There are in fact about 5 kangaroos hidden in this shot (honestly)
I made it clear from the offset that we didn't want to participate in one of those popular over-crowded commercialised tours. When the travel agent told us about an alternative tour which offered an altogether different experience we couldn't wait to sign up.
This morning we were picked up by Peachy and his 4x4 off-road vehicle. His real name is Lance Pietsch but everyone calls him Peach. He is as one could say 'the real deal' - born and raised in the bush, he made his living as a crocodile hunter before becoming a tour guide many years ago. He introduced us to his mate 'Crow' who was sitting in the passenger seat and announced that he was also coming along for the ride. Crow didn't say much and never took the sunnies (Australian for sunglasses) off his face the whole trip. As Peachy drove out of Cairns I asked him what he had planned for the day. Once he told me, I couldn't wait!
There's no terrain that deters Peachy and his 4x4
Peachy took us deep into the bush and tropical rainforests of the Atherton Tableland, a World Heritage area renowned for it's high-altitude forest. The name of his tour "Off the Beaten Track" is highly appropriate considering he made extremely good use of the vehicle’s capabilities and got us up close and personal with the native flora and fauna. We braced oursleves as Peachy drove almost vertically up and down terrain that clearly hadn't been covered by anyone else. Tree branches whipped and snapped against the vehicle as he successfully maneuvered through dense forest. By activating the windscreen wipers he removed the branches and parts of bush that had been building up. It wasn't long before we had our first sighting of Kangaroos although they were very well hidden. Ali and I loved asking him questions about what we were looking at. Our experience with Peachy was like Crocodile Dundee and David Attenborough rolled into one. It was great!
These Kangaroos couldn't hide so easily
Another highlight of the day was the true Aussie-style BBQ lunch that he provided for us. Without a doubt the best t-bone steak I've ever ate! Ali concurred.
This ladies and gentlemen, is a termite mound.
All in all, we managed to see kangaroos, platypus, dragon lizards, turmite mounds and some of the most spectacular scenery in Queensland. A very enjoyable day indeed.
