past Donovan Point). A beautiful beach it was, too; the tide was out, there were extensive mud flats with mangroves trying to secure a foothold, and not a soul in sight. I commented to Robert that I hadn't had such a sense of isolation since Alaska, when the bus dropped us off somewhere in Denali and sped away. Undoubtedly the combination of relative inaccessibility and jellyfish-laden waters explained the lack of visitors. But we both relished the remoteness, and had the bonus of seeing some good birds, including Collared (Mangrove) Kingfisher, Beach Thick-knee, Grey-tailed Tattler, and Large Sand Plover, not to mention an Osprey.

Back in the 4WD, we continued up the road looking for the elusive Emmagen Creek. Eventually we came to a deeper crossing at Woobadda Creek that we decided not to ford, and turned around. Robert was in great 4WD form by this time; the slight hesitance of the morning was replaced by a confident "let's charge up these hills" attitude, and it was quite fun. Soon we were back at our first big crossing of the day, and found that it was Emmagen Creek! All told we had bounced, jiggled, and slid 27 km up the road, about 17 km further than originally intended, and actually got within 8-9 km of Bloomfield. Not bad!

Our last stop of the day was at Cape Tribulation itself, taking a short walk to the beach there. By that point we were both kind of tired and hungry, and decided to come back another morning early to explore the trails properly.

Dinner was at the Boardwalk Cafe, a low-budget take-away stand a few kilometers down the road from Coconut Beach. We both had "works" burgers, which in Australia means just about everything was on them: egg, bacon, pineapple, beets...pretty filling. Good chips, too, even if they did taste as if they were fried in the same oil as the fish. Lots of backpacking kids about; the youth hostel was just up the road, and a backpackers' village was across the way. Quite the opposite of the Coconut Beach resort milieu.

Friday, April 12 -- Cape Tribulation

Robert discovered where all the birds were here: outside the front door, not visible from the many windows! I didn't see many myself when I went out to look around; the penalty for taking too long a shower, I supposed.

We took a short "cruise" this morning on Cooper Creek, and actually saw three crocodiles. Not bad! The biggest was probably about nine feet in length. They were definitely prehistoric-looking.

The afternoon was mostly spent lazing in the pool while our laundry got itself cleaned in the self-service machines. Late afternoon we took a long, cool walk on the nearly isolated beach, then attended a champagne-and-exotic-fruit tasting at 6:30 pm (the "apple custard" fruit won hands down). None of the fruits were native; of the native rainforest fruits, 95% are poisonous, and the other 5% "don't taste any good", according to our fruit guide.

For dinner we zipped back out to the Boardwalk Cafe, but it had already closed up. So we finished our day back at the Coconut Beach restaurant. Plus Robert did a trap-and-release job on a Godzilla-sized grasshopper in the shower.

Saturday, April 13 -- Cape Tribulation

Another semi-lazy day...we were up sort of early to get to the Marrdja Botanical Walk before breakfast. It was fairly quiet there, but we did enjoy the walk through the mangroves, the nice overview of the beach from a lookout, and the Bridled Honeyeaters active overhead. The shady cool of the rainforest paths were a stark contrast to the heat of the direct sun.

Following breakfast we went up to Myall Beach, then onto Cape Tribulation, checking out all the short walking trails. Then we went on up to Emmagen Creek, walking up the creek (no crossing this time) a short bit. Sitting on a convenient log, we watched an Azure Kingfisher patrol the creek, and the fish flit back and forth in the crystal clear water. The combination of green forest, blue skies, and flowing water was very tranquil, and it was fun to watch the different vehicles make the creek crossing.

Eventually we tore ourselves away, after splashing a little cool water on our faces, and made our way back to the Boardwalk Cafe for fish and chips and milkshakes. I had a very vivid flashback while eating my fish -- it tasted so much like the shrimp we used to get at Redondo Beach with Dad, when Luci and I were both little (before Lee was born). And the chocolate milkshake could have been one of Mom's; it was an interesting experience.

Next stop was...the Bat House! Right next to the Boardwalk Cafe, tucked up in among some trees, the Bat House sported a friendly Spectacled Flying Fox. He was quite large and smelled rather musky, but was really very cute. He was hanging out on some netting and when I went to pet him, he promptly climbed into my hair and started licking the perspiration from my forehead. His licks were like little feathery caresses, but the claws in my hair were another story!

