Welcome to Northern Queensland!

Imagine that! We spent two and a half months touring South East Asia with LOADS of cheap and available internet access, get to Australia, a first world country, and suddenly we have trouble getting to the internet! Go figure! Anyway, unless anyone was wondering, we haven't been bitten by a venomous snake, chomped by a tourist-hungry croc, or gotten lost in the outback (well, almost, but not quite)...getting access to the internet has just been really difficult. Check out the photos and our Comments page if you feel like leaving your thoughts about something we're ranting on about...

In search of the King Cassowary!

Forget Roos and Crocs! Our last three weeks has been spent in the (vain) hope of catching a glimpse of the endangered Cassowary in the wild. Despite various warnings of this big bird crossing roads we've had no luck - depressingly, being knocked down by cars and the clearing of their habitat for farm lands are the main reasons for their endangered status. We even invented a Cassowary call (high pitched "kulu kulu kulu"), but to no avail. King Cassowary rebuffed our every effort!

Our closest call came in Mission Beach where we were assured by our Rough Guide that if you miss the Cassowary here, you're "very unlucky". But alas, no amount of creeping around the rain forest, or "kulu kulu kulu"-ing would coax the bugger out! We will just have to be happy with our (very excited at the time) discover of Cassowary poo.

Thanks to Nathan for the link to the pic of Cassowary poo on the Comments page too (glad we got the identification process right). So, the question remains, how did we know it was Cassowary poo??? Cassowary plum seeds of course!

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Gutted!

We're pretty devastated today. We woke up this morning to discover that someone opened up the passenger door of our Campervan last night and stole our hard disk containing ALL our photos of the last three months. It's been a bit of a difficult morning with both of us measuring each bit of good and bad luck as karma for and against us. Naturally, we SHOULDN'T have left the disk in the front, and we SHOULD have locked the front door...but none of that will bring back the more than 1000 photos we'd taken over the last three months. I guess on the bright side, this means we've saved you all from long boring holiday photo sessions when we get back.

Anyway, check out the photos we had managed to save in the last few days in the Photo gallery. We're missing a few (Cape Tribulation and Cooktown) but there are some from our travels through Northern Queensland.

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Are you all ready...for DRAGON!!!!

Now that we're back in the land of English-speaking radio, we're being treated to all sorts of new and interesting music, the most bemusing of which has been a little ditty called "Are you old enough?" (is it legal to sing about that kind of thing?) by an Aussie-signed Kiwi band, Dragon. After a bit of checking we discovered that it wasn't a current hit, but was actually released in 1978.

And what a rock 'n roll story! Our favourite Dragon fact is that during the band's debut tour of the States in the late '70s (which wasn't going well), the lead singer made matters a whole lot worse in Austin, Texas, when he suggested all Texans were f*gg*ts. Not suprisingly, they had to leave the gig under a hail of beer bottles!

Ladies and gentlemen, please turn up your volume as we proudly present DRAGON with 'Are you old enough?'

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Dispatches from Cairns

Love is...

Our All Seasons Campervan!

Despite early warnings from some of our friends that the van would be a very small space for two people to share over a long period of time, and that evenings would be mostly spent doing very little (as there is no TV), our little campervan has turned out to be a huge success, and has offered us a very new and different travelling experience. For one, cabin fever has not set in, and we are happy to report that it has not lead to either of us wanting a divorce.

What we have discovered is a whole new community of travellers. As we are slightly off the traditional backpacker trail, we no longer have to contend with nervy little nineteen-year-olds who seem too frightened (probably of Marc's beard) to say hello. No ways! Now our new friends are 60-somethings with humungous caravans and winnebagos who are either on long holidays or retired, and are seeing a bit of their country. Which means we borrow milk, we lend a helping hand, we chat about life, the universe and everything...moral of the story...an All Seasons Campervan can improve your life!!!

Admittedly we have had a couple of close calls with the van - both of which we might find hilarious one day when we have either escaped the insurance excess or paid it off (whichever we end up doing). We have been totally stuck in the mud (on a road we really shouldn't have been on) and been pulled out (rather violently) by some very kind 4x4 drivers. And Marc did forget to pull up the handbrake when we were parked on the highest hill overlooking Cooktown - the van slowly started rolling back - fortunately we saw it just in time to dive in and stop it careering off the edge...we still get shivers thinking about that one.

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That gentle Aussie lilt...

We are also happy to report that we have both resisted the urge to adopt the Aussie lilt - that little inflection that all Aussies use towards the end of each sentence. We know of too many who have succumbed to it, but it's a slippery slope. One minute, you're lilting your sentences, and before you know it, you've slipped into the full Aussie twang and it's 'Fair Dinkum' this and 'throw another shrimp on the baaaarbie' that... all due respect to our new Aussie friends, we like you and your country... but your accent?

Actually, I'm sure a few of you must be wondering about the merits of a South African accent...well, I accept that there aren't too many there either...which is why I'm taking this opportunity to learn Scotch...ochh aye...

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The Great Culture Debate...

So, some of you may disagree with this highly political statement, but like white South Africans, white Australians (having colonised this country over 200 years ago) don't offer much by way of a particularly interesting culture. To be truthful, our culture and history is mainly of god-fearing, khaki-clad frontier men and women, forging forth across barren and unfogiving lands, battling heathen natives (and sometimes the British) for land and resources, and participating in the occasional gold rush. Don't get me wrong, it's all very interesting for history-minded folks like us, but it doesn't really leave us with much in the way of a great cultural legacy which we can proudly show off to visiting tourists in their campervans. With respect to those of you who take part in re-enactments of historic battles (you weirdos!), I personally can't feel too excited about white culture in Africa (if there is one) and I'm afraid, of white culture in Australia.

Fortunately, as a new South African, and thanks to the goodness and greatness of Madiba, I am now able to share the culture of my black compatriots and will get teary-eyed at the sound of a slow beating cow-hide drum.

In Australia, the culture that speaks most profoundly is definitely that of the Aboriginals - a term which would suggest they are one nation, when in truth there are at least 250 different language groups - and it has been fascinating for us to uncover this culture, as it's most certainly not as prevalant as some of the cultural experiences in South Africa, for instance.

Last week we had an opportunity to go to an Aboriginal Dance Festival in a very remote part of the country (a town called Laura) - and it was quite fantastic. Unfortunately, they prevented us from taking any pictures of the dancing (a real shame but part of a paranoia that spectators would exploit the culture). Check out some that were taken for this website (legally I hope).

Each dance had a significant meaning or representation, and was truly fascinating to watch. The one which resonated with us most that day was the Dance of the Mosquito bite - great fun and it made us forget our itchy ankles for a minute or two...

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