Land of Ahhhs

Land Of Ahhhs log (2005-06-22 -> 2005-07-19)

Leaders: Eric Draper and Danielle Little

Students: Max Baird, Mary Cooper, Sophie DuPont, Claire Henderson, Jason Hogan, Bobby Hottensen, Margaret Roberts, and Flora Weeks.

It sure is good to be back in Far North Queensland. We are jet lagged and exhausted but a wonderful group. The students were so wonderful throughout our long days of travel. We're already on day three of our trip and we've spent 90 percent of that in a plane or in the airport. Eric and I are so impressed with every one of our new friends, and their positive attitudes, endurance, and respectful behavior thus far. Tomorrow morning we head out to begin our Aborigianal adventure and will head into backpacking from there. We learned how to pack packs tonight. It is an ideal experience to be leading a Moondance group in a foreign country. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity.

Land of Ahhhs Trip Update June 27, 2005

After two long travel days, we arrived healthy, happy and exhausted in Cairns. We checked into the YHA learned how to pack our packs, had our first moonup, and hit our bunks for a long-needed horizontal rest. The following morning, we boarded a bus and made our way to the Atherton Tablelands to Phil Barlow's didgeridoo shed. for many of us, the family atmosphere at the Barlow's made us feel right at home, enough to forget we are half way around the world. We got an introduction to the didgeridoo and then Phil hand picked a "stick" for each of us. He said it was important for each one of us to have a didgeridoo that suited us perfectly. We chiseled the ends of these large hollow logs to make a more resonant sound. Then, we removed the bark. Sophie and Bobby loved getting dirty working with these pieces of wood. Phil and his brother Pat used a planer and belt sander to take some weight off the logs, and then we painted a coat of sealer on our instruments to keep them from cracking. That afternoon Pat and his nephew Michael showed us how to throw Aboriginal spears and boomerangs, and gave us some lessons on playing the didgeridoo as well. As we played, lamb, chicken, corned beef, pumpkin, potatoes, and damper (bread) cooked in an underground pit. They had planned a feast and welcoming party for us that evening. We were entertained by Aboriginal dancers, and a rock and roll band. As the night progressed our jet lag became evident, and we mooned up and called crawled into the huge tents they provided for us. We awoke rested to more drizzle and rain. It lasted throughout the day, but we made the most of it. Wayne, a boomerang expert came up to teach us more about the tradition and technique of this cultural relic and we each tried our hand at it. Flora had the best success rate getting hers to come right back. It must be her softball arm... Jason was pretty good too. The rest of us need a lot more practice.

That afternoon Phil's wife and daughter took us on a sightseeing tour of the area. We viewed Malanda Falls, Lake Tinaroo, and after stopping at two known platapus streams, we finally saw one!!! We caught a glimpse of two kangaroos at Lake Tinaroo as well! That night after a stir-fry dinner, we sat around the campfire with Phil, Pat, and their brother John and listened to stories about Aboriginal culture and their childhoods.

Our last day in the tablelands was one of pure exploration. We rode bikes to a huge banyan tree called the Curtain Fig. From there we peddled to Lake Eacham for a hike and a swim. Everyone enjoyed the cold water, especially Flora and Claire. Flora and Jason led us well as leaders of the day on and off the trail. We stared in awe at the color of the lake and at giant rainforest trees. Mary's favorite part was the ride back from Lake Eacham breathing in the fresh rainforest air. Max couldn't wait to get back to his didgeridoo. He is determined to refine his skills.
This morning we stifled tears as we loaded into our coach and left the Barlow's. Margaret made the deepest connection with all Phil's grandchildren and their many dogs. She wanted to bring them with us! We are off to Cape Tribulation where the rainforest meets the reef! Cheers, Danielle, Eric and the gang.

July 3, 2005
To start the day we loaded on a bus and headed to beautiful Cape Tribulation. From Cairns this was a long bus ride landing us at Cape Tribulation Camping ground. Rod, the owner, was very helpful and offered us a ride to our trailhead the next morning. We had a huge spaghetti dinner and slept cozily in our huge tents though there was a torrential downpour outside.