Afternoon found us again in the pool at the resort. The water was perfect, just slightly cooler than body temperature, and time utterly escaped as we floated. I looked around and thought that Far North Queensland (as the area liked to be called) had to be one of the best places on earth. It helped tremendously, of course, that it was early enough in the season that there were relatively few people about. It must be much busier in the winter when the humidity drops and the box jellyfish vacate the coastal waters. But not being able to swim in the ocean seemed a pretty small price to pay for such an idyllic getaway.

This would be our last night at the resort, so a bit of splurging (as if we hadn't already!) was in order for dinner at the resort restaurant. Before that, a tall jungle juice and a cool beach walk for me, and a separate birding walk for Robert, were the orders of the late afternoon. As the sun set I sat on a rock at the south end of Coconut Beach, watching the very gentle waves lap up on the shore and the coconut palm trees silhouetted against the fading light. I listened to the ocean and thought about the zillions of sand crabs burrowing in the sand, creating little aboriginal "dot" designs up and down the shore.

Sunday, April 14 -- Cape Tribulation to Mossman

It rained a bunch overnight, and the rain was loud, but not unpleasantly so, against the corrugated metal roof. It cleared up by sunrise pretty much, at which point we were awakened by the calls of the scrubfowl and the loud thunks of falling fruit (more like rocks) whamming the roof.

Armed with a very large picnic lunch, we left Coconut Beach a little after 10:00 am, and headed down the road, first stopping at Cow Bay, then the Daintree Environmental Center. We spent nearly two hours at the DEC, eating part of our huge lunch, and enjoying their visitor's boardwalk with many trees labeled and the exhibits within the building. We watched a BBC video there called "The Queensland Strangler" about the Daintree region and the local politics for and against development. I certainly tended to take a moderate approach; limited development (i.e., the Bloomfield Track [road] from Cape Trib to Bloomfield) is good, it allows people access to experience the rainforest for themselves and see why it is worth saving. The extremists on both sides -- either all access is BAD, or let's bulldoze it all and to hell with saving anything -- were ridiculous. A big issue in the area at this time is power; will the just-recently voted connection to "mains power" mean an onslaught of development and rainforest destruction? Power itself would not seem to be too bad. The more pressing problem would be the proposed removal of all development restrictions, individual landowners could then do exactly as they pleased. What a disaster that could be.

We cruised on into Mossman ("a quiet little country town", according to a bloke at Coconut Beach, who grew up there) in mid-afternoon. Mossman's a low-key sugar cane town and the population accordingly looked decidedly more working-class than the fantasy world of Coconut Beach. The White Cockatoo Holiday Cabins were neat and clean, but nevertheless the "trailer" decor was a letdown after the resort. It was still a step up from the Cassowary House, however.

I went off in search of some groceries and a bank, but found only the bank ATMs. Mossman itself, what there was of it, was completely shut down on this Sunday afternoon. So despite having cooking facilities, we were forced (ha ha) to go out to dinner instead. Off we went to Port Douglas, which we discovered to be the Palm Springs of the area, clearly much more of a tourist area than Mossman. We strolled about, bought some breakfast rolls and drink from a bakery, and visited the town's Anzac Park. Found a supermarket. And last, but not least, enjoyed an absolutely superb dinner at the Salsa Bar and Grill, who advertised itself as being "California/Mediterranean/Southwestern" cuisine (which we inferred meant the American southwest, not the Australian southwest). We downed our Victoria Bitters with sun-dried tomato-topped foccacia, then I had wonderful pumpkin-filled tortellini with brown butter and sage, while Robert had a black-bean fish cake with garlic yabbies. Everything was fabulous! The kind of place Bill Lisowski back at RAND would enjoy.

Monday, April 15 -- Mossman

It was nice having a television for the first time in over a week, as it allowed us to watch a little news and get some weather reports. After our morning tea and cinnamon rolls we headed up the short 4 kilometers drive to Mossman Gorge. The river through the gorge was full of very large boulders; without any glaciers it was interesting to consider how they might have gotten there. It was almost as if a giant had flung a handful of rocks along the river's path.

We walked over the gently swaying Rex Creek bridge that hung over the Mossman River, and around the 2.4 kilometers circuit track through the rainforest. I had one ten-minute bout with persistent mosquitoes, but otherwise our nearly three-hour walk was very enjoyable and almost cool.

A goofy American made-for-tv movie "Wedding Day Blues" kept us amused over our lunch gap.

