Day One: Leaving Cairns and Heading South

It felt like I was in a time machine. Or the twilight zone. The sight of our bare apartment seemed to take me back 10 months when I first inspected the space which we would call home for what then was "the foreseeable future." Little did we know that less than a year on, we would be moving on to another phase of our life together. Perhaps it was not that big a surprise, living the lives akin to the proverbial rolling stone.

"Should we wait for it?" I was referring to the accessory plate I ordered to put on the bike rack I just installed on the car. Being a stickler for following rules, I purchased a plate (it's a smaller version of the usual, specifically made for racks and stuff) online exactly a week before we were due to leave Cairns, fully confident that it would arrive prior to us starting the trip. Now, it was the only thing that was holding us up. I did not want to fashion a small plate using cardboard as I read somewhere that you might get pulled over and fined about $300 for not having an official plate.

"I think we should just head off" said the missus. As the appointed person-in-charge of our spontaneous itinerary, she reasoned it would be a massive waste of time if we held ourselves up north for the weekend simply to wait for a $70 plate. We can write that expense off if we lose it (we redirected our mail a bit too late). I couldn't agree more. In lieu of an accessory plate, I removed the rear plate number of the car and affixed it to one of the bikes. We dropped the keys off at the real estate office, and started the long journey down.

Our beast of a car, recently fully serviced, was filled with nothing but essentials: clothes, toiletries, a tent, camping gear, food, water, a guitar, two mountain bikes and cycling gear, a copy of Lonely Planet Australia, maps, a second-hand Garmin GPS navigation system, an iPod Touch with music and podcasts (mostly Good Times with Mo: The Podcast and Good Times Acoustic), a tank full of petrol, and a pocketful of kryptonite. I've openly confessed that I am one of the most obsessive-compulsive people when it comes to organising and storing things, so I appointed myself the person in charge of packing the car, and I think I did a pretty good job at it, considering the amount of things we had. I actually packed it in a way that provided easier access to things which were more frequently used, reducing the need to move things around.

Yes, I am a geek.

Someone I recently met put it very eloquently, the art of packing a car up for a trip. "It's just like playing Tetris." And I'd like to think I'm a pretty good Tetris player.

Game! Tara Na!

Now, we were ready for the trip.

But it was almost 4 PM. We wouldn't be able to cover much ground before needing to stop and set-up camp for the night.

"So where to, navigator?" I asked Mrs. PWW.

She whipped her phone out, made a call, and we were on the road heading about a hundred kilometres south.

A SPANISH CASTLE IN THE MIDDLE OF A RAINFOREST

One of the structures at Paronella Park. Image from source

We went to Paronella Park during our first few weeks in Cairns. Our friend Tracey took us there for the day, and we eventually made a return trip with my parents-in-law when they visited us in Far North Queensland. A place rife in history, the park was quite literally a labour of love by a man named Jose Paronella, who dreamt of having his own castle since he was a young boy. I don't want to put too much detail of the story here, as the story-telling is one of the most interesting things about going there for a tour. During the two times we were previously there, our guide was a guy named Dean, and he did a great job of sharing the park's story.

On our first trip to Paronella Park, we paid an entrance fee of $36 each, which included a pass card which allowed you to make as many return trips as you wish for an entire year. In addition to that, each time you visit, you can get the card updated, and that will extend its validity for another year. So if you do things right, you potentially will never have to pay for another visit to the park ever again.

Paronella Park is home to a number of magnificent old structures, all built by hand by Jose. These buildings are surrounded by lush rainforest, making the place appear so mystifying. It was a thrill imagining the park in its heyday, with tennis courts and a grand ballroom, both of which fell prey to time (or for the grand ballroom, fire). But its current state is in itself a sight to behold, and I particularly enjoy the plants and wildlife in the premises. There are tall kauri trees that line an eponymously named avenue, and a massive waterfall feeds a creek that teems with jungle perch, eels which were huge and slimy and frankly, disgustingly scary. Following slowly behind them are turtles who often lose to the faster fish when it comes to feeding time. Of course, one of the things I thought about when I was walking around the place was "This would make for an awesome Nature Trip!" And it made me miss doing Barefootprint activities, that's for sure.

