N.B. All the pictures on this are very small and they are not thumbnails to enlarge either. The page was written when I knew nothing about photo sizes!!. But David has used my written diary on his site, but has larger photos- thus I would recommend using instead http://www.australia-calling.com/australia-2008.htm
Sunday, June 1st. Perth
We arrived at Medina Executive Hotel, Perth, by 1am after a 34
hour journey from Newquay. It was a lovely apartment. Took an 11am train to
Claremont and walked from there to Victoria Avenue, finding a great café for a
coffee and juice before arriving at Cathy’s and Brian’s at 12.30. Went out for
a lunch by the waterside and then back
to their [new] house for coffee and long discussions on Cathy’s Interior
Architecture Uni. Course, modern art, ancestors, DNA, etc. Brian drove us back
to the city.
Willi and Lutz picked us up at 10am and drove us to S. Perth and
showed us Willi’s flat there – a lovely ground floor one giving on to a garden
and with views across the river. Then we went up to Perth’s highest hill for a
view of the city before going to Lutz’s house in N. Beach.: a great Balinese style of living.
Coffee, and then a delicious lunch prepared
by Lutz, washed down with Champagne. After that a walk through a ‘swamp’ area
to the sea, then back for tea and photos of places on our route. Willi gave me
a
Out to pick up our Britz van by 9.45: a very bad experience there
[not enough staff on duty ] and did not get off until 11.45. Wanting to make up
time, we drove as far as Geraldton before stopping at a supermarket: not at all
impressed by the choice and wished we had stopped in Perth!! But we got most of
the basics.
Then proceeded via Northampton and stopped at a delightful
café/store for a coffee and cake. Then to Carnarvon Beach where we were met by
a very grumpy caretaker, but the place was delightful. The sky had been a
fantastic purple colour all afternoon, due to a fire, and the sunset was
wondrous. Cooked a good meal, but we had forgotten to buy coffee!
Wednesday, June
4th. Carnarvon
Beach – Eagle Bluff.
Bad night, but soon forgotten. Good breakfast after sorting out
of clothes into large plastic bags. Not off till 9.30. We retraced our steps
back to the main road and headed north towards Monkey Mia.
Detoured to Kalbarri and phoned to reserve a camping ahead at
Eagle Bluff, near Denham. We also
eventually got through to Britz [in Cairns!] to report the lack of a tent. Had
an excellent coffee and cake, filled up with diesel, bought more supplies, also
a magnetic light for outside. We observed wondrous large ‘acorn’ trees along
edges of road. A lovely place where we wished we could have lingered.
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Read till ready to drop- in hope of a good sleep!
Up before sunrise, but then I was bad and tried to
take a picture of the sunrise, which delayed
us 5 minutes or so and, apparently, we needed to have left more promptly
to get to Monkey Mia in time for the dolphin feeding. Anyway, did the 40+k in
record time, and were in time for the first feeding of them and also saw the
second and third feedings, and that of
the pelicans too.
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Had a super breakfast there of sourdough toast and pecan loaf.
Then we walked their trail before driving to the Francois Peron National Park.
We visited the Homestead there, a sheep station till the 1970s, and chatted to
a volunteer there who had been the headmaster of Denham school. Then into
Denham where we waited an hour for a mechanic to look at the non-functioning
fridge: he diagnosed the problem [2nd battery was not being charged]
but did not have the necessary part.
Drove out to Eagle Bluff Boardwalk, then a walk on Shell Beach
[sand flies got David] and then to Hamelin Pool Park where we had a Devon tea .
The manager [who had worked for Nasa] got our battery charging {but it did not
last for long!]. We had to purchase 2 fly nets [sanity savers!] as loads of
bugs, but not mosquitoes. We took our sun downer up the steps overlooking the
sea and chatted with some grey nomads before supper and bed.
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Stopped at a very good supermarket in
Carnavon, also a good bottle store [much more reasonable prices for wine] and
filled up with diesel. Stopped at 2 road houses along the road in search of a
pleasant break, but only instant coffee! So, after ice creams at one, drove on
till 5.30 when we camped along the road to Tom Price at a small free site, well
populated.
Such an idyllic camp fire,
’expressive’ trees [snappy gums] and a starlit night. Chatted to a couple from
Canberra with young children [8 and 10] out of school for a year: came across
many more such families – apparently Australian schools fully support this.
