This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.

Monthly Archives: November 2016


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1998 Travels June 6

SATURDAY 6 JUNE     CAIRNS

John was feeling somewhat poorly this morning! So was I – but this is due to a genuine sore throat. I wonder what I might be getting?

We eventually managed to go to shops to buy what is needed for tomorrow’s meal, and get a paper.

Then it was a quick snack lunch and off to bowls, at Stratford. We played in pairs games; won one, drew one; neither of us played particularly well. The club is on the semi-rural fringe of town, behind it is the Barron River, which comes down the range from up on the Atherton Tableland. There were great flocks of metallic starlings swooping around near the bowls club, through the afternoon.

As the day wore on, I started to be bitten by sandflies!

John fancied a  pizza for tea, so we bought him one. I wasn’t very hungry, so had some chips.


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1998 Travels June 5

FRIDAY 5 JUNE     CAIRNS

We seem to have driven north of the rainy area. Today was warm and sunny – and dry!

After breakfast, drove into the centre of Cairns. It was not too hard to find street parking.

Went to the Tourist Information Centre – I was hoping to get good material on parts north of here. But they seemed to be only interested in booking tours and accommodation, not in actually dispensing sightseeing information to us lowly ‘vanners. I suspect they may be reliant on commission from products sold?

The RACQ shop staff were much more helpful. They were a source of good information. I found out from them that the Cape York roads were all open. Got some free maps.

We had lunch on the Esplanade – just rolls. I was really let down by the Esplanade area. Given the reputation of Cairns, I was expecting it to have a lovely sandy beach area. Nup – tidal mud! Not at all attractive.

Back to the shops to get some drink to take tonight.

At the van changed, then left for Lake Placid.

Had a great meal with H and M – prawns, followed by tuna and salad. M has found a good fish co-op here. That is a good idea – I must start actively looking for such places in towns where there might feasibly be such a thing.

There was much talk of travels and family. H and M are doing some longer trips, each year, now they have mostly finished working.

Excellent evening, in great company. I had to drive us back to the van! Fortunately, the navigation was pretty straightforward, at that time of night.


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1998 Travels June 4

THURSDAY 4 JUNE   MISSION BEACH TO CAIRNS   148kms

The pack up, departure from Mission Beach, and drive to Cairns, were all uneventful.

We went through Bingil Bay to El Arish, on the highway.

We had no stops along the way – John did not want the hassle of finding somewhere to park the rig and he was focussed on getting to our destination. We will have to dawdle and do tourist things in that section, another time. We got fuel in Innisfail – 67cpl.

Most of the route  was through farmland – mostly sugar cane country. Around Babinda, the mountain range was close as the road skirted its base, and then there was a range on the coastal side as well. Very attractive country to drive through, I thought.

I had to navigate us through some quite extensive Cairns suburbs, but at least this was the outer edges of Cairns and we did not have to tow the rig through the city centre.

I had booked us into the Top Tourist Cool Waters Caravan Park at Brinsmead, for two weeks – booking ahead, sight unseen, because it is getting to be the busy season. In my RACV guide book, it has a 4.5 star rating, but it is not as pleasant as I’d expected, given that. I wonder how the star ratings are arrived at? Our site cost $16.20 – no free nights. This one is over our budget – but we’ve “saved” quite a bit, further south.

There is not much grass around our site – quite a lot of bare earth. However, there are a lot of tall trees and palms to give shade. Freshwater Creek is right behind our site, so that is pleasant. But overall, the park does not look as well cared for as where we have been.

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Almost as soon as we pulled in, were visited by some ducks – not a native variety, but ex-domestic type. Quite clearly, used to receiving hand outs from guests.

We did a full set up for our stay, then drove to the nearest small shopping centre and got some rolls for lunch, a few groceries and a paper. Back to the van for lunch.

After that, we drove to Stratford – John having already found out from the caravan park lady where some bowls clubs were – and John booked us in to play on Saturday. That is not too far from here.

Went on to the Lake Placid Caravan Park, on the northern outskirts of Cairns. John had phoned C  again a few days ago and been told that nephew M is staying here, so we were off to visit. We surprised H and M. I had not met them before. They are about my age. We had a drink at their van and talked travel. They had come up the Birdsville Track and through the far west of Qld – with only an ordinary car and van. However, they had an “interesting” time on a very boggy Birdsville Track and M says he will buy a 4WD after this trip! We arranged to have tea with them tomorrow night, and for them to come to us on Sunday. It is most enjoyable to be being “social” again, I find.