The next morning we geared up with gaiters, raincoats and lots of water, lathered in baby oil and armed with salt. We had been told a lot about the leeches that we would encounter and that salt was best to dislodge them and baby oil as a preventive measure. The trail up Mt. Sorrow was described as difficult and indeed it was. At various points along the route, the orange markers loomed skyward indicating a steep and muddy ascent. Mary was exhausted, but said in a determined voice, "I will make it to the top!" ( and she was third to reach the summit!) We trudged along the endless 3.5 kilometers to the top, successfully traversing the Wall of China, a very narrow ridge at the crest of the mountain. We all celebrated our victory as a group and cheered as the clouds parted, though briefly, to give us a glimpse of the reef, beaches, forests far far below. The descent was far more of a mental challenge as the steep slopes wore smooth underfoot. We gracefully made our way down back to camp.

Among the highest of highlights was our encounter with an endangered rainforest bird called the Cassowary. It crouched on the trail ahead of us and we quietly took pictures of the horn crested bright blue bird. We noticed the talons of this creature were disproportionately large. Eventually, the bird stood at least six feet tall and we were shocked to see that the talons were not out of place, we were. I'll leave the details from here to be told in person. The fairy tail ending is that we are all safe and sound.

Sleeping like champs, after a big dinner we enjoyed a beautiful day on the Cape Tribulation beach as we waited for our southbound bus to Mossman National Park. We landed in Mossman and made camp and prepared a delicious cheese quesadilla dinner. The next morning we headed into Mossman Gorge where we completed the rainforest circuit track, led by Max and Sophie. Jason was excellent at identifying all of the reptiles and birds that we encountered. Afterwards we cooled off by swimming in the clear green water of the Mossman River. Everyone smiled and laughed in the cold clear water. Claire was like a dolphin in the river swimming against the strong current. Meanwhile, Bobby was searching the boulders upstream to find a nice whirlpool to soak in.
We walked back to the campground and made a huge batch of beef chili. The crew was reluctant at first but the aroma won there hearts and their tummies too. Bobby, Max and Flora had extra helping of hamburgers with the leftover beef. For dessert, we had ice cream and cones that were a welcome surprise. Margaret and Flora both said that the ice cream topped off the day and made a great ending.
Today we head south to Mission beach and prepare for our upcoming sea kayak section.

All of Australia had been so amazing! We cannot wait for our next activity to see what this incredible continent has to offer. So far everything has been beyond our wildest dreams. We promise to write more after Sea kayaking!
Until our nest update,
Blue Skies!!!!

Saturday, July 9th
The morning our sea kayaking section began, we awoke to pouring rain. We packed our gear in 3 foot long dry bags that our guides David and Lou had given us during our trip briefing the night before. We drove south to the town of Lucinda, where we encountered wind and weather conditions unsuitable for paddling the route we had planned. No worries for us though, because David had already described an alternate route to us just in case. We had lunch at Five Mile Creek where Jason was the first to spot the turtles and fresh water eels swimming in this crystal clear water. It rained again, but our crafty guides set up a tarp shelter and an amazing spread of fruit, veggies, meats, boiled eggs and our new favorite food Nutella.

Since it was America's independence day, Eric rallied the group into a friendly game of touch football. His team was defeated by Bobby's superior performance, though Mary did manage to gain Eric's team a few yards in her stint as quarterback. Margaret served as cheerleader for both teams, while Danielle and Jason continued their stream explorations.

We spent that night in Cardwell, and played some games on the beach. Max busied himself building a shelter with palm fronds. Once again we were impressed by Coral Sea Kayakers culinary skills as we indulged in chicken peanut satay and got our first introduction to Aussie hot cocoa called Milo.

