Home again

Must be getting tired of keeping up the blog. Messed up the order of the last two posts!!! Maybe no-one noticed.

8 October

Couldn’t resist this beautiful sunrise over the ocean, especially for the end of the trip.

Weather looking a bit dodgy this morning so packed up as quickly as we could,
long way to travel today too, so wanted to get on the road as early as possible - the longest distance travelled in a day for the whole trip.

We drove along the coast from Yeppoon to Emu Park on the way back into Rockhampton, then set off on the long haul home, stopping off a couple of times along the way for a break and for lunch at Gin Gin.

The plan for the day was to travel as far as the Sunshine coast and pitch camp there the night, before heading home the next day, but since it was raining and we didn’t really feel like setting up camp in the rain or having to pack up wet trailers we decided to call it quits.

We stopped off at Eumundi for a coffee at 5pm and said our farewells. The Fairbairns set off to look for a place to stay for the night as they were to pick up Pa from Buderim in the morning to take him out for breakfast and the Phillips continued on home, in the pouring rain.



So we missed out on number 63 for the number of times we put the trailers up and down – we will save that for when we open them up to clean them out.

All in all a great trip but good to be home

One Last Gorge

6 October

Checked out Shute Harbour first up before packing up and leaving the van park.
The Phillips’ checked out a couple of Yacht Charter companies to get information on hiring bare boat sailing cats for next year



Back on to the Bruce Highway at Proserpine but only as far as Calen where we turned off the highway, south west towards Eungella National Park, going along amongst the cane fields and stopping off along the way for a picnic lunch on the roadside.

We reached Finch Hatton Gorge too late in the afternoon to do the walk into the gorge, so we decided to camp just back along the road at the Platypus Bush Camp (bushcamp.net).





A privately owned (by Wazza) campsite with all the facilities in a bush setting, with its own swimming hole complete with fresh flowing cool water. Further back along the creek platypus can often be seen at dusk but unfortunately they didn’t come out for us.

Closer to Home

7 October

Up early (5am) to walk into the gorge before it got too hot

And to allow time to continue onto Eungella afterwards

Up onto the range with a huge expanse of sub tropical rainforest with views down into the pioneer valley



We went on a couple of circuit walks through the rainforest.



As well as stopping off at the various view-points we stopped off at the Platypus viewing platform on the Broken River but there again we weren’t rewarded with any platypus sightings.
After coffee and cake at the kiosk there, we headed back down to the Bruce Highway through Eton just north of Sarina, where we had our picnic lunch and refuelled for the long drive south to Rocky.

We didn’t go into Rocky though but turned off to Yeppoon and camped at the Beachside Caravan Park at Yeppoon.

We had only just set up camp there when we had visitors. Tancie, Kerry, Frances and Martin drove down from Emu Park to see us, with Martin driving.
Another pleasant (except for the Mozzies) evening with the sound of the surf crashing in the background. We even had a bandicoot come and visit!!!

Continuing south

5 October

First stop Cape Pallarenda after leaving the campsite.

Then back through the city before heading south through Ayr, Home Hill, Bowen then Airlie Beach.

Couldn’t resist taking a photo of this house in Townsville



We stopped for a picnic lunch in Ayr, then stopped again in Home Hill to check out the town, seeing as it is Pam’s home town. There is an incredible Comfort Stop there, with full amenities including a kitchen, power sockets, showers and toilets, complete with pleasing artwork.





Next stop Queens Beach at Bowen then on to the Big4 camp site at Airlie Beach for the night

Enjoying the water

4 October

We decided we would spend the day on Magnetic Island although the weather yet again didn’t look too promising. However the rain did stay away and we ended up enjoying a beautiful sunny day, exploring the Island on a hired moke that wasn’t a moke but a Sukuki 4wd,



checking out all the bays along the way and even managing to enjoy a dip in the ocean in pretty Florence Bay.




Where there were a couple of curlews that came very close to us



We had a very belated lunch at Picnic Bay before heading across the other side of the island to West Point.

We went back across to the mainland on the ferry at sunset time. A spectacular sunset but no photos because the camera battery was flat :-(

A quick trip up Castle Hill for an amazing 360 degree of the city and the bays before heading off to Palmer Street for dinner out.

Finally we have escaped the rain

3 October

The rain kept up most of the night and was still around in the morning so we ended up packing away soaking tents.

Before we left the campsite we did the Banggurru walk along Stony Creek and saw some saw-shelled turtles in the creek, but no platypus although there were supposed to be some there.



We then drove back to the falls before leaving the area, to check out if the falls were visible. They still weren’t, but we walked to the gorge lookout where we could see down into the valley and see the creek below.



The walk to the bottom of the falls left from there so we ended up being tempted to walk down to the bottom of the falls. We weren’t going to as we didn’t think we would be able to see anything, it was 300 metres down and back and 4 km in all. However, we were rewarded as we did get a clear view of the falls from there.



