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.