There are perhaps three reasons why a tent is better than other accommodation. Alas, none of them come to me right now. Having decided that we’d spent many years intending to go to Far North Queensland and discovering that the timing of our stay was right in the middle of the most unusual wet and cold spell anyone could remember for a few decades, we gave up on the tent. A tent, after all, means you cannot stand upright, the floor is uneven and you just keep banging into other stuff that’s around you. A caravan, on the other hand, means you cannot stand upright, the floor is uneven, and you just keep banging into other stuff that’s around you - but you can touch the walls in the morning and not worry that a flood of water is going to pour in…

We rented an on-site van at the Billabong Caravan Park. Quite apart from the lime-green decor showing that the designer was totally devoid of any taste, we found ourselves with a multitude of light switches of which most apparently served no function. Those who are more caravan-savvy would know there are different switches for when the caravan is on 240V power rather than 12V. We, as it turns out, are not caravan-savvy and therefore spent a good number of minutes trying to get one of the ceiling lights to go on by flicking each and every switch we could find.

After our extensive testing procedure we came to the conclusion that the light bulb was blown since we’d run out of light switches. Before pulling the light fitting apart to check, I went to the office to get a new bulb. Upon returning with the new bulb, I discovered that the bulb was actually in working order and that clearly there was another switch around somewhere. Ultimately, through the assistance of the caravan park owner, we did manage to find the switch - it was placed behind the curtain in the far corner of the caravan. To get to this switch, one had to climb on the lower half of the bunk bed and, mindful of how one’s hair was scraping across the low caravan roof, reach at arm’s length behind the curtain.

Once we’d discovered the location, it was decided that it was indeed a logical placement to allow bunk bed users to get some light before climbing down the ladder in the middle of the night. However, for placing it behind a curtain and therefore out of the line of sight of any caravan occupant, the SPOTD for today would have to go to the designer of the caravan.

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Dunk Island. A tropical island resort in Far North Queensland primarily owned, it seems, by P&O who have a very expensive and not very exclusive resort sited there. It’s still illegal to shoot day-trippers at this stage though, so we took advantage of a cheap boat fare and zipped out there to soak up the sun and do a little snorkelling practice before going to the Outer Reef.

According to the island resort’s website you can hike up mountains, explore rainforest walks, jet ski, canoe, snorkel, play tennis or squash, parasail, to mention but a few of the activities. Now, if you were hoping to be our SPOTD you would have to identify yourself clearly since we would be distracted much of the time, correct? That’s probably why you’d be the only person on the entire boat wearing denim jeans and knee-length ugg boots. If there’s one thing we took as a basic assumption, it’s that anyone visiting a tropical island would have a clue about appropriate clothing for such a venture…

Categories: SPOTD
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