There were also grey nomads with a trailer of
books.
Saturday, June 7th. Road to Tom Price –
Karajini.
We were on the road by 8.30 and drove through lovely scenery with
fantastic light en route to Tom Price. Were neither over impressed by it, nor
by its visitor centre, who would not book us into Karijini’s Ecolodge. But we made
a telephone booking and rung Britz in Broome about our useless fridge and
light.
Once at the Ecolodge, we were shown a luxury tent [$275/nt] by a
lethargic Aborigine [Frances, who lived in a 4 bedroom house!] : we were astounded at how lacking in charm
or comfort it was. So we took their campsite instead, at $25 and no power! We
went out to Weano Gorge and followed a Class 3 [moderate] trail: this had its
moments down in the gorge with the sunlight disappearing. But eventually we
emerged from the gorge with plenty of daylight remaining.
We had a sun downer by the van and went along to their Camp
Tucker Restaurant at 7, only to find we were the last to arrive [having been
told 7-9]. We had fillet steak and lamb chops, barbecuing these with pieces of
potato ourselves, together with a self service salad. We enjoyed it in spite of
the commerciality of it! The whole place was managed by the Aboriginal
community but it can not get Aboriginals to work there, just the one token one
! We struggled back to the van in
pitch darkness.
Sunday, June 8th. Karajini - Cape Keraudren.
After this to the Visitor
Centre: this was magnificent architecture, merging completely into the
landscape. Inside was an interesting display on Aboriginal history and life and
on fauna and flora.
Leaving just before noon we drove for 5
hours to Cape Keraudren, just stopping for diesel and an ice cream. The Pilbara
scenery was most dramatic, especially when the road ran through a gorge. Later
on there was lots of smoke from fires and we saw a solitary kangaroo and also
bison.
Once we had paid at the Ranger Hut for the campground, we came
across 20 -40 kangaroos. It was a lovely spot by the beach [but with basic
toilets only]. We went for a walk along the beach and watched the sun set. It
was dark by 6, and so another early night, but not before serving David a mug of coffee with matches in it!
Went to the Visitor Centre to find out the address for Britz, and
then located them. They gave us the necessary battery connector to take to a
garage to be fitted: this took another hour, but at least there was a man from
Cork there!
We then went to the large hotel, as we felt we deserved a night
of relative luxury, only to find that they were full. So went to the MacAlpine
Hotel, where the receptionist had to drive in to meet us! She showed us 4
rooms: luckily, we preferred the cheapest, which was still somewhat expensive!
A lovely colonial building [like in the West .Indies] and outside our room
there was a veranda overlooking the pool.
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Had a swim before breakfast and put some more washing
into the hotel’s washing machine, A
fantastic breakfast of good coffee, fresh juice and fruit, and
pancakes/Lord MacSpecial[bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and ciabatta toast.
Another swim/internet access and some ironing, then off by 10am. We drove down
to Chinatown [3? original buildings from the Pearl Industry started in 1866 by
Japanese with Chinese/Aboriginal(often forced labour) with the old diving suits
– replaced ~1995 by farming] and shopped in Coles and filled up Roo [thus we
had named our Toyota Bush Camper]. We then drove out to Gaunthome Point
lighthouse and on to Cable Beach –very beautiful, so I was tempted to swim and
got drenched!
...
Then only just over 2 hours to Cape Leveque: we were surprised,
pleasantly, to find the second half of the track surfaced. We were impressed by
the campsite and decided to stay an extra day, 3 instead of the 2 booked,
having accumulated an extra day. We booked in for dinner and then went
exploring. We went back to the van to get a glass of white wine [fridge now
working!] and fresh bread and cheese for sunset viewing. We chatted for half an
hour with some Australians who had done the Tanami.
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We passed a really leisurely day of a
couple of swims and a long walk along the Western Beach after breakfast. We
enjoyed ham and cheese butties with wine for lunch. We were a bit put out by
the mechanical digger and plumber’s trailer that blocked our view for a few
hours whilst they dug up the septic tank, covering Roo with red dust.
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We got stopped by the police as we left town
– in sight of the 90k sign- and apparently we were doing 72 kph in a 60kph
zone. $150: a pure money spinner.
Then on to Derby where we paid the fine in their post office and
in the process forgot to look at the town! But we did investigate the Boab
Prison tree on the way into town.
