27th Decenber 2012 to 10th January 2013

27^th December 2012

The work on the car didn’t happen due to strong wind and dampness, and also the Boxing Day test match.  Today looks a little brighter and without the wind but we have to go shopping and start packing up to leave early tomorrow for Canberra.

28^th December 2012

We arrived in the Eagle Hawk Caravan Park which is actually still in NSW about 200m from the border with Canberra, and about 17kms from the city centre, at about2.00pm and set up our camp spot in its entirety including the annex as we will be here for a week.  On the way down here we only used the awning to keep the rain/dew of the items stored outside overnight.  The park is very large and relatively new, and like most parks these days are tending to fill them with cabins of all shapes and sizes with relatively small areas for caravans, and the caravan bays are designed to just fit you in, rather than allowing a bit of elbow room.  That was one of the really good points at Wangaling Beach, near Mission Beach, you could really spread out.  The ablution block is good because of the newness and the fact that the cabins are self contained, therefore to a large extent, only used by the caravan owners (trailer trash). 

29^th December 2012

The weather is warm during the day but has now become cooler at night so in the last few days we have gone from a sheet only with the overhead fan on, after using the air conditioner to cool the van done prior to going bed, to now include a blanket and bedspread.  Barry took the better weather and nicer caravan park as an opportunity to change the fuel tank sender unit.  This meant removing the roller draws from the rear of the vehicle to be able to lift the carpet and sounding material to gain access to the floor plate.  Once this was removed it was a fifteen minute job to replace the sender unit, but removing and replacing the roller draws stretched the task out to five hours and will be completed with about an hour’s work tomorrow.

30^th December 2012

The car has now been completed and the roller draws refilled and we are free to get back to tourist stuff and to see if the $360 for the unit was worth the time and effort.  Nissan wanted over $300 to install the sender but we suspect they hadn’t taking the roller draw removal/replacement into account.  Even so, they were going to charge heaps for a one hour job without the roller draws.  They would only need to remove 6 screws to release the carpet, 4 screws to remove the access plate and 6 screws, 2 small hosepipes and an electrical plug to remove the sender unit and then reverse the process.  Barry did discover that the small hose must be removed before the larger hose as this depressurises the tank and avoids pumping diesel out.

31^st December 2012

This was a big day out at the National War Memorial that kept us occupied for the full seven hours that it is open.  We got there shortly before opening time and the underground car park, that is just high enough for us to get in, was relatively empty. 

 The first hour inside was really good with so few people around that allowed us to get a lot of photos without stay bodies in view.  Barry prefers photos without people unless the photo is specifically of people or required to demonstrate the size of something.   As you enter you are confronted with the garden pathway leading up to The Hall of Memory.  In front of you is a hedge lined pathway around the Remembrance Pond with an eternal flame burning at the far end.  Going up to the higher level brings you to arched corridors on each side overlooking the pool with the Remembrance Walls along each side that leads you to The Hall of Memory.  This is very cathedral like with its very high, beautiful domed roof and huge pictured walls of soldier/sailor/airmen and nurses achieved with mosaic tiles, all set off with stained glass windows also depicting our armed forces.  In the centre of the floor is the grave of the ‘Unknown Warrior’ in remembrance of the fallen that never received a proper grave.  From here you wander into a labyrinth of huge rooms containing equipment from numerous wars that Australia has been involved in and includes at least a dozen fighter aircraft and a Lancaster Bomber, tanks, armoured cars, trucks, a submarines, a helicopter, etc,  and how they got them all in is beyond imagination.   There are film shows in many of the separate areas showing the roles the various types of war such as the bomber crews, the fighter pilots, the seamen, nurses.   There are numerous 3D landscapes of many of the better known battle fields highlighting the conditions the battle was fought in.   There is also an area highlighting our decorated heroes with the medals on display.  Each day the memorial buildings are locked up after the playing of the ‘Last Post’.

1^st January 2013

We caught up with Rory, Jack already had plans with his friend, and we took her to her choice of venue, called Kambah Pool, which is a natural riverside setting with a beach in one area and a rock pool in another.  Her choice was the rock pool that turned out to be not a lot of fun, probably due to Jack being absent, and only a bit of rock hopping happening.  We decided to leave and took her to Cockington Green Gardens which is a beautifully laid out gardens including miniature villages, with typical English flavour.  We had a picnic lunch prior to entering which had been supplied and prepared by Rory.  There were several interactive miniature railways plus a ride-on train to add to the kids‘entertainment, plus an international area with impressive abodes of the wealthy from numerous countries.  None of the plants are Bonsai, they are all naturally mall but during the winter, any that have grown too high are removed and replaced with smaller ones.   There ia also a hop with a couple of very impressive dolls houses.  After leaving we called into a Dinosaurs Museum just down the road were we parked in their car park and took photos of the outside display before heading back to the caravan park where Rory used the swimming pool for a short while only, due to Canberra type water temperatures.