I was very impressed with the Lake Placid Caravan Park – wish I’d booked here, now. It is more open, with a view to the mountains behind, and does not seem as gloomy as where we are.

Our early impressions of Cairns are that it sprawls over the foothills of the surrounding mountains, which are pretty impressive. There is lots of lush greenery around, but it is still a suburban sprawl. The roads are very busy. Out in the Lake Placid direction, the suburbs blend in with sugar cane farms.

Tea was the prawns I bought from the Mission Beach markets, with salad.

The TV reception is problematical – all the hills! John is not happy.


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1998 Travels June 3

WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE     MISSION BEACH

We woke to a great day, for once – blue sky with a few clouds. It was definitely a day for an ambitious  excursion.

Drove to South Mission Bay and left Truck in car park at the end of the road by the beach.

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The beach at South Mission Beach

Then we set out to do the walk to Kennedy Bay, which is the longest day walk on offer around here, and promises to be walking with great scenery.

The path was well made, with steps in places. We went through rainforest, at first, then there was a long walk along Lugger Beach. This was beautiful, with its outlook straight across to Dunk Island. Stopped for a little while to watch a group of Rainbow Bee Eaters hard at work. They take off from a branch and soar up into the air, trying to catch insects. They are really beautiful.

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Tam O Shanter Point, with a little piece of Lugger Beach showing

I was intrigued by the patterns made by little critters in the sand. I think the round balls might be soldier crabs, or similar, but another, more geometric pattern left me wondering.

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Wonder what critter makes these patterns?

We saw a fishing trawler, working the channel between the mainland and Dunk Island.

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Dunk and Bedarra Islands from Lugger Beach

The track then passed behind some mangroves, over Tam O’Shanter Point, and onto the beach of Kennedy Bay. This is named for Edmund Kennedy, the first white man to explore these parts, who began his 1848 expedition to Cape York here. His boat was the Tam O’Shanter.

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Kennedy Bay and cloud over the top of Hinchinbrook Island

The beach was pleasant, the views superb. We could see turtles in the sea, occasionally sticking their heads up out of the water. We found a picnic table set up at the back of the beach, about half a km along. Sat there and had our lunch. We identified a Sacred Kingfisher  – new to us – John was pleased.

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The outlook to Hinchinbrook Island from our lunch place at Kennedy Bay

There was a clear view to Hinchinbrook Island from here. The island is so big – it has a presence that looms in the distance. Its top was in cloud for much of the time. I know there is a multi-day walking trail on the Island – maybe John’s hip will be up to carrying a backpack again, before our travels are done?

There was a lot of black ashy sediment in the water here. We do not know if it is from coconuts, sugar cane burn offs, or some other fires.

The day was quite hot. John’s leg was feeling the effects of two days of activity. So we decided not to continue the extra 3kms or so, to the Hull River mouth. We’d brought 3 litres of water with us, and ended up drinking it all before the end of the walk.

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This might be soldier crabs at work?

Retraced our steps back to Truck. The 7km, or so, walk took us 6 hours, because we dawdled so much, looking at birds. It was 5.30 by the time we got back to Truck.

John had a close look at the Coconut Caravan Park at South Mission Beach, from the outside. Next time we are here, he wants to stay there, because he can fish from the beach over the road. He can’t do that where we are, because of the reef close in – has to drive to go fishing.

I cooked John’s fish for his tea – in foil, with lemon. I had a tin of tuna and we had potatoes and broccoli with our respective fish. The “bone fish” was aptly named, John said.

We packed up the awning and roof rack things before tea.

With the sun shining, there are a number of absolutely brilliantly blue coloured, quite large, butterflies, working the bushes in the caravan park. I am amazed by the almost luminous blue that they are. Found out later they are the Ulysses Butterfly.

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The brilliant Ulysses butterfly that won’t keep still for a photo

John’s hip was really sore, after two days of solid exercise.


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1998 Travels June 2

TUESDAY 2 JUNE     MISSION BEACH

It rained through the night and occasionally through today, too.