Then onto Windjana Gorge,
which was absolutely magnificent in the 4pm sun. We walked into it for a km or
so and saw several freshwater crocodiles, one of them out on the sand. There
were noisy flocks of parakeets. It was a really nice campsite.
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Up with the lark and ate a good breakfast.
We drove to Tunnel Gorge, 37 km up the road.
We stopped at the police station where an Aboriginal tracker, a
‘magic man’, had shot an English policeman in the 1890s: he had worked for him
on a station and, when this had closed down, the Englishman had joined the
police taking the Aboriginal as his tracker. Seven Aboriginals had been rounded
up and had been chained up here, en route to enslavement in Derby. The tracker
was persuaded to release them, which fact necessitated the murder. 3 years
later, the culprit was eventually cornered by another native tracker and was
shot in Tunnel Gorge.
We ventured halfway through the tunnel to the roof fall in, David
by scrambling over rocks whilst I waded [up to my knees] in water. We decided
our torches were not bright enough to continue and later on we heard that there
was a python in the next bit.
After this there were several creeks to drive through, 18” or so
deep at times. We turned off the Gibb River road to Bell Creek and Falls. It
was a rocky walk for 20 minutes and then I had a swim/dip in the first shallow
pool above the waterfall.
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After a leisurely breakfast we rejoined the Gibb River Road and
were at the Mornington turnoff in less than an hour. We used their radio phone
[over and out] to establish contact and ensure they had vacancies.
It was a 2hr drive with a few gates to the Mount Wilderness centre, the scenery coming to life as we progressed. We found a campsite, left the table and chairs, and set off for Diamond Gorge, a 48k return drive. There were several deep crossings and we took photos of kapok flowers at a lookout.
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Once back to camp we had
coffee and cake at the reception/restaurant, and then a short walk to view
their safari tents.
Monday, June 16th. Mornington – Mt. Elizabeth.
Once on the road we stopped at Galvans Gorge, a 1km walk to a beautiful
waterfall and pool. We then went on to the Mt. Barnet Roadhouse where we filled
up. We started up towards Barnet River Gorge, but the track was bad, so we
turned back at a peaceful, fairylike river spot.
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Later I set out on their 4km walk which involved 2/3 really
difficult creek crossings, so was quite proud of myself. There were an
abundance of wallabies. As the sun started to set I had to walk really fast,
but once I had negotiated the last creek I felt safe!. David was emerging from
the campground to look for me, not too amused, but I reckon I had 10 – 15
minutes to spare.
We cooked supper over a wood barbecue and enjoyed the company of
5 Australians, one of whom had grown up in Greensborough and had known the
Smiths and the Greensborough Hotel.
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As we cooked some rice we found that the gas was running out, so
no steaks, just half cooked onions and peppers, and some ham, followed by
biscuits and cheese, lamenting the absence of coffee. But a superb, isolated
spot with not a human sound.
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A beautiful setting for breakfast, even with
no gas! We went up to Base camp by 8am, did some washing, filled up the gas
cylinder, checked on the Keams [no message], so went out to Zebedee Springs.
It was admittedly very
beautiful, but so crowded that going into the 28 degree water was not really
worth the trouble.
Then off to Emma Gorge. Quite a difficult scramble up for me, but
I eventually made it and it proved really worth the effort. I had a wondrous
swim there, ~ 19 degrees?, and was the only person swimming.
We got down by about 1pm and had lunch in their delightful
restaurant, chatting to the restaurant manager, David, and his girlfriend,
Ashley.
When we got back to El Questro we found that Carol and Russell
were pitched in the main part: reception had told them that we were not booked
in! We had some tea with them and then they came out to Kingfisher, our camp
site, to have a sundowner. Then we had dinner in the restaurant with them,
ending in a late night of 9.30pm!! We arranged to meet at 4 the next day to
talk ancestors.
We had a leisurely breakfast of steak, which needed to be cooked,
now that we had a new supply of gas. We drove out to Moonshine Gorge, a superb
5 km walk, although difficult over the rocks on the way, and we fell in whilst
trying to avoid wet feet! Bur the boots soon dried out and I was rewarded by a
lovely swim with no one about
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On the way back to the township we diverted up the
Saddleback Track, parking Roo halfway up, as we thought it might be
too steep, and continuing on foot. 360 degree views but nothing outstanding.
