Cooktown to (nearly) Mackay

 

Thursday 18 July

We awoke, broke camp and drove the very pleasant 266 km to Port Douglas.  The long winding drop from the tablelands to the coast did not do Shirley any good, even though it was a magnificent scenic drive.

We set up  camp and went for a walk around Port Douglas. 

Snorkelling was the main aim for today.  While Shirley indulged in some retail therapy (some new shoes) I joined the “Quicksilver Outer Barrier Reef” tour and headed 74km north east to their 500-person pontoon at the edge of the continental shelf.  It was a great ride and apparently the smoothest and sunniest for some time.

I was convinced that $7 was a good investment in a lycra suit and protection from nasties in the water and sunburn.  Did I look a picture.  The first 50 minutes were spent in the water snorkelling admiring the variation and beauty of the coral and the fish, while holding and using an underwater camera.  It was an amazing experience.

I have added another page to the blog that includes a number of the photos that I took with my underwater camera.

Lunch was then available with prawns being the main ingredient.  No excellent wine to accompany it however.
It was then time for a ride on the semi-submersible, a boat where the passengers sit in the hold and view the coral and fish through glass panels.  The views were even better than with the snorkelling.  After that it was time to visit the underwater viewing centre, then relax before the trip home.  It was a wonderful day.

Snorkellers in Great Barrier Reef water (outer reef)

Day 62 was  Saturday, or Daintree Day for us. 
So we headed north and our first stop was Mossman Gorge, about 24 km away.  As most of you would know the Daintree is a World Heritage Listed rainforest being over 1200 square km.  If you have never seen a decent rainforest this would be a good place to start.  The whole setup is well organised and visitors are delivered into the rainforest by eco/electric open buses.  From there you can do a very pleasant 3 km walk, the key highlights being the rainforest, the waterways and the huge trees.  The coffee was also pretty good as well in the visitors centre.

The trip north involves a ferry across the Daintree River, so we sung “Ferry across the Mersey” while we waited the 45 minutes for our turn.  The ferry apparently will not become a bridge as the increased level of tourist could threaten the ecosystem of the Daintree Rainforest.

Mossman Gorge Rainforest

Shirley at the Daintree Discovery Centre

Once across the river it was onto the Daintree Discovery Centre, which involves more rainforest walks (all on man made walkways to protect the rainforest), a 25 metre high tower that allows you to observe the various levels of the rainforest, a reptile display, and audio/visual centre and of course the café.  The camera again got a workout but we did not see the key resident—a cassowary-a local bird that looks a bit like a huge chook (they can grow to 2 metres high).  It was an impressive stopover.

We wandered north until we came to Cape Tribulation and then decided that I was time to wander along the beach.  It was another high quality Queensland beach.

Cape Tribulation Beach

Daintree Cassowary

It was time to start drifting home.  No sooner had we turned round when Shirley’s eyes spotted a Cassowary on the side of the road.  With very little verge on which to park I had to park partly on the road with the hazard lights on.  It’s not every day that you see a Cassowary so we were very happy.

Our next stop was the Daintree Ice-Cream Company, where we each had a $6 tub with four flavours.  It was superb and very refreshing.

Speed Hump

We were amused to see some strange speed humps that consisted of standard raised concrete humps with embedded local rocks.  It was not a good idea to cross them in excess of the stated speed limit.


After our return Daintree ferry trip we detoured to visit Daintree Village, which looked like a lovely spot for a relaxing holiday.

It was Kay’s birthday so fresh prawns and salad was the main course for dinner.  Darryl and I shelled the two kg of prawns.  The birthday cake was an excellent dessert.

Sunday was Port Douglas market day.  I found my favourite jam—fig jam.  We also tried cane juice which came from sugar cane that was crushed as we watched.  It is apparently very healthy.

Walking around the market was thirsty business so Darryl and I headed to Paddy’s Irish pub for a Guinness while the ladies went looking for an iced coffee.  The ladies joined us some time later and we stayed at Paddy’s for an Irish pub lunch.

The afternoon was quiet—some shopping, a swim and a relax.

On Monday we packed up and drove the 60 km to Cairns. It was a beautiful scenic drive with the sea on our left and the hills on our right.

We established camp and drove the 15 km into Cairns. After a drive around town to establish our bearings we left the car at Ultratune to get an oil change and a general check up. We then visited the Cairns Central Shopping Centre to start a pleasant three hours strolling around Cairns CBD. We were impressed with the lagoon that allowed many people to cool off at once.


Curlew

We visited the Casino so that Shirley could turn $15 into $30 and we could both rest our feet.  That profit was invested in coffee and a muffin.

After a couple of well deserved coldies Darryl cooked our last piece of barramundi.  It was just as good as all the rest.