2^nd January 2013

We returned to the War Memorial to check out the surrounding gardens and statues along with the outside display of guns, tank and the complete bridge of HMAS Brisbane that we saw on the inside a few days ago.  We then drove down the impressive Anzac Parade towards the Houses of Parliament to take photos of the roadside memorials to individual wars.  Having accomplished that mission we headed out to a Hoyts cinema and watched Les Miserable’s which was a really good film and should win some awards if the Yanks can get past their bias towards their own inferior films.  We saw the live stage show some years ago and were pleasantly surprised how well the film compared.

3^rd January 2013

Most of the day was spent packing up ready to leave early tomorrow morning but included a trip back to the cinema in the hope of reclaiming Barry’s wallet which has gone missing.  His believe is that it worked its way out of his pocket whilst lounging in the cinema.  The theory proved to be correct as the wallet had been handed in and we were able to retrieve it. But it cost some time and fuel.  The caravan park has turned into a shambles as there is a local event happening involving old cars, most of which seem to Holden and have been restored to anything except original.  The engines have all been replaced with the biggest V8 engine available and fitted with the noisiest exhaust system available.  The usual 10kms speed limit in caravan parks doesn’t seem to exist anymore, as it mandatory for them to see what speed they can obtain between speed humps.   It also seems that the only form of amusement for these overgrown children is to sit revving the guts out of their cars for hours on end.  If they did it wherever the event is held to please their show pony needs it wouldn’t be a problem, but around the park is not appreciated, and the management is not about to do anything about it as they have suddenly filled about a dozen cabins for several days, which is a bigger earner than caravans.  

4^th January 2013

We headed out at 7.30am and parked and unhitched the caravan in a vacant area alongside a huge shopping centre near the airport so that we could collect Richard from the arrivals area without having to drag the van around there with us.  Jack and Rory had already been delivered to us at the caravan park by their mother prior to us leaving.  We drove the 230kms to the Mystery Bay campgrounds on the NSW coast south of Bateman Bay.  It isn’t quite what we had hoped for and we’re not too sure it is the best place to be as far as occupying the kids, but it is only for 5 days.  It is very rough, ready and packed due to the school holidays although we had been told on the phone that most people would have left by now, but that was exactly true.  No-one was available at the check-in so we had to simply find a spot where we could.  At $25 a day it is not really worth it as by the time you add on the extra costs that you don’t need in a recognised caravan park, such as running the fridge on gas, petrol for the generator, the extra fuel used to drag 260 litres of water with us.  These extras probably push the overall daily cost up to $30 which in most cases would cover the cost of a caravan park with better facilities such as better toilets, hot showers, swimming pool, BBQ facilities, etc. However, at this time of year with school holidays the coastal caravan parks will have pushed up their prices to peak season rates and need to be booked at least six months in advance to get in to them.  You can’t just turn up and expect to get in.

 6^th January 2013

During the last few days, Richard and the kids have done some exploring through this extensive campsite and along the coastline.  The immediate coastline is a cliff with a rough track down to the rock strewn beach, but further along the coast they have found somewhere to swim, snorkel and fish.  They actually brought some fish home for breakfast but now have to find a volunteer to eat it. 

7^th January 2013

The fish had to wait until the evening meal and even then most of it was thrown away as there were too many small bones to contend with. During the day we went into Dalmeny to a camping shop and to check out the local campsite, which had a really lovely ocean outlook and beach, but considerably more expensive but does offer hot showers.  On the way back we went up to Bar Rock Lookout for the view over the harbour entrance and then walked along the jetty an observed a large turtle.  On the way back, via the lookout, Barry spotted a Superb Blue Wren, but it unfortunately didn’t wait to have its photo taken. 

8^th January 2013

We have been put on to a total fire ban as there are fires north of here (about 100kms away but the wind is in our direction), and we are in the midst of an extensive forest area.  We are heading into Narooma for lunch today as it is Jack’s birthday as we can’t take him out for dinner as we need to start packing everything away ready for an early start and departure tomorrow morning, as Richard has to catch the 3.00pm flight out of Canberra.  Having eaten out at lunchtime we didn’t need to light an open fire for cooking.  With leaving early we also hitched up the van which would allow for a quick exit, if required.  Surprisingly, it rained during the night, but not heavy enough to be of any use to anybody.