Back in camp we had a ‘Connoisseurs’ chocolate ice cream, a dip
in the river [nothing special] and a shower [best cubicles of our 6 weeks].
Then we had tea and a discussion with Carol on our Parchment ancestors. This
was followed by nibbles and sparkling wine before another delicious dinner in
the restaurant.
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We left our little piece of wilderness paradise, bid
farewell to Carol and Russell [they will be seeing us in Melbourne in a couple
of years!], and proceeded to Kununorra, where we drew cash, stocked up and
filled up. Striking scenery on the way.
Thence the Great Northern Highway to Turkey Creek [Wurnum] where
we found that Halls Creek was apparently out of diesel until Monday [and we had intended filling up
there on Sunday for our long Tanami Trail run ], so we filled up as an
insurance policy and had some scones.
Then on to the Bungles: the approach road of 2-3 hours was quite
good [compared to El Questro tracks] and it only took us an hour and a quarter,
the scenery becoming more interesting as we approached. We checked in at the
range station and then drove to the nearer campsite, set up camp and had a
snack. Then we drove back 4 km to a lookout and watched the sun setting with
its effect of lighting up the ranges.
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We breakfasted / brunched in the almost empty car park. Then we
drove back to the visitor centre to enquire about the diesel situation in
Hall’s Creek. On to Cathedral Gorge and the Domes – the heart of the Bungles.
We passed many interesting formations along the way. Cathedral Gorge was most
dramatic, but, unfortunately we will also remember it for the 50 odd people [
APT coach load] eating their packed lunches there! We then did the Piccaninny
trail to a lookout, another km or so.
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We were back to the Walardi campsite by 2.30. I did some washing
and we had tea in the company of a kookaburra. Had a walk and watched the
sunset and sat around a campfire. After
dinner with a wondrous sky, we sat chatting round the fire with a family of 4
from Mornington and a younger couple, originally from Newcastle. We enjoyed
toasting marshmallows.
Sunday, June 22nd. Bungles – Wolfe Meteor Crater.
Then it was back south to Hall’s Creek [and indeed there was no
diesel there] and on to the Tanami. We passed ~20 vehicles going in the
opposite direction, but I think these were just day traffic to the crater or roadmen. A really corrugated [worse
road of the whole trip] turn off for the crater, [~ 30km], which we reached by mid afternoon. We found the campsite
[free, but with a toilet] and walked up to the crater. This was 300,000 years old, 850m across and
50m deep. Inside was a salty pool. Impressive in size, but not convinced it was
worth the corrugations!, but we needed it as a camp break anyway.
We decided it would get really cold once dark, so cooked supper
and made coffee before sunset. Then retired inside the van and read, wrote and
had a roll and cheese.
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and a couple of hours later got to Rabbit Flat, the most remote
roadhouse in Australia, population 2. These two, Bruce and Jacqui, were
delightful and had been there since ~1970. David bought a Rabbit Flat T-shirt
plus a little diesel, 2 fig rolls and some mango and pawpaw chutney.
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We also passed ~10 kangaroos,
a lot of horses, 1 camel, 3 Aboriginal ladies, a family of dodgy Aboriginals
with 2 broken down cars [we had been warned about them by a couple from
Adelaide who had stopped whilst we were having breakfast].
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Tuesday, June 24th. Tilmouth Well – Alice Springs.
This was a perfect day after a leisurely, chilly
start. We will not be breakfasting
before 10am around the Alice area again – we needed the coffee just for the
heat of the mugs for our fingers, and the pear with our cereal was like ice. As
we drove away about 8.45am one of our neighbours was sitting in the sun
knitting, well clad in woolly hat, mittens and multi coloured cardigan!
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We got into Alice by 11. 30 – a lovely place in daytime. We got a permit for the Mereenie loop from the Information Office, plus brochures. We did some shopping, then we revelled in a civilised cappuccino before doing emails and buying some Aboriginal paintings, place mats and a t shirt. We filled up one tank and then drove to the School of the Air. I spent ~45 minutes there and was most impressed: I emerged glowing with happiness. I also learnt about the pedal radio.
We then drove the 16 km back north along the Stuart Highway to Bonds Spring Retreat, where we had decided to taste a bit of luxury for a night.
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Then we barbecued a rack of lamb after eating the station's fresh baked bread which was meant for breakfast. I could get used to this way of life! P.S. All the Hislop children
that grew up here were educated by the School of the Air.
