Cairns and Green Island

We're back, but sorting through several hundred photos and typing notes into the web page may take a while.

It was good to sleep on a bed that didn't squeak whenever we moved. It rained gently throughout the night but the sun was rising in a blue sky as Joy hung out the washing from the previous evening. We heard that there was rain and strong winds in Cairns while we were away. Fortunately, our good weather continues to hold.

We were booked on a half day trip to Green Island, an island formed from coral. We spent two hours on the island, plus most of an hour each way on a fast catamaran. In our two hours we did a little shopping, took a guided nature walk, then rides in a semi-submersible glass sided boat, where we saw clams, turtles and lots of fish, and in a glass bottomed boat, an inferior repeat of the semi submersible. We spent the afternoon doing more washing, shopping for the next leg of our trip, and trying to sort through the hundreds of photos we have taken over the past week.

Cairns and Kuranda

We dropped the Musso off for a service at 8 this morning, with caravan attached as the electrical connections have not behaved as well as they might. Knowing that we had a day to fill in with neither car nor van we had booked a trip to Kuranda on the train returning by cable car (Skylink). The rail line, through mountainous terrain, is a remarkable feat of engineering, given that it was completed in 1891 using hand tools and dynamite only. We boarded at Freshwater Station, one of the original stations. Joy was impressed by the timber and marble toilets. Sights along the way included views back over Cairns, the beautiful tropical rainforest, Barron Gorge and Stoney Creek Falls. The train itself can be seen as it rounds some of the curves.

At the end of the 36 km line is Kuranda. This small town is set in rainforest. One woman had described the day to us as 'go up on the train, spend a few hours walking around Kuranda spending money, come down on the Skylink'. In Kuranda there are certainly plenty of opportunities for spending money. Shop after shop sells Australian clothing, hats, leather goods, jewellery, souvenirs, etc. Joy paused to look at the prices of Chinese massage and couldn't refuse the offer of $10, reduced from $25, for neck, shoulders, back and waist. We tried 'home made' ice cream, made from various fruits. For lunch we bought hotdogs at a German restaurant. No ordinary hotdogs for us. We ordered one crocodile and one ostrich hotdog, plus a tankard of German draught beer for Barrie. The hotdogs came with fried onions and sauerkraut and were delicious. Ostrich has more flavour than crocodile. By then we were too full to have an Aussie burger 'the way they were made before McDonalds stuffed them up'.

After lunch we took the 'Jungle Walk' back to the Skylink. This walk is through the rainforest that surrounds Kuranda and along the edge of the Barron River, much more attractive than walking back down the street. It took us about an hour, and was not the popular way to go, judging by all of the people we didn't see along the way.

The Skylink ride takes about 40 minutes. Most of it is over rainforest. The pylons supporting the cables were put in place by helicopter. There are some spectacular views over acres of treetops. There are two optional stops along the way, the first with lookouts over the Stoney Creek Falls and the Barron Dam, the second with a rainforest walk. Barrie was particularly impressed by the huge Queensland Kauri tree, with its thick, straight trunk and all of the branches at the top. We arrived back in Cairns and collected our Musso and caravan, all fixed, no serious problems identified.

Tomorrow we commence the drive west. Optus service (and hence internet connection) may not be available for most of the next few days. This site will be updated whenever it is possible to do so. Apologies to those of you who have written but not received a reply. I'm still catching up.

Cairns to Innot Hot Springs

This journey involved driving over the Great Dividing Range again. After obtaining advice from everyone we met who knew the various roads, Barrie decided to drive back to Innisfail and cross from there. Thus, the first section of the drive was a repeat of the journey up, through the sugar cane fields. After the scenery we have been looking at, the cultivated fields looked strange for a while. One difference was that some of the sugar cane is now being harvested.

Turning right just before Innisfail we encountered some spectacular views. We were high up, looking across valleys. The area must have been rainforest at one time. The paddocks, which were apparently used for grazing as there were few crops, were a lush green, the small clumps of trees were reminiscent of the rainforest, and the mountains in the background were blue.

