Wed, 28th to Sun, 2nd October - Bramston Beach

On Wednesday we left Palm Cove and drove around 90kms south to a lovely caravan park at Bramston Beach (about 20kms north of Innisfail).  As we were leaving Cairns we could see fires on the hills in the dense rainforest.  We had water but no power at this park for $18 per night, so we booked in for two nights, but it was so nice we ended up staying until the following Monday morning.  After settling in, we went for a long walk along the beach and discovered another caravan park further down the road.  It was very run down ... apparently developers have bought it and have let it deteriorate until such time as they do something with the land.  We decided we were much better off staying where we were.

On Thursday morning we woke early to the sounds of the ocean roaring and birds in the trees above our van.  We dressed and decided to drive around 25kms to a camp area called the Boulders (near Babinda) to have a look.  In our Camps 5 book it advised that this area has limited sites so we wanted to check it out before venturing in with the van.  There were only a couple of people camped there and it looked like a nice spot.  We drove on about 500metres to the creek and picnic area for a look.  As soon as we got out of the car we were attacked by March Flies ... no wonder there weren't many camped in the other area!  We decided to make a really quick walk in to the swimming hole to have a look as the flies made it very unpleasant.  As we headed off on the walk a Cassowary wandered past us.

On our way back to Bramston Beach we stopped to watch a cane cutter in action.  All around this area of Queensland there is work going on in the cane fields.  One of the workers in the field explained to us that the cane cutting machine cuts the leafy tops of the cane which is returned to the ground as mulch.  At the same time there are two spiral shaped cutters on the font of the machine that cut the stalks of the cane into segments about 25cms long, spewing it into bins being towed alongside by a tractor.  The cane is then tipped into small open train carriages and hauled off to be processed.  The countryside is criss-crossed with single railway lines allowing the cane to be moved around.

On Friday we had a relaxing day until 'The Wrecker' decided to go for a short drive.  Picture this ... we are set up and have two solar panels on the ground in the sun, attached to a battery in the back of our Navara.  You may have also noticed in a lot of my photos that we have a large black aerial attached to the bumper bar of the Navara.  This aerial is a booster for our mobile phones and internet connection.  While we were in this park we had the Navara close to the van so that the booster aerial connection could be fed through the dining area window and attached to either the computer, or in this case, a mobile phone.  Before driving off 'The Wrecker' made sure to disconnect the solar panels but forgot all about the aerial cable.  I was inside the van and you can imagine the noise the mobile phone made as Rick drove off pulling the cable out the window in the process!  Fortunately there was no major damage done, however we need to buy a new cable for the aerial.

Saturday and Sunday were spent quietly walking the beach and swimming as it was very hot.  There were markets next to the park on the Saturday morning and Rick spent the afternoons watching the football grand finals.  Sunday was the last day of the Queensland school holidays so a lot of people packed up and left, making it nice and peaceful.

Bushfires on the hills surrounding Cairns

Our campsite under the trees at Bramston Beach

Looking down Bramston Beach at low tide

The Boulders ... downstream from the swimming hole

A cane cutting machine in action

A train hauling cane off to be processed

Mon, 26th to Tuesday 27th September - Palm Cove

We left Mission Beach and headed north towards Cairns.  The appointment to have the washing machine installed was for 1pm, so we had a bit of time up our sleeves.  On the way we decided to call into the little township of Babinda.  We had camped there a couple of weeks ago, but didn't actually explore the township.  We found a nice bakery and had an excellent coffee and cake.  After morning tea, we continued into Cairns where Rick dropped me off at the main shopping centre while he took the van in to have the washing machine installed.  Fortunately, the new machine went in easily and we were on our way again fairly soon.

We headed north again, but only for about 20kms to a small caravan park at Palm Cove, which is like an outer suburb of Cairns.  We drove in and were surprised to pass resort after resort more like you would expect on the Gold Coast.  When we came to the end of the road there was a jetty and directly opposite was a small caravan park.  It was very rustic to say the least, and quite out of character for the area.  We could only have an unpowered site for $19 per night as it was pretty busy, but we were right on the beach and had restaurants and shops just a stone's throw down the road.  We settled in and went for a walk down the jetty and then the street to see which restaurant we would try out first.