Wednesday, June 25th. Alice Springs –
Redbank Gorge.
We enjoyed a leisurely start with a shower and hair wash. Then a
delicious breakfast of stewed fruits, cereal, fruit juice, and savoury
soufflés. After we had packed up and paid, we were shown the schoolroom where
the children had received their Radio of the Air [no computers then] lessons in
the 1960s.
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We stopped in Alice Springs
for money and fuel. On the way out we stopped at Flynn’s grave – 1951: he was
the pioneer of the Flying Doctor Service and of the School of the Air. After
this there were a series of scenic stops. Whereas at Simpson’s Gap, where we were lucky to see a rock wallaby, there
was hardly a soul around, at our next stop, Stanley Chasm, we
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Once on the Lasseter Highway we stopped for cereal and juice – it was still chilly even though 11am. Mount Connor loomed up – was this Ayers Rock??! We arrived at Ayers Rock Resort [Voyages] soon after 1pm. There was a long queue at the reception of the Desert Sands – too many coach tours! It was a lovely room with views of the Rock, but the balcony was in the shade. We had lunch in the room and then explored the resort – the upmarket hotel had a heated swimming pool!
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We arrived back to the hotel to find that they had not booked us
in to the Sound of Silence dinner on the 28th. Thought they might
have tried for the 29th, which they could not do now in the evening,
but initiative was obviously not high on their list of priorities! Anyway, we
walked quickly to the ’village’ and found that we were still able to book
direct from there.
Once back we enjoyed
biscuits, pate, cheese and wine in the room.
41 years of marriage!
The room was still icy when we got up[and we had been frozen all
night] so we complained to reception. After our own breakfast, I had a swim at
the Sails in the Desert hotel.
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Then on to Mt. Olga around 11am. We did the
8km ‘Valley of the Winds’ walk through the domes, very difficult at one stage,
but a whole hidden world beyond. We then drove to Warpa Gorge and recovered
there for half an hour in our armchairs outside the van. There were rather too
many coach youngsters around when we set off on the easy Warpa Gorge walk, but
they did not detract too much from the striking high and vertical gorge walls: such intensity of colour. We sat
on a bench for half an hour enjoying these cliffs and the balmy, late afternoon
sun..
Then we drove to the Sunset/ Picnic area and cooked supper,
finishing just in time to view the sunset, with a difference in colours even
more spectacular than that at Ayers Rock.
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We drove back in the dark. Discovering that
our a/c was still faulty, we returned to reception and they called maintenance,
who arrived at once[ they had not been called am!] What a shower of a hotel!
An hour later the room was still freezing, so David rang the duty
manager, Andrew, at 10: this only made matters worse as he accused David of
lying and also added that the heating for all the resort was down?
Sunday, June 29th. Ayers Rock.
We decided that we were going to move on, but after meeting the
manager, David Brill, about 9am, we took his assurance of a warm room, and a
‘brilliant’ Sound of Silence and decided to stay.
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So we packed up the room so that we could be moved and set off to walk the 10km around the Rock. We enjoyed watching the climbers going [vertically!] up it: it had been closed for climbing the 2 previous days. Different parts of the Rock were very different and I really enjoyed the easy walk.
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We returned to a new, warm, room – lovely, but a trifle overdue. We had some wine and biscuits. I then went for a swim at the Sails in the Desert, followed by a coffee in the Town Square. We went off, well wrapped up and with a sleeping bag, to the Sound of Silence at 5. They served champagne and canapés during the sunset and we then went on to the dining tables. We got chatting to a lovely group from Melbourne, Cynthia, Murrie and Danielle, then an American couple, Harvey and Mary from Philadelphia, and to Ricardo and Lesley [Spanish and Canadian origins] who got engaged that evening.
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It was a great
night, but we could not see what we were eating [plus the gas heater for our
table was out of gas!!], and the lady who gave the star talk did not hold the
silence!
We were in Alice by midday, got fuel and
then I did the shopping whilst David did the emails. After a short wander we
were away by soon after 1pm. Then we
resumed onto the drag north. We stopped for some lunch, with our fresh rolls!,
and again at the Red Centre Mango Farm where we bought 3 bottles of wine, one
of mango and 2 conventional, and had some mango ice cream.
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Tuesday, July 1st. Devils Marbles – Edith Falls. 830km.