Further on the greenness was less spectacular. At one point there were bananas growing on one side of the road, and what appeared to be neat hedges very close together on the other side. The hedges were actually a tea plantation. Approaching Millaa Millaa there was a wind farm, with perhaps 20 huge windmills.

We followed the main road through Millaa Millaa, and didn't take the short cut to Ravenshoe — or so we thought. When we reached Tarzali, a tiny town along what our map indicated was a very minor road, we decided it was time to ask for directions. It turned out that the main road was in fact the left hand turn we thought was the shortcut.

The road to Ravenshoe, the highest town in Queensland, had stretches of road with 8 and 10 degree climbs. The Musso didn't like these and heated into the red. We stopped to let it cool down. When it cooled Barrie checked the radiator fluid but couldn't see any. It was refilled yesterday and Barrie requested that a five litre container be filled in case we needed it. The radiator took almost all of this. It seems we have a problem.

Innot Hot Springs is a tiny place, population 'nominal'. The springs come out of the ground heated to 79 degrees. The caravan park has a series of pools ranging from 41 degrees (it was much hotter than that today) through to a cool pool. It also has a mechanic. Barrie spoke with the mechanic, who will look at our problem tomorrow, then we spent some time relaxing in the pools. There are parrots in this caravan park also.

Innot Hot Springs

Fortunately we decided in Cairns that we needed a rest day at Innot Hot Springs. Barrie saw the mechanic in the morning. We caught up on some paperwork, did some washing, spent time on our Cape York photos and web page, Joy went to the pools in the morning (much busier today than yesterday), and we both went to the pools in the late afternoon. Barrie received lots of advice from various people, including the local mechanic who was too busy to spend time looking at the Musso. Tomorrow we will continue on and hope that we reach Croydon without any problems.

Innot Hot Springs to Croydon

We were the first to leave the small but fully occupied caravan park this morning. Consequently, we had to open the gate, kept closed at night to keep wandering cattle out! We started out in light fog, but this soon lifted to give us another sunny, mild day. The countryside immediately west of Innot Hot Springs was reminiscent of parts of the Cape York Peninsula much further north, with termite mounds, grass trees, and smouldering evidence of recent burning off. The road quickly became a single lane of bitumen with wide shoulders for passing, widening back to two lanes from time to time. People are more friendly out here. Most drivers wave now, not just other caravanners and we received enthusiastic acknowledgement the first time we pulled over to allow another vehicle to pass. Very few passed us today, despite our slower than the average speed.

There are some big road trains — we allow them to stay wholly on the bitumen. We drove through the Forty Mile Scrub National Park then followed the Savannah Way which runs all the way to Normanton. Approaching Georgetown the land rose and there were some lovely views.

Eighty kilometres out of Croydon we passed a large group of cyclists waiting to cross a bridge, with police at both extremities to hold up the traffic. We heard on the CB a call for 'all those who are naked get behind the tarp'. One group, further back from the bridge, apparently couldn't get to the tarp. Unfortunately, Joy was a bit slow with the camera.

Croydon is a tiny, historic goldmining town. It does have three internet access computers at the Information Centre. The only 'supermarket' is more like a corner store. The butcher was 'back in 10 minutes' when we first stopped there. It has an historic walk that we will do after the internet access is closed.

Croydon to Karumba

The cyclists we passed yesterday were part of a 'Coast to Coast' charity ride from Cairns to Karumba, some 800 km by the route we took. They overnighted at the Croydon Show Grounds and collected money around the caravan park.

As on many previous mornings, we were awakened by birds. Mostly, the birds have been kookaburras. Today it was a large flock of galahs sitting on the power lines around the caravan park. We left the park at 8, the first out again, at least from our section, but the cyclists were ahead of us. We had a police escort around five groups of cyclists, with maybe 20–30 cyclists in each group and support vehicles front and rear. Is it extortion when a policeman asks you to stop and tells you that you have now passed all of the cyclists, then the young woman beside him asks for a donation?

