Litchfield National Park

In Litchfield went to a camping area in the park that was for 4wd’s only, close to Florence Falls. This was true camping with no water, bathrooms or showers and only a few other hardcore campers around. We pitched tent, made dinner, had a camp fire and later lay in our tent staring at the amazing night sky. Early the next morning we headed on a walk into Florence Falls where we both went for a refreshing swim with the breathtaking backdrop of the falls. We jumped back into our truck and headed further into the park and stopped at Tolmer Falls which we viewed the 100m falls from a lookout then on to Surprise Creek. Now to get to Surprise Creek you have to drive 30 km through creeks in 4wd terrain. Casey had an absolute blast driving! Arriving at Surprise Creek we felt like we had found a secret oasis tucked away in the park. Casey was awe struck at the beauty of this place and felt it was the most beautiful place he has ever seen. When you first enter through the lush green trees you see a pool of emerald clear quiet water. As you peek around the corner you see that this lagoon like pool was feed by a waterfall cascading into another pool which trickles over the rocks into the first pool. When you climb up to the top of this waterfall you see that there is second waterfall that cascades into another pool of its own which feeds the first fall. This second waterfall is fed by a beautiful trickling creek that is surrounded by rolling rocks and green palm trees. We had an absolutely amazing day where again we were reminded of how God is truly the greatest artist there ever has been and ever will be.

Road trip - part 1 (Cairns to Darwin)

Heading into the Outback..... where do we begin. Well on Sunday (July 15th) we picked up our campervan from Britz except it wasn’t really what we expected. Instead of a campervan we got a 4wd Toyota Land Cruiser truck with a fold out tent on the roof. So the adventure begins!! We loaded up and headed on the road down the coast about 4 hours to Townsville where we got a nice campsite for the night as we didn’t want to set up the first time in the dark. Monday morning at sunrise we headed inland across Queensland into the Outback. Stopping at a couple little towns along the way for coffee, gas and to make lunch the farther we went into the outback the smaller the towns got, the less the cars on the road and the more road kill we saw. We saw probably 40 dead wallabies on the side of the road the most wallabies we’ve seen our whole trip. The other thing that we noticed is that when we passed another vehicle on the road the driver would wave at us. At first Casey thought that everyone was mistaking us for someone they knew. Later we realized that the wave was so people felt less lonely out on the open road. We really loved this friendly gesture and began to wave to every car we passed. Just outside of Mount Isa we stopped on the side of the road to make dinner and watch the sunset which was breathtaking then into Mount Isa for the night. At sunrise we were off again with nothing but the open road ahead of us. Crossing the border of Queensland into the Northern Territory the number of dead wallabies decreased which lead us to believe the wallabies were smarter her but number of dead cows increased. The towns that we drove through or stopped for gas I wouldn’t even categorize as a town. They consisted of an overpriced gas station, caravan park/motel and an outback salon and that was it.....literally! We were originally planning to make it as far as Dunmarra to set up camp for the night before sunset but upon arriving realized it was one of the outback “towns”. We decided to make dinner then head for Katherine about 4 hours away. As we head back on the road we realized why it was recommended not to drive at night and why there was so much road kill. At night the road comes alive with so many wallabies that we needed a team effort to avoid having wallaby for dinner. We stopped in one “town” before we arrived in Katherine for a potty break that was out of the twilight zone. The gas pumps were out of order but the station was open probably for the dust covered snacks or to view the caged baby crocodile or snakes in the dinner. Casey said the bathroom looked as if it had never been cleaned with so many cobwebs and red dirt covering the floor & walls while I hung out with the old dog on the tattered chair who was watching the small antenna TV. Continuing into the night we stopped on the side of the road to gaze at the most beautiful night sky we have ever seen. The milkway was so clear and distinct and the amount of stars in the sky words couldn’t describe. Upon arriving in Katherine at about 11 pm we found all the caravan parks & motels closed except for a sketchy one on top of a local drinking hole. Wanting that to be our last resort we stopped at an open gas station to get some info on where we could go. While Casey was inside talking with the gas attendant I was trying to politely ignore the drunken aboriginal man knocking on my window asking me to open the door. Thank God Casey came out when he did. We found a caravan park that wasn’t gated and pulled in for some well deserved sleep. Thursday we took it easy and in the early afternoon ventured to the Litchfield National Park just a few hours out of Darwin on the scenic route.