We were entertained by a one-legged Curlew who seems to be able to survive with one good leg and one broken leg.  All attempts to catch the bird to date have failed.


Tuesday 23rd July started with a proposed 45 minute walk at 7:15.  However I took a wrong turn and spent about 90 minutes and nearly 10km on my walk. 

We then visited a distant cousin who lives in a lovely home in Palm Cove at the edge of the hills and overlooking the ocean.  Vicky and I share a keen interest in family history so some old photos were tabled and discussed.  It was a good couple of hours.

On the way back to the caravan park we visited the beaches at Palm Cover, Clifton Beach and Trinity Beach.  All were excellent beaches and all looked a nice place to “stay a while”.

Palm Cove Beach

Crystal Cascades



Shirley in front of sugar cane

After lunch we rested before a 2.5 km stroll along the "Crystal Cascades", a lovely local waterway.

Shirley and I then went for a drive to Yorkeys Knob, another popular tourist area and beach.

We then joined Kay & Darryl in the city for an excellent "Grill'd" hamburger, before an early night.


Day 66 was a quiet day. A bit of shopping. A bit of organising.  Scones for afternoon tea and pizza for dinner—all cooked in our oven.

Thursday was the day that we said 

Sugar Cane Train

goodbye to Cairns (for now), so it is appropriate that I mention a few things about Cairns—for those not aware about this part of Australia. For most of my reports I talk about the dry, barren and arid parts of Australia (maybe all three). Dirt is dry and grass (if it exists) is brown.  The Cairns region is different—grass is plentiful and is green and is usually beautifully manicured.  Rainforests are common and dense.  Rain is common.

This part of Australia is known for its sugar cane, which often borders both sides of the road like English hedges.  There is mega-km of train track that moves the sugar cane from its place of birth to its place of process.  This part of the world is also known for its bananas, as are many places further south in Australia.  The following photos give an idea of this part of life.  One could say that sweetened bananas should be cheap here.


The Boulders

Our first stop today was a place called “The Boulders” near a town called Babinda.  The Boulders involved more rocks, more water (most of it treacherous) and more rain forest.  It was a great spot for a visit, a stroll and maybe a picnic.

Our second stop was a visit to a place called “Flying Fish Point” and, would you believe it, we could not take the GPS-selected route because of a railway bridge that was too low for the caravan.  Our second choice was OK but just proved that the effort to visit Flying Fish Point was not really justified.

Bananas

We then drove slowly through Innisfail and it seemed like a nice town, quite large and situated along a significant waterway. Etty Bay was our next stop and was tucked away beside some significant hills that were covered (on the ocean side) by dense rainforest.  Its beach was inviting except for the cool day, so on we pressed. 

We checked out Mourilyan Harbour which was a sugar cane port that stored and shipped mega tonnes of sugar cane.
Our key attraction for the day was Paronella Park. 


Paronella Park is a old-world European-style castle that was designed, funded and built by a Spaniard called Jose Paronella in the 1930’s.

The multi-acre property has been buffeted by many a cyclone but still has many an attraction for the many visiting tourists.  These photos give you an idea of what is at Paronella.




Kauri Avenue at Panonella

 

Grand Staircase

 Jose installed, in the 1930's, a hydro electricity generator that still supplies all of the power for Paronella.  The power comes from the Mena Creek falls.  The falls also provide gravity fed water for the garden sprinklers.

 

Mena Creek Falls at Paronella

Our entry fee included a day time tour, a night time tour under lights and a powered caravan site for the night.

Paronella Castle at Night

Friday 26th July saw us heading further south with Shirley is charge of the map. Our first stop was Kurrimine Beach which was Ok, but did not set the world on fire. We then moved to Mission Beach which was a lovely spot and was added to the “bucket” list of “future places to stay” - even though the rain and the wind dampened out spirits a bit. The views of Dunk Island were impressive.

We then visited the Information centre at Tully and met a helpful guy who made sure we left the premises with every conceivable pamphlet that may be of use. Maybe he was so good to us to make up for our disappointment at not being able to tour a sugar cane mill—because it was Show Day in Tully. 



7.9 metre boot in Tully

However we visited the “Big Boot” around the corner whose 7.9 metres of height is meant to symbolise Tully’s 1950 record year of rain. Apparently Tully is one of the wettest places in Australia. That works out at just under an inch of rain (or 21 mm) every day of the year—a lot of rain. That record has since been broken in 1967 and 1973.

We then headed south via Caldwell and Ingham, the latter contained the motivation for Slim Dusty’s famous song “The pub with no beer”.