The afternoon saw us going up, up, up towards the town of Mt. Molloy, up the Mt. Lewis road. We saw Chowchillas and Grey Fantails (mountain race), and another fleeting look at the Wompoo Doves. Also saw a possum (or so we thought, it was definitely some kind of marsupial).

Tuesday, April 16 -- Mossman

The morning came early for us; we were on the road in the pre-dawn darkness before 6:00 AM, headed up to Daintree Village. There, on the jetty, we met up with Chris Dahlberg, by many accounts the best birding authority in Far North Queensland. After complimenting us on our binoculars (he had Zeiss, too), Chris took us, two other couples, and a local tour company guide taking copious notes, out in his boat on the Daintree River. The two-hour excursion was pure birding with some commentary about the February floods. There was fairly extensive damage, harder of course for us to judge since we hadn't seen the area before, but Chris was pretty optimistic about how things were recovering. The river had come up about 20 feet, changed course in a few places, and deposited sand where none had been before.

Chris motored us up and down, finding us a Little Kingfisher (an extremely fleeting look), Striated Heron, White-faced Heron, Gould's Bronze-cuckoo, etc. But best of all perhaps were the Black Bittern and Great-billed Heron! The heron was huge, bigger than a Great Blue, and considered a very rare find due to its limited range.

We'd hoped to find the Little Kingfisher again, but didn't, so Chris invited us up to his bed and breakfast, The Red Mill House, to look over his pond. None were evident, but the mosquitoes quite definitely were, so I retreated. He then had us up for a cup of coffee in exchange for a bit of internet advice. He's considering putting up a home page through a service provider in Port Douglas, and was intrigued when we said we'd heard of his tours through the net (specifically off the "birding-aus" mailing list Robert had joined). Certainly the chance to target his advertising was appealing, so although it seemed expensive to him (A$320) he appeared convinced it was a good idea.

After a bit of bird chat (he knows Victor Emanuel, as it turned out), we made our exit to let him get on with his day and us with ours. With nearly the whole day still ahead of us, we decided to head out to the Chillagoe Caves. About 200-220 km from Mossman, the Chillagoe Caves are limestone caverns (like Carlsbad, et al.) but much older, on the order of 400 million years. The 90-minute cave tour through Royal Arch cave was quite interesting, bats and all, despite the presence of a small boy who, much to his father's apparent embarrassment, clearly did not want to be there at all.

The birds on our Chillagoe excursion were good, too; the change in topography, up to the tablelands and beyond the "great dividing range" (such as it was there) into the drier interior, gave us chances at a new set of species. On the outbound drive we stopped at Big Mitchell Creek, really just pulling off the highway, barely. There we found Blue-faced Honeyeaters and White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes. The forest by that point had changed from the denser coastal rainforest to a sparser eucalypt forest with grasses. At Chillagoe we saw White-rumped Swiftlets (they breed there); also Diamond Doves, Torresian Crows, and Black-faced Wood-swallows nearby. And the drive home (that later turned into a bug-fest) was highlighted by a Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo zipping in front of us, Blue-winged Kookaburras, and a rest stop at Dimbulah that had Yellow Honeyeaters and very blue Pale-headed Rosellas.

On the road from Dimbulah to Mareeba, we watched the dusky rose sunset over the distant hills as night fell.

"Is it raining?" asked Robert.

"Sounds like it," I said, hearing little pitter-patters on the windshield. "But I don't see any water..."

We both squinted at the windshield in the fading light, and simultaneously concluded...

"It's bugs!"

Yes, millions of insects were committing suicide on our car as we streaked through the growing darkness. Robert tried the washers, but all that did was smear the already squashed, crusty bug carcasses. "It's hopeless," I laughed.

"I gotta try," he answered, "I have to see!" He'd try the washers every now and then, when he wasn't flicking the brights off when cars approached, or dodging cane toads in the road. (Most Aussies aim at cane toads, they're a scourge that ranks up there with rabbits and feral pigs. But Robert said he didn't want any extra carnage on the vehicle.)

Dinner that night was a thick pizza and a couple bottles of Toohey's Old from takeaway shops in Port Douglas. We hauled them back to Mossman and ate while watching the Star Trek Voyager two-hour premiere episode on television.