During the early hours of Tuesday morning we woke to some yelling and swearing coming from the beach area, but the noise eventually quietened down.  In the morning we dressed and were ready to go for a walk just as a Police Officer knocked on the door.  He was asking what, if anything, we heard or were aware of during the early hours.  We told him what we knew and he explained that he was investigating an assault that had occurred on the beach in front of the caravan park.  We were to hear on the TV news a couple of days later that there had been numerous assaults around the time that we were in the area, and that detectives had been called in from Brisbane to help solve the crimes.  Later that day we drove north to Port Douglas.  We decided that as we had spent a week there a few years ago, we would just do a day trip instead of staying there again.  We walked the main street and found that it hadn't changed at all in the last couple of years.

On our return journey to Palm Cove we stopped at a lookout and watched as a hang-glider flew around and eventually landed on the beach below us.  Someone in the crowd watching with us, yelled out to him that his mother wanted him home now as his dinner was getting cold.  There's a comedian in us all! That evening we had a very nice Thai meal at a restaurant just a short walk from the caravan park.
 

The quaint Babinda Bowls Social Club

Some beautiful scenery north of Babinda

Looking from the jetty towards the caravan park

Looking down the street past the resorts and restaurants

The small jetty adjacent to the caravan park

Looking down over the beach at Port Douglas

The hang-glider in full flight

Thurs, 15th to Sun, 25th September - Mission Beach

We have both always wanted to go to Mission Beach and even though we had been warned that cyclone Yasi had all but destroyed the area, we still wanted to see it for ourselves.  Paronella Park is only about 40kms from Mission Beach and the cyclone damage became evident just a short distance into our trip.  We were booked into the Hideaway Top Tourist Park which is one street back from the beach.  We made ourselves comfortable and then took a drive around the area to get our bearings.  We were able to cross the road from the park and walk straight on to the beach or we could walk a very short distance down the street to restaurants and shops.  Dunk Island is only 4km off the coast from South Mission Beach and is just one of many islands visible from the shore.

On Friday we had a fairly quiet day, just driving around again and we ended the day with a nice meal across the road at Fish Bites.  We discovered that there is a lot of real estate for sale in the area and it is quite cheap.  We think that maybe a lot of people don't want to go through cyclones again and have had enough.  We noticed a sign across the road about a unit being open for inspection on Saturday ($625,000) and decided we would go and have a look. While driving around, we found Hull River just at the back of Mission Beach.  Apparently the spot pictured below is called Heartbreak Hole as there are plenty of Mud Crabs to be caught but they are all undersized.  There is also a large croc who lives just around the corner from where the photo was taken.

On Saturday we had a quiet morning and then went to have a look at the unit.  It was very nice, with absolute beach frontage and was fully furnished.  By the time we had finished talking to the agent, it turned out that we could have it for around $580,000.  The current owner lives in Greece and just wanted to see it sold.  It made us think for a while, but I don't think we could handle living up here during the wet and humid summer months, as it was already becoming quite steamy.  Saturday and Sunday afternoons were taken up with watching the V8s while we sat outside to get some cool breeze.

We were woken very early (1:15am) on Sunday morning by our noisy neighbours.  They are builders who are camped here to work on the cyclone damage.  They must have been out for a drink and brought back a few mates for a laugh and a few more ales.  After about an hour, a car drove off and we were able to go back to sleep for a few hours.  They woke us again at around 6am as they all got together again to head off fishing for the day.  A bit later in the morning we walked across the road to have a look at the Sunday markets ... much the same as any other Sunday market, but interesting nonetheless.  We didn't end up buying anything but had pancakes in the park for breakfast.

On Monday we drove around a bit more, having a look at some other units and townhouses for sale in the area.  We then drove about 30kms to Tully to have a look around.  I believe Tully is noted for receiving the highest rainfall of anywhere in Australia.  It was also the area that suffered some of the worst cyclone damage and this was obvious when we drove out to Tully Heads.  We headed back into the Tully township and had some lunch before returning to Mission Beach.  We drove a couple of kilometers north of Mission Beach towards Bingil Bay.  It is a winding road that runs along the beach and as we rounded a corner we came across a tow-truck in the process of pulling a 'whizz-bang' (campervan) back up the bank to the road.  It was quite badly damaged, having gone straight ahead on the corner and over the embankment to the rocks below.  It appeared as though everyone was OK fortunately.  A bit further on we were delighted to come across our first wild Cassowary.  There are signs everywhere warning that they are around, but up until then we hadn't seen one.

