Last of the rainforests

We packed up and set off looking for a new home for a night. Friends had told us of a good spot beside the highway however we'd also heard of another very special one nearby there "but you won't get in, it's in such demand". So we figured what the hell, we'd give the impossible a go and try for "The Boulders" campsite. We could always head back to the other by the highway if need be. It was an inspired decision, as we duly arrived at The Boulders and had a choice of 3 campsites. We set up, went to the nearby picnic area and were again taken with the natural beauty of this area. Rainforest, waterfalls and great swimming spots (only European backpackers thought it warm enough to brave).



 Next morning, we started our journey to Paronella Park via Josephine Falls.

 Once again, the spectacular sights are not being done justice by photos!!

 On to Paronella Park which is marketed as "one man's dream" but we worked out fairly early on was more "one man's manic obsession". This bloke spent 19 years of his life building all sorts of impressive structures, gardens etc beside a magnificent waterfall, only to drop down dead a few years later. Seems the property was a little cursed for his family, however the current owner was an astute business man and is reaping the rewards ($millions pa). Half his luck for having the courage to give it a go. He seems half mad which just goes to show anyone can make a go of things.

  

 

We spent around 4 hours there between the daytime guided tour and wandering on our own and then headed back at 8pm for a night tour as well before bedding down at the on-site campground well satisfied it had been a terrific day.

The next morning, we headed south and after an exhausting 10 minute (9km) drive, stopped at a rest area beside Liverpool Creek. We haven't planned these sorts of stops with much thought, expecting to spend a night if it's no good or maybe two if it is. In spite of regular drizzle and at times heavy downpours, we stayed in this lovely spot for 3 nights. Great set of campers around us including a couple we met at Paronella (Greg & Libby), the mad Swiss bloke and his Rottweiler Ripley,

 a Pom who the system apparently accepts is chronically unemployable (but a really fun guy ... he lives full time in a swag, covered by a beach shelter and tarp, has an eskie and a ute and that's about it .... what an uncomplicated life) and another couple who have sold up and are on the road full time. Happy hours grew longer and louder, with 8 couples at our final night. The photo below was the warm up before others joined in.

 

 

 

There was also the hermit who hid out in her campervan the entire time, only emerging to empty a bucket once a day. Apparently it took our departure for her to emerge as a happy butterfly (brought to life by a large number of drinks according to the others).

Whilst we are 2/3rd's of our way through this particular journey, you can now subscribe to any updates so you get them automatically (courtesy of an amazing member of our family, the wonderful Bonnie, one half of the very important "McB" team). At the top right hand side on the blog there's now a spot for people to put in their email address and have our blog sent to them. Bonnie has also added a gadget down the very bottom for people with Google plus so they can subscribe too. We hope one or both work (ie that John hasn't somehow "optimised them") and that you enjoy the last few updates from this jaunt.

Lesson of the week

Many folks are happy whether they have lots or nothing. Some are also miserable! We seem to be mainly meeting the former thankfully!

FNQ including The Daintree

We ended up staying two nights at Rifle Creek (Mt Molloy at the northern end of the Atherton Tablelands). How can you knock back a camp area where the toilet paper doesn’t get nicked! Ended up yacking with Central Coasters (Hamlyn Terrace & Green Point) for the arvo. But all great things ..... so we made an early start, on the road by 7.30am which is a new record and one we hope to not beat..... ever....

So on to the extravagant part of the holiday. We arrived early at the Daintree River ferry and got to drag our granny flat along a most amazing rainforest road to Cape Tribulation campground. We arrived way too early and yet the relaxed staff were happy to get us onto our site straight away.
 

By pure luck, we had the best site in the campground – double length and the back half of the site next to us so we spread right out and settled in to some serious relaxing. Just as well, as the rain rained, the wind blew a gale on the beach, but that was 10m away and the foliage of the rainforest was so dense, it virtually stopped the wind reaching us. When the sun came out, we walked for miles up the beach, along board walks built by the good National Park folks and sat around some more.

  

 

Once we’d had enough seeing the rainforest near us, we headed off and spent the next couple of days exploring the other accessible parts north of the ferry. Everywhere is a smorgasbord of lush green and running water. 
  

Ok, so there was also a fair bit of grey skies that leaked regularly too.

