Big Adventures of a Little Muppet Dog - Part V

Big Adventures of a Little Muppet Dog

June 1st to June 29

The journey continues now through Queensland...

It's been an amazing three months. Feels like three years for a furry. If I think about my life before I met my folks, that sucks..... I know I'm now a very lucky furry to have an adventure about Australia at my youthful age. 

After the big trip to Cape York, we remain in Mareeba for about one week. The folks had planned to leave earlier but things crop up so we stay longer. Aunty Karen and Aunty Irwin have two dogs who would perhaps eat the likes of me, so I have my own yard on one side of the fenced area, with our tin can, and they all live over the other side. I feel safe and I remain in the yard even thought I could sneak through the front fence, but shoosh, don't tell my folks that. Also staying in this yard are friends of my Aunties, Gay and Paul and their two dogs, Molly and Tara. They are okay but I'm happy with my humans and we all get along without too much butt sniffing.

After Cape York I am pooped moop, I prefer to plank, my favourite thing, and play ball, my favourite thing and get cuddles, my favourite thing. The folks see a few movies here as apparently the RSL club has movies and movies are Pa's favourite thing. We check out the town, it's big, lots of people and shops around. Mareeba is known for coffee and wine so the smell of the two aromas in the air, is weird, not altogether awful, just sweet and bitter I guess! Granite Gorge is something else, I come face to face with a wallaby furry, smells odd, and looks at me as though I'm odd.....helloooo weird marsupial furry. This Boulder walk is insane to say the least. We all think it's going to be a cruisy walk but it's mainly boulders we walk over, sometimes with crevices between each boulder, very scary for a little muppet. Pa has to pick me up lots. Ma's knee isn't doing so well but we get there, past dinosaur footprints. Real footprints! How scary is that. I wouldn't be much of a meal to one of them, almost get caught in one of their teeth. Really worth doing though if you get the chance.

 

 

 

 

Other sites seen around Mareeba are the wetlands and the Bat Hospital, where I feel I'm almost replaced, not my favourite thing. Ma loved bats and I hear all about it later on.
 

Ma and Pa were going to leave after four nights but they find out friends are visiting not far away so we head into Kuranda. I know I've been here before as similar smells. Aunty Squeeze and Aunty Neil met us for lunch and wander around. I feel like an ant as I'm surrounded by four giant humans. It's nice here, rather touristy but really worth it. I can sense Ma could buy a bit of stuff here if she had more room in the tin can.
 

That night is really cold, even I have a blankie around me. There have been few cold nights here which the folks seem to enjoy. I get extra cuddles here, I think they are sucking my warmth, and allow me to jump on the bed in the morning, my favourite thing. The curlew birds shriek throughout the night, they are Ma's favourite thing, but to me it's a weird sound.
 

After one week with our new family, we pack the tin can up and all six humans and I head south to a lake just near Atherton. Lake Tinaroo.

I get into the kayak with Pa, it's so windy here and cold for Pa but not me with my fur coat on. After a play in the water and lunch, we say goodbye to new friends and travel east through, Yurrumburra, Malanda, check out a curtain fig tree.......

and then a waterfall circuit - Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Elinjaa falls. We keep driving along the Palmeston highway and arrive at Babinda late. My folks need my eye site as the free campsite is packed and it's dark so they camp where they can for one night and move the tin can the next day to a nicer spot and here we camp for two nights.

We can't do much as it rains a lot, not my favourite thing as I can't be walked much or head to the river that I remember from last time. The folks love it as they haven't seen rain like this for months and they still get to wear shorts and thongs. Ma gets her hair cut and shops at the op shop and Pa chillaxed and then after three nights back at Babinda, we're off again, through Cardwell, where we check out Hinchinbrook lookout and finally ended up at Rollingstone free camp for the night. It's packed here, so many people...some look they've been here for weeks but people seem to come and go. The folks meet some friendly peeps nearby, everyone is packed in and we start off having no one near us then it's full house. Nice green park here with river for me to play in.

