Taylors Beach

This pond was covered with ducks.

Tues 5^th Aug

We left Hull Heads and headed south with no fixed plan other than to go into a caravan park in order to charge the batteries after four days out and to get some laundry done. As we went through Caldwell we saw a laundromat open on the main street and it was empty so we did an about turn and put a load of washing through. In the caravan Mick rigged up some rope lines from end to end and we pegged out the wet washing and continued on our way. We saw a road leading to Taylors Beach and as we’d never heard of it we hoped nobody else had either, so long as there was a caravan park. We found one on the road in and the owner put us up in the emergency site – backed in between the office and the main entrance. It was quite a pleasant and sheltered site, with a building on one side, colourful trees and plants on the other and the swimming pool and camp kitchen directly behind. The only problem was that when we were in the van, the sound of the wind in the palm trees beside us sounded like it was pouring rain - Mick thought it had rained all night. After we got the rest of the washing dry under the awning, we drove down to the beach. The tide was out, exposing many sandbanks that wove their way through what looked like deep water. Several people were dotted around fishing from the sandbanks.  The mainland extended almost all the way around the bay. Through the opening we could see the difference between the calmness of the bay and the roughness of the open water. At 5pm we went to the camp kitchen for happy hour. Almost 50 people turned up and they were a very friendly lot. Even though they had all been in the park for at least 3 months, they made us feel very welcome and part of the group. They obviously have a number of ongoing competitions on the go – longest whiting, heaviest bream, longest golden trevally. The young chap who keeps the records announced how each category was going by telling them what they would need to surpass to win. It was a jovial group who obviously do this every night. No wonder people come here every year for several months.

Etty Bay

Mon 4^th Aug 

There were showers through the night and it was quite a dull day so we decided to drive up to Etty Bay because we had heard good things about it.  In Camps Australia 7 it is listed as a day visit area, but there is a small caravan park right over the road from the beach. The water was grey and a bit rough, but we were in an area protected from the wind. We went in the office, which also served food and general goods to get the info on prices etc. - $30 per night.

 

 

The park is quite small and very popular, so they suggested that bookings are essential. They had one site we could have had that night, but not the next. We will definitely put it on our agenda next time we are up this way. 

 

 

Later while I sat in the car waiting for Mick in the loo, two cassowaries strolled up and around the car and onto the beach. There was a male and a female and they just strolled around totally ignoring us. Then the male dropped a big turd – and I mean big. It would rival a cow turd in size. Now we know why one of the residents who chatted to us said that they are a pain in the you know what. Imagine stepping out of your van into that, you would be up to your ankle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later as we were driving home along the Tully Mission Beach road we saw another two cassowaries between the rainforest and the edge of the road. 

 

 

At Mission Beach we bought some fish and chips for lunch and went down to the beach to eat it. When we opened the parcel we found that the two pieces of barra that we ordered had multiplied to six. Somewhere else a family of six were probably sharing the two pieces that they got.

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.

Innot Hot Springs

Wed 30^th  - 31^st July 

A few years ago we called into Innot Hot Springs and were quite unimpressed by the whole set up. We walked through to look at the hot artesian pool and there were lots of tiny little concrete edged pools painted blue and white. We decided not to stay, but bought fish and chips and continued on our way. The fish and chips was so awful we threw it in a bin.  So this time, with some trepidation, we decided to go in again. Obviously there has been a lot of money spent on upgrading and combining some of the smaller pools. Now there are 6 outdoor pools and three indoor pools and they are all different temperatures. The hottest one is very hot. Most of the pools have spa jets in them. We spent two afternoons enjoying them and came out very wrinkly, but rejuvenated. In the mornings there was steam rising from the creek that ran at the bottom of the camping area, and from which the hot springs originated. A lot of people go down onto the sandy edge and dig themselves in so that the warm water covers them. It’s a bit hot for me at +60⁰ - reminds me of the hot water beach in New Zealand where we had to keep throwing buckets of cold sea water over us to save us from being scalded.

 

 

 

Because we needed to get some phone service we went for a drive into Ravenshoe.  As we were smartly told “Ravens hoe, not Raven shoe,” is the highest town in Queensland and it has 3 metres of rainfall a year. In the information centre is an excellent Aboriginal Interpretive display and a really good nocturnal animal display. There are also lots of interesting artifacts and information. The town is small, but seems to have everything. There is a reasonable sized street of shops and we bought excellent pies for lunch from the bakery – these were recommended by the info centre. We then drove out to Tully Gorge through rainforest. It was so different to the desert and coastal country we have encountered for the bulk of our journey. It was cool and wet and the creeks had water in them.

Normanton

Mon 28^th – Tues 29^th July

This morning we sat and watched the sun rise over the water at Flinders River. The water was as still as a millpond, reflecting the trees and bushes along the bank. There was nobody else around – just us, the birds and the fish. We watched the brown kites circling with their eyes glued to the ground and occasionally catching something to eat. Pelicans, ibis and herons were nearby. There were also tiny birds hopping around the rocks at the edge of the water. The colors constantly changed as the sun made its way over the horizon and the only sounds were the sounds of the birds.  Reluctantly we broke camp so that we could get into town and get a new tyre. Luckily the rim was still ok.