And when we got back up to the top the cloud had started to shift as well so the falls were visible again



By then we decided it was time to head off, back to the main highway and south on the Bruce Highway again, stopping off for a picninc lunch at Balgal Beach where it wasn’t raining and the sun was shining.

Next stop Townsville and the Rowes Bay caravan park where we were able to open up the trailers to air and dry.

Mission Beach to Wallaman and more wet

2 October

After a walk along the beach



we decided to have breakfast at the cafe at the caravan park since the weather was still very unpredictable.

Drove on through Tully to Cardwell where we stopped for a while and also checked out the development at the Port of Hinchinbrook on our way, before driving out to Lucinda. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of Hinchinbrook Island as it was shrouded in cloud



Or hidden behind a huge great sugar loading conveyor



Passed thorough lots of cane fields with the Victoria and MacKnade sugar mills in the background



Stopped off in Ingham to refuel and then on to Wallaman to the highest sheer drop waterfall in Australia at 305 metres. We stood at the lookout to see the falls but at one point we could only hear them, they were completely hidden in cloud.



We did however manage to finally get a glimpse



As it was getting late we decided to check out the Wallaman Falls campsite. Needless to say there weren’t many people crazy enough to be out camping in this weather so there was space for us to set up camp.

There was also a covered area with cooking facilities so fortunately we were able to cook and eat in the dry as it continued to rain on and off all evening and into the night. Although we did end up sharing the shelter with an "interesting" young guy and his girlfriend that ended up sleeping in the shelter as their tent was saturated. They kept us amused over dinner with their conversation and their music.

We were also treated to a display of fireflies

From waterfalls to Mission Beach

1 October

We saw plenty of water falling around this morning (from the sky) but it didn’t deter us from seeing a whole lot more water falling on the waterfalls circuit, taking in Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa falls.







Further along the Palmerston Highway we turned off to Mungalli and stopped off at a bio-dynamic dairy at Mungalli Creek where we had morning tea and sampled their cheese and yoghurt, being tempted to buy some of course.

After reaching Innisfail we drove out to the coast to Flying Fish Point where we had our picnic lunch.

After continuing along the coastline to check out Ella Bay we went back to the Bruce Highway heading south turning off at El Arish towards the coast again to drive down to Bingle Bay, Clump Point and onto Mission Beach through Cassowary Country



As it was getting late we decided to stop at Mission Beach and so stayed the night at the Dunk Island view caravan park, where of course it rained again.

Millaa Milla Tourist Park is the best

1 Oct

What a friendly homely caravan park. I am typing this up in their camp kitchen, sitting on a comfy lounge in the dry. The toilet block is the nicest we have been in on this whole trip - they even have a hand towel to dry your hands on. There is also grass to pitch tents on. Most of the places we have camped at have just had red dirt, admittedly they have a high rainfall and so can grow grass, but it is so prettyand lush here. They have fransesica (yesterday today and tomorrow) bushes that are emitting a beautiful fragrance. A lot of the places we have camped at we have had the smell of the drop toilets!!!!

We did have a bit of a disturbed night though as the park is on the main highway and the trucks seemed to be going all night. There were also some very noisy frogs and curlews. Although one of the curlews did come and visit us at the campsite

It seems that the rain is easing along the coast now so we have decided we are going to head home along the coast, exploring this region a bit first though

Millaa Millaa

30 September

We awoke again to a fine morning and so were yet again lucky enough to pack the trailers up dry.

Leaving Undara today but checking out Kilkani Volcana first.

We did the crater rim walk which took us up to the top of the crater and then around the rim, with amazing views over the surrounding area, dotted with lots of volcanoes. We could also see where the lava tubes are – shown by the broken line of dark green vegetation contrasting with the paler green surroundings. The line marking the underground path of one of the rivers of lava that erupted from Undara Volcano about 190 000 years ago.



Stopped off along the way at Innot Hot Springs and Millstream Falls before reaching Ravenshoe.

They had this interesting sign outside the Visitors Centre in Ravenshoe showing the annual mean rainfall of towns as its height from the ground. – note Cairo at the bottom and Tully at the top.



As we were unsure of our destination or where we were going to spend the night we called in at the Information Centre for some advice. The advice was that there was still a lot of rain about along the coast so we decided we would stay there and spend the night at Ravenshoe seeing as it wasn’t raining there. However, checking out the local caravan park, which was up for sale and looking very neglected as we have seen with a lot of places on our travels, we decided to push on to Millaa Millaa.

We checked out the Wind Farm at Windy Hill on the way.



Although it was raining along the way to Millaa Millaa it wasn’t raining when we arrived at the caravan park. So yet again we were lucky enough to set up in the dry. Not only that, but the park had a very welcoming camp kitchen so we were able to eat in the dry when it did start to rain.

The park also had a washing machine AND a dryer so we were able to catch up with some laundry as well.

