Queensland, NSW: 12. – 25.09.2011

Our last days in Australia were counted. On September 29th Nisto would, hopefully for a last time, be loaded into a container and on October 3rd he should start his journey from Sydney to Africa. But, before we could start our final spurt we already had to hit the brakes. At the wheel alignment, a routine intervention, the mechanic found that one of the two right axle suspensions were brocken.

Thousand thoughts shot thru our minds; when did it happen? How long does it take to fix? Can they weld it here in Australia? If we’d be in South America, that would not be a question but here with all the rules and regulations! However we seemed to be exactly at the right place to solve this problem. Already in the evening all necessary people to treat Nisto were found. For us however it meant to move out, for how long two maybe three days. It would all depend on how long it would take to dismantle the axle. Aside from hoping there was not much we could do. So in the evening we flushed everything down with beer and had good help from Caro and Michi who we met on this campground again and had their own frustration after a too close encounter with a rear end of a small car. We reviewed the last weeks always in the search of where it happened. Already in the Simpson Dessert we occasionally heard a new ‘klack’ sound, thou we never found the cause. Should it already be that long ago!? Hard to belief that Nisto behaved that well, just imagine a human on a cross country track with a broken collar bone.

The next day we brought Nisto to the doctor and the waiting has begun, we mainly did so in downtown Cairns. Already that afternoon we got a relieving call; the fracture has already been welded and if nothing goes wrong, Nisto would be released the following afternoon. And that is how it finally happened.

We spent another night in Cairns before we headed off to the Atherton Tablelands. On a winding road it went thru the Rainforest, past Waterfalls and Platypus. How hard we tried to find these amazing little creatures in Tasmania. Here we just drove along a creek and already saw two of them. And our luck was about to continue, thanks to a local at the Malanda Falls we discovered one of the rare Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo. How the name sais, this Kangaroo species preferably lives up in the trees. It was exciting to watch this little bugger climbing thru its tree. However we are not all the way sure if it really belongs to the specie of the Kangaroos, similarities to Monkeys or Bears are hard to renounce.

Back at the coast we visited the Flight School in Innisfail, which Markus went to exactly ten years ago. Indeed Bob and Carol even remembered him also the plane on which he made his first solo flight was still there. After a coffee and a nice chat about flying and traveling we continued on southwards, past the famous Mission Beach. However Cyclone Yasi earlier this year really left this beautiful area devastated. Lots of houses are still being repaired and Nature had a long way to recover to its original beauty, but on both fronts repairs are well underway.

The next days we spent eliminating Kilometers. But also doing this, one can experience the odd. Once at 10am Police stopped us for a random alcohol test, of course he headed straight to the passenger side, because normally that is where the driver is located in Australia. But before Sonja could say something, she already got the equipment for the breath test explained, and the device was held under her nose. Well, we do not argue with police, at least not in this country, and Sonja blew as hard as she could. While Markus could hardly contain his laughter the policeman realized what was going on. And a colleague mentioned to him, that the driver normally is the one with the steering wheel. We could witness how a policemen would have liked to become invisible, but now he had to go thru with it. His colleagues would certainly make sure that the event would not be easily forgotten. Of course Markus got a go with the breath test as well, and as it was proved that we did not have our morning schnapps today we were good to go. Another time we set up camp at a rest area along the highway. The next morning just as we got awoken by the sun, a Cassowary walked alongside Nisto. Just the day before, we were desperately looking for these rare birds, though without success, today one showed up just at our doorstep.

Along the way our last real Aussie Adventure the largest Sand Island of the world, Fraser Island, was waiting for us. No paved roads only sandy tracks along beaches and thru unique forest. But already the way to the ferry separates the wheat from the chaff, at least if you approach the island from the south. To get to the ferry ‘terminal’ you have to go thru deep sand. In the past many adventurers adventure’ have ended here already. Nisto however managed also this part without a problem and we spent a wonderful four days with exploring the island and swimming in the crystal clear lakes. To camp we retreated to the beach and thoroughly enjoyed $1,000 views. Simply perfect, and exactly the right thing to relax from the long days of driving.

Fresh and relaxed we started our last kilometers in Australia. While Sonja was driving Markus was organizing the last formalities of the shipment, on the contrary to the rest of the country here on the east coast the ‘data highway’ worked perfect.

How we managed in Sydney you can read the next time.

Till soon

Sonja and Markus

Here it goes to the pictures...