 

The next day we head to Townsville where we base ourselves for eight nights. Grandma and Aunty Kath come all the way up from Melbourne to visit me...err...us. We all meet them at the airport that night and I bark as they are wearing the same outfits. I wonder if they are really twins! We check out the city lights from the amazing Castle Hill and head to their home where they are staying for for six nights. We get them settled into their accommodation which is next door to the caravan park where we are staying and then the day after we check out the town. It sure is beaut here. It does rain a trickle but we have fun day walking up the Main Street, lots of friendly locals say hello to me, of course, and that night they head out to Italian restaurant whilst my important job of guarding the tin can starts. If only they knew that all I do is sleep. Occasionally the curlew birds shrieking gets my heart racing and I can hear bats in the palm trees above me, but I am a tough Muppet (sometimes....shhhh)

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June 13th already and we head to Charters Towers for the day, checking out the old buildings, picnic lunch at the look out, bats in the park and drink at the pub.

It's only an hour and half drive back and Ma cooks dinner for everyone at the tin can. We have our own toilet and shower at this caravan park in a handy brick room, called an ensuite. Seems all spots have this ensuite. The folks use it to store stuff so seems to come in handy.

There are many furrys in the park and some tell me they never get out much and are bored. I try to help them escape but doesn't work. I'm sure the folks would be okay with more furrys on the trip although my cuddles would be reduced so maybe it worked out for the best, and really I am a bossy girl and prefer just me and my humans.

Sunday we check out the markets, Monday the humans head to Magnetic Island for the day and I am placed in doggy daycare. I have lots of fun here although some other furrys need to back off. I think they smell my excellence and want it. I play all day until my folks pick me up and woof, I am happy they came back for me. 

The rest of the time we check out Paluma National Park where they swim at crystal creek and have to hide me as furrys aren't allowed in such places, and two of the  botanical gardens. The gardens here are amazing, so lush and green and trees we've never seen before. Grandma seems to love it! As we wander around, huge planes (F18's-EN) fly around us, my ears go mental each time. Ma loves these planes, they're her favourite thing. Due to a RAAF base here, the fly over most days. It sounds like enemy approaching to me and I feel the need to almost run for cover!

 

So it comes time for Grandma and Aunty Kath to head home, Ma takes them to the airport and Pa finds a pub to watch State of Origin. Pa meets a couple there and eventually Ma joins him. The couple end up asking the folks over for dinner the next night. They are so friendly in this town, I could live here. 

Our last day comes and I help of course throwing my ball around although this seem to go down enormously as they pack, and a little down south we drive, back to Home Hill to visit family again. We all chillax here and eats loads. I get to chase birds, roll in their poo, have the house to lounge in and get plenty of cuddles. Rosie the stalker lesbian furry has calmed down a bit thankfully and it appears she has seen more furrys since she saw me but then again, not enough as she constantly watches me when dinner isn't happening. Aunty Paul sorts out a cane fire for the folks to watch, it's amazing. We end up seeing three decent cane fires here, one point of the cane field gets lit and then "boom" takes about 10-20 minutes for all cane to be burnt in succession and ready for harvesting. The sky turns black, kites fly around in search of prey that manages to run or fly out, the crackling noises fill my ears and the black ash pours out of the sky as the flames eat the field. It's a fantastic spectacle.  The ash does settle everywhere on cars and homes but the wind afterwards pulls it off. Apart from the folks visiting a sugar cane mill and all of us heading to Townsville again for the day with Aunty Kaye and Aunty Evan we have a fairly relaxed time. No sooner than I was tolerating Rosie, we were off to Charters Towers for the night to visit new friends, with a dog the size of a house, and after a much cooler night we head north west through The Lynd, Einasleigh and into Forsayth for two nights. The road travelled today had many dead Roos, termite mounds, picturesque mountains that I really wanted to run down and rather dry countryside. The folks soon chat to a cop, Aunty Ian and then next minute I meet his dog, Savannah, for some reason. One of those long dogs that look like a sausage, not a dog.

