No sun? No worries!
18 days in the land down under.
18 days in the land down under.
Queensland, Part 3
The third highlight for the area was bungy jumping at AJ Hackett’s. Chris
has always wanted to try this, and Allie had been looking forward to it as
well. And if you’re ever going to take the plunge, AJ Hackett’s is a great
place to do it. A 165-foot-high platform stands astride a small splash pond
below, which is overlooked by a nice little bar/terrace area with
refreshments, food and music. A local band was setting up while we were
there. The whole place has a fun, vibrant, rock-n-roll atmosphere. It’s worth
noting that Chris was by far the oldest customer there, while Allie was the
youngest.
As for the experience of bungy-jumping itself, well...it feels a lot like
jumping head-first off a 165-foot platform with a heavy-duty elastic band
wrapped around your ankles and falling at an accelerating rate of 9.8
meters per second squared. If that sounds thrilling to you, then you would
definitely be thrilled. If that sounds terrifying to you, then you may well soil
yourself. But one thing is for sure; that’s a lot of speed. By the time you’re
halfway down, the wind is roaring loudly through your ears. But the
deceleration and “bounce” is much less abrupt than you might imagine.
Far more unnerving, though, is the anticipation leading up to the actual
jump itself. And even more unnerving still is the sight of your 14-year-old
daughter taking the plunge before you!
We’ve heard it said before that bungy-jumping is a great “leap of faith”. In
truth, it’s the exact opposite. Because “faith” is that reassuring voice in your
heart or in the pit of your stomach that tells you to believe when your head
may be addled with doubt. But as you step out onto the edge of that
platform, your heart, your stomach, and every other fiber of your being –
from your dandruff to your toe jam – is shrieking insanely, “DON’T LET GO
OF THE RAIL! DON’T JUMP! DON’T DO IT! DON’T!!!!!”
In fact, the only thing inside you that says otherwise is that dispassionate
voice in the most rational part of your mind that calmly states, “If there was
even the slightest risk of catastrophic failure associated with this activity,
the insurance company would have eaten these people alive decades ago.
You know it’s true.”
You can’t argue with logic like that. And so, you jump.
But that little leap means so much, symbolically. It’s about soaring beyond
your basest fears and all-too-fallible instincts...taking a triumphant flight of
reason over trepidation. It’s a defiant laugh in the face of gravity. To look
death in its eye is to know you’re alive. So yes, we had a blast.
We also spent a day taking a leisurely drive through the Atherton
Tablelands area. You can’t do justice to this area in one day, but we
decided just to go see what it was like. Sonya provided a suggested driving
route, and we set off through Cairns and started near Yungaburra and its
“famous” curtain fig tree. By now we were quite familiar with strangler figs,
but this was some tree. We also stopped to see various falls, including
those on the Milla Milla circuit. And, then we headed for Mt Hypipamee
National Park to see the granite crater and falls. We particular enjoyed the
2k or so hike here. Finally, we finished up with a drive to Mareeba, primarily
to try out the mango wine that Greg (Daintree Air) was raving about. The
proprietor of the deBrueys Winery sampled each of his products for us, and
we picked up a couple to bring home (in our checked bags, of course). The
drive home from Mareeba was notable for two things: giant (and we do
mean giant) termite mounds along the roadside; and the first kangaroo
we'd seen in almost two weeks in Australia—a dead one by the side of the
road.
I hate to say it, but we blew right past the turn-off to Kuranda. Perhaps we’ll
get there on another trip. As it was, we really enjoyed seeing this area,
which is a nice change of pace, with its rolling hills, farms and bucolic
setting.
Our final day in the area was spent exploring Mossman Gorge and Port
Douglas. We did all the walks at Mossman Gorge and really enjoyed this.
There were quite a few people there, but it is a big enough area that you
still feel relatively secluded. One little tip—get there on the early side. The
parking is mostly along the side of the road in, and it became very
congested toward mid day—and not helped when someone tried to drive a
large caravan in along the narrow road, requiring assistance from a ranger.
Dining highlights in the area included:
Everyone apologized for the weather. We don’t mind it a little on the cool
side, but as with Sydney, we would have liked to see a little sun now and
then. We had a few hours with sun one day—our lazy day in Palm Cove—
and we spent that enjoying lunch outdoors. Otherwise, the sun did not
come out in force (of course) until the morning we flew out. We know, of
course, that Australia has been in the middle of a serious drought and that
many parts of the country need the rain. Coming from an area that also has
seen some drought conditions in recent years, we can know the rain is
welcome—we just hope it’s falling the right places (from some
conversations we had, we got the feeling that might not be the case).
Next: Red Center
See all of our photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
The third highlight for the area was bungy jumping at AJ Hackett’s. Chris
has always wanted to try this, and Allie had been looking forward to it as
well. And if you’re ever going to take the plunge, AJ Hackett’s is a great
place to do it. A 165-foot-high platform stands astride a small splash pond
below, which is overlooked by a nice little bar/terrace area with
refreshments, food and music. A local band was setting up while we were
there. The whole place has a fun, vibrant, rock-n-roll atmosphere. It’s worth
noting that Chris was by far the oldest customer there, while Allie was the
youngest.