Undara

29 September

Fortunately the rain had dissipated in the morning, although it did continue on and off throughout the day.

We did a couple of walks in the morning. One to Atkinson’s Lookout and then on to The Bluff following the circuit via the swamp on the way back to Undara Lodge.

Saw plenty of Wallabys and Kangaroos along the way, especially in the swamp area.



The highlight for the day though was the afternoon tour to the Lava tubes made more interesting by our jovial young tour guide who was also a whizz with photography and took some amazing shots for us with our cameras as well as giving us an excellent tour of several of the tunnels and caves in the Undara Volcanic National Park






We decided to eat at the restaurant at night as there was the threat of further rain, plus we arrived back from the tour quite late and exhausted, plus the restaurant was serving Emu, Crocodile and Kangaroo.

Where to from here we aren't sure as there still appears to be a lot of rain about............

To Undara

28 September

There was further rain in the night but it had cleared by the morning so that we were able to dry out the trailers, ready to pack up to move on, whilst going for a walk into the deep gorge to Pyramid Rock.



Before leaving the Porcupine Gorge National Park we drove back along the main road to the Porcupine Gorge lookout as we hadn’t had time the evening before to visit it. Interesting view looking right down into the gorge.



We continued north along the Kennedy Development Road to meet with the Savannah Way.
Sections of the road had been surfaced but other sections were gravel and slippery mud as there has been a lot of rain in the area. There were also several sections where there were roadworks, some with deviations. It seems as if a fair bit of funding was being put into the upgrade/upkeep of this road.

We had a late lunch beside the Einasleigh River after the Phillips vehicle had become bogged trying to find a spot in the shade to have lunch



Short stop at The Lynd (junction of the road to Charters Towers) before pressing on to Undara, arriving just in time to set up camp before the sun set.

This time we didn’t quite get the dinner over before the rain set in. This time it was a heavy downpour that lasted into the night. We did have an unusual visitor at our dinner table though – a Bettong

Fossils

27 September

What a night with all the comings and goings in the rest area, and the on and off rainfall, the semi trailer decided to start up and leave at 3 am so we did have rather a disturbed night.

Also early in the morning a police car came past with its lights flashing and warned us not to leave yet as a house was coming along the road.






It wasn’t raining at first light so we got going as quickly as we could and did manage to get the trailers packed away in the dry, although we did have to pack them away wet.

First stop the pretty historic town of Richmond with its moon rocks and the Visitors Centre where an excellent Fossil display was housed.

All the fossils were well presented with an audio guide to explain each display. The exhibition included a vast range of fossils found in the region – Ammonites, turtles, squids, belemnites, Minmi – the 100 million year anklylosaur, plesiosaurs, Kronosaurus and an ichthyosaur mother with baby














After a quick look at the other tourist spots in Richmond and the purchase of some redclaw from the local redclaw farm at Julia Creek we pushed on to Hughenden where the countryside suddenly became greener.

We looked through the fossil centre at the Visitors centre there but it wasn’t a patch on the one at Richmond although it did have a reconstructed Muttaburrasaurus



We looked through the town of Hughenden at the various interesting metal sculptures, and the main rotunda constructed from old windmills, and after a picnic lunch headed north along the Kennedy Development Road to Porcupine Gorge where we set up camp for the night.

It rained quite heavily on the way there so the road was a bit muddy and it also rained when we arrived but the rain soon passed over and stayed away long enough for us to cook and have our dinner out in the open but not long enough for the clearing away and washing up

Bye to Mt Isa

26 September

Fortunately the threat of rain and thunderstorms didn’t eventuate so we were able to pack everything away dry again.

Our route for today was to travel East to Cloncurry on the Barkly again and on to the Flinders Highway to Julia Creek and beyond with the plan to go north from Hughenden to the Undara Lava Tubes. There is still rain about so watch this space....

First stop the Mary Kathleen Uranium mine,



then the town



then to Clem Watson park on Lake Corella. Very pretty spot to have in mind for a future camp site. The park is named in honour of Clem Watson who, with Norm McConachy discovered the ore body at Mary Kathleen in July 1954. The mine was named Mary Kathleen in memory of Norm McConachy’s wife.

Stopped to look at other tourist spots along the way such as the Burke and Wills memorial and spent some time in Julia Creek checking out the Dunnart Habitat Sanctuary where they have built a special fenced enclosure next to the airport.



Also spent some time at the new Visitors Centre. Although it was closed there was still plenty to see an hear.



We then finally encountered some of the stormy weather that had been hanging around, although didn’t get much rain out of it then.



We pulled up at the Maxwelton rest area for the night where we were lucky enough to set up camp and cook dinner and eat it out in the open, watching the storm in the distance



before the rain set in again

We originally were sharing the rest area with two Israelies who turned up on bikes and slept on the tables under the shelter, a couple of Austrians in a wicked van, but then a semi trailer pulled up right next to us for the night too + a few other vehicles rolled in and out during the night.