Wednesday, April 17 -- Mossman to Cairns

Last full day in the tropics! We traded our spartan White Cockatoo accommodations for even cheaper digs along the Esplanade in Cairns. A bit reminiscent of our Viennese Funf Haus experience, the Floriana consisted of a couple of houses turned into cheap holiday flats. Bath and shower were down the hall, but we did have a nice (albeit shared) balcony facing the shoreline park and ocean. No beach -- actually what one got instead were views of the extensive mud flats populated by thousands of crabs, and when the tide was right, a fair number of shore birds. The airport was nearby, so not only could we see the reef excursion catamarans come and go, but also see and hear the occasional large airplane, too.

We did a semi-obligatory stroll through the shopping area, mostly to find the Australian Geographic store (in Orchid Plaza) to look for maps. We also stopped for "lunch" at a corner eatery, where Robert wound up with a greasy sausage roll thing that would never win a "light" meal prize. (It wouldn't have been so bad had I not cooked us a way-too-greasy breakfast that morning of hash browns and sausage.)

Neither of us were terribly hungry for dinner, but we went out anyway to George's Greek Taverna, where Robert had souvlaki and I had a greek salad. We walked from the Floriana; the tide was high at that point and it was dark, so no shorebirds to be seen. Instead we saw tons of bats! Flying foxes, actually; hundreds of very large bats streamed out into the night, crash-landing in the numerous fig trees on the Esplanade and through the center of town. Also chattering away in the trees, especially in the central plaza, were numerous lorikeets, swallows, figbirds, et al.

Despite the relative cool of the evening, we were both tired and sticky by the time we got back to our room, mostly due to the increased humidity. We showered and read and tried to sleep, but didn't have much luck with the latter, as the couple sharing our balcony decided to drink wine and talk loudly until about 3:00 AM. Thank goodness for ear plugs...it rained a bit overnight, as well.

Thursday, April 18 -- Cairns to Sydney

Despite not sleeping too well, we were both up relatively early. Surprisingly the balcony-sharers were up as well! And I had hoped to wake them up myself to repay their cluelessness. Oh well. I slammed a few doors for good measure anyway.

The tide was pretty high, so we went on into the center for a light breakfast (croissant and caffe latte) at the site of Robert's dreaded sausage roll experience the day before. In contrast to the sausage roll, breakfast was quite good. It was pleasant walking about early; the weather was still cool, no people, free parking. It was nice to check things out before the daily crush began.

We spent a nice morning at the Royal Flying Doctor Museum in Cairns (the tide was too high to go beach bird-watching that morning). I hung around there a bit while Robert went off to re-check the beach and gas up the 4WD, then we zipped over to the airport.

We got into Sydney in the late afternoon, got our car, and tackled the rush hour traffic. The roads were as we remembered -- a maze of twisty passages all alike -- but we were better off this time because we had a collective clue, and things did look somewhat familiar. This trip we stayed in Neutral Bay ("a nuclear-free zone", a sign proudly declared), in north Sydney; to get there after coming off Southern Cross we headed over the Harbour Bridge. Our guest house, the Carnarvon, was in a nice residential area with much easier parking than we had experienced last trip in Potts Point. Our room was very small, and the bathroom would win a prize for smashing toilet, shower, and sink into the smallest space possible, but overall it was fine. Plus it was nice to be in cool weather again!

Friday, April 19 -- Sydney (Neutral Bay)

Following a leisurely breakfast of tea and cereal (obtained from a local grocery store the night before), we went out on our day's excursion. First stop was Lane Cove National Park, a pretty park with lots of ducks, currowongs, magpies, cockatoos, etc. We enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate there at a kiosk while watching the bold encroaching birds harass picnickers and terrify small children.

Then we were out to the Hunter Valley. We had a late lunch at a little café called the Rose Cottage outside Cessnock; the patio there was surrounded by a pretty English garden and had a great view of the nearby eucalypt-clad mountains.

The Hunter Valley area itself reminded us much of Santa Ynez, except the trees were eucalypts instead of oaks. We stopped at two of the many wineries, Allandale and Wandin Valley, and picked up two Shirazs and a Chardonnay. A fellow at Wandin Valley was great fun to talk with; after discussing wines we went onto sci-fi movies (he loved "Plan 9"), some politics, etc. It was great!

I drove back to Sydney along the dreaded Pacific Highway (dreaded because of the narrow lanes), but all things considered, it wasn't too bad. Even if I did have to follow Robert's "navigate by instinct" (which, of course, turned out to be right, darn it).

We enjoyed one of our Shirazs -- Allandale "Matthew Shiraz" -- at the Gourmet Pizza Kitchen in Neutral Bay. We were both pretty wiped out, but happy and satisfied, by the time we returned "home".