On one of our journeys, we had the rare privilege of seeing a Cassowary as it meandered along the side of the road. It was uplifting to get to see one roaming free. They have no road sense at all and no fear of traffic, not a good combination for long term survival nearby roads! Receding rainforest is of course the major contributor for their decline numbers though (less than 1,200 in the wild). As we drove towards where it casually wandered off into the foliage on the side of the road, it had already completely disappeared which is another reason so few people get to see them. They blend in completely with the surrounding rainforest.
 
 

Cape Trib campground put on wood fired oven pizza’s which we couldn’t resist. Not much base, not much topping but what a lot of flavour and surprisingly filling. Jane found the two VB’s she scoffed added to that feeling of “elegant sufficiency” which is code for “way too much” and we headed off to bed. Have we mentioned how rough it is camping in the bush on a queen size inner spring mattress?

After three nights, lots of rainforest walks and an overall brilliant experience, we packed up for the long (<1 hour) journey to Wonga Beach where we are booked into a great little caravan park for a week with Emmy, a friend who has come up from Sydney. The park is owned/operated by Cairns Council with an on-site caretaker who really makes the place somewhere you want to holiday to. She treats everyone as special and nothing is too much trouble. Council was looking to terminate her tenure, however that’s been delayed as they realised they don’t have the right to (it is demerging back into two Councils and the park is located in the “other half). People have booked in year after year and this year was booked out as the “farewell CC” year. So we only got in because of a cancellation. 

We had a day trip to Cairns including the Botanical Gardens (well worth seeing) and also galleries including the one Emmy’s cousin is Director of (also well worth seeing). Got back late and missed happy hour!

  

Next day was out on the reef. This is our second time snorkelling on the reef and this time was as incredible as the first. We got to go to Opal Reef which apparently is rarely visited due to it being sensitive and yet one of the most interesting. The commute was a bit rough, with John spending the entire journey both ways hanging on to the supports in the centre of the boat and trying to not look green around the gills. We missed happy hour again.

A half day at Mossman Gorge was another surprise experience. Free entry ($6 for the bus if you didn’t want to walk a few km’s each way) and a superb and very affordable lunch. This place is another “must do”. Got back for happy hour which seemed to go on until shortly before kick-off then into the serious business of cane toad and cockroach bashing. At least we weren’t disgraced in game three. 
 

 We awoke to a sunny day and so changed our plans and headed back to the Daintree to spend the best part of the day at the Daintree Discovery Centre and nearby Jindalba Rainforest. The Discovery Centre cost $32 admission each and was money well spent, with walkways throughout this privately owned property varying from ground level to a suspended section through to a 27m tower. It also included a self guided audio system, which added another dimension. These gave such different perspectives of a rainforest. The couple who conceived this and built it from scratch had such vision.



 A late lunch and it was time to make our way back “home”, arriving in time to again participate in happy hour. The celebrations were on in earnest as today had been the Wonga Nut Festival (something the caretaker “CC” and her late husband conceived a number of years ago and has run every year since). There were numerous awards, so in spite of the many people participating, the vast majority won some category or another. Whilst we hadn’t been here for the festival, we were again warmly welcomed even though they knew from last night that we are Blues supporters. Usually groups that get together like these folks get very clicky however these guys all work hard to ensure everyone settles in and has a good laugh. 

Next morning, we figured a cruise on the Daintree River to view crocs was in order, so drove the few km's and booked onto an electric boat cruise (quiet, no fumes, unfortunately also vey few crocs). It was a pleasant way to spend an hour or so all the same.

Saturday we awoke to seriously blue skies. We made the short trek into Mossman for local markets and to stock up in preparation for hitting the road tomorrow. We then came back and walked the beach.

Suddenly, it was happy hour again ..... the (mainly) retiree’s who have abandoned their homes to escape the southern winter have a ball every night and tonight was no exception. We found out our site was not booked for the next two nights so jumped at the opportunity to stay on. Hard partying at 5pm is becoming second nature!

Sunday was "markets day" including Port Douglas and Kuranda. We fortunately managed to spend very little whilst having a really nice time.

Monday was a day of rest. well until the obligatory 5pm happy hour which only extended until 7.30pm tonight. CC had headed into Mossman to collect goodies for Xmas in July celebrations tomorrow night which we'll unfortunately miss and so is  not in the photo. The happiest folks happen to be at our (far) end of the table ... seriously true.....








To finish this rambling, we had to include a photo of a wonderful character, Jimmy Bull ... not sure if the surname is his or just something he lives up to, but he makes a lot of people smile every day.  

Lesson of the week

Nomads who are choosing to live are having a bloody good time of it!!