It was about this time that Shirley decided that we needed to visit “Crystal Creek” as there was apparently some lovely brick work that was completed by unemployed men in the 1933 depression. 

She soon regretted her decision as we started to wind (often sharply) our way up and around a mountain along a fairly narrow road.

The good news is that we were rewarded with some great scenery along Crystal Creek, as well as seeing the wonderful bridge in the photo below. 

We survived the return trip and soon set up camp on the edge of Townsville.

Little Crystal Creek Bridge

Townsville sightseeing saw the order for Saturday and after a slow start (i.e. sleep in until 7:15) we got underway. 

We walked along the magnificent Strand and drove to nearly every suburb. 

The fig trees along The Strand have multiple trunks that have been formed by roots growing down from the branches.  They are an amazing sight.

Townsville is quite a lovely, well organised city.  The roads are wide and very good quality.

We visited Castle Hill which is effectively a small mountain in the middle of the city.  The 360 degree views, including Magnetic Island are superb (see below).  

We did a little shopping and then had lunch on the Strand.

Townsville & Magnetic Island from Castle Hill

We spent the Sabbath driving towards Mackay. 

 

Our first (coffee) stop was Ayr (pronounced Ayr).  It is quite a nice town.  We then moved onto Bowen, which is where the Darwin bits of the film “Australia” were filmed not so long ago.  Bowen was also a Catalina flying boat base during WW2.  We stopped, lunched and walked, and I imagined myself as Hugh Jackman and Shirley was Nicole Kidman. [Maybe I have been sniffing too much diesel fumes!]

 

We bypassed Airlie Beach as there is reportedly too much road work to allow a decent look.  So we rain through the rain in Proserpine to check out a couple of sights.

 

We camped beside the O’Connell river in a park called the Whitsunday Tourist Park.
 

 

Tomorrow we head into Mackay and maybe visit a sugar mill.

 

This is the end of report number 7.  So far we have been away for 69 nights and travelled just over 11,000 km, and we still have at least 5000 to go. 

Please stay tuned for future reports.

Atherton to Cooktown

Thursday 11 July

We awoke, and broke camp on  Thursday and headed back into Atherton.  We had not seen much of Atherton as we drove through on the previous day so we headed back for a better look.  We were there early and had a good look around.  It is a nice town of around 7000 people.

Shirley was pleased to find a hairdresser who had some time at 10:30 to do some repair work to her mop.  So I left Shirley there and drove the 35 or so km to our Granite Gorge camp site just 12 km west of Mareeba.

Darryl and Kay had already set up camp and duly directed me onto my spot.  The power plug was out of reach of my power cord so I had to borrow Darryl’s backup/second lead.  Soon all was established with both vans situated with our doors and awnings facing each other.

Then it was back to Atherton to pick up Shirley and her new hair do.  I stocked up on a couple of provisions and was  only 5 minutes away by the time she summoned the chauffer. 

Granite Gorge

 We returned to Granite Gorge, stopping on the way to buy local nuts, avocados and chocolate.  On arrival we had a walk down the scenic gorge, gathered some firewood, seconded a drum fireplace and settled in for the night.  Darryl cooked some King Salmon on our BBQ and all was good.

On Friday I rose about dawn and went for a longer walk down the gorge.  It involved clamouring over many rocks and following painted white dots to mark the way.  It was an excellent way to start the day.  Shirley and I then went in to Mareeba for a look around and to restock the cupboards.  The cost of the shopping was offset by getting a 16 cent fuel voucher.

Jaques Coffee Cherrys

After lunch we went for a drive to the Jaques coffee plantation and discovered a lot about coffee.  For example, the coffee bean comes from a fruit called cherry which is in the same genus as an apple.  On the bush it looks like a cherry.  Each cherry produces two coffee beans.  It was very interesting.  The Jaques plantation is about to harvest the cherries so we were able to see and sample ripe fruit, and drink the lovely product it produces. 

We had an early dinner of BBQ sausages, bacon, eggs and tomato before heading into Mareeba for the annual show/rodeo parade.  It was excellent with all floats throwing heaps of lollies.  The local kids had taken plastic bags to store their haul of sweets.

It was a fun night.

Ready for the Mareeba Rodeo

The Mareeba Rodeo & Show really hit its straps on Saturday 13 July. 

Before we could go there we had to check out the monthly market in Centenary Gardens.  It was an excellent market and we enjoyed the bratwurst for morning tea.  Other minor goodies were also purchased.
 

Tree Wood Chopping

We got to the show/rodeo in time to see the second heat of the wood-chopping.  It kept us enthralled for 90 minutes or so.  We found some lunch and watch the rodeo arena events for a while.  After the tree wood-chopping event we headed home to prepare for the evening.



