The Outback

We left Magnetic Island on Wednesday afternoon and drove five hours to Yungaburra where we spent the night at On the Wallaby, a cozy backpackers lodge. The owner, Paul, grilled steaks for us and provided quality entertainment. He made us laugh through the entire meal, and we can't wait to return on our way back through Yungaburra.
Thursday morning, we woke up around 7 AM and packed our bags once again to head to Tyrconnell (a.k.a. the Outback!). It was a 2 1/2 hour drive, but with Paul driving and controlling the intercom and music, the time flew by. We stopped midway at Granite Gorge and fed the colony of rock wallabies that lived inhabited the area. They were incredibly tame and would even grab your hand while they ate the food out of it. There were even a few mama wallabies carrying around babies in their pouches! We left Granite Gorge and traveled through seemingly baren land, containing only gigantic termite mounds an occasional tree or bush. We drove down a long, bumby, winding road that led us to what felt like the middle of nowhere. We arrived around 3 o'clock at a house and met the family that owned the campgrounds where we were staying. They had three yound adorable boys who told us everything we needed to know while staying there. The parents, Andy and Kate, showed us to our tents at the bottom of the mountain. The tents were much nicer than we expected, tall enough to stand up sraing in and big enough to hold a double and twin mattress. Each tent held two people and had windows that could be unzipped and opened on each side to allow a little bit of airflow during the day in the hot and dry weather. The family was very friendly and had an open door policy for their house, which had an amazing back porch with a beautiful lookout. They had a giant tin barrel that contained rain water collected during the rainy season for us to drink and a nearby dam that supplied the water for our sinks and showers. Water was so precious there that there were locks on the water tanks to insure that it wouldn't be stolen during the night. Althought the dam water smelled sort of funny, the shower was warm and the bathroom was a lot cleaner than any of us expected it to be. Unfortunately, after walking back to my tent after showering, my feet were already covered in a ridiculous amount of dust. A few of us went hiking to the top of the nearby mountain late afternoon and reached the top just as the sun was setting. We had an amazing view of the surrounding mountains, our campground, and it felt like we were on top of the world. We hiked back and andy and Kate made a delicious beef stew for dinner and cobbler for dessert. It got much cooler at night and everyone soon fell asleep in our sleeping bags.
THe next morning, we woke up early due to countless, noisy bird calls and enjoyed a bacon and egg breakfast that the hosts cooked for us. Three friends and I spent the morning swimming at the dam while others hiked or panned for gold with Andy. It gets incredibly hot during the day and it's so hard to believe it is almost winter here. Kate told us that it gets close to 120 degrees F here during the summer!! Later on, Andy gave us a tour of the gold mine that they lived on and explained to us how they owned the only working gold mine in Queensland. THe day ended with a couple lectures frow different speakers and steak for dinner. The last night there, Brittany and I moved our sleeping bags outside our tent and slept under the stars. It was so amazingly peaceful and beautiful and the weather was perfect. Looking up at the sky, it's hard to imagine anyone ever denying a sovereign and almighty God that has perfectly created this amazing world! Sleeping under the stars in the Australian outback is something I will remember forever.
We left Tyrconnell yesterday morning and traveled back down the spiraling road to Chillagoe. It was a small town with not much history but nearby there were a few aboriginal caves with native paintings and amazing photo opportunities. We walked far into a cave and even had to crawl on our hands and knees while holding our camera and flashlight at some point during the hike. Later, we visited the Aboriginal male sacred place at a cave overlooking the most amazing view I have seen since arriving in Australia...I could have stayed up there forever! Steak is definitely a favorite here, and we once again had great ones for dinner that night...I'm not complaining! We then walked to a nearby air strip and layed on the ground and stargazed while a local explained some astronomy to us and showed us a few constellations seen in Australia. We camped out again last night at a nearby camp ground and woke this morning at 6:30 to head to Malanda.
Today in Malanda, we took a tour of the nearby rainforest and then waited at the office there for our farmstay family to pick us up. We were split into groups of four and sent home with a family until Tuesday. Many of the farms are different, being either fish, cattle, or buffalo farms and everyone was a little bit nervous because we had no idea what to expect...everyone was picturing a boot camp/ drill sergeant type experience. Luckily, I ended up with two of my closest friends with a very friendly family who live on 120 acre cattle farm. Its heaven. Because we have slept on the ground for the last three nights, we came here today to what seems like a dream come true. Although its not a mansion, its a very friendly family, good food, a hot shower, free laundry, internet, a comfy bed, and instead of doing work or labor, they simply want us to relax and enjoy our stay...so awesome! They have all kinds of animals- dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds, pigs, horses, cows, chickens, etc. (I love animals), and they made us pot roast for dinner. They live on a beautiful property and the woman here is going to show us all around tomorrow. This time away from the group is just what we needed and we are so blessed to have a family like this that is so willing to make us feel at home. I'm sure when the group meets back together, everyone will have all kinds of stories about their experience on their farm. After leaving here, we will head to Port Douglas, the rainforest, and learn a lot more about that aspect of the country. Until then, we are enjoying ourselves in a welcoming and cozy home!