Tag: australia

We made it to Cairns! We ended our time with Kill Bunny by spending the night at the perfect camp site. Three or four other groups were camped there as well. It was a beach front parking lot with hot showers and all of the amenities.

People were curious as to why we had driven so far. We only met one other person that drove from Melbourne. He arrived in Cairns around the same time that we did but he started his trip four months before us. We hadn’t felt rushed. Actually, we kind of felt slow. CD walked from Mexico to Canada in four months; it would have felt weird to take that long to drive from Melbourne to Cairns but maybe we should have slowed down a bit more. I don’t know.

In any case, we made it! I felt a bit of relief when we dropped off Kill Bunny in one piece. I also felt a bit sad and lost. So here I was walking through this “lagoon” while eating a snow cone.

It was windy and overcast so snorkeling and diving boats weren’t expected to sail for a few days. We opted for a guided tour to the Daintree Rainforest. We were the only guests and our tour guide, Jim, was pretty straight forward. He opened up with “back when I dropped out of society for bit.” He went on to offer advice on mango wine, lemonade fruit, and commune living. He warned us about aggressive eight foot long snakes in the sugar cane fields, cassowaries that disembowel their victims, and crocodiles that leap from rivers. The tour included the site of Steve Irwin’s death and favorite local pubs. His dialogue covered politics, religion, hot sauce, Mexican food, human rights, the environment, and tequila.

We spent the next few days drinking cocktails and waiting out the weather. The Great Barrier Reef was worth the wait. It was like snorkeling in an aquarium, as far as I could see. We say an oyster so large that it felt like it was out of a movie.

We flew back to Sydney and spent a day walking a hiking trail around the city. Don’t ask me what it was called.

During our time in Australia, with the Kill Bunny, we learned that speed limits can be aspirations more than limitations, brush turkeys can be aggressive, cassowaries aren’t as prominent as the signage would have you believe, sugar cane fields smell like sweet corn, it isn’t easy to see a platypus, and when in danger in the wild I will throw CD to the wolves and run.

This is a story about the first camper van that we loved. It was a remarkable pink and white van from Wicked Campers in Australia. It’s name was “Kill Bunny.” We didn’t name it. The name was painted all over it.

Wicked Campers can’t be mistaken for anything else. If you have seen one, you remember it. We reserved the least expensive option. When we arrived to pick it up, they pointed us to what I considered to be quite an offensive camper. It was painted with a giant bunny holding an automatic weapon. The word “kill” was painted on my door. The back door was painted with the following words: You aren’t drunk if you can lay on the floor without holding on.

Wicked Camper’s front entrance proudly displayed van’s painted with John Lennon’s “Imagine”, The Beatles, flowers, and jelly beans. Even Fat Albert looked good to me! I suggested that CD go in and ask if we could trade for “Imagine.” It turns out that less offensive graphics were considered an upgrade. Well, Kill Bunny it was! Over time, I saw Wicked campers painted with Kamasutra, even more shocking sexual references, and down right offensive sayings. With progressively more off color graphics, I came to love the Kill Bunny more and more.

The camper came with all of the basics. This included a table that converted to a bed, a single propane burner, two camping chairs, and clear instructions. The instructions were given in the form of stickers. The stickers said things like the following: If you swerve to avoid a kangeroo you will likely roll over.

Kill Bunny was a wild ride! It bounced like crazy at the slightest bump or cross wind. CD remarked that the speed limits signs were now more like aspirations than limits. Our driving days were short as it was easy to believe that hitting any animal would be a disaster. Our headlights weren’t really up to par and the shocks were crazy!

We started by heading West from Melbourne towards the Twelve Apostles. Inspired by Point Break, we stopped at Bell’s Beach and admired the view. From the Twelve Apostles we headed North towards Falls Creek Ski Resort.

We hiked through the woods to the golf course in Mount Beauty in order to see our first Kangaroos of the trip. From there we headed East again.

Just as Kill Bunny was starting to feel like home, it started to squeak louder than ever before. It turned out that we threw out a throw out bearing. Who knew?! Wicked Vans took care of the repairs and we were back on the road in no time.

We got to see the power of Kill Bunny first hand when CD turned around on this country road. The back wheels dipped from the shoulder of the road down an incline that was at least 1-2 feet. Kill Bunny was stuck! The combination of grass and a slight incline was too much for the Bunny to over come. Don’t worry, I rolled up my sleeves and pushed it out. That was the last time we turned around a gentle slope.

Stayed tuned for our next blog post, titled: “Peeing with Amphibians”.