9^th January 2013

We headed for Canberra but had to do a 60kms detour to get around one of the 134 fires currently ablaze in NSW which had closed the Kings Highway.  Both of the Canberra caravan parks that take dogs are full, so after dropping off the grandchildren at home and then dropping off Richard at the airport we headed out to the Showgrounds at Bungendore.  Due to the fire that had closed the road the showground was being used as the refuelling area for five fire-bombing helicopters to add to our entertainment.  The long uphill climb from Batemans Bay was not as punishing as we had expected, although we were down to 40kph for several long spells, but it was actually harder holding 5 tonnes back on the way down the mountain using bottom gear, and some braking.

10^th January 2013

We spent most of the day cleaning and drying the tent and tarps that got wet prior to packing them away, to make sure they don’t go mouldy, and then repacked and stored them on the roof rack for the next holiday visit in about a week’s time. Meanwhile the helicopters are still refuelling every couple of hours to fight the fires in the hope of having them dealt with before the weekend when the next heatwave is due to begin and start fighting more fires.

 

3rd December to 26th December 2012

3^rd December 2012

When Merry went to close up the chickens for the night there were only two and lot of scattered feathers, so the third chicken had been taken by something.  We suspect it was a neighbours’ dog as Merry had seen two dogs near the house about half an hour earlier but thought she had successfully shooed them off.
 

 4^th November 2012

We drove out to Salonika Beach to say farewell to Ankie as she is heading of to Sydney in a couple of days time and we will have left before she returns.  We also took Foxy for a walk on the beach where we enjoyed the refreshing sea breeze as it was a fairly hot day.

6th December 2012

Mark and Jeane are due back this afternoon.

8^th December 2012

 

Jeane has discovered from a neighbour that it was the dogs that Merry had seen on the property and that they are now aware of whose chicken arrived on their door step.

17^th December 2012

Along time between updates but little of interest has happened as Barry is still not allowed to do anything strenuous, so other than odd trips into Mackay most of the activity has been bird watching.   There is in excess of 26 different bird species that stop for drinks plus several that fly straight through and hawks that circle overhead, especially during the sugar cane cutting season that has just finished.   Barry has assisted Mark with erecting the last of the fencing on the property, by holding things in place without lifting, to keep out any other dogs.  Mark has made up a rectangular frame on corner legs to Barry’s specifications, which now sits in the caravan boot with the generator strapped on top.   This now means that neither of us is required to lift it out of the boot to run it.  This avoids lifting it up and over the 20cm lip of the boot whilst leaning over part of the ‘A’ frame.  We have also modified a short piece of curved tube to fit over the exhaust pipe and point outwards away from the van.  It also provides a large area of storage space under the frame that was not available before.

We started packing up to final leave Sarina tomorrow, subject to the specialist’s okay this morning, as we don’t expect any problems.  If there are and if it is not urgent, it will become a New South Wales or Canberra doctors’ problem.

18^th December 2012

We drove to Mackay today to visit Barry’s specialist who gave us the better news than we expected as we had determined that he would give us the okay to  go on our way subject to not overdoing the heavy lift (with no specific weight in mind, but simply don’t stain).  He also informed us that as result of the recent operation, Barry’s PSA reading was now 3.1 or effectively about half the accepted normal value for his age group.  Considering that since his first blood test reading, his PSA value fluctuated from 7.1 to 7.8 with several wild trips into double figures.  The last pre-operation value was 14 along with an enlarged, full bladder that instigated the urgent action. 

19^th December 2012

So all is well, at least for a while, and we are underway again.  We stopped at midday for a lunch break in a rather lovely park on the outskirts of Rockhampton which included a lake and three small waterfalls.  We stopped overnight at Biloela where we had to replace the water inlet nozzle on the side of the van as the non-return valve decided to not let us have any water.  This is the second replacement.

20^th December 2012

We continued on our way for another 400kms, or so, and stopped overnight at a free camp about 5km s from the small township of Bowenville.  It is a large very quite camp area with only a few other couples using it at present.  Tomorrow will be a relatively short trip to Tenterfield which is just over the border into New South Wales.

