THURSDAY AUGUST 29     FLYING FISH POINT

I was up at 7am and in the laundry when it opened at 7.30. Washed two loads. There was some cloud about, but I convinced myself that it was more likely to stay fine than rain.

We drove into Innisfail, then took a back road past/through the Eubenangee Swamp National Park. This was a small park, seemingly around where a small creek crossed the road, The surrounding area was a mix of farmland and scrub. We have found, before, that sometimes in Qld, it is hard to discern why an area was declared a National Park. There seems to be a lot of these small, unpublicized reserves around the State.

Turned off on the road to Bramston Beach. We’d known people who had camped there, several years ago. I was rather expecting something like the unwelcoming Etty Bay, but this was a bigger village than I’d thought.

As we neared the end of the road, at the beach, what looked at first to be well patronized free camp area turned out to be an unpowered Council campground. Its location, right beside the beach, was brilliant, but the place itself looked quite grotty.

Turned along the road that ran parallel to the coast, with houses each side, and came eventually to the Plantation Caravan Park. That looked interesting. It was originally a coconut plantation, then a caravan park owned by show biz and TV personalities Bob and Dolly Dyer. Sadly, now, there was a sale board out the front seeking tenders for purchase and/or a resort development.We drove into the park a little way. The place looked very unloved, but there were a few vans there. The location, with beach frontage, was wonderful.

Found a walking track that led to the beach and went for a wander. Gave dog a run on the deserted beach.

So Bramston Beach was a very attractive area; it was just a pity about the limited accommodation options.

Retraced our way in for some kms, then onto the Bruce Highway at the hamlet of Mirriwinni and north to Babinda, in order to visit the Babinda Boulders, which we hadn’t seen before.

The drive there was really scenic, looking towards Mt Bartle Frere  (Qld’s highest mountain) as we approached the base of the range. There was some cloud over the summit.

Babinda Boulders is an area where large granite boulders occur where the Babinda Creek flows through a gorge. The jumble of hug rocks has created large pools interspersed with fast flowing water. At this time of year, the pools were calm, but a number of drownings have occurred here, as they can be treacherous after rains. Right now, the swimming area in the creek looked very tempting.

The whole Boulders area was very attractive, with a Day Visitor area, and a separate National Park campground.

We could not stay here long. I hadn’t realized the area was a National Park, and we had the dog in the car, where she had to stay – with it parked in a shady spot – while we quickly explored.

We managed the 750 metre walk to the Gorge lookout. This was a paved track, but had some small areas of ups and downs. It was easy going for me, but John found it hard, which was a measure of how much his health and fitness and deteriorated in recent years.

The creek and the gorge were beautiful, so green and lush, plenty of contrasts.

I was so pleased to have finally seen this place.

On our way out, had a quick drive through the campground, where we spotted a couple of bush thick knees – curlews – trying to look invisible.

In our pre-dog, caravanning days, this was a campground that would have tempted us to stay.

In Babinda, visited a bakery to get some lunch. John bought a beef and pepper pie. As it was close to their closing time and the options for filled rolls – any rolls – were non-existent, I bought a vegetarian quiche.

A quick drive took us to the sports park, where we ate under shade there. My quiche was very runny in the middle, seemingly undercooked, which made me uneasy about finishing it.

Couey was rewarded for having been good and quiet in the car whilst we’d been walking, by having an extended ball fetch session at the park.

Then it was back to Bus, via the Bruce Highway, after a great day out.

My washing was dry, too, to make the day almost perfect.

John mentioned that, after the walk and the humidity at the Boulders, his lungs felt really “tight”. This was not a good sign.

I poached some chicken thighs to go with our pineapple salad, coleslaw  and Greek salad.