Qld Tablelands extravaganza

After a wonderful time at Porcupine Gorge, we headed off for a night at Fletchers Creek which is just north of Charters Towers. As we approached, we were a little concerned with the “Parramatta Road caryard” appearance however as we turned in, it was so much nicer than first appearances indicated. In addition to great advice from several campers, we met a couple who sold us soap “with a twist” – a “willy hole” was their major point of difference (not sure what this means ... John reckons the hole is pretty small but it seemed adequate to Jane). Given we were obvious suckers, having bought a bar, the lady tried to then work on Jane to buy her crocheted blankets but Jane was too quick, whipping out her own creations.

Next day and getting to dodge lots more “special road ornaments” including two ex-cows .... they must hurt  when you run into them .... we camped by the side of the highway at 40 mile scrub. Got to meet an ex-copper (where did he get the money for all of that!) and the “unfriendly one” who became a great guy once he plugged in his cochlear implant and realised we were there. Don’t judge a book.....

We splurged on two nights in a special caravan park at Undara Lava Tubes. We went into the camp area with no power or water, the mostmagic spot within the caravan park . We swam in real (ie clean) swimming pool and had hot showers that didn’t require John to carry the water to them. He spent an especially long time luxuriating in “endless hot water”. We coughed up and did the 4 hour tour which was magic, walked around in the bush and as a last minute decision, had a restaurant dinner. Not sure why, but we didn’t have high expectations of the meals and so were thrilled when they came out and were brilliant. Overall we’d rate the Undara Experience (their name for it) as a terrific experience.

After two nights, we again packed up and, having paid $2 a litre for some diesel, moved on fearlessly confident we'd make it to the next Caltex servo. We went through to another magic free camp, this one at Archer Creek approaching the Atherton Tableland. We only had one night there and in hind sight really should have stayed longer.

We headed into Ravenshoe and like most Tourist Info centres, got the good oil from a knowledgeable and extremely helpful volunteer. He reminded us that the Mareeba “toss the idiot off the wild horse’ Rodeo was on the following weekend and that this is something to either be fully embraced or given a wide berth. We chose the later and stayed two rounds (ie 3 day max * 2 times) just outside Tolga/Atherton at the Rocky Creek War Memorial. This is a brilliant memorial and was also a nice place to stay. And once again, the “do do do do” music played loudly. Jane started talking to the elderly folk set up next to us and for no particular reason, they mentioned that one of their sons was a Project Engineer at MasterFoods. Yep, you guessed, it, he worked for John for many years. He also won a regional “best invention” competition within Mars Incorporated with one of our neighbours who also works there! We really just want to meet people we have no connection with at all!!

Whilst in the Tablelands area, we went to the Herberton Historic Museum, planning to make this part of a double loop of the area ... we stayed so long we didn’t finish the first loop! And a surprise benefit .... John was able to order a new fleet of cars and machinery for work! Everyone will be so excited and no fighting over colours - choice is rust, rust or dual tone (rust on rust). .


The waterfalls make this place a highly memorable experience and Tinaroo Lake was a very scenic day out. We also had morning tea with the Mum of one of our favourite neighbours ..... and finally left around 6pm, what a  great day. John got into a riddles competition with several of the grandchildren present on the day. It was hard to tell him he lost miserably to kids in grade 4 and below but unfortunately true. Never mind, he had the opportunity to redeem himself the next morning at the Tolga Markets .... but somehow was defeated again by much more agile minds.

One place we came to on an east coast cruise a few years back was Granite Gorge. We decided to head back there and do the longer walk. This was rewarded with some spectacular scenery and Jane discovering “panorama mode’ on her camera which is now a fav!!

We had a late (late late) night, seeing in 11pm after watching a movie (Django Unchained – much better than it sounds, not rated 'R" and a “typical” Quentin Tarantino movie).

Next stop was Mt Molloy. Nothing in particular to do there, but “everyone was talking about it”. So to keep up with the Jones's, we headed off into the mist and rain clouds and arrived at a particularly nice spot. After getting settled, we ran into “Cowra Man and Woman” and their travelling companions. We first met these guys at the dump point (chemical dunny emptying pit ... where all the best friendships are formed) at Winton and again at both Archer Creek and Rocky Creek. We spent most of the arvo with them talking rubbish and generally thoroughly enjoying the rainy afternoon.

And so ends another rambling from J&J.

Lesson of the week

The rain has been a welcome stranger after weeks of dry dusty campsites!