Rick and Rae's Travels: Wed, 28th to Sun, 2nd October

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.