The road was very flat today, with two lanes of bitumen almost all the way. Musso likes this type of road and sang along. While the Musso does not seem to be running as well as it did when we started out, we have learned that if we don't push it too hard the problems disappear. Initially the road was lined with scrub, some small anthills, few fences and occasional Brahmin cattle feeding alongside the road. Blue gums began to appear among the trees. After Normanton the trees disappeared. We saw a number of large birds of prey, some of them wedge tailed eagles, feeding on dead kangaroos/wallabies. Along the treeless roadway leading into Karumba a large number of kites, sitting individually along the roadway, flew off as we approached. We wish we had remembered to bring our book of Australian birds.

Karumba is a fishing town, prawns and barramundi particularly. It is at the south eastern corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the Norman River. It is also a live cattle shipping terminal. We visited the local fish store. Crab was the special today. In addition to our purchases, we received a complimentary piece of smoked barramundi for lunch. Clearly, he doesn't often have sales like that. Barrie will be eating well for a while. We hope our deep freeze doesn't develop any problems.

Karumba

Another quiet day. We don't mind spending most of a day at our caravan catching up on 'housework' and photos. Karumba is surrounded by wetlands. We can see where they should be, but they are very dry at the moment. There are supposed to be lots of waterbirds here. We have seen a few, but we have seen more eagles than waterbirds. We drove to the nearby Karumba Point, another community on the edge of the Norman River and looking out to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Driving back through the 'wetlands' we saw a wedge tailed eagle feeding on a dead kangaroo just off the road. It was not disturbed by the passing traffic, but flew off as soon as we stopped to take a photo.

Yesterday we saw penned cattle as we drove into Karumba. Today when we drove towards Karumba Point there were four road trains lined up to collect them. When we came back they had started loading the cattle. We checked at the live cattle wharf, but there wasn't a ship there. They do have holding pens, or possibly the cattle are to be shipped somewhere else, although Normanton would appear to be a better place to start from.

This is clearly a fishing town. There are people fishing off the beach, car parks with empty cars and boat trailers, multiple businesses connected with fishing, and a 'Barra Farm'. No one swims in the sea here — the croc warning signs are in place.

We visited the library, which provides internet access. The other provider, our friendly fishmonger, doesn't permit uploads and downloads, the main reason for us to use such a facility. The library, a tiny room in the civic centre, is not open at all on Fridays or and for four hours only on Saturdays. When Joy arrived at the appointed time the librarian was running Norton Anti Virus to clean up a virus that had recently been downloaded. At least the fishmonger avoids that problem.

The bike riders rode into Karumba today. We thought they might gather out of the town and all ride in together, but apparently they arrived at different times. The locals didn't seem to know much about what was going on. There is a barbecue at the sports centre tonight, and fireworks later. Unfortunately, we had to eat up some of the food in the fridge before it goes off and therefore couldn't go to the barbecue.

Karumba to Cloncurry

As we passed the cattle pens on the way out of Karumba cattle were being loaded into one of the two waiting road trains. A few kilometres from Karumba we saw a pair of brolgas a short distance from the road, and a line of six kite hawks sitting on the fence. Kite hawks are very common in this this part of the world. They were very evident in Karumba and are still to be seen in Cloncurry. We also saw another wedge tailed eagle feeding on a dead kangaroo on the road and several live kangaroos. We retraced our tracks back to Normanton on the wide, flat road. South of Normanton the road reverted to a single lane of bitumen, and alternated with double lanes from time to time all the way to Cloncurry. The scenery changes constantly. Close to Normanton there was a stretch of several kilometres of short, yellow-leafed trees, then blue gums, then dry, open plains. We saw groves of blue gums throughout the day. It would be possible to produce a book of colour landscape photos taken just from the road between Normanton and the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, a little over 200 kilometres. This part of the country is very empty. We saw a few cattle, most of them Brahmins. Sometimes there were fences. We stopped to photograph trees with yellow flowers but no leaves. There must be millions of termite mounds along this road.