On Tuesday Les arrived to fix the caravan brakes as he promised.  After all the other expense and aggravation, he only charged us $65 including parts and the brakes are now working perfectly.  I had an 11am appointment to get my hair cut and coloured - I was expecting it to be pretty expensive in this little exclusive area, but to my surprise it was cheaper than home.  Later in the day we had a pleasant swim in the pool and then went to the Visitors' Centre to have a look.  We booked a 3 hour/$30 each water taxi ride around the Family Islands for the following day.

On Wednesday morning I went for a walk down the street and found a swimmer top marked down from $108 to $20 ... what a bargain!!  After lunch we drove over to Wongaling Beach to catch the Water Taxi.  The taxi used to take passengers over to Dunk Island when the resort was operating.  Due to the cyclones, the resort has closed and there is nothing left except derelict buildings and debris everywhere. Consequently, the taxi business is no longer needed, so they conduct cruises around the islands.  Our first stop was to drop off a young couple on Dunk Island, near to what is left of the resort.  We were to return to pick them up about one and a half hours later.

We cruised around a few more islands before having a look at Bedarra Island.  There was also a resort on Bedarra that was totally destroyed.  There are no plans currently to restore or re-open either Dunk or Bedarra Island Resorts.  Bedarra also has some private homes on it that are in the process of being repaired.  Our noisy, builder neighbours from the park were working on those homes on Bedarra the day we were cruising around.  Our taxi took us ashore on one side of Bedarra (away from the private homes) so that we could swim and snorkel for an hour or so.  Rick and I ventured in for a snorkel and were surprised at the amount of bricks, tiles and general building debris that was in the water.  We walked along the beach and had to be careful of the broken glass, tiles, tin and general building materials that were lying around.  Apparently, the water taxi business has only recently been given permission to take people onto the islands - the general public are not permitted to go ashore.

On Thursday it was the garbos that woke us at 5:30am!  They seemed to spend a long time moving the huge metal skip bins around before leaving us in peace once again.  We had a quiet day just generally relaxing before walking down the street for a fantastic meal at a restaurant called Fish Bites.  We decided we liked Mission Beach so much that we booked in for a further three days.

It rained on and off during the night and we were woken again at around 6:30am on Friday by more garbos ... not sure why they were here again.  A neighbour told us that there had been a small Cassowary wandering through the park very early in the morning.  The day started quite overcast but during the morning cleared up, so we walked down the street and had a look at some of Peter Spicer's artworks at a local gallery.  Rick booked in to have a haircut at the same hair salon that I went to and was told that if he didn't mind the young apprentice cutting it for him, it would be free and to come back at 1pm.

Rick rang the Electrical Company in Cairns who were organising for the new suspension in our washing machine to see if the parts had arrived.  They said no, but there was a new washing machine there for us, so he organised for us to go back to Cairns on Monday at 1pm to have it installed.  After Rick's haircut we went for a swim at the beach.  The water was beautiful and very warm.  Several times on most days, skydivers land on the beach.  Even when we were at the van we were close enough to  hear the wind in the parachutes as the skydivers came down on the beach a short distance away.

Saturday was another quiet day spent reading and generally relaxing. Sunday was spent washing the van and car and starting to pack up to leave the following morning.  We decided we may come back to Mission Beach after our trip to Cairns as we really like the area.

Dunk Island ... just 4kms from shore

A small part of the shopping and restaurant area just down the road from us

Heartbreak Hole on Hull River

Top unit - far right - overlooking the water

Tully Heads shoreline ... or rather what is left of it

Watch out for 'car eating' Cassowaries

The Water Taxi

What is left of Dunk Island Resort

This probably used to be a restaurant or reception area

The jetty just doesn't quite make it any more

A couple of the private homes on Bedarra

Damaged buildings on Bedarra

More damage and debris

What a shame ...

Very brave skydivers

More damaged trees along the Wongaling Beach foreshore

Wed, 14th Sept - Paronella Park

We left Babinda after a good night's sleep and drove 30kms into Innisfail.  Along the way were beautiful mountains and rainforest.  We stopped in Innisfail at Autopro to pick up a new breaker bar to replace our broken one.  We didn't look around Innisfail much but continued only 10kms to a place called Paronella Park at Mena Creek.  Included in our entry to the park was a night in their camping area.  We checked in and found it was a really tight little spot and required Rick to revers uphill into it.  Fortunately Rick didn't have any trouble, however a less experienced person would have had great difficulty.

