The Pyramid of Doom

Well, that is what I call it. Al and I just finished our lovely 3 day/3 night yacht trip on the Anaconda III and had to return to sweaty camping in theJucy , much to my sadness, but Alex's ever-positive attitude. I think I enjoy the idea of camping and roughing it more than the actual act of it...unless of course the tent comes fully equip with air conditioning and bug repellent that can be used at all times with no expense. Unfortunately , that is just not the case when travelling around the world for a year...there are expenses and there are luxuries that must be compromised...air conditioning being the one that makes me most upset. I don't know how she does it, but Alex always maintains such a happy disposition and never ever complains about anything...I don't think I complain per say, but I certainly like to point out the obvious every so often...OK, like every 2 minutes...but it is hot and there are tons of bugs biting me and I want Alex to know about it damn it...just in case she is not aware of forgets. So, back to the story, we ended our 3 days at sea with a smile on our faces and some gorgeous memories of scenery and wildlife that will not soon be forgotten. We decided that before we head down south along the east coast, that we turn around and head back up north a bit to visit our new friends inTownsville ...they were two little angels that helped us tremendously in Laos at the border and they have invited us to their house for a home-cooked meal, shower, bed in the air conditioning and the use of their washing machine. Janet and Lee are seriously like little cherubs with wings and hallows wearing tiny white diapers flying through the air shooting love arrows at people. From the moment we met them in the mini-bus, we loved them instantly. Janet is the Australian version of my mom and we just clicked! So, upwards we journeyed back through Ayr, Bowen (gorgeous little place), through Townsville (to return in a few days), to Ingham to see Wallaman Falls - an impressive waterfall with the longest drop of any waterfall in Australia with a massive 305 metres from top to bottom, onwards to Tully to take a photo of the largest Gumboot in the whole of Australia (looks like a giant gold wellington boot) stopping in Innisfail for the night, as we wanted to hike through the Wooroonooran National Park. We stayed at a lovely little caravan park with a glorious pool and spent the evening staying coolish in the pool before taking an icy cold shower (well, luke warm really, as the water pipes are heated by the sun each day and just do not allow the water to cool). And, the best part, was that there was someone famous staying in the caravan park too...and we are not talking Country Shadows famous, we are talking really famous. A woman named Deborah DeWilliams and her dog Maggie who are running the entire circumference of Australia for cancer. They live in two pink caravans and the rules are that you have to walk or run every single day and cannot have a day without running or walking, they cannot be picked up by a car and the minimum kilometres that must be covered are 20km per day (about 12 miles) and each km must commence where the km ended the previous day. We wanted to go harass her, especially me, as I have some issues with celebrities, but it was late and Alex made me promise not to bother her. She is a breast cancer survivor and is and ultra-marathon runner and is a world record holder...awesome. She began in March 2010 and is due to finish in March 2011...she has a blog too so check it out at www.runningpink.com.au. Just looking at those pink caravans and thinking about how much she runs per day built up an appetite so we made a delicious bowl of bland for dinner (that is what Alex calls all of our meals, as they are justtasteless and un-exciting). Bowl of Bland, for those interested in the recipe is as follows:
Ingredients:
generic pasta (any shape, go wild)
Coles brand pasta sauce (this is similar to Hill Country Brand or Sainsbury's Brand)
Coles brand canned veg (again, be creative. We tried minted peas and baby corns)
Coles brand canned tuna
salt and pepper from packets stolen from fast food restaurants
Recipe:
Bowl water, add pasta and cook until desired tenderness is reached.
Drain pasta
In a large generic plastic bowl, add generic pasta and mix with all the Coles brand canned veg, tuna and pasta sauce
Add salt and pepper to your desired taste
Enjoy your Bowl of Bland

***For a Bowl of Bland in the morning, you just need a box of Coles brand rice puffs (the generic version of Rice Krispees) and mix with a cup of Coles brand milk and enjoy. To be daring and add some flare to your morning Bowl of Bland, feel free to add the cheapest piece of fruit on special in the grocery store or some generic raisins***

