Driving. A lot.

Driving south out of Airlie Beach, we had about 1200 kms to cover to get to Byron Bay, and we decided that driving through the night might not be the best thing, especially as we ended up leaving Airlie sometime in afternoon. We pulled off the road sometime around 10 PM at a non-descript gas station somewhere south of Mackay and pitched our tents. We seem to make a habit of finding spots near train tracks since there are usually fewer homes the closer you get to the tracks, and some guys bumbling around at night with headlamps is less likely to attract attention. This was the closest spot I think we have found yet, and we were woken a couple of times during the night by the train blowing by just a few steps from our tents. Once I awoke and in a haze thought that we may made the mistake of putting our tents on the tracks, but then fell back asleep after I wasn't pulverized.

The next day we got up early, as we usually do when dirt camping, and hit the road. Before lunch we stopped at The Capricorn Caves and went on a one-hour tour of the cave system. The cave system is privately owned as an Australian pulled a fast one on the government back in the day when land grants were being given out for next to nothing. Situating the caves in the back section of his claim and gambling that the government inspector would not take the time to walk all 83 acres, it turned out to be wise risk and a great investment. Public tours have in fact been going on for over 130 years, which means John Olsen made a good return on his $10 investment in 1884. Bats slipped soundlessly past our faces as our guide told us that as long we made no sudden movements there was little chance of them bouncing into us, so we slowly and methodically followed our guide.

With our car giving us a problem-free ride so far, this record was finally tarnished by a flat tire on the highway. An Aussie pulled up literally seconds after we stopped to ask if we needed help, but we thanked him and told him we could manage. Jordache and Kyle did the bulk of the work as I documented it with the camera, and we were back on the road is less than ten minutes, with the majority of the work being unloading all our gear out of the back to get at the spare.

Around nine in the evening we pulled into a gas station that actually had a shower in the bathroom, which was a pleasant surprise. While Kyle and I waited for Jordache we spent the time eliminating some cane toads. Cane toads were originally introduced to Australia to combat a sugar cane pest, but with no natural predators they have proliferated to the point of upsetting the natural ecosystem. The conscientious ecologist that I am, I spent about twenty minutes with a paving stone doing my bit for the environment.

We camped in a residential subdivision, bringing our free camp site total to twelve, and today we drove the rest of the day, getting into Byron Bay around lunch time. Jordache and I plan to spend the rest of our time in Australia here before flying out of Brisbane on March 6th and on to New Zealand.