Tropical North Queensland

Yorkeys Knob, Queensland, Australia
Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Monsoon has arrived, well, nearly. Apparently, it won't completely set in for another couple of weeks according to the locals. It has certainly rained since we arrived on Saturday and I mean rain, buckets full of it, falling sheet like from a leaden sky. You would be soaked to the skin in seconds, but rather like a tap, as quickly as it is turned on, it is turned off in an instant. The key is to avoid the downpours. One thing to bear in mind is that it is still really hot (30 ish), which from our point of view makes it acceptable. Other parts of the country are in the low 40s, so we feel quite cool here!
We are staying just north of Cairns, on one of the northern beach settlements, called Yorkeys Knob. The Knob is a rocky headland tumbling down to the sea sheltering Half Moon Bay and Yorkey was a rough tough Yorkshireman, who lived on the headland and achieved a degree of notoriety here in the late 1800s. Such is the story that often lies behind the naming of any village, township or city.
This section of coastline edges a narrow rich coastal flatland, running from a marvellous mountain range down to the Coral Sea and the Northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It is full of natural beauty and remarkably unspoiled I'm delighted to say.
Cairns is the largest conurbation, which is called a city here, but in truth is no more than a large King's Lynn, but with a sea view and without the historic content. Being so close to the Barrier Reef, it is the launching point of many trips to the Reef and is essentially tourist driven. I'm glad we decided to base ourselves amongst the Northern Beaches. A city is a city in anyone's language, it is just a question of degree.
We had supper last night and tonight at the local Boat Club out on the deck, which is shaded/ sheltered by a large awning. The view of the coast and Marina is lovely and the food really good. It is immensely popular and busy and we were taken by surprise yesterday, being too late to book a table, but were told we could come along and sign in as a temporary member and eat on the bar verandah. We followed instructions, but all the tables were taken and we were hovering just wondering what to do, when something happened that could only take place here in Australia. A guy, who subsequently introduced himself as Adrian, jumped up and invited us to join him and his 'mate' at their table. " I can see you are Poms visiting (how did he know?) and we can't let you sit on your own". This encapsulates the friendliness and lack of reserve that personifies this land and is part of what makes Australia so special. We had a great night and returned the favour tonight, entertaining Adrian and Marty at steak night. The steaks were perfectly cooked and the suggested Barossa Valley Shiraz complimented them perfectly. Both 'mates' work at the local James Cook University, which is a satellite of Melbourne Uni. Adrian is a real character, a retired policeman from Sydney, who has reinvented himself in HR at the university. A no nonsense personality, he must be a breath of fresh air in academia, but is clearly greatly appreciated in his role. Marty, his mate, is a scientist (an entomologist to be precise) and is involved in a research project to neutralise dengue fever, initially in tropical Australia, but ultimately world wide over the next ten years. ( to my astonishment, there can be up to 1500 cases a year here). They have pioneered the injection of a parasitic bacteria into the mosquito, which prevents the mosi passing on the fever to it's offspring and when the insects die, the fever virus dies with it. It is very exciting research and they are on the brink of proving its efficacy to the scientific world. Uptake elsewhere is already beginning and Marty spoke eloquently and passionately about his hopes for the project. Adrian listened to all this with an air of resignation before saying out of his mate's hearing " clever bloke, but does go on some!" And all we did was take ourselves out to supper at the Boat Club.Read more