A Perfect Day

 

What a gorgeous day!! Clear skies, warmth, fabulous. And to think its mid winter. I'm sure the wet season would be testing.

Mission Beach reminded me a bit of Phuket. Maybe it's because we had dinner last night in a Thai restaurant ... Not on the beach though. The caravan park was called Dunk Island View, for obvious reasons.

I learnt that Cyclone Larry swept over the island causing damage and it had only just been rebuilt and sold when Cyclone Yasi (2011), a massive category 5 system, hit land at Mission Bay causing mass destruction. The resort on the island was also badly damaged and is yet to be rebuilt.  Pity the owner who had just bought it! Maybe that's another reason for the Phuket thoughts. At Justin and Helena's wedding we stayed at Nai Yang beach which was hit by a tsunami and there was a multi-story hotel wreck at the end of the beach ( wrecked for various reasons, not just the tsunami ).

Mission Beach area has a long beach and 14 kilometres of Palm fringed coast line. We attempted the "Russian pose shot ......remember that bird at Similian Islands, in Thailand !!" Greg used coconuts as his prop and I hugged a palm tree.

There are 20 tropical islands off shore, the closest is Dunk. It is also has a world heritage rainforest which is home to the endangered cassowary, Ulysses butterfly and the green tree frog. We got one "spotto" - the butterfly, and one "almost" sighting. Well the cassowary had been on the track that day and left a calling card.

Went for a brief walk in the dense rainforest but the mosquitoes drove us out. Drove along all the beaches, stopping to check things out then back into the traffic and the Bruce Highway at El Arish. This was a soldiers settlers town after WW1 ...blocks given out to grow sugar cane ... And the street names reflect war history. There was a quaint pub there.

We then deviated on the "canecutters way" a meandering road through cane fields, banana farms, paw paw plantations, rolling hills, through six little villages and over great little creeks. We stopped at Liverpool Creek for lunch. At Silkwood (what a great name) saw a tiny NAB bank and read later it is the smallest in Australia. It was a tiny white wooden building, not much bigger than a toilet. Silkwood is also the place that has Australia's only pepper farm but we didn't see that.

Then found Meena Creek and Paronella Park. The park was built by a Spanish immigrant in the 1930s. His vision included Spanish themed castles, a ball room powered by the only privately run hydro power station, gardens and lakeside tunnels, fountains and bridges. The waterfall there was very spectacular. But we didn't bother spending $$$$ to go into the park.... Thanks Rifter....saved us.

We are camped on the edge of a croc infested river ( maybe slight exaggeration .... there may be  some crocs in there) in Innisfail. The caravan owner said the crocs wouldn't get us... So that's good. But the kayak will stay on the roof!! There us steep bank down to the waters edge which Rifter wants to explore... But NO!

Winter Solstice in North Queensland

The morning was warm (with a really heavy dew) as we headed north up the Bruce Highway and into Balgal Beach to check out the markets. I thought there might have been yummy fruit and vegetables… but not today. More sugar cane on either side of the road. They are just beginning their harvest and the mills are operational. Also saw pineapple farms.



At Ingham we tried to contact an old family friend with no luck …yet. Apparently they have moved to Cairns. As we can’t go into the National Parks (thanks Rifter!) we headed “beachside”. Discovered the sugar port of Lucinda where raw sugar is transported overseas. It is moved via a conveyor belt that goes 6 km out to deep water and then loaded onto ships.



This notice was on the edge of the beach so no paddling today for us. There were plenty of mangrove areas about that I’m sure crocs would love. The messages are very clear…stay away from the waters edge and beware of crocs. We are yet to see any though……



We could see Palm Island across the ocean, an aboriginal community with lots of problems and a sad history.


The vegetation started to look tropical and we have entered the “wet tropics”,  full of lovely rainforests. The vegetation on the side of the road in the forests is impenetrably thick, some vine covered, others covered in fan palms. Cyclone Yasi devastated this area and it is still recovering.    So much for it being mid winter and the shortest day. It was a beautiful 25C, blue skies and no wind.Perfect!!