In Normanton and with our full complement of spare wheels, we booked into a caravan park for a couple of days. It was very hot, so we went for a swim in the pool. There is a hot artesian pool there which Mick went in, but it was a bit warm so we went into the big cool pool. The only way in was a very steep ladder which I fell off into the water and spent the remaining time wondering how I would get out again. Even the shallow end was a metre and a half deep and the bottom rung of the ladder was a metre and a quarter from the bottom. Even if I could get my foot that high I couldn’t do much more because the bars to hold on to were too big for my hands to grip on to. We ended up with Mick shouldering me up onto the ladder and then pushing me up with his head under my bum. It was almost impossible to put my foot on the next rung because the ladder bent in at the bottom. I’m sure Tarzan would have done it easily. That was my last swim at Normanton - ever! Mick’s neck is recovering. There were a couple of others in the pool at the time. I can’t believe they were able to restrain themselves from laughing out loud – or maybe they were thinking about how they were going to get out.

Flinders River

Sun 27^th July 

I wanted to go to Burketown, Mick wanted to go to Normanton. One map said it was mainly dirt to Burketown, the other said it was mainly bitumen. We stopped at the Burke & Wills Roadhouse, where the turn-off was, and asked. The owner and another woman, who said she was a cook at one of the properties out there, both said the road was sealed all the way, so off we went. It was quite a good road and bitumen. We stopped at Gregory Crossing and had lunch. At the free camp area was a high pressure hose, and people who had just come in from Lawn Hill were washing their cars and vans. Our next stop was Burketown which is quite small, but calls itself the Barra Capital.

 

 There was a roadside stall selling “wild caught fresh fish”, so we stopped and got some barra and salmon. Also there was another young couple. When she walked by, I couldn’t tell if she had any undies on or not. All she had on was a very brief (and loose) bikini top (two triangles really) and a see through lace skirt that just touched her hips. Eventually I saw the string up her crack. After I had done all this investigation, I looked across at the fish bloke ad Mick. They were goggle-eyed. Then the fish bloke realised that I had spotted them perving. We all had a good laugh.

 

 We continued out of town to Leichardt Falls. It was really beautiful, although it was just a series of gorgeous pools covering a large area, and no water travelling between them. We could see where it goes though and could walk up to the edge. After some discussion we decided to continue on and camp out a bit closer to Normanton. That’s where the road turned to dirt. Luckily the grader must have been through recently, so the tops had been knocked off the corrugations and it wasn’t too bad. Karen Navman had no idea where we were and kept trying to send us south in the wrong direction and to do u-turns. The map wasn’t very clear either and there were no signposts, so we trusted my sense of direction and the fact that the road was wide and fairly smooth.

 

It was getting on in the afternoon and we were trying to find the next camping spot when we had a blowout on the van – in fact the tyre shredded. Just what we needed! Eventually we got it changed, and covered in dirt and very hot, sweaty and dry we continued on. By this time there were lots of kangaroos on the road, there had been wandering cattle all day, and even a huge brown snake. We saw lots of brolgas and flocks of green budgerigars. Just as the sun was starting to sink, we got to the Flinders River and found a camp spot on the side near the causeway. There was a warning about estuarine crocodiles, so there will be no sleep walking tonight. As the sun went down, there were birds everywhere a big pelican swam over to check us out and we saw big fish jumping out of the water. What an idyllic spot.

Borroloola to Cloncurry

.Fri 25^th July Soudan Bore

We left Borroloola in a damp mist. It wasn’t raining but there were droplets of condensation on the car and van. By 9am the fog had lifted and we had a clear blue sky. On the road to Cape Crawford we saw a dingo, donkeys, horses, eagles and lots of dead cattle that were road kill. I wouldn’t like to hit one of them, they are really huge. At Cape Crawford we turned down the Tablelands highway towards Barkley Homestead which was 375km away. The road narrowed to single lane, although it had clear stony sides. Whenever anything came towards you both vehicles almost stopped and took to the side of the road – with the exception of road trains that barely slowed and stayed in the middle. It was a long trip on a road that was quite lumpy, I sort of felt like we were riding waves. Our lunch stop was at a free camp where there was a tap and there were some zebra finches enjoying the water. We bypassed the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse because we had heard that its fuel was about $2.50per litre and we had enough to get to Camooweal. We finished the day at Soudan Bore Camp and found that someone had left wood by the fireplace so we lit a fire. A chap called Warren, a grain farmer from near Geraldton joined us and we yarned around the fire until the wood was burnt.

Sat 26^th July Cloncurry

We had an easy run into Camooweal and decided against buying their fuel at 199.9.  We topped up a little from the jerry can and full of confidence, Mick headed off. He didn’t tell me when the red light came on, but we were a long way from Mt Isa. When we got there we filled up at the first pump we saw, and as it happened it was the cheapest in town at 184.9. The car was very close to empty and would only have given us a few more km. We intended to get some supplies but as soon as we encountered traffic lights and traffic we decided to keep going for “The Curry”. We booked into a park, did our shopping and talked to our neighbours. In the park were lots of accommodations for miners and they started leaving for work at 4am. That’s when the dog next door started barking and its owner was trying to keep it quiet. I heard nothing, Mick heard it all.