SETTING UP CAMP

As if free entrance for the next year was not enough, the pass card we received from Paronella Park also entitled us to one night's free use of a spot at their caravan park. As we were planning to camp as much as possible during the drive down, this was a perfect start to the trip, not to mention a great way to save money, as understandably, expenses can add up during a long trip.

This was also a great opportunity to try out our new tent, the Kathmandu Taku, which we recently purchased. Since most of the camping I did in the Philippines involved massive hikes, most of the tents I used were small, light tadpoles. The Taku, however, is a three person tent, or spacious living for two. It also has a huge vestibule at the front (and an extra at the rear), making it perfect to store gear. With just the two of us in the tent, we were not wanting for space, and it made rest a pleasant experience, especially with the new thermarests and sleeping bag we had, specifically designed for winter; something I never looked into while living in the Philippines, for obvious reasons.

The Kathmandu Taku Tent. Image from Kathmandu

Our camping spot was in a relatively secluded space in the caravan, and we noticed that we were one of only two spots with tents pitched. Everyone else had either camper trailers or motor homes. It was plain to see those travelling on a budget!

We managed to set up camp just before dark, and proceeded to freshen up before asking the next important question. "What are we going to do for dinner?"

THE 'OL AUSSIE PUB

We had rations in the car which would tide us over for the next few days. However, it seemed a bit much to set up "the camp kitchen" which consists of a cheap portable butane stove we purchased months ago in case of a cyclone. We just spent the past two days cleaning our apartment, and the last thing on our mind was trying to prepare dinner. So we reverted to a tried and tested method of biological refuelling. The pub meal.

Just a few hundred metres from our caravan was Mena Creek Pub, which is as genuinely Australian as any pub can get. The place was filled with chatter from the bar, where boisterous laughter erupted intermittently with the clinking of beer bottles. Another fella was selling raffle tickets, and a group was huddled right beside an outdoor fireplace which made everyone's clothes smell like burnt wood.

Mrs. PWW at the Mena Creek Pub

Sitting outside the pub, I delightfully wolfed down a plate of fish and chips with salad and washed it down with beer. I was officially on vacation.

THE NIGHT TOUR

Mrs. PWW and I were anticipating the night tour with excitement, as we imagined it would be very different from the day tours around Paronella Park. Unfortunately, I found it a bit disappointing as it seemed to be nothing more than a walk around the park to take photos of the buildings which at night, was lighted somewhat artistically. The main differentiating factor which I recall was the light and music display of one of the structures in the park, which understandably would not have the same effect if done in the day. It was still a very nice experience walking around the park at night, though I much prefer the day tours in terms of entertainment value.

"BREAKING CAMP"

When I woke up in the morning, Mrs. PWW and I were talking about how to tackle the day and where our next destination would be. Afterwards, I said "Well, let's break camp and get going." She laughed, saying "break camp" was such a funny term to use in such circumstances (being in the controlled environment of a caravan park). I laughed too, and realised I said that because I haven't slept in a tent for ages, and when I woke up, I thought I'd be unzipping my tent door to see myself in a random camp site in the Philippines, with my buddies Dabid, Kaloy, and Dave in adjacent tents.

We made use of the camp amenities to set up our cooking equipment and made a fortifying breakfast of baked beans on toast, and coffee. Beside us was a family with three generations of men (the grandfather, the son-in-law, and the son) cooking at the camp barbecue. We had friendly banter and they were just about to end their trip by going up to Cairns, where they live. It was an interesting chat. They were close to the end of their journey, and we've only just begun.

Like I said before, this is going to be epic.

For more information about Paronella Park, please visit their official website.


For Day Two of the Epic Capricorn Coast Road Trip, click here.