The following morning, we caught glimpses of a sea turtle as we loaded our gear into roomy boats. Then we paddled these double kayaks to Hitchenbrook Island. We fought against a headwind the entire way. Our landing beach was a surprise as we sunk into knee high mud stepping out of our boats. Sophie and Mary recognized this stuff as that which many have paid top dollar in spas around the world, so they gave themselves facials. Back in the boats on our alternate route to Goold Island, we had a few minutes of sanctuary from the wind. During this time, we spotted some black tipped reef sharks in the distance. This made Bobby's day. He wanted to go in for a closer look, but our goal loomed in the distance and we pressed onward. Claire and Flora were a force to contend with as they named their boat smooth and sleek. They were consistently at the front of the pack. David called them team girl power, and was very impressed by their drive. Back in the wind, we were happily graced by a dugong encounter or three. For those of you unfamiliar, they are similar to Manatee, but with a fluke like a whale instead of a paddle tail. This sighting gave us energy to continue forward, especially Margaret, who has an affinity for marine mammals, but not big fish if you know what I mean.

As Goold neared, we paddled past Garden Island. Jason and I noticed that although we were paddling constantly, we were making no progress against the island beside us. This is when we had to dig deep, let the lions roar and MOVE. We all celebrated our arrival on Goold. We had earned it. Lou, David, Eric and I discussed the strength of our group as this was truly an epic day of paddling. more coming.......

That was one of the toughest, if not the toughest paddles I have done in my life, and I did a sea kayaking course with NOLS. I am very impressed by everyone in our group. On Goold, we were greeted by an enormous goana, giant lizard, the size of a cat in a tree. Jason immediately knew what it was. We chowed on an incredible pasta dish made with kangaroo meat, and slept like rocks. Claire and Jason had led us through our journey. Now, we'd earned a rest day.

David took us on an interpretive walk through the forest and identified the different trees we saw along the way. He also explained an aboriginal fish trap that was visible at low tide on the beach. This guy sure knows his stuff.

After lunch we put on our own version of cast away Olympics. Claire designed an obstacle course, Jason set up the coconut shot put and javelin throwing areas, Flora headed the design of our coconut bowling ally, Margaret and Sophie organized our raceway, Max prepared himself for competition by decorating his body with sand and mud. Bobby practiced his arm for the frisbee toss and Mary stretched out for leapfrog and wheelbarrow racing. So far the Cassowaries (Eric, Flora, Jason, Mary and Margaret) are leading the Taipans (Bobby, Claire, Sophie, Max, and Danielle) 5 to 3. We still have dizzy bat, crabwalk and cartwheel races to go. We enjoyed burritos and bananas stuffed with chocolate and the southern cross in the evening sky.

The following morning we broke camp and paddled to Wheeler Island. Most of us were reluctant to leave our private island home, but were pleasantly surprised to find our new one even more beautiful and just as remote. Mary and Max led us this day on a much easier paddle, since the wind had let up a bit. Everyone's techniques had improved and although it rained at various points throughout the day, we had already experienced the true hardship of paddling into the wind for 5 hours now; we could shake off the raindrops with ease. We set up camp before dining on Indian curry and papadams followed by chocolate soufflé with custard. It's rough living with private chefs on a secluded island, but somehow we survived.

On our final paddling day, Margaret and Bobby led us to Dunk Island for a taco salad lunch and then to South Mission Beach where we ended our voyage. The grand finale involved Bobby and Max's boat rolling over in the sea. Their performance was only to be outdone by our guide Lou and her paddling partner Mary, who also capsized upon landing. Again they were safe, and didn't lose anything physical, but Lou will lose a bit of pride with all the roasting she'll receive from the guiding community.
I had the pleasure of paddling with Jason on this journey and came to understand that he is one of those lucky few who excel at whatever he attempts in life. He is extremely knowledgeable about many things. Our conversations revolved around sports, hobbies, marine life, and travel. I look forward to hearing of his future successes with mastering a musical instrument and touring Madagascar. Flora says that Claire is awesome in general, and was an ideal paddling partner. She was especially impressed when Claire maintained her same stellar performance after cutting the pad of her hand on the reef while swimming. This minor, though painful wound is in the worst place for holding a paddle, but somehow Claire persisted without complaint. This impressed all of us, but especially Flora, who noted first hand Claire's resolve to keep on working no matter what.