Please feel free to share this recipe with friends, family and loved ones. So, after a lovely dinner of Bowl of Bland, we retired to our oven, I mean tent, to toss and turn, I mean sleep. Honestly, that night was actually a tiny bit tolerable, as there was a terrible thunder and rainstorm so we were kept cool by the rain that drenched out tent. We may have been soaked, but at least we were not wet with sweat. We made it toWooroonooran National Park, but decided to forgo the hike through the park (for me, this was because there were leeches and I just cannot deal with that again after that TamaraNegara ), but there was the Josephine Falls and the Boulders to explore and these sounded way more interesting than another hike through another national park. Despite the plethora of recent deaths and drownings due to torrential rainfall, we decided to take a dip in the Josephine Falls swim hole...we were warned about crocodiles and ensured that we were in a safe bit. the water was fresh and clear and most importantly cool. We took a quick dip and pressed onto The Boulders, another popular swim hole for locals with a lovely little 2km walk around to take some unbelievable snaps (eventually we will get pics up on the blog, but we have been experiencing some technical difficulties as of late). The Boulders are quite self explanatory, as they are a series of boulders making up streams and waterfalls and bordering some very refreshing watering holes in which to swim and honestly, it is next to impossible to stay cool in Australia unless one is swimming, taking a cold shower or in a highly air conditioned building. So, after a refreshing, relaxing morning, we ventured onwards pressing ever North to 40km from Cairns to a place calledGordonvale where they have a mountain that is literally shaped like a pyramid and is the local landmark and site. Some crazy man in the 1800s decided to climb up this mountain, literally to the top, and subsequently create a path that goes directly straight up to the top and each year, in the winter time, there is a race from a pub inGordonvale all the way up and then back down this mountain and back to the local pub for a brew. The fastest recorded time this race was completed was in 1 hour and 19 minutes...clearly by some insane sporty psycho...like Alex :) Speak of the devil, once we got that tidbit of information about a crazy hike up a mountain to the top in which a race is run every year, we were off to conquer that mother! We got to the base of the Pyramid, otherwise known as Walsh's Peak, at about 1pm and since we had not eaten anything, we decided to have some crackers with peanut butter for some energy...to quote Pretty Woman..."big mistake, huge!" And boy was it ever a mistake, with generic peanut butter and Coles brand crackers repeating on us both all the way up that mountain. Alex and I are very good at preparing for these mammoth hikes, in that we always bring enough water and sunblock, but I sometimes forget my fitness level and what is appropriate to wear and this causes some suffering. To paint a picture, I decided to wear a rashy ...this is a long sleeved shirt that is worn when swimming to prevent sun from touching ones flesh. I am obsessed with mine, as it prevents sunburning and means I do not have to use sunblock on my upper body while wearing it. This was my thinking when I decided to wear it during our hike, as i cannot be bothered to reapply sunblock onto sweaty skin during a massive hike. What I forgot was that rashies are meant to be worn in the water and the material just sticks to your skin and soaks up water like a sponge...it is meant to keep your body warm as well while swimming, which is not the aim of hiking attire. Needless to say, I took that off and hiked in a sports bra so you can imagine how hot I was to be hiking in public with a sports bra on! About 30 minutes into the 4 1/2 hour hike, I was feeling very hot and overwhelmed by the extreme uphill that made up this hike...there were literally no straight aways or flat bits to walk on...it was straight uphill in a forest with rocks and boulders to climb and spider webs to dodge and a heart rate that is constantly high. Alex was very good at taking breaks, which is honestly the only way I could make it up the thing. I kept thinking about how people race up this thing and in an hour to boot...impossible. I knew what Alex was thinking, "I could totally run this race." And, I bet she was trying to memorize the track for her return to the race sometime in August...oh, and I did ask her what she was thinking about she was in fact thinking just that. There were moments where I really wanted to stop and turn around, but I really tried to push forward and by taking multiple breaks and drinking tons of water, we eventually made it to the top and what a spectacular view...like a patchwork quilt of farmland. Those farmers are soorganized and neat...everything is even and in neat little squares covering acres and acres of land. I cannot wait to post the pics of each of us on the top of this mountain, as this is the best way to express each of our individual reactions to the hike. Alex is standing up on the upper most rock with arms up and a "I conquered the Pyramid" face on, while I am lying down on the flattest rock unable to move or smile, just sweating profusely and breathing heavily...classic! The worst bit about getting to the top is realizing that you then have to climb down the mountain, and oh what a climb that was...I sometimes think it is more difficult to climb down mountains and this was truly one of those times. Needless to say, we did make, but my joints were creaking and crunching the whole way down. Alex was a sprightly little thing bouncing from rock to rock like a little hoppity bunny...what a dick! Does anything impact this pillar of fitness...the answer is NO! But, I'll tell you, if you ever have to pick a team for some outdoor sport challenge, choose Alex if you want a winning team and she has such a great attitude...never complaining or bitching. You could choose me too, but more for comedic relief and it is always good to take that person who has the accident if an accident will be had for your own safety. We made it down in one piece and honestly I only did it by channeling the spirit of Deborah DeWilliams...she would not let a little lack of fitness and dehydration stop her! She broke both her feet and survived breast cancer for crying out loud! We then made our way to our first free place to stay since renting this Jucy van, but free means parking in their parking lot and using the showers and kitchen area...not actually getting a free room...and there was no rain storm last night...oh no sir, but there was a blanket of humidity from the previous day's storm and no breezes penetrate a humidity blanket so we basically roasted like a Christmas ham and a Thanksgiving turkey in that bitch all night long...for some reason we had really hot necks and let me just be the first to say that a hot neck means a hot body and there is nothing you can do. We watched the Santa Claus, which made us hotter with rage at just how shit that movie is and then we eventually passed out intermittently throughout the evening until we arose with the sun...due to the frying effect it has on your skin and not because we wanted to do sun salutations like true yogis...if you were wondering.