There are two kinds of homes typical for Australian landscape: wooden, elevated houses each on a vast piece of land, and campervans to cruise the whole continent. We opted for the latter one and started our trip in Cairns.

Who knows the area best but the locals? We were lucky to meet one: he took us to camping on the outskirts of Baron National Park (past Freshwater suburb), swimming in the waterholes there and we enjoyed the panorama of Cairns and the Scenic Route Train to Kuranda from Glacier Rock after a two-hour climb. Some of the locals come to the waterholes everyday for a refreshing nude swim. Botanic Gardens, The Tanks and the Lagoon on The Esplanade are the well-known and places worth a visit. Cristal Cascades is another great place for camping. It is a 1.2 km walk mostly on a concrete road, but the views of the waterfalls are quite pretty.

For the real taste of Great Barrier Reef we cruised to the outer reef on a boat from Sunlover Cruises, where we snorkelled and dived from a platform. It was one of the highlights of our trip. In Cairns we met an ex-soldier who had become an underwater photographer and a writer. He publishes children’s books. Animals from the reef – two turtles and a Wally – are the main characters and literally pose for the pictures.

Continental Green and Fitzroy Islands are beautiful; however, the first one is a very commercialised 5 stars resort with crowds of tourists. On Fitzroy at least one night camping is a great experience as it allows you to walk to Secret Garden and watch the sunset at Nudey Beach after the daily tourist have left the island.

For some wildlife experience we went to Hartley’s Wildlife Park (north of Cairns) – the crocodile show and the cruise on the river were both spectacular and educational. You could touch wallabies and a baby crocodile. The crocodile farms are becoming more and more popular and the skin is mostly sought by Italian and French fashion designers.

On the way north of Cairns are beautiful Palm Cove and Ellie Beach, as well as white-stoned Pretty Beach near Port Douglas. For a taste of the old days we went to Cooktown – so-called northern frontier of settlers’ civilization. The journey through the mountains was the highlight of this part of the trip, especially with camping and a bonfire on the banks of spectacular, stony Normanby River. At Mount Corbain we stopped for a truly outback experience- a rodeo (bull riding). Among the riders were many Aborigines, a few women, children and the youngest one was a 2.5 year old boy riding a calf. However great safety precautions were undertaken, three men flew in the air after being hit by the bulls and one of them was taken to hospital. One of the volunteers at the rodeo is a buffalos and wild horses’ hunter, and also a horse whisperer with lots of stories to tell. We witnessed a great union of local community, with a country life music band playing long into the night. Most of the participants camped just there sleeping under the stars.

Then we headed back to Mossman and then towards Daintree River where we went on a cruise on a solar panelled boat with crocodiles spotting. Driving through the rain forest towards Cape Tribulation was an adventure on its own with tree tops closing above our heads and wild cassowaries walking along the road. On Thornton Beach we met an 11 year boy looking for gold in the sand. The day before he proved to be able to look after himself the whole day by having a coconut for lunch, drinking water from a creek and eating fruit found in the forest – benefits of homeschooling. We met his mum and were invited to camp at their possession – a tiny clearing, just big enough for a house, surrounded by wild forest with forest dragons, wild birds and a creek. Its bubbles were supposed to make you laugh unwillingly if you drank from it. Standing knee deep in freezing water with straws made of paper and sticky tape we did laugh just at the situation itself. The boy turned up to be the best guide on the Cape Tribulation walking tracks (especially Marrdja boardwalk)- dominated by mangrove trees, where he was climbing almost any tree possible. We spent the next day swimming in Aborigines ritual waterholes shimmering turquoise, walking on a beach, throwing volcanic-jumping stones and listening to some old legends told by the artistically talented mother of our young friend. Getting to the other side of Daintree River on the 3 minutes long/$20 worth ferry crossing felt like leaving some magic land. Even an hour walk in Mosman Gorge and a swim in crystal clear, yet cold water could not wipe out this impression.

West of Cairns we visited Kuranda, a town known for its artistic character, all week round markets and a scenic railway with a cosy train station, full of beautiful pot plants. The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary is small but has an impressive collection of butterflies including famous blue-winged Ulysses. If you are lucky (or wear white) one may sit on you. We ended the day at the Baron River banks where the local bohemia celebrated someone’s birthday with life music, acrobats and bare foot kids running around looking for snakes.

Further south, passed Innisfail we took a road towards Japoonvale to visit Paronella Park – ruins of a castle built by a Spanish dreamer around 1930, after he had made his fortune on trading sugarcane fields. The park is still amazing, you can sense the creativity and persistence of the first owner – very inspiring. We stopped at Tully, one of the wettest towns of the coast (it rains here more than 200 days a year). It is also the art deco architecture capital of Queensland. The big boot and a frog are as good as the buildings .

Between 18 – 22 August, Townsville hosts Cultural Fest – celebration of diversity of cultures and traditions in Pacifica region. For one night we watched the concert with dances and songs, visited stalls with food and products.

In Airlie beach, while waiting for the cruise next day, we were looking for a place to stay (free camping is strictly prohibited in this area). The van led us to the outskirts of the town and we found ourselves in front of a big possession that, to our surprise, turned out to be a house of the owner of our cruising boat – Whitehaven Express. We were welcomed to stay and offered fresh eggs from their garden chicken farm, and promised a portion of freshly caught fish for lunch on the beach.

When cruising Whitsunday Islands there were a few great places we visited: Inlet Hill Lookout, with a magnificent view on the silica sand beaches, Whitehaven Beach with goanna joining us for lunch on the beach and a diving spot at Hook Island.

Just before Rockhampton we stopped at Capricorn Caves. The rocks are as impressive as the trees with gigantic roots, looking for water many meters below the surface. In one of the caves a fantastic tourist guide made us listen to opera music in complete darkness- an experience certainly not to be forgotten.

From Noosa what we will remember best is a 360 degrees scenic lookout at the end of Tinbeerwah Road, on the way from Tewantin. Sunsets and sunrises watched from there are truly spectacular.

In Brisbane we visited a woman we had met during our trip round New Zealand. Her father used to climb with Edmund Hillary, and spend his life on mountains working as a photographer and a tour guide. We spend some time going through boxes of old photos and slides and listening to stories about her childhood at Franc Joseph Glacier and then Mount Cook. There is the great Streets Beach and a park at the South Bank of the city. The view from the Big Wheel is good if you know what you are looking at and haven’t been to the London’s Eye.

At Gold Coast we could not refuse a ride on a big rollercoaster in Movie World, and missed because of a lack of time the highly recommended Water World with polar bears and manta rays.

Byron Bay has the beaches. Full stop. It has also great jewellery shops and eateries. Early morning we walked along Craig Beach towards its south end to climb a lookout on a small island called The Pass accessible only at the low tide.

Two days later we’re back in Sydney. So far we already have visited: Taronga Zoo, Sydney Aquarium, City Tower and all the touristic places.