The Daintree and Cape Tribulation

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Photos above:

1. Ray at Cape Tribulation

2. Daintree Rainforest

3. Crocodile (across the river from where we are camped)

We left Tully after breakfast and headed to beautiful Bramston Beach, just north of Innisfail, recommended to us by a couple of volunteers from Port Douglas.
We spent a relaxing day walking along the beach. Where we were camped we could see the waves from our caravan.
The following day we called into Cairns and picked up some groceries then headed to Palm Cove and Port Douglas. Nice places but a bit too trendy and busy.

We have arrived at Daintree Village and I have come down with a terrible cold or flu and I feel rotten. We are going to take a few days break here to recuperate.
It is a gorgeous place and the weather is being kind to us.
Our first activity was a boat cruise on the Daintree River. The minute we left the shore we spotted a giant crocodile sunning himself on the opposite shore right across from the camping ground and another even bigger one a bit further along. I’m glad we are on high ground but any water makes me nervous. I am even going to keep a check on the plug hole in the showers.

Spent the next day just sitting in the sun.

Today we drove to Cape Tribulation and back. I made a navigational miscalculation and we ended driving up the (4WD only) Bloomfield track a way. We had lunch at the Cape then made our way back to the village calling in to all the rainforest walks and lookouts along the way. It was a lovely day but we are tired.

Tomorrow we leave the Daintree.

Our last days at Blaze Aid

Photos above:

1. Part of the volunteer group

2. Peter, Christine, Cath, Al, Jenny & Ray

3. Patchwork at the Tully show

4. River crossing at Alligators Nest

Day 12
Our last day of volunteer work.
We were assigned to John & Vicky, another elderly couple and neighbours to Ron and Val.
We had a quiet day with Janet & Tony helping us felling trees along the river frontage of a beautiful garden property. Tony is dynamite on the chainsaw and made light work of it.
Both elderly neighbours have retired up here and went through the cyclone in their own homes, like most others. It must have been very frightening.

We went to the Tully Show in the afternoon. A much bigger affair than any of the small town country shows I have ever been to. The whole town and the sugar refinery gets involved.

Our last Supper, and breakfast next day for that matter.
A very nostalgic farewell. We have met lots of lovely people here and we are sad to leave but determined to return to Blaze Aid at another time and place.

And so we continue north.....

Blaze Aid - Days 6 to 11

Photos above:

1. Lea and one of the wood piles we made

2. Ray checking out what job we were assigned to

3. Murray River Falls on the way home

4. Some of the cows on Mark's farm

Day 6
We were assigned to Mark & Steph Clair’s farm in the Murray River Falls area, 50 km south of Tully. Our team consisted of Glenys (a single lady about our age who has been with Blaze Aid for quite a while now. She has travelled very extensively; Africa, South America, Asia....) and Rod & Cecilia (who are a bit older than us). They are all Queenslanders.
Mark appeared much stressed when we arrived, but after working all day he warmed to us and you could tell he really appreciated our help. He desperately needs help with his fences because trees had fallen on them and the cows were getting through to the neighbour's property who was complaining. She has problems of her own and I think they are all under stress.

Pizzas for tea tonight – nobody had to cook.

Day 7
Back to Mark & Steph’s to finish off. We had Glenys, John and Joy with us this time.
Joy was good value because she has her own farm in Wakerie S.A. and was quite good at the fencing.
It was a nightmare driving up Mark’s drive and his neighbour’s was even worse.
We made progress on his property and he now has three good paddocks he can keep his cattle in. He was happy with what we had done but he still has a long way to go to get back on his feet.
Ray wants to go back and do more for him but there are other people on the list who also have problems.
We visited the Murray River falls on the way home.

Day 8
Took the Blaze Aid vehicle today because we had to go so far away. It didn’t help that we missed the turnoff and took ages to get there. We were working with Kat & Jenna (the English backpackers) and Rob (a Dutch backpacker). We worked at clearing trees so that the farmer (Tony) could make an alternative route into his property because the original one was so damaged in the cyclone. He is a tree feller himself and he worked hard with us all day, lopping huge trees which we then cut up and dragged away.
For a professional tree lopper he has an interesting approach to safety – he wore his thongs while he worked. ??? What can I say - he's a Queenslander.

