THURSDAY 18 JUNE CAIRNS TO WONGA BEACH 94kms
Again, an uneventful pack up and departure. We are getting to be so good!
I am pleased to be leaving Cairns. As previously said, it has not provided the interest that we expected. We have done little walking and no cycling. The road past the caravan park is a very busy one, and I have not felt like braving the traffic even to run errands; there really has been nowhere to ride.
It was not a long stage to Wonga Beach, but it was an extremely scenic one, as the highway hugged the coast and wound around the bays and headlands for most of the way. We had already been as far as Wangetti, but the rest did not disappoint. The lush tropical greenery comes right down to the sea, in places.
It seems the sugar cane harvest has commenced, in these parts. Around Mossman, we came into another sugar region, and for a while trundled along behind a big truck carrying sugarcane. There is a sugar mill at Mossman, which town appeared to have all the basic services we might need.
I had chosen Wonga Beach as probably a good base from which to explore the Daintree area. My Top Tourist booklet showed a good looking caravan park there. We are not quite ready to set off for the Cape yet, as the end of the financial year is approaching, and we need to get together the paperwork required for our accountant. Some of this is yet to arrive. I am hoping that Wonga will provide us with more interest than Cairns did.
As we came towards what seemed to be Wonga Beach, saw a sign pointing to the right, indicating the hotel and caravan park. John swung a last-minute right turn, with only a little grumble. The caravan park was down at the end of this road, and we pulled up outside and went in to book ourselves in. The park did not look as well groomed as Top Tourist parks usually do, but this is the Far North, after all. We booked in for a week and paid the fees of $11 a night, with the 7th night free. Pretty good, we were thinking. Then it dawned, when the lady didn’t want my discount card – this was not, in fact, the Top Tourist park! It was a small, council-run one that had not been mentioned in any of the information I’d read. There are TWO caravan parks in the tiny hamlet of Wonga Beach.
What a fortunate mistake this turned out to be! We had a nice, big, site, although the ground was sandy gravel. There were shady trees all over. The park fronts right onto the most wonderful beach, through a screen of palm trees and low bush, so the sound of the surf at high tide was close by. The amenities, though rather elderly, were clean and adequate. The managing couple – C and T – were very friendly, very helpful, and ran happy hour at their area every afternoon.
After setting up, we went for a walk on the beach. This stretches for kilometres in both directions, with superb views north and south. With the tide down, the sand was firm to walk on. This is already a big improvement on where we have been! Although John would have liked better TV! But it is a rare event for John to be satisfied with the signal and picture he gets.
I made a pork and vegie stir fry for dinner.
In the late evening, we were sitting in the van, reading, when we were suddenly frightened by a fearsome, loud screaming, not far away. It sounded like someone was being really hurt. We couldn’t see anything untoward, looking out the van windows, and no-one in the park seemed to be moving about. Decided it must be happening at one of the houses across the road from the park, but we were too scared to go out and look around, or do anything – just hoped that someone else in the camp ground would take action, if needed. The screaming stopped after a minute or two and was not repeated.
We did sleep well, despite some lingering concern about the screaming, lulled off by the sound of the waves.
This Adventurous Age 