Over the last couple of days I have felt totally blown out. The wind will surely take me to a new place of resting soon where the sun will shine. For the moment though I sit huddled in a camper trailer, avoiding thinking about the mud pit outside our tent, and the fact that I have lived in the same skirt and top for the last 3 days. Before I bring you to my current breath, I will take you back to were the wind really did take us around beautiful islands with some beautiful people ~ on a sailboat.
Visiting the Whitsundays was everything I thought it would be and a dream I have had since I was 18. In the cute town called Airlie Beach we booked a ticket to cruise the Whitsunday Islands on a sailboat called "Summertime." We cruised with 10 travellers from all over the world and 3 staff who all played a part over the 3 days in the scuba diving, kayaking and sailing experience. We had a short morning stop on Whitehaven Beach (photo on the right), which has the finest sand I've ever seen. After a day of sailing and diving we relaxed in the boats hot tub, eating chocolate cookies and discussing the breathtaking views. Once you can cope with the uneasiness of sea sickness, sailing is a breeze that really takes you were the wind blows and your heart desires ~ sailing teaches you to accept and appreciate all the forces of nature.
This picture was called "I Told You So." I'm so sad to admit I didn't write the artist name down, if you know please comment below. I love the beauty of this picture, at times on a sail boat out in the middle of the ocean with no one around I think that I would feel like I've somehow reached the end of the world too!
The little balls in the sand are created by small crabs who sit in holes, as the water comes in the crabs churn through the sand, sifting out the nutrients. The small balls are what the crabs throw out of the hole once they have had there feed, they keep working through the sand like this creating millions of little sand balls.
After Airlie Beach we began to work our way towards Cairns. This time of year it feels as though a million travelling grey nomads are doing the same thing! The camp site at Balgal Beach was completely full so we headed to a roadside stop. A big tip for young travellers... always respect and chat to your elders! Many of them will give you advice on keeping safe, great places to stop and look out for you. We have been given many vegetables and meals by beautiful travelling nomads ~ I've also secretly adopted a few of them as my grandma and grandpa!
The wind surely graced us as we drove into this cute little campsite just outside of Mission Beach. If you are ever around Cairns you really need to drop into this beautiful town! Take a few walks and cross your fingers that you'll see a Cassowary, we saw one, they are funny creatures ~ slow and thoughtful. This is the place I also tasted my first Red Paw Paw, a cute couple gave some to us to try, there laughter was hilarious and contagious. Mission Beach had perfect weather, perfect company and was the first place Amy Rose Vintage set up a market stall!
The photos below are of our campsite. I decided this palm tree was the most perfect palm tree I had ever seen ~ admit it, it's amazing right!?
The winds became rough and exhausting as we arrived in Cairns. We called so many campsites and all of them were totally booked. At the end of our tether, frustrated, tired and completely over sitting in a car, I decided to pull into a farmers yard and sent a frustrated Mr Hubby to ask if we could camp on their lawn. It was a relief when they said yes, we set up and celebrated the good old Aussie farmer spirit!
Cairns is surrounded by lush rainforest mountains of which I took many photos. However, I chose this one to share. Old, used, vintage and taken over by plants this little truck has a history to tell. Australia is a young country but there is so much beauty in these old tractors and houses that are everywhere. I don't want Australia to loose these treasures.
Below on the right is me at the Ukulele festival were 1,395 people gathered to try and beat the Guinness World Record of the most amount of people in one area playing the uke. We didn't beat Sweden's record of 1,547. Next year Cairns! Next year!
Okay to totally gross you out... above is a blood sucking leech! It was huge and could stretch out as far as this leaf. Beware of leeches in the rainforest! We went to see this amazing Fig Tree (as seen below) It's a plant that begins high up in a tree. The roots grow down towards the ground, suffocating the original tree and becoming a magnificent tree in it's own right. Only 2% of this rainforest is left and 3 trees are still standing. This tree was breath taking... a photo does no justice you need to see this tree before there are none left standing.
Over the last 3 days we have had the wind knocked out of us. We have struggled to find camp spots and have been packing up and setting up in the rain. Last night I woke up to the sound of a massive storm. We didn't pay attention to where we set up camp the day before and ended up in 3 inches of water. Luckily, we didn't get too wet inside the tent. Setting up in the rain and packing up in the rain is exhausting! Tomorrow we head to Port Douglas, we pray the wind blows in sunshine over the next few days because everything is wet dirty and muddy.
Wild wind take me away
To a calmer place today
Were there is a sweet small breeze
A place that calms my soul
Breath of wind there's a place
My heart softly calls
So take me away
To a calmer place today
Poem written by Rebecca Thomas
Contributing photographer, Mark Thomas
