Hull Heads

Fri 1^st – Mon 3^rd Aug 
It was a different drive through the hills and across to the coast. The country changed as we got to areas with more water. Suddenly there was green grass on the ground, banana farms, papaya trees and finally, sugar cane. We bought beautiful bananas, oranges, mandarins and pawpaw from roadside stalls relying on the honesty system.

 

 We ended up at Hull Heads, a small slice of paradise where the Hull River meets the coast. We had river on one side and sea on the other and both had expansive sandy beaches. We put out our awning, set out the chairs and after that our only problem was which side to look out at. We were quite near the Coastguard, who collected our $16 site fee each evening. For this we had a good toilet and a hot shower, a free electric barbecue, picnic tables and benches and fresh water taps. The people staying here were all friendly, many of them fishermen.

We went into Tully, the wettest town in Australia with 3 metres rainfall per year and caught up with the shopping. There is a sugar refinery with three chimneys belching smoke into the sky. Outside it is a sculpture of men loading a cane train. Opposite is a giant gumboot with a frog on the front. They call it the golden gumboot - it looked green to me.

Some other campers recommended a good campsite on Meunga Creek, near Cardwell, so we went down to see if it was worth moving into as it had power and hot showers and only cost $15. I guess it was ok, although we weren’t impressed by the state of the sites with long grass, some sites completely inundated by vines and weeds and a number of old blokes with mullets living in feral old buses that were surrounded by junk and obviously haven’t been moved for many years. Most of the power outlets weren’t working so we decided against moving down there. Nevertheless, there were a number of caravanners staying there

On Sunday we had the pleasure of a visit from Lyn Lewis and her two pugs on their way from Port Douglas to Bowen. We always love catching up with Lyn and she and the dogs are very comfortable, if a little crowded in her camper van. She certainly gets lots of use out of it. She has been spending time with her sister as well as catching up with a number of other mutual friends who are staying in Port Douglas. With luck we will catch up again before we have to head too far south.