5. Camp outs within the National Parks and State Forests, such as Brooyar State Forest and Cape Hillsborough National Park offered peaceful, beautiful stop offs that were affordable (starting at $6). Granted, there was a lack of facilities (and people) but what more do you need beyond fire pits and ‘pit dunnies’?!
4. For a Brit like me, Aussie beaches and rainforests are full of exotic appeal. Digging my toes into the sands at Smalleys’ Beach in Cape Hillsborough National Park was a great, calming way to end a day of driving whilst a hasty dip in the river at Mossman Gorge whetted my appetite for future wanderings through strangler figs and soul-stirring greens.
3. Although I may have been somewhat spoilt by documentaries and coffee table books full of intensely coloured imagery, the Great Barrier Reef was still, undeniably, stunning. With only a half day to spare, I took the shorter trip out to the Low Isles where I snorkelled and splashed about, circumnavigated the island on foot (okay, it took all of fifteen minutes) and feasted on a smorgasbord of seafood delights. Literally.
2. My first taste of desolate landscapes was on the drive out of Cairns towards the Eclipse 2012 festival in Far North Queensland. It intrigued me that anyone would live up tracks that disappeared away from dusty roadsides, further into environments where only the odd spindly bush and termite mounds survived.
1. After days of driving through inland Queensland, particularly around Charters Towers, big skies have to come top of the crop. I felt fully surrounded, 360° around me, 180° over me – by a spread of resplendent blue skies, of fluffy, bouncy clouds, of stars piercing a blanket of blackness. I felt my place in the universe: alive and conscious enough to observe it but little, tiny, insignificant overall.
To read my Queensland road trip in its entirety, join the journey here.
To readers who’ve joined me from Cruising Helmsman (and anyone else interested in reading my sailing adventures), click here to rewind to my time in the Galapagos islands and the beginning of a South Pacific adventure.
Related articles
- The perfect Queensland road trip (news.com.au)
-
Queensland’s ultimate road trips (dailytelegraph.com.au)
- Ultimate top 10 experiences in Queensland (couriermail.com.au)
-
Queensland’s 10 best holiday spots (ninemsn.com.au)
- The long drop: Australia’s outback dunnies (cnn.com)
travelola 
You’re in my stomping ground ^^ CT, Cape Hillsborough, Mossman – all places I love and know well. Visit Josephine Falls between Cairns and Innisfail if you have time ^^
Thanks for unknowingly sharing your stomping ground 🙂 What a stunning part of the world. Can I come back?! Josephine Falls is on my wish list for the next trip north.
Thanks for stopping by, reading and commenting.