Our next stop was at Newcastle Waters, where we explored the N.T. properties of the Junction Hotel [made fro the bits of old windmills] and the store and school.
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Finally got to Edith Falls, 60km beyond Katherine, about 5.30 and did an hour’s walk to the waterfall and pools. The campsite was very well laid out. Then showered and watched a slide show given by a not too articulate ranger. Whilst we were eating supper a large curlew wandered by.
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Then a drive to Pine Creek, where there was
a lack of a supermarket, but we did buy some pecan pie. Once into Kakadu N.P.
we stopped and picked up some information. Further north the Jabaru
Information/ Cultural Centre was nothing special, but we did enjoy a decent
coffee and sandwich there and bought some mouse mats. We found a supermarket in
the town, but with prices nearly double of anywhere else.
It was then 50 km to the Merl campsite just before Ubiri. We established ourselves with table, chairs and a washing line, and then went on to the Rock Art Site: this was most impressive, as was the climb up to the lookout, over wetlands and jagged ranges as far as the eye could see.
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The drive to the Twin Falls was an hour up a corrugated dirt track and another 45 minutes over real 4W drive tracks: loads of seemingly speed humps, but they were actually constructed to prevent water eroding the track. There were several river crossings. At the end, we took a short, very scenic, boat trip and then a 15 minute walk over rocks to the double falls which were quite magnificent.
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After a good nights sleep, we
had breakfast and were on the road by 8am. We drove to Yellow River and walked along the Board Walk,
seeing several nesting birds similar to storks and egrets.
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Unfortunately
the circular walk was closed, as it was swamped, there having been late rains.
We went into the Cultural Centre there and that was a bit more informative: it
covered the clan and the kin system and provided more history of the area [and
not just the creation myths and bush tucker!].
Then on to Gunlom, where David decided I was capable of the difficult walk! I thought it was just to a lookout, but once up high there were a whole series of pools and I had a most glorious swim.
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After clambering back down, I had another
swim in the large pool [lake like] there, but this was nothing special. We sat
and had a roll before leaving the park and driving on to Pine Creek – to stock
up on pecan pie: imagine our disappointment on finding that the shop hours were
7 – 3 and it was 3.25!
We
also seemed to have missed the passing of the Ghan by about half an hour too!
We drove on to Katherine Gorge and camped. Then we booked a lunch time cruise, the breakfast one that we had wanted being full. We wandered down to the Boat Ramp to see the sunset and there were fruit bats in the trees and lots of wallabies playing.
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We decided to treat ourselves to supper in
their restaurant with a view. A lovely experience, eating barramundi, salad and
chips!
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We walked, with such ease [due to the
concrete over the boulders!] ,between the gorges and then got into another boat
for the second gorge which was quite dramatic. Back on the original boat we
were served a fruit salad and it was 2.15 by the time we got back. We were both
very glad that we had altered our plans in order to take the cruise. The guide
on the boat was Marc, who originated from Barcelona but was married to a
Jawoyn.
We rushed to Katherine, found the ATM, shopped and filled with
diesel and arrived at Daly Waters by 5.50 [having to give the Mataranka thermal
pools a miss]. The campsite was very
basic. We had a pleasant supper of a Barrimundi roll, wine and coffee before
going over to the pub where, over several glasses of wine, we listened to
Frank, the ‘Chook’ man [due to the wedged tailed eagles that perched on his
hat], playing, telling jokes and involving the audience. Did Carol and Russell
take his photo?
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In the South African run Borroloola Roadhouse
we stocked up with more diesel and were then on to a corrugated, dirt road. We
found an idyllic lunch stop at Lily Lagoon.
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We settled into the Grove – a very pleasant pitch by the river being found. After lunch we ventured off to Riversleigh, ~50km, a World Heritage Sits for its fossils. But we were somewhat disappointed: there were just small bits of croc, thunderbird and turtle on show.
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Back to the camp for coffee and cake and a
read, followed by a swim and shower. We succeeded in getting our table for 2
for dinner, which was a much better meal than the previous night. 2 Aboriginals came in with 2 paintings and
we bought the one we liked for $100. Later we chatted to a lady from Sydney who
was in a group of 10 private planes. We then watched their film show, not
wonderful photography. Back by the van we lit a campfire and sat round that for
half an hour.