I soon find out the next day why I've met Savannah - I'm staying with her and Aunty Kelly and Aunty Ian for the day, in a police station mind you! It's fun there so whilst the folks relax knowing I'm in good care, they head to Cobbold Gorge for the day. I give the house a good sniff. I can smell so much history here but I do sit at the window to see if the folks have arrived for me on and off.  When I eventually hear their car, I leap up and down and zoom out to them. Silly me, in the haste I slip over and plant my face to the ground, everyone laughs but it's not funny, I just want Ma and Pa, hugs all around. Woof! 

till our next adventure, woof!!

Big Adventures of a Little Muppet Dog - Part IV

Big Adventures of a Little Muppet Dog

May 13th to May 31st

So the folks and I joined the gang and up north we apparently went from Lakeland (got a chipped windscreen - EN) through Laura until we camped the night at Kennedy River. Imagine driving off a red dirt track, where a small circular browny dirt area awaited us. Couple of trees in the middle and a bench setting. There are also trees all around the outside of the circle. Smells of bovine greeted me so I couldn't wait to jump out of the car although being my height, I tend to tire of looking at humans ankles. Although Ma and Pa's skin isn't so see-through anymore, they've actually browned up, woof!

No one else here so we set up for the night. The folks put their new sleeping arrangements, bigger kennel (fellow campers spare tent - EN), up and down nearly every day on this trip, gives me a head start of at least one hour of planking. Pa took me down to the river and I wondered if I could dig a hole to Melbourne yet! I didn't get that far but I dug until I found water. The bovine smell here was fierce. That night, I don't sleep well, noises all around me that I've never heard before. Sounds seem noisier in the kennel. Cattle moo'ing nearby leaves me wide eyed and restless. "Not sure about this Ma and Pa" I growl and get told not too.

As we travel the next day the sky has loads of those Eagles/kites, they watch and wait for road kill and any other food source they can eat. I edge to my seat and hope their cunning eyes show disdain for my taste. It appears they do. Whilst looking out to the surrounding nature, there are these high dirt mounds aplenty, termites I hear the folks say. Squillions of them, I can hear their noisy work and I can't believe the folks can't. This is the place to live if you are a termite, although how you'd find the right termite companion when so much competition, I just don't know. Thankfully due to the dusty roads, the windows are kept up and the noise levels subdues. Also roaming around are more bovines, have to be careful driving Pa, don't want to hit one.

We have a pit stop at Musgrove Station and a white furry seems to take an interest in my butt. My growls keep it at bay although Ma fawns over the stinky furry. Funny thing here is seeing an airfield with bovine walking around the strip, woof! Further north we trek to Coen and as I'm not allowed at the (S)Exchange hotel, I am tied up outside whilst they all sit in the garden slugging brews. Lucky I am only a short distance away otherwise whining may have happened, not their favourite thing. We camp just north of here the night near a creek. Two furrys live nearby and hang around, as this is their territory, I tolerate their presence. Then it's swim time and before I know it, sleeping, my favourite thing. I wake up many times throughout the night. Bovines are walking nearby and munching on greenery. I think I kept the folks awake again!