Eric claims that Margaret was the best paddler in the group. When she got into her rhythm, which was nearly always, she was unstoppable. They appeared effortlessly in the front of the pack, and Eric was the first to admit that it was Margaret who set their pace. Margaret says Eric entertained her with his songs and high energy level. She said she didn't like to talk much while paddling, but loved listening to him go on and on. By the way, she is actually ENJOYING camping and is truly glad to be here!!!

Sophie paddled with David and said his voice, knowledge and laid back attitude made her feel completely comfortable on and off the water. He had some great stories from his guiding trips around the world too. Sophie's own positive attitude is noted by all, and is a strength that pulled her through a few tough times with motion sensitivity. She demonstrated her caring spirit by checking up on the group in our rest stops. Mary noted that she was often uplifted by Sophie's smile, and Sophie said the same about Mary's grin. Sophie also noted Mary's persistence. Though new at paddling a sea kayak, Mary hung in there through the toughest of times. Mary said she learned a lot from paddling with our guide Lou. She enjoyed their conversations, getting to know each other. Mary especially liked Lou's technique of Power Tens, which enabled them to catch up the group when the going got tough. Claire said that she loved getting to know Flora better as they flew through the water, discussing friends, family and travel histories. Claire enjoyed Flora's dedicated resolve which complimented her own, enabling them to be such an in synch and efficient team.

Another boat with a notable name was that of Max and Bobby. At many moments they could be heard laughing or singing Total Eclipse of the Heart and various songs in Spanish as they paddled along together. Max took advantage of the fact that his partner was an incessant paddler. We called him the motor of their "Meat Steak" coach. Max battled with motion sensitivity and therefore at times was a passenger, but Bobby learned how to take his mind off this stomach and turn him into a paddling machine. They definitely had a lot of fun. Jason says he enjoyed the beautiful and interesting landscapes, the conversations with moi and the wildlife viewing. He also was intrigued by the weather and how we could see the rainclouds in the distance moving in around us. His greatest joy was our landing on Goold after we finally broke the seemingly impenetrable barrier of the wind. Once onshore, Jason started the island exploration and shell collecting that became a favorite pastime of the entire group.

Tomorrow we head off for the North Johnstone, and plan to make phone calls when we return to Cairns in a couple of days. Cheers, Danielle and the mob in the Land of Ahhhs

July 12, 2005
Greetings from the land down under. We just completed an incredible two days in the remote wilderness on the North Johnstone River. Our guide Tom told us at one point we were two week's walk from civilization on one side of the valley and at least a week's walk from maybe finding a road on the other.

The adventure began when Tom, the head guide on our trip came to our hostel in Cairns to give us a pre-trip briefing. Lucky for him, he arrived just as we were sitting down for dinner. So, we invited him to share our feast of honey sesame chicken, lemon pepper chicken, pan fried potatoes, and Greek salad all lovingly prepared by Claire, Margaret and Max.

Our bus arrived at 6:30 the next morning to take us to our prep area at beautiful Mungali Falls. We enjoyed a second breakfast here of cereal, toast, poached eggs, tomatoes, hashbrowns, and bacon. According to Sophie it was the best breakfast she's had in her whole life! I am sure the setting was a factor in her decision, since the open-air dining room overlooked a 50 foot cascading waterfall.
We loaded gear into two huge barrels which were waterproofed and sealed with silicone. From there, we hopped back in the bus for a short drive to our helicopter landing pad atop a grassy knoll in a cow pasture. In about six trips the helicopter had taken us and all of our gear down to the river's edge. The flight was short, but beautifully scenic. Bobby, Eric and Jason were the first passengers to make the descent, and Mary's eyes grew wide with anxiety as she watched the chopper swoop down into the valley much like a rollercoaster steeply dropping from its highest point. Margaret on the other hand was excited about the helicopter, but terrified of the whitewater. The rest of us were eager for the thrills of soaring through the air and thundering through the river's rapids.