Around 5:45 pm we headed back to the rodeo/show grounds with sandwiches, thermos of coffee and things to keep us warm.  We arrived in time for the official opening and then things got underway.

We were treated to two hours of QLD v NSW competition on events such as horse racing (around three fuel drums), calf lassoing, calf catching, bare back bucking horse riding and bucking bull riding.  It was very tiring after our day of wood-chopping etc, etc.

 

Although it started to rain with 45 minutes to go Shirley would not let us leave and so we braved the weather and stayed until the end—except for the presentations.  Queensland won the interstate challenge.

Clothes were changed when we got home and lots of clothes were hung out to dry.  The rain continued for most of the night.
 

Mareeba Rodeo Oval

 

Sunday 14 July was day 56 and was classed as a rest and repair day.  I had to fix the caravan rear-vision camera and Darryl had to replace a car headlight globe.  My one broken wire took about two hours to locate and rectify.  The car and caravan boot were also tidied and cleaned.

After a leisurely lunch we went for a walk down the gorge and cracked a coldie about 4pm.  The fire was lit and we settled in.  About 6:30 we gunned up the BBQ and cooked the remaining prawns from Karumba.  It was a grand evening.

The following are additional items for the “interesting sign” category. 

The first one (“GIVEWAY TO AIRCRAFT”) was on a minor road near Mareeba. Another variation on this sign is the occasional stretch of road in the outback that is signed as “No Parking”, as that stretch of road is an emergency landing strip.
The second sign has the text (the first part in small letters) “COWS WITH GUNS BEWARE”.

Monday 15 July was the start of our ninth week and after breaking camp (camera working) we headed towards Cooktown.  The 270 km drive was probably the most scenic of the trip.  Rolling hills, a couple of big (2nd gear) hills, water lilies in small lakes, lots of trees and some rain-forest-type areas.
Soon after lunch we arrived at Cooktown, which was named after some British explorer who dropped in for a prawn on the BBQ in 1770.  He was unimpressed with the location as the hardware store and MacDonald’s were closed for the day – being the Sabbath. What was even worse was the extent of the sand banks (parson the pun as his drinking mate was a cove called Joseph Banks) that were going to make it hard for him to put to sea and head along the coast in a southerly direction.

Cooktown is a lovely little town and the caravan park was like is little bit of tropical paradise.  The constant drizzle and rain kept the humidity very high.  However I was able to get the following photo to show where James Cook anchored the Enveavour.

Day 58 started with rain, as had been the case all night.

After some chores were completed we went on a driving and walking tour of Cooktown, including the obligatory coffee. 

Long term readers of my diary may remember Shirley playing the “musical fence” two years ago in Winton. Today Shirley and Kay tried out the musical ship. 

It had a number of items that allowed something between noise and music to be produced. I did not bother with an audio recording. But they had fun – as did we all.

After lunch we visited a local museum that was originally a Catholic convent and the first brick building in Cooktown.  It was, and still is, a beautiful building.  While there we were reminded of a little ditty from many years ago:

  Captain Cook chased a hook
  All around Australia
  Lost his pants in the middle of France
  And found them in Tasmania.
The museum contains the main anchor from the Endeavour that was jettisoned when it struck a coral reef.  Forty tons of cargo (including the anchor) had to be tossed over board to get the Endeavour off the reef.  It took more than a month to repair the damage, and gave Cook time to develop a relationship with the local aborigines.
We then went for a stroll around the botanical gardens and marvelled at the wonderful plants, particular the size and range of the paper bark trees.

Dinner was again BBQ barramundi, again cooked by Darryl.
 

Black Mountain

Wednesday started with a drive to Black Mountain, another interesting rock phenomenon.  This one apparently has the geologists scratching their head, with regards to its origin.  It also has some fauna this is not seen anywhere else in the world.  One, a gecko, was seen by your correspondent.


Isabella Falls

We then moved on to  the Lion’s Den hotel, another amazing Aussie waterhole.  Again I was driving and could only try the coffee.


Endeavour Falls

After lunch we went for another drive, this time north west (so that we can say we have been north of Cooktown). 

We were treated to a couple of lovely water features in Isabella Falls and Endeavour Fall.It was a lovely drive with “crocodile warning” signs at every water way.
We finished the drive with a visit to Finch Bay beach at Cooktown.  It was a lovely spot except for the crocodile warnings—and the wind.

Finch Bay Beach - Cooktown

Our time at Cooktown had come to an end. Dinner was pumpkin curry (tastes better than it sounds) cooked by yours truly.

Tomorrow we start to head south, although we are a long way from home—3255 km to be exact—although we will do a lot more than that on the way down the east coast.

 

This is the end of this posting.  Please stay tuned for more updates.