We head up to Archer River, dead stinky boar on side of road, lots of cattle, sand red then white then green vegetation and heaps of minor river crossings. Lots of gum trees,  the humans chop wood for their camp fire and then we are into rainforest scenery, a place called Chilli Beach. We have now come to the east coast and by crickey it's windy and I'm sure I can hear the ocean roaring only metres away. I overhear that furrys aren't allowed here so we all must be careful although from what I heard, a ranger told the folks that we won't have a problem bringing her in. After a camp fire, humans chatting and me trying to stay awake it's again, time to sleep. I do not sleep....I repeat, I do not sleep. It's noisy here. Wind, ocean, dark, animals....what the hell have they brought me too. I'm sure we are going to be abducted by some animals I hear roaming around the big kennel. I somehow manage a couple of hours and I am left in the big kennel the next morning whilst they do what humans do (walk the beach, so much rubbish brought in from boats etc on the beach - EN). I am enjoying my new Aunty's more and more, they are a funny bunch. They give me loads of cuddles and I hear one day that I'm the perfect dog, yeah, I know, woof! Tonight seems an important occasion and a camp roast is cooked and before I know it, tables are set up with tablecloths, shells and flowers and we all sit around having a blast. I manage to sneak a few bits of meat from my Aunty's when the folks weren't looking. After a crap night sleep, I have a vom and this makes me feel better. I still don't sleep much.

Today we head further north and then west to an actual town, Weipa! I was beginning to wonder if we'd lost track of civilisation altogether. I notice mums fingernails are dirty, and her clothes aren't the best, I must try point out that washing is due soon. We set up camp here and yes, washing is done. I begin to think I'm tellepathetic, no, telleportal, oh you know what I mean. 

The next day I'm left with Aunty's as the folks do a Rio Tinto mine tour in the morning.  I hear it's not bad. The folks also find a supermarket and stock up a bit and I hear they can only buy frozen bread here! After a second night here, I think I may have had a better night sleep, which I gain plenty of cuddles and "good girls" for. I must try to sleep better but I'm just a little dog and the noises heighten my anxiety. We all leave Weipa and head north to Moreton Station. Cattle along the roads and are they stupid or what, don't get out of the way but we manage not to hit any. At camp tonight a slithery thing was near us, so I growled at it, then a few humans got on edge. A snake it's called and it zoomed off and we never saw that again. We finished the night around the camp fire. I lounged on Pa's lap and enjoyed the warmth of the flames. The humans chatted and watched the full night sky, full of stars.

The next day I felt so plankable. Bush turkeys were roaming around and they're noisy birds. I wonder what they'd taste like.....We drove on, past more cattle and a few kangaroos and breaked at Bramwell Station where Pa made the mistake of putting petrol in the diesel tank. I wasn't sure this was a problem, but apparently it was so the folks both panicked. Thankfully, the story I heard ended okay. Aunty Barry, Ian, Phil and Garry towed Pa out to the rubbish dump and when they couldn't find an outlet under the car to empty the tank, Aunty Barry drilled a hole in the tank and it all drained out. Then Pa was towed back to us and Aunty Barry put a screw in the hole with something called 'need-it' and we waited patiently until it was dry and okay to fill up again, with diesel this time. All was well and it only put us a few hours behind. I was taken on many short walks whilst they were gone and I could feel Ma a bit anxious but she knew Pa was in good paws. Phew......got out of that scrape.

We cruised down the old telegraph track to Palm River where I wanted to get out into the water, my favourite thing, but the humans decided to keep driving along a very bumpy track, I think I lost some brain cells, and across a deep water crossing, yep, Berta the BT50 made it through to camp at Canal Creek. There was only us staying at this camp. I reckon that insane water crossing kept a few out. Seriously, are these humans nuts!

The next day the folks and I switched cars and we drove with Aunty Phil and Aunty Hauley along an old telegraph track. As we cruised cockatoo, around gunshot and Birdy Water crossings, I came to the conclusion that these humans are mad, very mad. Up and down, swish and swash, bump after bumps. Through muddy water, rivers, sand....just when I planned to get the straight jackets out, we were at the famous Twin Falls and Elliot Falls and we all had an earned swim.

Most humans even jumped from top of the rocks into the water, yikes. Hopefully this has washed the crazies out of their brains. At camp tonight music was played and I can barely remember the awful singing that ensued as I was exhausted, yet again!

The next day we took a dip at Fruit Bat Falls where Pa's phone broke and both the folks lost their sunglasses, such is life. That may mean less photos taken of me as one less phone to be able to take them. We headed up to Punsand Bay and stayed here for three nights. Gorgeous spot, beaches for me to run, animal tracks to sniff and more sleepless nights whilst bush turkeys and bandicoots came up to the tent. Not sure bush bashing is my favourite thing!

