Cirrus@Austlit

'Our odyssey started conventionally enough, at the bus terminus on Trinity Wharf, Cairns-a terminus the fixtures and fittings of which had absorbed the amount of lonely boredom and frustration bus halts invariably do absorb. Thankfully there was no frustration on this occasion, nor even any need to use the seats: it was 6.45 am, and far too early for things to be running late. Our hand-written tickets in our hands, my companion and I surrendered the white copy (going up) to Mick the driver, and retained the pink copy (going down). Our bags were stored in the luggage trailer, a dozen or so others climbed on board, and at length we nosed into the quiet streets and the morning sunlight, passed the Casino and the glittering hotels, and began our passage to the north. There are two roads from Cairns to Cooktown, I should say before we go any further. The inland route is comparatively smooth, metalled all the way bar seventy kilometres of unsealed road, and often as featureless, dry, and dusty as an Australian road can be; the coastal route through rainforest and across numerous rivers-well, that is different.'