After landing, Eric, Jason, and Bobby were welcomed to the riverside by a black snake. Of course they were thrilled with this and luckily were the only crew to have this special greeting. Since it is the dry season, and the water level was a bit low, our guides informed us that we should portage the first rapid. We climbed over the rocks to an eddy below the drop, and seeing the gnarley foaming fury agreed with their decision. Flora and Jason were our leaders of the day, and each "captained" a raft team. Flora's mates included Mary, Max and Sophie, while Jason's boat was powered by Margaret, Claire and Bobby. Eric and I were on a third raft with two other guides. It was incredible to have a private expedition on such a remote river. They told us only about a thousand people had ever even been down the North Johnstone!!!

After a few hours of great rapids and water dragon spotting, we arrived at camp. Max, Jason and Bobby fished with Yang our Korean guide, while the rest of us played charades. The campfire was silouetted by perfect views of the southern cross just above the ridge line. We told stories around the fire for a while and then had moonup in our sleeping bags under a giant tarp.

Getting into our wet paddling clothes was a big challenge, since the morning sun had not yet entered our side of the river valley. Mary, Margaret and Sophie did variations on sit-ups in order to warm up. We hit the water and basked in the warmth of the morning sun. When we got to lookout rapid, the guides let us float down the river on the large inflatable sleeping mats they provided for us. These made great floats, and we felt like kids at a water park. Bobby rated the ride exciting to exhilarating, and the huge grins on everyone's faces reflected the same level of joy. The most technical rapid we ran was called Mushroom. The guides set up safety on shore as we ran the rapid one boat at a time. Luckily everyone stayed in the boats. This held true for all the rapids except for the last one in which Max and Mary took a swim. There was a big pool of flat water just after their swim so they were safe. Both of them said this was their favorite part of the day. Max said he knew it was going to happen. The power of intention perhaps??? Mary said she thought the rapid was over and all the sudden she was out of the boat, she loved the element of surprise. Claire said the mushroom rapid was her favorite. She is obviously in love with adrenaline, as she was the first to float down lookout rapid on her sleeping mat. Similarly Flora loved the high action moments as well. She has even shared an interest in becoming a rafting guide for a year or two!!! Bobby enjoyed laughing at Max when he fell out of the boat, though he was less vocal about his own dunking experience when Eric caught him off guard and took him into the water. Along these same lines, one of Jason's favorite parts was splashing the other boats with his paddle. He also loved the fishing. Sophie surprised us all by kissing one of the fish that her guide Tom caught along the way. Max said he liked all the big rapids and the potential to see crocodiles at the end of the trip.

We took out at a tea plantation that has started growing bananas as well. Margaret loved the banana smoothies they served us there and also felt a huge sense of relief that we/she survived the expedition. About rafting she said, "I can't believe I overcame my biggest fear!" She even told me how much fun she was having on day one when we got to camp!!! Sleeping outside the tent was a first for her as well. She's becoming quite the outdoors woman!! Sophie commented on the quality of our guides and the yummy chocolate banana muffins we indulged in at the plantation. She and Claire served as our leaders on and off the water.

From beginning to end, it was a wonderful experience!!! Today the troops are learning the theory behind SCUBA and will practice some skills in the swimming pool at ProDive here in Cairns. We look forward to getting out on the reef day after tomorrow. Cheers, Danielle, Eric and the Land of Ahhhs

Saturday, July 16
Our experience on the ProDive live-aboard was world class. I hope all of you friends and family enjoy tropical vacations because I am sure that everyone in this group will be requesting if not demanding more SCUBA diving destinations in our future travel plans.
Flora, Bobby, Sophie, and Mary became certified open water divers. Max and Jason went on to complete the onboard adventure diver course. Margaret and Claire were already certified when they arrived in Australia, so they graduated to the Advanced open water certification. All of them did well in their courses and were quite well-behaved on the boat.