We stopped at a lookout and looked down at the Hinchinbrook Channel,(Captain Cook stopped here- not sure why) gorgeous..shame about the power lines across the view! Then down to Cardwell and on to Tully, the home of the “Golden Boot”. Tully is Australia’s wettest town with an average rainfall of 4490mm. The gum boot is 7900mm high, the same number as the record rainfall year in 1950. It rains 150 days a year..but NOT today. There was a sugar mill in the town that was belching out steam.





We are camped at Mission Beach, its a lovely place with lush rainforests, nice looking beaches and a view of Dunk Island. It is also home to Cassowaries, another animal to be wary of.



We walked the beach and watched the sun set, behind us. A great midwinter day!

Townsville

 Townsville is a great city and we spend a pleasant day exploring. First stop was the fort on the ocean front. It is new and includes a great board walk, (more toenail digging in by Rifter- who's scared of boards over water!) lots of interesting art installations plus plants and history well documented by informational plaques.

Spent quite a long time there as some soldiers  with photographic equipment explained they were part of the Defense Force and were going to film a fly past by the Chinook helicopters.  We stayed to take some snaps, stayed and waited as it took ages, but was impressive when it happened.  Australia’s entire operational fleet of Chinooks (they can carry 29 seated passengers but if needed up to 50) were in the air at the same time. Apparently this is a  rare event as they have been in service overseas....Afghanistan. One had a jeep underneath, another a fuel tank. They had been taking part in exercises over Townsville. By the way Australia only has 6 Chinooks.

 Took a million photos. Fish for lunch ( barramundi and mackerel) on the Strand. This is a board walk developed on the foreshore, complete with man made beaches.

Then we went up Castle Hill, which is right in the middle of the city, and from there you can get a 360 degree panoramic view. Very impressive!! It is a huge rock monolith and lots of people use it as a fitness track. We drove up the steep 2 km road to the car park and merely climbed a few steps then walked around the top.

Finally it was back to our caravan park. It was a rodeo ground but this part has been closed for three years. Lots of room and a paint ball course next door. We were tempted but resisted!!! 

Travelling with Rifter

 

Travelling with Rifter has been OK, better that I thought.

1. We stop every couple of hours and go walking. He is our fitness trainer. Unfortunately for Rifter there are plenty of very sharp prickles around so he often does the three legged walk or tippy toe dance .......very gingerly across suspect ground. People are also less suspicious of you walking around a country town at odd hours if you have a dog in tow.

2. He saves us money as I think we'd be visiting more cafe, restaurants, pubs, movies, museums, entertainment venues without him....maybe that's a minus. If it's fine we sit outside and he's happy to sleep in his box in the car at night if we want a meal out so we're not totally deprived.

3. He just sleeps happily when we travel....... Well actually he sleeps happily most of the day and night.... Benefits of a lazy dog!!!

4. It's been a conversation starter as lots of people  want to know what his is etc...cute puppy! He's holding his age well.

5. He's someone else to talk to, not that the conversations are long.... With a deaf non-barking dog.... And he's never grumpy!

On the negative side
1. We can't go into national parks.
2. Shopping is tricky...one at a time, if necessary.
3. Wet dog is not much fun.
4. It's a bit like travelling with children. There is always someone dependent on you.
Let's see how the rest of the trip goes.

 

Rifter has a phobia of water under bridges. He either refuses to walk on them point blank, stays low and crouched or walks on the opposite side to the water.

Airlie Beach

We had three nights here. Unfortunately it was really rainy one day and so all we could do was go for a drive. We drove to Dingo beach, Hydeaway Bay and both places were deserted. Then we went to Proserpine and checked out the sugar cane and coffee plantation. watched a cute little cane train beside the road. 

The main centre of Airlie Beach could be any place in the world.It is peppered with tour outlets, coffee shops, restaurants, cafes, fast food outlets, clothing shops and the usual touristy tacky stuff.There was a cruise ship in so the markets were in operation, miserable day for the operators trying to tempt people in the wet. So many resorts, caravan parks and other accommodation available in town. But the place wasn't too busy so that was good.