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We left at 7.45 and photographed all the
wee aircraft lined up on the runway. It was then a dirt road to Gregory Downs
[nothing there], but then hard surfaced but single track [a so called
Development road] to the Burke and
Wills Roadhouse.
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The sun was up by 7am and we were off by
7.30. We had hoped to go to Tamaloo Hot Springs, but these were closed. Then we
tried to fill up our gas bottle, but unsuccessfully. We arrived at the Undara
Volcanic Park by 10am to find that no tours of the Volcanic Lava Tubes were
available that day and that there was not a single campsite either!
So we continued on to Mt. Garnet, where
again we could not fill the gas. We also went through a carwash to prevent weed
seeds being spread. At Innot Hot Springs I paid for day use of their thermal
pools: enjoyable but no beauty like with natural thermal pools. We finally
found a supermarket that supplied camping gas, only to be told that the bottle
was not empty! We stopped in Ravenhoe’s Visitor Centre and had lunch outside
it.
It was a delightful , spacious town
surrounded by mountains . I investigated the Railway Yards camping area, but
decided to move on as it was still early and you could not see the mountains
from the campsite anyway.
We drove through Atherton but did not fancy
the commercial campsites there, so drove out to Timaloo Dam – gorgeous, but
again a commercial site. So we drove out and up to a lookout [with no ‘No
Camping’ signs], cooked supper and then returned to the lake for a walk. Then
back up to our site for coffee and cake and a long read. There was a lovely
sunset.
Friday, July 11th. Timaloo –
Cape Tribulation.
Due to the very low clouds over the hills it was not as cold as we expected at dawn. We drove through the Atherton Tablelands and reached Mossman by 10. Then we headed for Daintree and took the ferry north.
We drove down to Koala camp and decided we would be happy camping there if we did not see anything even better. After walking along the beach we drove to Cow Point in search of its café by the sea, but our map was wrong. After another beach walk we passed the café we were searching for 8 km inland but continued and found a genuine Café by the Sea at Thornton Beach.
.
.
.
We took our chairs and breakfast through
to the beach [Luxury *2], where we were all alone except for 2 canoeists who
were having a lesson on how to ride the surf. We then went for a walk south
along the beach and across pebbly mangrove bush country: but were soon
defeated. We then packed up and booked in to the Coconut Resort, sorting the
contents of the van at the same time. I swam in the cascade pool outside our
room and had a luxurious bath before going for a long walk along Coconut Beach
to the Myall river/creek but there were no crocs to be seen.
.
.
.
Back in the hotel I had a swim in the
restaurant pool, followed by coffee on our balcony and a read. Finally we took
another walk round the grounds and to the restaurant and bar. Although it was
by now dark there were no lanterns lit like the previous night [no tour group
in!].
Then we enjoyed wine, in decent glasses,
and a cold supper on our balcony with candles. Then read and listened to very
pleasant music.
‘Hot buffet’ breakfast was a disappointment, but not a surprise!
We were away soon after 8am. It was a beautiful drive – a real coastal road – down the coast to Cairns. We found
‘Il Palazzo’ hotel and stopped nearby and packed everything up, leaving it all
off at the hotel.
We drove the 4km back to Britz, and the check in process was
infinitely better than the checkout had been in Perth! We walked back along the
coast and were surprised to discover that Cairns does not have a sandy beach,
apart from a few minutes at high tide when the tiny mangroves and mud are under
water.
We were delighted with the hotel suite: a
super living/dining room and kitchen, plus an attractive bedroom. It was on the
ground floor and I was able to walk straight from our terrace into the pool for
a swim. Then we went out and had a pizza and a glass of wine on the front,
soaking up our last little bit of tropical living. After a walk around the huge
lido [necessary due to the lack of beach] and the Pier Shop Centre, we read,
had another swim and made coffee. I
washed my hair and then we walked around the Port area – some very noisy bars
and a Sling Shot machine with mind boggling g forces!. Then we perused the
interesting Night Market, a reflection of Australia’s multi ethnic population,
There were Asian food stalls, Chinese masseurs by the parlour load and with
plenty of customers, clothes, didgery doos, anything.
.
On repacking I found that I had slung the
wrong trousers in packing up the van! We enjoyed a cold supper and that was the
end of a wondrous holiday.
[Next
morning we left on flights to Ayers Rock, Perth, Singapore and Heathrow, and 43
hours later made contact with Newquay].