As for the experience of bungy-jumping itself, well...it feels a lot like
jumping head-first off a 165-foot platform with a heavy-duty elastic band
wrapped around your ankles and falling at an accelerating rate of 9.8
meters per second squared. If that sounds thrilling to you, then you would
definitely be thrilled. If that sounds terrifying to you, then you may well soil
yourself. But one thing is for sure; that’s a lot of speed. By the time you’re
halfway down, the wind is roaring loudly through your ears. But the
deceleration and “bounce” is much less abrupt than you might imagine.
Far more unnerving, though, is the anticipation leading up to the actual
jump itself. And even more unnerving still is the sight of your 14-year-old
daughter taking the plunge before you!
We’ve heard it said before that bungy-jumping is a great “leap of faith”. In
truth, it’s the exact opposite. Because “faith” is that reassuring voice in your
heart or in the pit of your stomach that tells you to believe when your head
may be addled with doubt. But as you step out onto the edge of that
platform, your heart, your stomach, and every other fiber of your being –
from your dandruff to your toe jam – is shrieking insanely, “DON’T LET GO
OF THE RAIL! DON’T JUMP! DON’T DO IT! DON’T!!!!!”
In fact, the only thing inside you that says otherwise is that dispassionate
voice in the most rational part of your mind that calmly states, “If there was
even the slightest risk of catastrophic failure associated with this activity,
the insurance company would have eaten these people alive decades ago.
You know it’s true.”
You can’t argue with logic like that. And so, you jump.
But that little leap means so much, symbolically. It’s about soaring beyond
your basest fears and all-too-fallible instincts...taking a triumphant flight of
reason over trepidation. It’s a defiant laugh in the face of gravity. To look
death in its eye is to know you’re alive. So yes, we had a blast.
We also spent a day taking a leisurely drive through the Atherton
Tablelands area. You can’t do justice to this area in one day, but we
decided just to go see what it was like. Sonya provided a suggested driving
route, and we set off through Cairns and started near Yungaburra and its
“famous” curtain fig tree. By now we were quite familiar with strangler figs,
but this was some tree. We also stopped to see various falls, including
those on the Milla Milla circuit. And, then we headed for Mt Hypipamee
National Park to see the granite crater and falls. We particular enjoyed the
2k or so hike here. Finally, we finished up with a drive to Mareeba, primarily
to try out the mango wine that Greg (Daintree Air) was raving about. The
proprietor of the deBrueys Winery sampled each of his products for us, and
we picked up a couple to bring home (in our checked bags, of course). The
drive home from Mareeba was notable for two things: giant (and we do
mean giant) termite mounds along the roadside; and the first kangaroo
we'd seen in almost two weeks in Australia—a dead one by the side of the
road.
I hate to say it, but we blew right past the turn-off to Kuranda. Perhaps we’ll
get there on another trip. As it was, we really enjoyed seeing this area,
which is a nice change of pace, with its rolling hills, farms and bucolic
setting.
Our final day in the area was spent exploring Mossman Gorge and Port
Douglas. We did all the walks at Mossman Gorge and really enjoyed this.
There were quite a few people there, but it is a big enough area that you
still feel relatively secluded. One little tip—get there on the early side. The
parking is mostly along the side of the road in, and it became very
congested toward mid day—and not helped when someone tried to drive a
large caravan in along the narrow road, requiring assistance from a ranger.
Dining highlights in the area included:
- Lunch at Salsa in Port Douglas; innovative dishes and presentation
and killer margaritas made from fresh lime juice. - A very serviceable Italian meal at Bella Baci in Palm Cove, one of
the restaurants in the Pepper’s Beach Club; the pumpkin ravioli
was especially good.
Everyone apologized for the weather. We don’t mind it a little on the cool
side, but as with Sydney, we would have liked to see a little sun now and
then. We had a few hours with sun one day—our lazy day in Palm Cove—
and we spent that enjoying lunch outdoors. Otherwise, the sun did not
come out in force (of course) until the morning we flew out. We know, of
course, that Australia has been in the middle of a serious drought and that
many parts of the country need the rain. Coming from an area that also has
seen some drought conditions in recent years, we can know the rain is
welcome—we just hope it’s falling the right places (from some
conversations we had, we got the feeling that might not be the case).
Next: Red Center
See all of our photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
AJ Hackett's
Australia home
Planning considerations
Sydney
Queensland, part 1
Queensland, part 2
Queensland, part 3
Red Center
Yarra Valley
Melbourne
Getting there and getting around
Planning considerations
Sydney
Queensland, part 1
Queensland, part 2
Queensland, part 3
Red Center
Yarra Valley
Melbourne
Getting there and getting around
AJ Hackett's--Allie takes the plunge
The granite crater at Mt. Hypipamee
National Park
National Park
Mossman Gorge