Saturday, April 20 -- Sydney (Neutral Bay)

Our last full day in Australia began fairly relaxed, as we ate our cereal in our room (strictly against the rules!) and sipped our "Prince of Wales" tea while watching the Aussie weekend version of "Today" on television. Then we were off for our morning excursion to Royal National Park, with another fun stab at navigating Sydney's streets and interchanges. We got loused up, as usual!

"The Royal", as it is called, was Australia's first national park, founded in the late 1800's. 95% of the park burned to some extent in the devastating January 1994 bushfires. By and large, the park had recovered nicely. Fire damage was evident by the blackened trunks of the eucalypts and downed trees on the trails, but most of the plants were sporting green growth.

We checked out the ducks etc. near the park entrance at Audley, then drove on to the Curra Moors track. The walking track took us in about 1.6 kilometers through a light forest (complete with babbling creek) out to a more open "moor" leading to the sea. The bird life was a bit scarce but we did get nice looks at Brush Wattlebird and our old friends, the New Holland Honeyeaters.

Following the walk -- and a little "communing with nature" of the up-close-and-personal variety -- we checked out an overlook and visited one of the park beaches before heading back to the city. We navigated our way back to The Rocks, the area next to Circular Quay roughly between the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Amazingly enough, getting there was reasonably straightforward: take Elizabeth Street until it turns into Philip, then park in the Governor Macquarie Towers building (on the left) for A$8, and walk a couple blocks down to the quay.

The quay was much as we remembered, and there were lots of people near the ferries under the railway station. This time we walked around the Park Hyatt hotel under the bridge while checking out the restaurants. Originally we thought we'd eat at Doyle's, a well-known seafood restaurant, but the choices there didn't look too exciting. Instead we went to Wolfie's, a nice quayside place that looked more interesting. But before dinner, we shopped! We walked through The Rocks market (crafts etc.) where we got more seeds for Australian plants and trees, and a couple of books. We then hit a Drizabone shop (after looking for police after seeing a guy punch a woman in the face during an argument -- ugh!). Robert picked up a hat to match the one purchased last trip, and I got (after some agonizing) a short coat for A$119. Not a bad deal, really, and I justified it to myself by saying I'd wear it to Africa in the fall.

As for dinner, we returned to Wolfie's, where we had a great table on the outer edge with an amazing view of the bridge to our left and the Opera House across the water to our right. Both were lit beautifully and the lights sparkled on the water as we dined. The Southern Cross constellation hung in the sky over Robert's head. It was quite an experience...plus the food was excellent, too! Our entrees of sweet potato and capsicum soup and greek salad gave way to grilled seafood kebabs for Robert, and "prawns outback" (prawns with a kiwi-chili sauce) for me. A little wine mellowed us out and set us up for dessert of coffee and date-ginger pudding with toffee sauce (me) and "bushman's ice cream" for Robert. The ice cream was interesting, consisting of "bush chocolate" (whatever that was), quandong (a peachy kind of fruit), and eucalyptus. The latter I found very weird, a bit like eating cough drop ice cream.

Eventually we tore ourselves away from our table, returned to the car, and managed to get back to Neutral Bay almost easily. (Well, we did miss our off-ramp, but got off at the one following, and Robert successfully negotiated the intervening maze to get us just to where we needed to be.)

Sunday, April 21 -- Sydney to Los Angeles

We both found it a little hard to believe that our two+ weeks in Oz were up. On the one hand, it went quickly, but on the other, it felt as if we had been gone longer. I supposed that was the kind of balance you'd hope for.

We even made it out of the city without getting lost and confused. The trick: from Neutral Bay, take the Harbour Bridge (A$2 toll) and stay on the far left lane, following signs for Cahill Expressway, airport, and eastern suburbs). Ok, sounds obvious, but it wasn't! The signs come up quickly, and the lanes are divided, if you miss then you're completely and utterly hosed. The Cahill Expressway takes you round to Flinders to South Dowling to Southern Cross and voilá! you're out and south of the city!

We made the obligatory stop on Foreshore Road, but the bird activity was minimal save for some gulls and cormorants (Great, Pied, and Little Pied). We hit the airport around 11:00 AM and although we attempted to lose some of our remaining A$40 in the shops, we didn't do so, except for lunch. We kept it for next time -- probably the Top End in 1998, and possibly the Olympics in Sydney in 2000!