Southwards, slowly!

Our two weeks in Cairns had come to an end and we decided to start the trip southwards and spent four great days and nights at Babinda Rest Area where we met up with two great couples we had previously met on this trip.

We took a picnic lunch with one couple and visited Babinda Boulders, a lovely spot with a great walk along the pathway following the cascading water.

The following day after saying farewell to one couple another couple we know arrived, so they joined us for another picnic, this time at Josephine Falls and Golden Pond. This is a very pretty area with the two highest mountains in Queensland, Mt Bartle Frere and Mt Bellenden Ker, towering above the area.

 

 

Innisfail became our next base. The towns Art Deco style buildings and bridge make great photo opportunities. The North Johnson and South Johnson Rivers meet and create a pleasant and functional harbour area in the centre of town.

Sugar is the main industry in this area and a sugar museum can be visited at Mourilyan and a large raw sugar loading facility proved to be very interesting at Mourilyan Harbour. In past years cattle loading for export was conducted at this port and the old cattle yards are still standing.

Flying Fish Point and Etty Bay are just a short drive from Innisfail and are beautiful, quiet, fishing and holiday destinations.

The Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway on the Palmerston Highway gives spectacular views of the tropical rainforest, highest mountains, river and valleys from high in the tree tops. A little further along the road we visited Crawford's Lookout which also overlooks the very deep valley from a different angle.

After a week at Innisfail we visited Paronella Park, a castle built by a Spanish immigrant in the early 1900’s. Jose Paronella came to Australia in 1913, worked very hard, bought some land, returned to Spain to collect his wife then proceeded to hand build his dream castle on the banks of the Mena Creek overlooking the waterfall. The castle was open to the public and was a very popular entertainment area with a ballroom, theatre, cafe,swimming pool, tennis court and beautiful gardens.

Unfortunately cyclones and time have caused a great deal of damage but the current owners are committed to restoring the castle to its former glory. We hope to return in a couple of years to see how the ballroom rebuilding is progressing.

From Paronella Park we travelled back to the Bruce Highway and then to the coastal town of Kurrimine Beach but decided not to stay as it was very busy. Tully Heads was our eventual resting spot for the next week. Tully is famously known as the wettest town in Australia and has been awarded the “Golden Gumboot”. A huge gumboot is the centre piece at the park as you enter the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tully has some interesting scenic places close by and we filled several days by driving around the district to view them. Tully Gorge provides a cascade of water each morning when water is released from the dam at the top and rafting is a popular sport on the fast flowing white water.

Murray Falls was very spectacular even at this time of year. There is a camping ground and swimming hole although the water was very cold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also visited Mission Beach with its “Big Cassowary” but weren’t lucky enough to see a real one in our travels. The quaint little town of El Arish, beside the Bruce Highway has a pub which has been refurbished after the last cyclone so we enjoyed a cold drink and wandered around the old building and took in the great display of photos and memorabilia of the town and its characters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bananas and sugar cane are the main industries in this area and harvest was in full swing. Crawf was most interested in the different types of machinery used in the sugar industry. At this time of year the farmers are cutting, carting and replanting sugar cane all at the same time.

Cairns and Area

We settled into Cool Waters Caravan Park before venturing into town for a look around. Cairns has a rejuvenated foreshore area and marina. A man-made lagoon has been added for a safe place for people to swim. The shops in the CBD are focused on the tourist trade and many tour offices can be found in the area.

We booked tours for the Kuranda Sky-Rail, Whale Watching and Reef Viewing.

The Kuranda Rail Trip took us on a winding climb to the top of the Barron River Gorge. The one and three quarter hour trip provided great views of the gorge and waterfall. The train stops at a lookout for a photo opportunity of the waterfall.

The railway was constructed between 1882 and 1891, mostly by hand and many lives were lost during the construction of the 15 tunnels and 37 bridges.

