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I still remember the moment I sat behind the wheel as a fully fledged driver for the first time. It was 1989; I’d walked out of the Dickson Motor Registry in Canberra after miraculously passing the test I thought I had failed, and nervously hopped in the front seat of my mum’s ageing Mazda 929 station wagon.
That feeling comes flooding back as I turn the ignition for the first time on our giant Apollo Euro Deluxe Motorhome to begin a family holiday traversing the so-called Great Green Way between Cairns and Townsville.
Having never driven a truck, bus or even a minibus, at 7.3m long and 2.3m wide, this vehicle is the largest thing on wheels I’ve had to control. My nerves aren’t helped by what sounds like crashing crockery as the giant van sways from side to side navigating a deep kerb after our pick-up in Cairns. But a quick check of the cabin reveals the locked kitchen drawers have done their job and we are off down the Bruce Highway, with our three children firmly strapped into the front dining room.
The longer I drive the six-berth diesel-powered Mercedes (which also includes a very handy reversing camera), the more I forget I am driving a motorhome. It’s easy to manoeuvre, with enough power to overtake (only on the flat, of course) and great handling. In addition to three double beds, it features a fridge, toilet, microwave and gas cooktop. Even the built-in air-conditioning and fan come in handy at night for we Melburnians unaccustomed to the unseasonal North Queensland humidity.
Our destination after more than four hours’ driving through rolling cane fields and past the odd sugar mill is the spacious Rollingstone Beachfront Resort, a BIG4 Holiday Park 60km north of Townsville. We park almost on the sand and admire the 180-degree ocean views from the van’s panoramic rear window to Palm, Orpheus and Hinchinbrook islands. The serenity and sound of waves crashing on the shore are interrupted by the news one of our Townsville-based companions has been caught up in a three-car collision en route to a park rendezvous, but we are all eventually together safe and sound.
The incident doesn’t stop us venturing out the next day in a borrowed four-wheel drive (one downside of the Apollo Euro is you have to pack up everything whenever you want to go somewhere) up into the Paluma Range National Park, the southern gateway to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. After a visit to Paluma village, we take in the breathtaking views out to the coast from McClellands Lookout before a quick dip in the icy cold waters of Little Crystal Creek, with its historic stone arch bridge built in the 1930s and cascading waterfalls.
After Rollingstone we head to Mission Beach and the picturesque Beachcomber Coconut Holiday Park. What we lose in space here we gain in a great swimming pool, quality espresso coffee and the wonderful soft sand of an unspoiled coastal village. While we aren’t lucky enough during our two-night stay to spot a cassowary, a prehistoric-looking bird found in the area’s tropical rainforests, we do see plenty of creatures of the marine variety when we venture on a day trip to the reef. Mission Beach is one of the closest mainland points to the outer Great Barrier Reef; Mission Beach Dive, run by the affable Nancy Foster, operates trips for snorkellers and divers.
A water taxi takes us from the mainland to Dunk Island and while the howling south-easterlies and persistent showers make the short trip a tad hairy, that doesn’t stop a British couple taking their six-month baby along for the ride. At Dunk Island Pier, which still shows signs of the havoc caused by Cyclone Yasi in 2011, we meet up with Reef Goddess, a 48-seat, 65-foot Westcoaster that makes the journey to the reef. Once the weather clears we enjoy several brilliant hours of snorkelling on a fabulous stretch of the reef, interrupted only by a delicious barbecue lunch complete with Queensland banana prawns. Espresso coffee and muffins are complimentary, while beer and wine are on hand for purchase, but only after we’ve finished our paddle (no drink-snorkelling).
On return to the mainland, we hit the Bruce Highway again for the return trip, overnighting at the vast BIG4 Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort, which boasts an incredible pool and the biggest jumping pillow in the southern hemisphere. The kids squeeze in a crack-of-dawn swim next day before a trip on the historic Kuranda Railway.
We pass through 15 tunnels and over 37 bridges as the beautifully restored train snakes its way up the Macalister Range. Then it’s a final clean-up of the van and a short and sweet handover. In truth, I won’t miss the packing and unpacking of bags and dismantling and setting-up of tables and beds that comes with life in a motorhome. But we have loved the family fun and freedom of life on the road.
Sоurсе: theaustralian.com.au