I walked to the photo shop. It was closed, with a sign “at jetty”. Not much help as I can hardly collect my photos from there!

Then we went cycling. John wanted to ride the walking track from the Licuala Palms place we were, the other day, to Lacey Creek – some 7kms. However, his sense of location was totally astray today. He didn’t take the Tully road but sailed on straight ahead, so I decided he must have intended to start at Lacey Creek. But he kept on going past that track turnoff, and was too far ahead to hear me calling out to him. After a further 5kms, I caught up, and we turned back.

Eventually rode the 3kms extension part of the Lacey Creek track. It was very slushy, narrow, with many tree roots across the track and some creek bridges. It really was a walking track, not a cycling one. There were hanging wait-a-while vines, which are very nasty things to encounter at any speed! We walked much of it – pushing the bikes. It was not much fun.

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If it looks wet and miserable, that’s because it was!

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We would have done better to leave the bikes and just walk the track

A leech attached itself to my  ankle. Eventually, I spotted it and got it off, by lighting a match then applying the hot head to the leech, which dropped off. Blood! Mine.

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Lacey Creek, in the rainforest, was very pretty

I refused to ride the rest of it, so we rode back into town on the roads. We did 21kms in all.

I collected my photos as we rode past. They were damp by the time we got back to the van – not in a decent folder. Very poor business – I am not impressed with that place. The photos dried out ok.

It was a very late lunch.

Later in the afternoon, John went fishing with the man from our neighbouring van. They are a very nice couple from SA, who are heading inland from here.

There was an older couple on the other side of us when we first arrived. They moved a couple of sites further up, when it became vacant, because it had an annexe area with lino on. They have a sign “Dunneevue” on the front of their van! I cringed when I saw that. They are here for 2 or 3 months.

John came back from fishing at dusk, with a dart and a “bonefish”, and quite pleased with himself.

Tea was warmed up left over bubble and squeak. It hadn’t improved any!

My leech bite itched all night.


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1998 Travels June 1

MONDAY 1 JUNE     MISSION BEACH

The first day of winter. It seems less relevant up here, somehow, though it rained through the night, again. We did get some sunny periods today, however – blue sky again.

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The lovely, lush, green caravan park at Mission Beach

Went to the PO. The main bag of mail from home was in – with lots of lovely letters. Four from friends of mine, which was great. There was also an invitation for me to attend my former workplace, on the occasion of the presentation of a Fellow of the College award to me. Last Saturday! Damn – I could have arranged for son to go and collect it on my behalf.

I spent the day dealing with mail things, including some bills. The dog and cat registration tags were in the mail parcel, so they had to be mailed back home. There was a $15 Keno prize cheque, which I banked at the PO.

I put a film  into the local processor this morning. Was told to come back for the prints  after 4pm. When I did, they were closed, despite the sign saying they were open until 5.30pm. That is what this village is like!

John spent much of the day on his computer, finalizing his father’s war material, to be sent off to S and brother C.

I made a sort of bubble and squeak involving vegetables and nuts, for tea. Probably not something I will repeat! Also did golden syrup dumplings, which were good. It seems like the weather for that sort of food.


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1998 Travels May 31

SUNDAY 31 MAY     MISSION BEACH

The rain was not as heavy, this morning.

We went to the Mission Beach Markets, which happen once a month. They were pretty ordinary, maybe due to the weather? There was much mud in the market area of the recreation ground. I bought assorted fruit and vegetables, and some frozen salmon and prawns. Spent $25 in all.

After lunch, drove around, having a look at the very spread-out townships. At Wongaling Beach jetty we watched the Quick Cat getting ready to take a bus group to Dunk Island, rocking ferociously. Other boat cruises have been cancelled due to a strong wind warning.

Had a look at other caravan parks at Wongaling and at South Mission Beach – both of which have almost beachfront locations. But I think ours is the nicest, with its superb gardens, lush green lawns and overall neatness.

This area is the most low key of the “tourist” destinations we have stayed at, to date. There is very little of the “development” of places like Noosa, or even Airlie Beach. I really like its backwater atmosphere – the buildings are all single storey, and kind of ramshackle. Hope it doesn’t get “developed” in the future.