We spent several hours at Kuranda, lunch, shops, markets and a beautiful butterfly enclosure. A bird aviary and several art and craft outlets can also be viewed in the township. It was then time for us to board the Skyway cable car for the return trip to Cairns. This is a spectacular trip high above the rainforest in the Barron Gorge below. Two stations along the way provide the opportunity to alight from the cable car and wander around the boardwalks to view the flora, fauna and waterfall.

The Skyway was constructed in 1994-95 and was built in an environmental way to have no impact on the heritage listed wet tropic rainforest below.

Crystal Cascades, approximately eight kilometres from Cairns was a great area for a picnic lunch and if the weather was hot enough, a swim in the picturesque waterhole. A large monitor, a snake, many birds and pretty butterflies entertained us for several hours.

Our whale watching trip finally paid off for us when we sighted approximately seven whales. One whale approached our boat and provided a great photo opportunity when it performed a full breach. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the boat for a photo.

The reef tour took us to the outer reef where we connected with a large pontoon for a five hour stay. The weather was disappointing, with cloud, a few spots of rain and a cool breeze. Some people braved the elements and went diving and snorkelling but when we saw how cold they were, even with wet suits on, we decided that the glass bottomed boat and the semi-submersible boat were more suitable for us.

The coral was beautiful, but because of the cloud cover the colours weren’t as bright as they might have been on a sunny day.  We saw many brightly coloured fish, some sharks and turtles and enjoyed a lovely lunch.

Another day was filled with a trip to the Atherton Tablelands. We made a round trip by winding our way up the Gillies Highway to Yungaburra, stopping along the way to view the magnificent Cathedral Fig Tree then Lake Barrine. At Yungaburra we visited the Curtain Fig Tree, which like the  Cathedral Tree is an incredibly large parasitic tree which eventually takes over its host plant by smothering it with its large root system.

The platypus viewing area was surprising because although it was midday we saw a large platypus playing around  in the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we continued through the very fertile farmland to Atherton, Talga and Mareeba before completing the round trip back to Cairns.

Airlie Beach and Bowen

Airlie Beach is a typical tourist resort town with many cafes, hotels and gift and souvenir shops. The town’s accommodation is aimed mainly towards the tourist with many apartments, hotels and back packer hostels. This area also has many caravan and camping parks and we stayed at the Flame Tree Tourist Park approximately 10km towards Shute Harbour near the Airlie Beach Airport.


The town has a lovely boardwalk area around the harbour and marina and a park in the centre of town with a man-made lagoon provides a safe place for children and adults to swim and picnic.

It rained most days during our stay but we did manage to have a great drive to some of the beach side towns in the area and had a huge hamburger lunch at the Dingo Beach Pub.

After six nights at Airlie Beach we moved northwards again to Bowen. Bowen is the home of the “Big Mango” as this is a large fruit and vegetable growing area. The Sunday morning Queen’s Beach markets are a great place to buy fresh, cheap fruit and vegetables as well as the usual mixture of market type products. Bowen has spectacular 360^o views of the town, coastline and harbour from several lookouts in the area.
 
A natural wetland in the centre of town is home to a large range of birds and animals. Many of the old buildings in town are adorned with colourful murals depicting the history of Bowen. Bowen was home to a Catalina Base during the second world war and part of the old concreted area adjacent to the landing area in the harbour can still be seen near the memorial for the Catalina seaplane crash which happened during the war.

The Christmas in July evening at the caravan park was great fun. A roast dinner and dessert was served, music provided and a raffle conducted to raise money for breast and prostate cancer and over $3000 dollars was raised.

From Bowen we travelled towards Cairns, our first stop being Home Hill for a loaf of bread and lunch. We passed over the spectacular Burdekin River Bridge. Known as the 'Silver Link' and longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge it spans the flood plains between Home Hill and Ayr. We discovered
that many of the rest areas in this area at this time of year are full so we checked into a caravan park at Bluewater and the following night was spent at Babinda Rest Area. We by-passed many towns including Townsville but will visit them on the way back in a couple of months.