It has been a long hard hot day and I am buggered.
After our showers, which we take as soon as we get back, we are in the habit of having a quiet drink on the lawn outside the van and people always come over for a talk. Tonight two old codgers (Bob and Jerry) who have just met up again after working at Blaze Aid Charlton together for 5 months came to join us. They are amazing for their age. Jerry is 80 and he spends most of his time volunteering. Bob is a great bloke and we got on very well with him.

Day 9
A day off.
Eugene has more than enough volunteers for today and we are exhausted, so we are taking the day off.
It is amazing how the grey nomads just keep pouring into help. It is very refreshing to see, and gives us a renewed faith in humanity at large. When you hear on the international news of all the terrible things people do to each other, it makes you proud to see the Aussie spirit in operation.
We have cleaned up the van, it was getting pretty messy, and Ray has changed the tyres on the car. We are getting ready to head north at the end of the week......
The afternoon at the beach will be good medicine. We will be having a BBQ on Mission beach tonight with the other volunteers.......
I had to go into Tully to pick up the backpackers and take them out to Mission beach for the BBQ.
......Turned out to be a bit cool and windy but the BBQ was great.

Day 10
Our team today was Lea (a French backpacker), Brenden (a young man who comes from Richmond, Vic. and is up here on business and called in to help just because he could) and us.
We went to help Ron and Val (an elderly couple in the outskirts of Tully on 2 acres). Ron only has one arm. Their property is in pretty good condition but the back perimeter has become overgrown with vines when the fallen trees were not removed and it is really beyond Ron. We made good progress and will return tomorrow to finish off. Val made a beautiful morning tea and lunch.
Ron and Val are very involved with the Lions Club and will be busy with the Tully show this weekend.

Day 11
Ray’s Birthday.
Went back to Val & Ron’s to finish off. They were all excited about their responsibilities with the upcoming Tully Show. We promised to catch up and buy pies and strawberries & cream from them when we visit the show.
Bought five birthday cakes to go around for tea. It was a good Birthday tea party with all the volunteers.

More photos

Photos:
1. Dunk Island
2. Ray and his truckies knot (what do you think Dad)
3. Devastation at Mission Beach
4. The sugar cane train

Photos:
1. Eugine, Volunteer Coordinator
2. Clearing the paddocks
3. Mark on the chainsaw

Day 5
The day was spent with all volunteers helping to move the Blaze Aid camp to another spot (Frog Hollow at Mission Beach) because the Tully Show is on this weekend.
We were allocated to Admin and the dining room which included the BBQ, all the safety equipment and the spare camp beds and linen.
It took us all morning but we are all now established in our new home and a whole lot of new volunteers have arrived.

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the local beaches which are really beautiful but you can see where the cyclone has done a lot of damage.

Volunteering with Blaze Aid

Photos:
1. Janet with Day 4 Team
2. The shed, dumped from 2km away
3. White lipped green tree frog in Janet's diningroom
4. This Cassawary thought we looked like an interesting exotic fruit

Day 3
Today we were assigned to go to the property of Justin and Jan (the neighbours of Mark).
Our team consisted of Jenna and Kathleen (Kat) two English backpackers and Pattie (a backpacker from Taiwan)

Justin has hurt his foot and was very embarrassed that we were there to work and he could not help us because of his injury, but Mark came to help out. We were supposed to help pull down a shed that had been demolished but Justin felt bad and he insisted we go back to Marks to do some work on the pump and water tank so that Janet would have clean water on Marks property.

Jan and Justin own an exotic fruit farm. All the fruit trees were uprooted and blown away during the cyclone. There is no sign of the trees, but there is the remnants of an entire shed, including some very heavy girders, too heavy for two people to lift, that has been deposited on their property from 2 km away.

With Mark’s assistance and the tractor we managed to clear a paddock of fallen timber so that the field could be slashed then we went into another part of the farm a cleared a track that has been impenetrable ever since the cyclone because of fallen trees and a small stream that has become a deep ravine. It will require a bridge to be built over this area to make it passable.