Back at the van, John used the radio to phone S, who expects to know in about a week if she has received an overseas posting. He called brother C, who said that their nephew M is travelling in these parts, somewhere; he will find out and John will call him later in the week. I think C gets a real buzz out of the radphone conversations!

I phoned V, who is now staying with grandparents at Elizabeth, in SA. She and husband passed their truck driving courses, at Shepparton. They plan to leave in another week or so, for WA. She told me that she had excellent reports on her work with the Outdoor Education company, and that their staff were competing with each other to get her on their camps! She hopes to do a Wilderness First Aid course in WA and then she can lead groups. She also got a commendable grade on her first TAFE assignment. So that was all good news.

Tea was pasta with a garlic crumb topping. Different, but excellent.


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1998 Travels May 30

SATURDAY 30 MAY     MISSION BEACH

It drizzled off and on through the day, skies were grey and it seemed a bit misty, which was probably due to the saturated air.

I was able to buy the Australian and spent some time reading it. I made focaccia  bread for lunch, which turned out very well.

After lunch, we did two walks. Drove firstly to the car park for the 1.3kms Licuala Palms circuit walk, just off the road back to Tully. The walking track was on very waterlogged ground. It features the Licuala fan palms, obviously – very photogenic plants that grow mostly where the ground is wet for much of the year. Yep, it is that.

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Licuala or Fan Palms – seen from below

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The Licuala Palms walking track through the forest

We kept a sharp lookout, hoping to see a cassowary, as they love the fruits of this palm, and so are in the area. We saw where one had been – cassowary poo is very distinctive! But no bird, despite all our peering about. Then, as we were driving along the track from the car park to the road, there was one ambling along in front of us! Unfortunately, it was being pursued by two female backpackers, intent on getting photos of it, and last seen following the bird into the bush. They were risking getting cassowary kicked, which – according to the literature – is a major health hazard. They are very big birds – emu size or more. Reputed to have a very small brain and a very bad temper! Apparently, they are at risk of being hit by cars, because they wander across roads – hence the warning road signs around the area.

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Extensive buttress root system on a rainforest tree

Drove back around and out the El Arish road a little way, to the car park for the Lacey Creek walk. This 1.5km walk through the rainforest is supposed to be an excellent one for seeing cassowaries. It features interpretative signs and a kind of cassowary arboretum area, which were interesting. It was a lovely walk through the forest, albeit damp, but no big birds were seen. However, there were lots of little mosquitoes!

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Interpretative display at the Lacey Creek walk start

Tea was tempeh stir fry and rice – good.

We have ants in the van. I guess, in this weather, they head for anywhere dry they can find. I bought some ant rid this morning and have put some, on pieces of foil, on the benches.


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1998 Travels May 29

FRIDAY 29 MAY     MISSION BEACH

It was still raining in the morning, but then cleared for a few hours, although the skies stayed grey. There do not appear to be any sandflies here – they probably all got drowned! There is over 4 metres of rain here, a year! This morning, I am wondering if my earlier decision to book us in here for a week, was such a great idea. Welcome to the Wet Tropics.

We walked to the PO, which is in the little string of shops that is Mission Beach. The Express Mail bag from home was there with the share materials I wanted. I filled out the paperwork and walked back to the PO to mail that off.

There are not that many shops and some of them seem to be part time businesses only. There are no banks. The PO does card withdrawals of cash, but their machine does not “talk to” our brand of Visa Card. The general store does EFTPOS but one must spend $20 first, and then they charge $2 to do it! It will be a lean week as far as purchases are concerned.

In the afternoon, set out to do the Bicton Hill walk. Drove a few kms north of Mission Beach, and left Truck in the car park. The track was excellent – well graded, not too steep, and with some good views from points on the way up. The outlook from the top was really extensive – right over Mission Beach and nearby Dunk Island, even as far as Hinchinbrook Island, which was rather mist covered. It was not a great day for taking photos of the vistas, unfortunately, after all that effort. The walk was nearly 4kms.

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Distant islands beyond Mission Beach – from top of Bicton Hill

Left Truck back at the van, then walked on the beach across from the caravan park. We could see that rain was coming in – the sky was looking black, out to sea.

Bought fish and chips for tea. They were the cheapest we have had for quite some time, at $9.60, and were quite nice.

It rained heavily again through the night.


