July 24 - 30, 2007

July 24, 2007

We moved early in the morning to a beach parking lot next to the water and the town lagoon.  Airlie Beach has a very nice walkway connecting several local communities and we walked along it for a while.  We ended up at the marina where the tour boats go out and enjoyed watching their preparations. 

After walking back, we spent some time updating the website and then ran some errands at the Big W.  The W stands for Woolworths, which is one of the large grocery chains.   But the store is patterned exactly after WalMart, down to the employee name tags and the price signs.  We thought they must be connected somehow, but the employee we asked denied it.

Heading north, we stopped at another beach for lunch and saw Red Tailed Black Cockatoos for the first time.  They are huge and impressive birds, very black in color – the red is only visible when they fly.

Along the highway, we stopped at one of the fruit and vegetable stands that we saw and found a great deal on produce, so we stocked up on tomatoes and some mandarins.  Most vegies that we have seen in the supermarkets are priced much higher than we have been used to, even more than in New Zealand.  We also drove through an area "known" for their mangos, we didn't buy any as it was too early in the season, but we did get a photo of Don with a rather large mango.

Hoping to get close to Townsville for the night, we camped at a Roadhouse/gas station a few kms outside of town that had a very nice, grassy spot for free.

An interesting phenomenon that we have found in Australia and New Zealand, is that the local governments have set aside areas where you can camp for a limited time for free!  In this case, I think it was a private enterprise that allowed the camping with the hope that you will pay to eat at their restaurant, purchase gas or use their Laundromat.  Either way, free camping is very appreciated and is used by a huge number of people.  There are even lists available at the information sites that show where these sites are!  Amazing.

July 25, 2007

We got an early start and went into Townsville to have our refrigerator looked at.  The repairman was completely unfamiliar with our model, even though he is a certified Dometic repair guy.  After giving us contradictory info than what Dometic had told us, we decided to go elsewhere for service.  We spoke with our contact at Dometic who provided us with yet another service technician, this one in Cairns. 

Looking to make camp a bit earlier in the day, we found another free camping spot on a river in the town of Rollingstone that was packed with other campers, all of them very nice.  We met Brendon and Maryann, the first people we’ve met in Australia using a 4x4 Mitsubishi, this one built by Amesz Campers.  We exchanged info and hope to run into each other somewhere along the way.  Here, also, a neighboring camper gave us her copy of a list showing names and locations of budget/free campsites, very helpful.

July 26, 2007

We spent the morning cleaning and installing our new bike rack so that we can use our bicycles more easily.  It’s a beautiful thing, thanks to our Kiwi friends Murray and Shona!

We seem to be getting into a new routine, departing later and stopping earlier in the day.  We finally pulled out of Rollingstone near lunch time and made it to Ingham where we explored the recently opened Tyto Wetlands.  We saw a lot of birds including the crimson finch, ibis, kingfisher and we managed to mutually scare up a kangaroo.  We jumped up and it jumped away. 

We also visited a very interesting old cemetery in Ingham filled with the early settlers from Italy.  The tombs were impressive, made from granite and covered with porcelain flowers.   

We decided it was time to try to find a beach to camp at, but many municipalities (here called Shires) prohibit any overnight parking or camping.  We ended up at Hull Heads Recreational Area run by the local Shire, a very cheap camping option, steps from the beach.  We set up camp then took our chairs and sundowners down to the sand to watch the sun set. 

July 27, 2007 

We decided to spend the day at Hull Heads, so we got the bikes down for the first time on this trip.  The road was surprisingly level and the streets had very little traffic, which made riding more relaxing.  We peddled down to the next beach community at Tully Heads where they also had a very nice beach and picnic area.  We were unable to find a restaurant on the beach, however, so we rode back to a very large caravan park and got takeaway fish and chips.  We then took that back to the beach for a picnic.  We also saw our first crocodile warning signs.  Guess that rules out kayaking! 

July 28, 2007 

Rain.  Our first real rain of the expedition started first thing in the morning, so we took our time getting ready to leave as we still needed to cover the bikes (kind of late, huh) mostly for road grime, and to fill up with water.  While we were waiting, our Amesz friends drove in, so we chatted a while.   

Continuing north, we stopped in Innisfail for errands (internet and groceries) and lunch.  Innisfail is Australia’s main town for Art Deco buildings, the town having been rebuilt during the craze after being wiped off the map by a cyclone.  The buildings have a lot of potential, but most of them still need more than a little renovating and paint.  They also have a strange statue dedicated to the sugarcane worker.

We turned away from the ocean and headed inland to visit the Atherton Tablelands.  We stopped at Wooroonooran National Park to camp and started a hike to a waterfall, but we turned around before reaching our final goal because it started raining.  Fortunately we didn’t get soaked too badly.  On the trail though, we passed some magnificent fig trees with fins that wrapped around them making great designs.  There was also a sign warning about stinging trees!  We looked for one but (luckily?) didn't find any.

July 29, 2007 

The Tablelands is a mountainous area that has a range of regions that support everything from vegetables, tropical fruit and coffee farms to tropical rainforests and numerous waterfalls.  The area has a number of parks and reserves that are included in the Tropical North Queensland Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (quite a mouthful to say). 

We completed a circuit where we visited 3 waterfalls and several very small towns. 

We also explored Mt. Hypipamee NP to view its diatrime crater and waterfalls, and on the way back to the trailhead we got to see our first cassowary.  This was an immature bird but still large, colorful and impressive. The cassowary is a large flightless bird, similar to, but smaller than an ostrich, much more colorful and aggressive.  This one didn’t even move away from the path even though several people came by.   

We continued on to visit Curtain Fig National Park.  Here a strangler fig tree had long ago covered its host tree, when the host tree tipped over and fell into another tree.  The second tree kept the host and the fig up, but they were then growing on a 45 degree angle.  The fig continued to send down its roots along the length of the angled host tree, creating what is now a “curtain” of roots some 60 feet long!  Very impressive.   

We ended the day camped at Rocky Creek War Memorial Park, another cheapie where the fee is a “gold coin donation”.  In Australia, the one and two dollar coins are gold, so that is what they are requesting per night.  We did a night hike, but didn’t spot any animals.  There were large things flying around however, either bats or owls and noises in the bush that we couldn’t identify. 

July 30, 2007 

The war memorial is set up to commemorate the many units that helped build or were treated at the field hospital that had been established here during World War II.  We walked around the numerous plaques set on boulders placed around the park and talked about the awful wars that have been fought in the last century. 

 

We continued our exploring of the Tablelands and visited the Granite Gorge Nature Park, where the setting was so peaceful, we decided to avail ourselves of their campground and laundry facilities and make it an early travel day.  The park is privately owned and protects a river gorge with running water and huge granite boulders.  There is even a large group of rock wallabies that have been habituated to humans, and we were provided food to hand feed them.  Oh boy, were they cute. 

 

 

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