There were a total of 32 passengers on the boat, so we were quite a contingency at 10. We had our own cabin area with two bathrooms. The rooms had bunk beds and slept two. Ironically, the room assignments matched us up with people we had not shared tents with, so it was perfect.
Our ride to the reef took two and a half hours. The students had a number of classes before their first ocean dives. Their first two dives were full of skill demonstration, which they all passed with flying colors. During our second dive on Milln Reef, Claire, Margaret, Eric and I had the incredible good fortune of seeing a 15-foot Minke whale underwater!!! It circled back within 50 yards of us numerous times, and had us all mesmerized. I will always remember the way the sunlight reflected off of its body and how swiftly it moved through the water with only one thrust of its tail. Other highlights included a white-tipped reef shark and the variety of healthy soft and hard corals everywhere!

Normally, when a large group of people get introduced to SCUBA someone gets claustrophobic, has trouble equalizing, or has some other problem. Not this group. The smiles on their faces when they returned to the surface spoke volumes. They were in awe of the wonders of the underwater world.

Everyone did at least one night dive as well. Bobby, Sophie, Flora, and Mary had a close encounter with a white-tipped reef shark in the dark. They raved about it for the next few days. Jason loved seeing the elusive lionfish, and all the other critters of the deep. Claire loved the night dives, comparing the differences between daytime and nighttime animal behavior. Margaret must be a mermaid, because she is absolutely in love with diving. Her only complaint was that her hair was damaged from logging so many hours in the saltwater. Eric was shocked by her interest in exploring all the nooks and crannies of the reef, especially at night. Bobby rated his diving experience as fantastic to inexplicable. His underwater photography skills were top notch as evidenced by his great shots of the lionfish he saw. Mary says the eel she saw came straight out of the little mermaid. She expected to see Ursula any minute. Sophie was thinking of a different movie down there as she repeatedly found Nemo in many different sea anemones. She says exploring this underwater world is one of the coolest things she has ever done in her whole life! Max was most affected by his encounters with giant sea turtles. He was so excited he told EVERY person on the boat about his experience. FLORA said it was awesome to be able to breathe underwater. She had the biggest smile of all when she came up from the first dive.

As for me, well I have been diving since I was thirteen and still love it beyond belief. Underwater is where I belong. Sharing this passion of mine with this wonderful group of new friends ranks high on my all time favorites list for sure!

We're off to Sydney now and soon will be headed on that long trip home. All our best, The Land of Ahhhhs

July 19, 2005
The last section of our trip certainly was not a "tuffie." We flew from Carins to Sydney and checked into our hostel in downtown. It was late afternoon so the group went out for a quick bite to eat and returned to the hostel for some rest and relaxation.
We spent the evening sweating it out in the sauna and swimming in the pool. We had time to go through our things and begin to pack as well. It was a great day to relax and catch up on some much needed sleep. Being back in a big city was a little of a shock after having spent a month in small quiet towns and out of the way places.
We awoke to an early morning breakfast and prepared to hit the town and see the sights. We walked through bustling downtown Sydney and headed for the Opera house. World famous for its architecture, we took loads of pictures and spent some time on the harbor shores. We hiked across the Harbor Bridge and had a spectacular view of greater Sydney and its busy seaport.
Our group then headed through the large botanical gardens and was amazed to see flying foxes in the tress. These are enormous fruit bats that have taken up residence in the trees. Looking quite spooky, they hung from the limbs of leafless trees looking like over ripe bananas looking down upon us! Criss-crossing the city we made our way to the world famous Darling Harbour and had a late lunch. As soon as the meal was finished, the group hit the stores and began looking for gifts and souvenirs from their life changing trip down under.
That evening we went out for our final banquet to the Hard Rock Cafe. We all ate to our hearts content and headed home for our last "Moonup" together. We all exchanged thoughts and well wishes with one another and headed to bed with our tired and sore legs!
We have just finished packing our bags and are about to head out to the airport. We will arrive in Los Angeles two hours before we actually leave Sydney, due to crossing the international time line/date line. Cool huh?
We will be home before we know and can't wait to see our families and friends, no matter how tired we will be!

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