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1998 Travels May 28

THURSDAY 28 MAY   TOWNSVILLE TO MISSION BEACH   262kms

Pack up and departure went quite well, although John got rather tense when trying to move the jockey wheel when it was in the wrong position.

We refuelled at the roadhouse in front of the park – 68cpl.

Finding our way out of Townsville was easy enough.

The first part of the trip was through similar country to that south of Townsville – grassland with trees, and with the ranges to our left. In places there were crops growing, such as pineapples and bananas. About 60kms north of Townsville, cropland began to predominate, with a lot of sugar cane.

For some variety from driving, nearly 100kms north of Townsville, we turned off onto the Jourama Falls Road. Followed this for 6kms – unsealed road, two shallow creek fords. Our off road van has now travelled “off road”!

This is part of the Mt Spec National Park. At the end of the road was a very pleasant camp and picnic area; we could have camped there in the van, had we wished, and if we had solar power. But there were a lot of mozzies.

We followed the walking track to the Falls. It was about a 4km return walk. There were some rock steps up an incline, which John managed quite well. Had to cross a small, knee-deep, rocky, slippery, fast flowing creek section, where there was a chain set on stanchions, for support. This part was hard for John. In places, the route was up fairly steeply sloping large rock slabs.

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The walking track to Jourama Falls – John carefully managing the uneven steps

There was a lookout over the Falls and the rocky pools below them. It was worth the scramble to get here. The views were great – several long drops of falls and quite a lot of water coming over. An interesting place. It was easy to spend an hour or so there, just looking and listening to the falling water noise, and enjoying being in the bush.

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Two frames that show the scale of the multiple drops of Jourama Falls

On the walk back, John slipped when crossing the creek. I was steadying the chain for him and the sudden weight jammed my middle finger in the chain holder and took a great chunk out of it. Much blood! It was important that John didn’t fall in the water, though – apart from potential damage to his hip, he was wearing his binoculars (which I had offered to carry,  in my backpack over the creek). Had some bandaids in the little first aid kit I carry in the backpack, so was able to dress the finger wound.

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Coming down – John style

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A beautiful calm pool amidst the rocks below the Falls

We had lunch at the van before leaving the Falls area.

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The rig parked at the Jourama Falls picnic and camp area – in the forest

It was a pleasant drive, after this, despite the throbbing finger. We drove straight through Ingham, which looks a standard sort of small town. By now we were well and truly into sugar cane country. Just out of Ingham, crossed the Herbert River – a fair size. Then we were out of the cane country and climbing quite steeply up a forested range. There was a good view across to Hinchinbrook Island, which seems large and high. It is very close to the mainland at this point. The forests now are much thicker and more lush and “tropical”.

What goes up, usually comes down, and we did – but it was not too bad. John used lower gears to slow us down. I get tense in these situations still, but he is managing better.

We passed the controversial Port Hinchinbrook Marina development, which is clearly being quickly built. At Cardwell, the road was briefly alongside the ocean, before cutting back inland. We drove through Tully township, where there was a huge sugar mill – but there was no sign of it working. I guess it is seasonal – only going when the cane is being harvested.

Just north of Tully, we turned onto the road to Mission Beach. We saw a road sign warning that cassowary birds cross the road!

Mission Beach is very spread out. It is really two villages that hug the sea front. We travelled first past Wongaling and South Mission Beach and then after a few kms, came into Mission Beach proper.

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We are booked into the Big 4 Hideaway Holiday Village, which is very nice. Our site cost $16.20 a night, with a 7th free night. Paid $2 extra to have a cable to hook into the van’s TV, to give better reception. We were directed to drive through the site behind ours, to get onto our site, so there was no backing! Nice. The atmosphere in this park seems very positive and it is very “tropical”. As one would expect. All lush gardens and greenery and vivid colours. There seem to be a lot of Victorian cars on sites here. We are in Mission Beach proper. Across the road is a council run caravan park, and then the beach.

We were able to get fully set up just before the heavens opened and the rain came. This area around Tully is supposed to be the wettest in Australia, but I really wasn’t expecting rain.

Tea was cold roast chook, with salads.

It rained continuously and heavily through the night. In the occasional spells when the rain lessened, could hear the sea waves breaking. Very nice.