Australia: An adventure in Queensland

When we think of Australia, we often get the image of a vast and flat red desert.

But any preconceived notions are shattered as soon as we step a foot in Queensland. The north-eastern state is an incredible destination for nature-lovers with its unexpected lushness. Virgin forests with phenomenal trees, the great barrier reef dotted with beaches and mangroves, friendly savannas of the Aboriginal world.

Everything is available in XXL, including the massive distances and high cost of living. Prosperity means the Australian dollar is high and the influx of local tourists means there is no incentive to lower prices. So you better have some serious wedge in your pocket before embarking on this enjoyable ride!

Aboriginal caves
We start where it all began, in Cooktown (a small town of 2,300 inhabitants), northern Queensland. It’s a small ghost town where the famous Endeavour ship beached. The town is named after its English Captain James Cook who in June 1770 made land on the Australian east coast. The place reminds you of an Edward Hopper painting with a raw post-storm sun. Think few pedestrians pausing on benches, more pubs than shops and some stunning colonial-style facades. 

These facades are testament to a brief but prosperous period at the end of the 19th Century after the discovery of large gold nuggets in a nearby river. But its success was also its downfall – especially for the aboriginal population. Viruses and bacteria brought by the miners decimated the tribes. The survivors were then put under religious supervision. “My uncle, my two aunts and my father lived in the Lutheran mission,” says Willie Gordon, of the tribe of Nugal-warra, which organizes wonderful walks in the bush in the footsteps of his family. 

“Before that time, they moved from the bush to the coast following the flowering trees that indicated where to find resources,” says Willie, drawing in the sand with the tip of his umbrella . 

We trudge after him among the eucalyptus and acacias that describes its therapeutic uses. Large flat rocks interrupt the track. It descends into open caves. Painted on their walls, stylized characters, often striped stripes. “These are the scars of initiation. The skin was incised with pieces of quartz. The number indicated the degree of knowledge,” says Willie Gordon whose obsession is to convey the history of the clan and the serpent rainbow sky. Everywhere you look in Nugal-warra you see symbols of creation represented on the walls. Every crevice was attached to a rite. So there was a place reserved for deliveries, a cave for teaching, and that of reconciliation, where Ruby, one of Willie’s aunts who was born with red hair, was accepted by the family.

Green Tropics

From Cooktown, you can go south by plane to Cairns, a strange journey, where you have to weigh your ​​luggage before boarding. Or by road inland. You can also follow a great coastal trail – just remember to rent a 4×4 to absorb the ruts and cross rivers on a wild cross country jaunt. Ferns, wild ginger, lianas the formidable thorns off large white yellow-crested parrots, green chewable little lemony taste ants … everything looks like new, strange and oversized. Nature is alive with energy. Casual warning signs litter the area..“Careful, deadly fish,” warns one when we stop randomly along mangrove. Later, in the bend of a river, a large estuarine crocodile basks in the sun, it seems less evil than the sea after the passage of the Daintree River by ferry.
the sea after the passage of the Daintree River by ferry.

Port Douglas, the inevitable

Built in a coconut grove where low rise buildings are careful not exceed the treetops, Port Douglas is the most lively places around Cairns. A swarm of young people from all over the world are working in high season and set the mood. It’s a growing mix of villas, billionaires 
and celebrity names, TV shows and movies scenes are increasingly being shot here, The Thin Red Line featuring Terrence Malick and The Island of Dr. Moreau with Marlon Brando are just a couple of reasons why you might recognize this area when you visit. As elsewhere on the coast, you will be treated to dinner. Freshly caught shrimp for a few dollars and in taverns outdoors. Grilled barramundi, a big delicious white fish caught off. Enjoy the fruits of the sea in any pub with a pint of beer and a live band if you want to boogie. For more upscale dining, there’s Salsa Bar & Grill, always crowded with dishes fusion food, a warm atmosphere and an amazing chocolate souffle. On Sunday morning, Port Douglas welcomes a little baba craft market. It’s the perfect way to escape the globalized made ​-in-China life. Stands must offer only local products. Vanilla, licorice, cocoa, fresh macadamia nuts, lemon myrtle (a plant infused with lemon scent) and even tie/dye goods, opals or crocodile oil abound. Adding to the heady mix of the city is the fact it offers very convenient departures to the 2,600km Great Barrier Reef, the largest reef in the world.

Getaway underwater

It takes an hour and a half on a huge catamaran to a platform permanently moored at Agincourt Reef. At 72 kilometers from the coast, the coral reef remains well preserved. From there, you can greet the locals like the beautiful parrotfish. If you don’t fancy snorkelling then why not climb into a semi-submersible moving slowly among almost psychedelic coral, we spied a turtle swimming lazily. But the reality is you want to don fins, gloves, mask, hooded black combi Lycra (to avoid deadly jellyfish plaguing from November to May) before plunging into the pristine turquoise water for a dose of pure happiness.