Paronella Park is unique and far too difficult to describe except to say that  José Paronella’s dream was to build a castle.  He chose a special part of Australia and created Paronella Park.  On 5 Hectares beside Mena Creek Falls he built his castle, picnic area by the falls, tennis courts, bridges, a tunnel, and wrapped it up in an amazing range of 7,500 tropical plants and trees (now a lush rainforest!).  It opened to the public in 1935. To explain it further I recommend you have a look at www.paronellapark.com.au.

After lunch we went on the short guided tour through the park and then returned at 6:15pm for the night tour which gave a different view of the park.  After the night tour we walked about 200m up the road to the Mena Creek Hotel for dinner.

The castle

The waterfall by night

Feeding the fish

Huge avenue of Kauri trees

The swaying suspension bridge over the falls

The view from the suspension bridge

Sun, 11th to Tues, 13th September - Cairns

We had another lovely cool night's sleep and woke to sunny morning.  We packed up and drove the 65kms down the mountain, via Kuranda to Cairns.  Rick had to take it easy down the mountain as we only had brakes on one side of the van.  As it happened, the road was very winding but the downhill run wasn't too steep, so we didn't have any problems.  We stopped part way down the mountain to have a look at the view over Cairns.

We checked into the Top Tourist Park in Cairns before driving into town to Officeworks.  I wanted to investigate a 'scanner-mouse' that I had seen advertised.  After purchasing the mouse we went to a DFO looking for some shorts for Rick.  We returned to the van and I caught up on washing while Rick prepared  a lovely roast lamb dinner for us.  I also experimented with the scanner-mouse and found it to be a great little gadget.

While cooking, Rick was talking to our neighbour who told him about a mobile mechanic in the area.  Rick rang the mechanic and organised for him to come and look at the van brakes at about midday the following day.

On Monday we cleaned and caught up on jobs to fill in time until the mechanic arrived.  He was late, arriving at around 1:30pm and then spent about 3 hours looking at the brakes.  He managed to get one wheel working on that side of the van, but quit without being able to fix both.  At least we now had three wheels working but we were over $300 lighter in the pocket!

We rose early on Tuesday and checked out of the park.  We had an appointment to drive into town and have the washing machine looked at under warranty.  When the guy looked at it, out suspicions were confirmed ... it needed the suspension replaced.  Swift in Melbourne would send a new kit for and we would be contacted when it arrived.  In the meantime we would travel a bit further south (but not too far) so that we could return to Cairns when needed for the repairs.

We left Cairns and drove about 40kms south to a free camp at a pretty little place called Babinda. We were glad we didn't travel very far as once again it was very windy.  Rick spoke about our brakes to a fellow traveller who advertised on his vehicle that he built trailers and axles, etc. in Brisbane.  He seemed to know what our problem would be and organised for some parts to come up to him from Brisbane when his grandchildren came to visit a day or two later.  When we explained that we were heading to Mission Beach for a week and wouldn't be in Babinda, he said he would be happy to go down to Mission Beach and fix our brakes on site for us.  He said it would give them something to do with the kids while they were with them.

Looking over part of Cairns on the way down the mountain

Some beautiful scenery along the way

The view from the free camp area at Babinda

Looking back towards the camp area

 

Thurs, 8th to Sat, 10th September - Rocky Creek

Rick has had a sore and swollen thumb for a couple of days and when he woke on Thursday, he found that it was worse and obviously infected alongside the nailbed.  So we left our pretty little spot at Rifle Creek at about 10am and drove 40kms to the Mareeba Hospital as we knew the infection needed to be treated with anti-biotics.  The hospital staff were great, seeing to Rick quite quickly.  The infection was lanced, treated with anti-biotic cream, dressed and we were sent on our way with a prescription for some anti-biotics.

With Rick's hand feeling much more comfortable, we continued for another 15kms back to the Rocky Creek Memorial Park near Atherton again for the night. We set up camp, had lunch and then walked over to the memorial area of the park to read some of the inscriptions. The park was the site of a hospital during the second world war.  Between 1943 and 1945 over 60,000 patients were treated there and the complex was regarded as the largest field hospital in the southern hemisphere during the war.  Since 1995 many men and women have returned to Rocky Creek for the dedication of their unit plaques.  The main section of the park is for military units and the rest is reserved for Allied and Community Plaques including the Salvation Army, National Servicemen's Association, etc.