Our Last Week in Cairns

We have been enjoying Cairns and the wonderful people we have met but feel it’s time to head on. So we had an opportunity to relocate a campervan to Darwin then from Darwin to Alice Springs for super cheap. So as of July 15th we are off on a road trip! So for the last week in Cairns we enjoyed hanging out with Walter and meeting his wife Marty & son Tobias. They have been away at her parents as Walter and Marty are expecting their second baby and she has been extremely sick. It was a wonderful time hanging out with the family and to see Walter so happy to have them home. We have been so blessed and encouraged their friendship and hospitality. We also had a BBQ with some of our fellow backpackers at the Lagoon the night before we left. It was great fun hanging out with them and meeting some more new people. After the BBQ a couple of us went to grab a coffee at Coffee Beans to do the Tim Tam Slam. For those of you who don’t know about the world famous Tim Tam Slam let me enlighten you to the wonderful pleasures of Tim Tams. These are an Australian treat that is kinda a cookie, wafer that is coated in chocolate. Now these are delicious on their own but even more enjoyable, the Tim Tam Slam. To do this you get a good cup of coffee or, if English, tea. You then bit both ends of the Tim Tam place one end of the Tim Tam in the cup of coffee and the other in your mouth. You then suck the coffee through the Tim Tam till you taste coffee, and then quickly put the entire Tim Tam in your mouth before it melts. The taste is indescribable and worth every moment. After the coffee and too much sugar we were a bit wired and the silliness began. We had a wonderful time and will really miss our fun with our backpacker buddies.

Yorkeys Knob

Well this is actually a beautiful beach that Walter took us to check out quickly before he headed off again this time to Sydney for the Hillsong Conference. Casey & I are kicking ourselves for not working something out to go but we got to have a wonderful time with each other this week. Well Tuesday (July 3rd) Casey and I grabbed a couple cups of coffee and headed to relax at this quiet, beautiful beach. When we were done our coffee we decide the sand was perfect for building a sand castle and wouldn’t our empty cups work well! We had a blast building our castle....well our attempt at a castle. We had so much fun that afternoon we decided to go back the next day with a packed lunch and swimsuits and spend the day there. It was amazing!

Skate Competition

Saturday (June 30th) we went down to the Esplanade with Walter who arrived back into town late the night before. At the Esplanade they have an amazing skate park that a Christian organization was putting on a skate competition at. The organization is called Red Frogs and they do these skate comps going up the coast. They invite people there to a youth rally in the evening. The coolest things was that we got to see Andy Sands from back home who is over hear working with reaching out to youth through skateboarding. Andy & another guy brought out a van full of young guys who are passionate about skateboarding. It was great catching up a bit with Andy and hearing how things were going.

Crystal Cascades

Last Thursday (June 28th) a bunch of us headed up to Crystal Cascades. It is absolutely beautiful and the pictures really never do it justice. We went with Cory, Adam, Sienna & Jenna and bumped into Oliver & Steph whose 19th birthday it just happened to be. We went for a beautiful walk and passed a couple areas you can go down to swim and ended up going to this beautiful area that was so surreal with cliffs on either side. Cory and Casey went for a nice dip in the cool water where there were a couple other guys hanging out on the edge. We then headed down to an area where Oliver & Steph said is like a little water slide where the rock is smooth and when its rainy season the water pushes you with great force down this little slide. So all the guys again bared the cold water and had a great time. Later that evening we headed to grab some noodles from the Yummy Noodle House (where Casey & I have started to know the menu pretty well) and headed back down to the Esplanade to enjoy our dinner. Laura joined us and we headed to grab hot chocolate and coffee as it was getting very cool out. We then wandered around the night market and Casey, Adam, Sienna & Jenna got $15 massages at one of the little shops. After Casey’s massage he looked like he had just woken up! It was a great day.....