21^st December 2012

Today’s trip was not as long as the previous two days but has been more eventful with some lunatic drivers and atrocious road surfaces despite being so-called highways.  Some stretches were no better than bush tracks with bitumen laid over the dirt but despite that we arrived in Tenterfield in time to stop and have a look around the town.  We gave Foxy and ourselves a walk in a pleasant but not spectacular park and then checked out a huge cork tree, a saddlery shop where  the now deceased singer Peter Allen’s grandfather was the saddler, about whom the song ‘Tenterfield Saddler’ was written.   Peter Allen was born in Tenterfield.   The other claims to fame are the Federation speech by Sir Henry Parkes at the School of Art and Major JF Thomas who defended Breaker Morant up until he was executed.  We parked up in the afternoon at Bluff Rock free camp spot about 11kms south of Tenterfield.   According to the story, many moons ago, the white population associated with Bolivia Station objected to the local aborigines stealing their sheep, so forcibly drove them to Bluff Rock and over the edge.

22^nd December 2012

We are now well and truly into NSW with much improved roads proving that much more Federal money is available to NSW than anywhere else.  We are now in Tamworth, famous for the ‘Hippie’ communes that sprung up in the area as a result of the first drug induced country music festival.  The Festival is still an annual event but the hippies have died of drug overdoses or finally grew up.  On the way we passed round the edge of the lovely town of Glen Innes that appeared to have some grand old buildings.  Even the highway had a beautifully tended central median strip.  Later, we stopped in Guyra for lunch.  We have decided to return to both towns for a proper look as driving through them only wets the appetite, and Glen Innes has some waterfalls in the area, which you would expect in mountainous country.  Guyra boasts to have the highest caravan park in Australia at about 4200 feet above sea level.

At Tamworth we were going to free camp but the place we chose turned out to be 35kms out of town and not so inviting.  We had chosen it as it offered power at a small cost but on arrival were told there are only two powered sites and both are booked to the end of January, but they didn’t mention that when we phoned in advance, so we returned to Town and a caravan park making it more convenient for looking at the town tomorrow.   The alternate free camp is much further out of town which meant another $45 worth fuel to run back and forth to look at the town.  The two nights at the caravan park cost $50 and gave us more time without a lot of driving.

23^rd December 2012

Our first point of interest was the Oxley Lookout which was a well laid out picnic area with a good view over the town, which is much larger than we thought.  We then visited the guitar shaped visitors centre to wander around the ‘Walk a Country Mile’ museum explaining the history of the festival and the numerous performers, some of which became relatively famous after winning Golden Guitar Awards. 

We then drove out to the ‘Big Golden Guitar’ wax works to see the wax models of some of the more successful singers, such as Slim Dusty.  This was followed by a drive around town which ended in Centenary Park and the War Memorial with a tribute to the Light Horse Infantry and in particular the horses, of which only one out of half a million actually returned to Australia.

 

24^th December 2012

We have arrived at our pre booked caravan park outside of Newcastle. Actually rather too far out of Newcastle and is not a particularly inspiring caravan park, but we are stuck with it. 

 

On this section of the journey we called into Wallabadah, which had been our second choice for the Tamworth free camp.  It was a long way out but a very beautiful spot alongside the First Fleet Memorial Gardens.  They are really attractive gardens with a large board listing everyone that travelled out here, both voluntary and as officers, and those that make it.   Each ship has its own section of the garden with headstones listing their passengers and a sail shaped board explaining it journey and troubles encountered.  A smaller section at the rear of the garden did the same for the Second Fleet.  It appeared to have once been a caravan site as it still had taps and power poles but was not available for camping use.  The camping area was outside the gardens near the creek without power but water was available.  We stopped later on for lunch near a small township that offered a Vietnam War Memorial rest stop that was almost impossible to get into with a caravan, but we managed.

25^th December 2012

The park is fairly empty and those people that are here are kept themselves to themselves, so we had a very quiet Christmas day that included a traditional Christmas dinner.  The weather was not so traditional from our point of view with rain on and off all day plus thunder and lightning.

26^th December 2012

We should have posted this blog yesterday to wish those that actually read it a Merry Christmas but it didn’t happen, however, we hope you had one and that you have a happy New Year.  The weather is slightly better but not good enough to visit Newcastle so that will have to wait for another day.  If it doesn’t rain Barry will probably attempt to replace the fuel level sender in the car.  The current one seems to have two options, tell the truth or read approximately a quarter of a tank low.  When it reads low we have to assume that it is telling the truth but may have a heap more fuel than it shows rather assume it is low and discover it is telling the truth and run the risk of being caught out.  We carry a 20 litre jerry can of fuel so will never actually run out but it is not always possible to pull off the highway to put that fuel in.  The problem with changing the sender unit is the need to empty the rear of the car including the 56 litre water tank, and then removing the roller draws in order to gain access to the plate in the floor to get to the top of the tank.  It will be good to get it done and not have guess how the fuel system is behaving.