After watching sunrise, why does Ma do this, it was finally time to visit what the trip was kind of about. The most northerly point in Australia. We parked the four cars and walked up the rocky cliffs past the mangroves, and back down again to the other side where a small sign greeted us. There was no one about and we managed some crazy photos, even I was happy about these photos. We all dunked our paws into the water that was slushing about the tip, cool feeling on my worn out paws. After some group photos we headed back and I spotted two dingos checking me out on the drive back, I could sense they wanted to eat me. I tried to stare them out, they were both thin and poor looking so a meal of me would have satisfied them, yuk, why am I even writing this.

The next day the humans all went on a helicopter ride, seeing my favourite humans zipping off in a very small tin can with blades on top was daunting but my aunties all soothed me. The folks said it was pretty good but the pilot wasn't very knowledgeable about the area. 

Now, the next part, I needed the straight jacket to stop the humans. Aunty Hauley wanted to go through a river crossing where we had to be winched out. So Ma and I stayed in the car with him and the others put the winch around a tree. I'm looking at this tree, cos I know my trees and as we started winching the tree fell down. Aunty Hauley laughed and then I noticed water on the floor which was handy as I was feeling thirsty.  Ma told Aunty this and they realised the door had a leak. Nothing too serious so onward we travelled. The folks and I got dropped off at Cable Bay and walked back to our campsite at Punsand Bay where they ate fresh fish for dinner. Kindly caught by our neighbours, and I even got a little taste as they had so much given to them.

After a night where I think I slept a little more easily we left the next day for the big trak back to Cooktown. It began to rain, very small amounts but the humans were glad as it kept the dust to a minimum on the roads. Checked out a DC3 plane wreck and caught the Jardine river ferry back across. Four humans and I drove the old telegraph track down to the actual Jardine River, Ma was driving and I gave Pa a glance to ensure he thought this was a wise move. Over a few river crossings, up a hill to where they stopped and even I looked. Aunty Phil and Hauley were down a ditch, back wheels spinning around but they were ok. Seems Aunty Hauley was so busy looking for a termite mound in the shape of Queensland that he'd seen on a previous trip that instead of a path in front, the cars bumper kissed the ground. Pa popped the snatchems on our car and we pulled their car out. They all had a laugh and I just looked at them again thinking to myself 'why'!

 Looking back it was defiantly an adventure and I think it's one of my favourite things, adventure, that's what this is all about. We drove back and met up with the others and as the window was down, the wind was blowing my ears I couldn't help but think.......nothing really. Wind, my favourite thing. 

We spent the next few nights through Coen, Kennedy River, Laura, Old Laura, Normanby River then the scenery changed to rainforest flora and then we were at Cooktown. Stayed here overnight where I'm pretty sure we all had best nights sleep in the big tent so far.

The road travelled the next day took us through the Black Mountains, into The Lions Den and then Ayton where we camped for the night. Great caravan park here, not many people around and I was off leash a fair bit, sniffing the camp dogs butts that lived there. Nice quiet night sleep then off again, putting the cars up rocky roads along the CREB track to Megs Falls and then finally we hit the Daintree and we stay at Cape Tribulation for two nights. Very wet under the big kennel here, sand flies bite me but its a pretty spot here. We go for big beach walks and I am snuck into a camp where dogs aren't allowed for our final nights dinner with the gang. Sad to say ta-ta to my fellow travellers but we must move on. Across the Daintree on the ferry, into Port Douglas to catch up with Aunty Trish and check out the markets and then back to Mareeba where our tin can awaits us. We are all daunted looking at all the dust to clean on the car,  washing to wash and tin can to be sorted out again. The folks get it all done and I help by staying out of their underfoot of course!! Woof!


time to plank, my favourite thing.....