Joy took over the driving at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. When Barrie drives, he watches the road and Joy enjoys the scenery. When Joy drives Barrie watches the road, and Joy watches the road and enjoys the scenery. Immediately south of the Roadhouse, the earth changed to rich red and was much rockier, with low hills on the horizon and undulations on the road. In places there were small rocky hills near the road, and large boulders lying around. We had been told that the narrow road could be difficult to move off as there was a lip, and that we needed to allow the road trains to remain on the bitumen. The road signs seemed to confirm this. No road trains passed us while Barrie was driving, but the first one appeared shortly after Joy took over. Joy pulled right off and stopped for three road trains. The drivers in each case acknowledged that we had done so, different to many truck drivers along the east coast. We had previously determined that Sunday was likely to be the best day to travel down this road. Apart from the road trains, there were a reasonable number of vehicles travelling in the opposite direction, many of them pulling caravans, and many with a boat on top as well.

In Cloncurry we visited the Chinamans Creek Dam, a pretty spot, with a large flock of pelicans on the opposite shore, and the Rotary Lookout, which gave us a wonderful view of the town and surrounding countryside. To Joy's disappointment, Optus reception, and therefore email, is still not available. Maybe tomorrow in Mt Isa.

The caravan park had a fish barbecue for guests tonight. Unfortunately, once more we were unable to attend as we had two large pieces of fresh barramundi to eat up.

Cloncurry to Mt Isa

Joy hurt her knee last night, kneeling on the bed to get a blanket out of the cupboard above the bed. She wasn't aware that anything had happened until she tried to move away, and found that she couldn't. The knee didn't hurt while it was bent and the lower leg supported, but was very painful if she tried to stand. Fortunately, our caravan is small enough to move from the bed to the dinette and out the door without needing to stand. We decided to drive on to Mt Isa this morning as planned and go to the hospital there. Barrie did almost all of the packing up and Joy managed to climb into the Musso without needing to stretch her leg. Entering Mt Isa we saw an advertisement for a van park with en suites, so we headed for that instead of the one we were booked into. Fortunately, they had a site available. Barrie unhooked the van and we went to the hospital. While Joy was waiting, Barrie completed the setting up and did the washing. The diagnosis is that the leg has some soft tissue damage and should be better in a few days. Meanwhile, Joy has crutches, an elastic bandage and painkillers. Whether it is the bandage, the painkillers or elapsed time, the leg is already very much better and Joy can already touch it to the ground as she walks. The doctor ordered rest, so she will be resting for today at least.

After the flat land we have been seeing recently the landscape on the short drive from 'The Curry' to 'The Isa' was unexpected. It was hilly and rocky, very pretty and very Australian. The soil and rocks are red. In the distance the hills have the usual blue tinge with the red showing through. Civilisation has returned, with increased traffic and power lines running parallel to the road.

Mt Isa

By last night Joy's knee was completely better, no pain at all. Today we returned the crutches to the hospital. Joy continues to be amazed that recovery could be so rapid, given the pain of yesterday morning. Possibly something had shifted out of place and the elastic bandage pushed it back again. We slept in this morning, and didn't rise until 8 o'clock.

This is our second visit to Mt Isa, we were here a little over 30 years ago. Our main memory of that visit is spending the two hours we were given to walk around the town in the Safeway Supermarket cafe because it was so hot outside (it was January). It's very pleasant here today, expected top 27 degrees. We visited the Moondarra Dam, a repeat of a visit on the previous occasion. Behind the dam is a lovely park, kept green with frequent watering. The dam's water level clearly is down considerably on its capacity, another reminder of the drought that is being experienced everywhere we have travelled. At the edge of the spillway we saw considerable numbers of dead fish in the water.

The lookout in the centre of the town provides views in all directions. Apparently we are 2005 km from Melbourne and still 2600 km from Perth, the most distant of the cities we intend visiting on this trip. Although we are in Queensland, Brisbane is almost as distant as Melbourne, 1576 km away. One unusual aspect of the town is the mine on the edge, with the huge Lead Smelter Stack chimney that sits apparently at the end of the main street. To the left is the less impressive Copper Smelter Stack.

Back to index

Next Page: Mt Isa to Katherine