Views on wildlife

No visit to this part of the world would be complete without encountering a marsupial or two. Luckily, kangaroos and wallabies (mini version of the kangaroo) are not difficult to find: they cross the road like rabbits do in Europe. For koalas you should plan a visit to the Cairns Zoo, close to Palm Cove, a half-hour drive south of Port Douglas. Here you might be able to cradle one of the zoo’s 30 cuddly koalas for a short period. A short period because they are given three days of non-human contact so they are not too domesticated. It is a beautiful experience to hold it in your arms, a real teddy, light as a feather, soft as a caramel.

Cuddling sessions are not considered traumatic, despite captivity. Koalas are delicate creatures who never drink and eat only six varieties of eucalyptus (the zoo has its own plantations), reproduce well: there is an enclosure for young mothers. There is also a barrier to separate the cassowary, very volatile, rare and protected. Its flamboyant feathers look gorgeous and chic, with a turquoise neck and a black body. But its legs, with some prehistoric ugliness, are equipped with fearsome claws. If it remains silent, you can still listen to its strange cry – which sounds between growl and roar – recorded at the mini-museum of Barron Falls, one of the intermediate stations of the cable Kuranda.

Located not far from the zoo, you slowly fly over the rainforest for seven kilometers. A journey literally hovering above the canopy. The view below of the canopy plants inextricably tangled with, in places, the bright yellow flowers of the Golden Pendas which are emblematic of the region, and the endless vertical trunks of Kauris. These giant conifers are survivors of the Paleozoic era. Australia is at the same time a very young and very old continent.

Primary forest

If you are not too exhausted you should head for Brisbane, around 1700 km further south. Turn west and climb a sacred mountain road to Lamington National Park to become truly immersed in vegetation from Gondwana. Here you can date everything back a hundred and twenty million years.

More recently, in 1911, the O’Reilly, five brothers and three cousins, each bought 100 acres of land to raise cattle on the border of New South Wales. Lamington. Twenty thousand hectares, now protected, surround the O’Reilly property, which opened a guest house in 1926. Luckily, it is still there, cultivating a very New England atmosphere and a very green surrounding: rooms where wood is king, endemic plants decorate the place and even in pots. It is a great walk to take, with time to spare and good calves for adventurous escapades, but stay on marked paths. 

At night, a procession of whispering onlookers. Hush, the show turns into silence when the wall lights up with thousands of phosphorescent points. These tiny lights are emitted by larvae mosquito to attract insects to their nets. The cathedral of tree trunks lost in the dark is revealed in the morning and it’s the perfect time to take a walk listening to the birds. Fig trees embrace the White Booyong, fellows pale trunks of forty-five meters. The earthy smell lightens when the forest is cleared. Suddenly, you notice the horizon in the distance, mist stretches off between two rows of mountains. From the platform, a balcony perched from vacuum, we see the deep valleys and the McPherson mountain range which forms a natural border with New South Wales. An unforgettable postcard of an awe-inspiring landscape of beginning of the world.

Photos by David Lefranc.

Address Book:

Getting there : 
Singapore Airlines – as well as other Asian airlines –  offer regular direct flights to Brisbane, capital of Queensland. 

Sleeping : 

– Cooktown: Sovereign Resort Hotel, in a tropical garden with swimming pool. Excellent restaurant run by a French chef. From approx. USD200. 

– Port Douglas: Peninsula Hotel, a magnificent address with a 60s California style and a pool. From approx. USD400 for a room with kitchenette and breakfast. Another great place is Port Douglas Retreat  with 36 small apartments in the middle of palm trees and around a big pool. From approx. USD135.Book in advance. 

– Lamington Park: O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat . A beautiful location. Approx. USD270 per person for two nights including breakfast, snacks, tea and a morning walk. Also check more offers via booking.com, lastminute.com.au, etc..

At the table: 
– On the road to Rossville, south of Cooktown: Lions Den Hotel, Shiptons Flat Road, a pub which has been running for over a hundred years. 
– Port Douglas: Salsa Grill & Bar, 26 Wharf Street. Court House Hotel, 72 Mary Street. Nineteen-3, 4, Dixie Street, for its shrimp. 
– Palm Cove: After Beach Bar & Grill, 119 Williams Esplanade. 
Far Horizons Restaurant, 1 Velvers Road.

Visits:
– Cooktowwn: www.guurrbitours.com/ and www.adventurenorthaustralia.com/ 
– Palm Cove: Cairns Tropical Zoo and do not forget the Skyrail walk to the treetops.

– Port Douglas: www.quicksilver-cruises.com/ 

Shopping : 
– Port Douglas: Tshinta for swimwear. Shop 7 & 8, Saltwater Macrossan Street. 
– Kuranda: The entire village is dedicated to tourism shopping with 2 craft markets. The Ugg brand is tax-free at Brisbane airport for international flights.