Jan and Justin live in a beautiful totally green self sufficient home in the rainforest which Justin built. Their water comes from two springs on the property and they have recently put down a bore, their electricity is totally solar energy and their toilet is a very efficient composting toilet (no water needed to flush and definitely no smell) and it is inside the house right next to their bedroom making it an ensuite. There is a beautiful claw bath outside in the fernery beside the house and because it is so secluded and tropical it would be a very relaxing way to take a bath in the open with a view of the rain forest. The whole house is very open and there are forest views from every room. They were there in the house during the cyclone and they said it was very frightening.

There are feeding stations for the Cassawarys on Jan and Justin’s farm and we inadvertently parked the car right next to one. The Cassawarys came in looking for food when they saw the car and as there was no food in the box they turned to us. We were wearing our orange safety Blaze Aid jackets and they must have thought we were big oranges or some fancy fruit because they started to approach us. They were between us and the car and we had nowhere to go but bush. Pattie now has a new name “Pattie Pancake” because Jenna, who was terrified, nearly crushed her trying to get into the car.

Day 4
Back to Jan & Justin’s to clear the road to their orchard, make sure the pump had filled the tank for Janet and take a load to the tip.
We also did some tree clearing in what was the orchard.

Justin is a ships captain and is away a lot of the time. He used to captain ships for scientists doing research out to sea and now he captains a ship which farms ocean mur (black sea cucumbers) an Asian delicacy as well as being used in medicine and it is very expensive, so a lucrative occupation.
Jan had been developing the orchard of exotic fruits so Justin could retire on the farm to spend more time with her, but that was all put on hold when the cyclone blew all of the trees away.
Justin explained the composting toilet today and it all revolves around the air being extracted. They dig out the compost (which by then is just dirt and doesn’t smell at all) about 2 wheelbarrows a year and put it on the garden.
There is also a green lipped tree frog that has made his home in a pot plant in their dining room.
They have a very idealistic life style there, except for the cyclones, of course.

The three girls working with us today (Stacey who is Irish and Kat and Jenna who are English and all about 24 years old) were good fun and they worked very hard.

VOLUNTEERING WITH BLAZE AID

Photos:

1. Our first volunteer team: Ray & Jenny with Christian & Stacey

2. Mark and Ray in his chainsaw gear

3. Volunteers in the field

4. A Cassawary wandering through the property

We arrived in Tully on Sunday 17th July at 4pm.
Eugene welcomed us, signed us up and got us organised with all the stuff we needed to know and the equipment we would need (chainsaw, gloves etc.) Apparently they are going to feed us as well. Eugene is very well organized. There is lots to be done. The damage in the area is due to the cyclone in February and we will be helping to clear fallen trees and mending fences.
All the volunteers are camped at the Tully showgrounds. Most of them are Grey Nomads but there is also a few backpackers and a family travelling with their four young children. We met Joan and John, a lovely couple from Kurrumburra who have been very helpful.

Day 1
We were assigned to Mark Gayles property along with Stacey (an Irish backpacker) and Christian (a German backpacker).
We cleared trees (blown down in the cyclone) from the driveway and around the house and down to the water pump using the chainsaw and then we dragged it all into huge piles for burning later on. Janet (something of a recluse) lives alone on the property in squalid conditions. Along with her neighbour and Mark they made a lovely morning tea and lunch for us while we worked. They were very happy with the progress we were able to make. We will probably come back tomorrow to continue in another part of the property.

Day 2
We went out to the same place today and did more of the same thing.
Ray got to do a bit of chain sawing. We are very hot, tired and muscle sore. It was very hot today and we were working out in a paddock where there was no shade in the afternoon. Stacey had to take a break because she was getting over heated. She is Irish with peaches and cream skin after all.

We all take turns helping out in the kitchen back at the volunteer camp. Ray was on dishes last night and tonight I was on cooking. A bit daunting cooking for so many people.
We are enjoying ourselves though and meeting lots of very nice people.