Friday morning we rose early and drove into Atherton to drop the van in for its service and to have the brakes checked as they had been pulling to one side.  We then took the Navara to the Nissan dealer to have its 40,000km service done, so we were legless and homeless for a few hours.  We walked down to the main street, in fact, we walked up and down the main street for about four hours.  We had some lunch and then at about 2:30 we walked back up to the Nissan dealer and the car was finally ready for us to take.

We headed back to pick up the van and found that they couldn't get brakes to work on one side.  After working on them for quite a while the guy quit and suggested we drive out to a specialist brake place, which we did.  We found out that not much stays open after 3:30pm on a Friday afternoon, so we headed back to the Rocky Creek Memorial Park for the night and decided to sort out the brakes somewhere else.

On Saturday morning we drove out to Jaques Coffee plantation.  The Jaques' story was fascinating. Nat Jaques was born into farming, in Tanzania East Africa, he grew up on the family coffee plantations, which were situated on the towering slopes of Kilimanjaro. When Nat finished his schooling, he took on the challenge of running the family business.  He met his wife Linda, whose family were intensive tea cultivators in Kenya.  Unfortunately political instability forced the end of the business and a close to the African chapter of their lives.  Faced with leaving the country with only $2000 worth of belongings and cash, Nat and Linda turned toward Australia to follow their dreams.  After a trip around Australia, finding North Queensland an ideal place for coffee and an even better lifestyle, they settled in to pioneer Australia’s Coffee Growing Industry. After a few major set-backs and on their second and current plantation, with the crucial development of the Worlds first mechanical coffee harvester under their belts, Nat and Linda along with their son’s Jason and Robert, produce a World Class Coffee, Winning Gold at national competitions in Australia.  The harvester uses long fingers to literally shake the ripe coffee berries from the trees.  In Africa, this work would have been done inexpensively by a human labour force.

We were driven around the coffee plantation before being given a free coffee and a taste of two of their coffee liqueurs.  We decided against taking a microlight or gyrocopter flight over the plantation.  Their pilots are also instructors and will (for a fee) give you a trial instructional flight.

We left Jaques and went into the Tolga Woodworks for lunch.  Here we saw the most amazing wood carvings.  One was of a violin and was $16,000 to purchase and another was of a pair of boots.

After drooling over the beautiful wooden furniture, wall features, etc. we headed out to Tinaroo Dam to have a look at some of the free (or inexpensive) camp areas.  We decided against camping out there as the native white tailed rat was apparently in plague proportions and creating trouble by chewing car wiring, etc.

We spent quite a bit of time driving the narrow, dirt roads around the dam, visiting the camp sites before heading back to Atherton to do some shopping.  On the way back to Atherton we called in to see the amazing Cathedral Fig tree.

A few of the plaques at the Rocky Creek Memorial Park

The amazing, automatic coffee harvester

Believe it or not ... these are carved out of wood

Looking down over the Tineroo Dam

Inside the base of the tree

It wasn't easy to get the whole tree in the shot ... it is so big

A few details about the tree

Wed, 7th September - Rifle Creek

Leaving Cooktown meant backtracking for about 150kms south.  Not far from Cooktown is Black Mountain National Park, aptly named due to several mountains of  black rocks.  The only greenery to be seen are fig trees that have managed to gain a foothold in the rocks.  See the photo below for the stories of unusual occurrences around these spooky mountains.

The scenery around this part of the country is beautiful.  We continued on passing through the Byerstown Range, stopping at a couple of lookouts where you can see for miles.

We dragged ourselves away from the magnificent views and drove to a pretty little free camp at Rifle Creek, about 40kms north of Mareeba.  Rifle Creek is just 1km from the little town of Mount Malloy, so once we were settled we walked into town.  Rick was relieved to find the Boulder Opal Shop was closed, as were most of the businesses in town.  We stopped into the local hotel and had a drink to recover before walking back to camp.

Rick rang and managed to get the van booked in for a service on Friday at Atherton at the same time as the Navara is also being checked over.

One of the mountains made of black rocks

Spooky happenings around the mountains

A panorama of the Byerstown Range

You can see for miles ...

and miles ..

Our pretty little camp spot at Rifle Creek