1st Novenber to 22nd November 2012

1^st November 2012

A long spell between postings due to the computer giving up on us.  Meanwhile Barry has layed the paver path at the side and bottom of the vegie patch and Merry has cleared heaps of lantana.  Barry removed the caravan external quartz halogen light as the globe had blown and replaced it with a LED version and added a second one in conjunction with it.  The lighting in the annex is not just twice as effective but about 6 times as effect and is white light not yellowy, and we will not need to plug the 240 light in anymore.  He has also replaced the plastic guide rail that the shower door slides on as the old one had several splits in it which was reluctant to allow the door to slide.  Unfortunately the only ones available in Mackay are white were the original was grey like the rest of the shower recess, but it works.

Barry has had a prostate biopsy and been cleared of cancer. However, he is not out of the woods yet as he still has a severe liquid retention problem, a bit like his memory as it allows plenty in but won’t let it out again.  As a result of that he has elected to bite the bullet and have a T.U.R.P operation (rebore, like an old engine) in a week’s time.  This will require a couple of days in hospital and then a long spell of nothing too strenuous for quite a few weeks   As a result he has done some mowing, etc in readiness for the return of Mark and Jeane a few days after he comes out of hospital.

7^th November 2012

Barry has had his operation. and although still in hospital is doing alright with no problems but hopes he never has to have the spinal block anaesthetic again,  Even with having been pre-warned, the total lack of feeling and inability to move the legs or toes, or feel them being touched, is a horrible experience.  It only lasts a few hours but is enough to get an idea of how some accident victims feel whilst they pray it not going to be permanent.  It has increased my admiration for people like our friend Stu who have the mental strength to live through it on a daily basis without complaint.

11^th November 2012

Barry is now out of hospital and Mark and Jeane are also home from their holiday, which relieves us of the property and chicken minding responsibilities.  Barry is taking it easy but has admitted that the operation, whilst not exactly a stroll in the park, was not as bad as it sounds, but fails to understand why at least five doctors in Karratha didn’t make an issue of the need for this operation about seven years ago despite having pocession of ultrasound pictures highlighting the potential problem.

12^th November 2012

Merry and Barry didn’t see Jeane or Mark in the late afternoon yesterday as they both retreated to watch the test match on TV whilst Jeane and Mark said their farewells to the other couples they had round for a lunchtime BBQ.  We found out today that Jeane had chosen to walk down their 100 metre long driveway and at some point had wandered off the drive and down the slope to check on some trees she planted a while ago.  In the process her thongs had a tangle with something and dumped her damaging her right foot, and consequently spent today resting it in bed.

12^th November 2012

Jeane’s foot has improved but still restricting her mobility which is really bad news for her as she is a very active person, however, she managed to have her usual Wednesday Mah-jong session with her girlfriends.

17^th November 2012

Both Jeane and Barry have overcome their problems although Barry still has to avoid lifting and anything strenuous for a few more weeks.  We had a trip into Mackay to collect our outside TV from the warranty repair agent.  It only took him five weeks to achieve a result with it and even then it is a very crude warranty repair.  He eventually hard wired the 12 volt cable directly to the power board to eliminate the dubious plug and socket on the back of the unit which Barry suggested when we first took it to him.  He chose to order a new power board from overseas that didn’t cure the problem and then tried to talk the manufacturers into replacing the whole unit, which obviously failed.    Fortunately this crude repair has given Barry the opportunity to cut the 12volt cable and fit a socket to it and fitted a plug to both the 240/12 volt adaptor cable and the 12 volt cable that plugs into the side of the caravan, so we can run it off the 240v mains, or directly from the caravan battery.  Meanwhile our inside TV has developed a continuous snowing and flickering problem and will go back to the shop for repair on Tuesday.  The outside TV is being used inside.    The power board in the Vast satellite decoder also died and had to be replaced which cost $120 as it was about a month out of warranty.  Barry would have preferred to have replaced the board himself if he could have acquired it as it.  He had a look in there before we took it for repair and the power board only has about $10 worth of components on it and is a plug in board eliminating the need for any sort of expert if you only had acess to the new component.

20^th November 2012

Barry revisited the specialist for a check up and all seems well at this stage but is required to have another check and tests done in 4 weeks time.  If that works out okay we should be on the move again towards Canberra in readiness to meet up with Richard and his kids, Jack and Rory, again for another short holiday with them.  Meanwhile Barry still has to take it easy and is becoming very with not being active, other than drinking water by the litre.  He has drunk more water in the last 2 weeks than he has drunk in the previous 2 years.   Many days of sitting around has allowed Barry take numerous photos of at least 20 species of birds in this area.

22^nd November 2012

Some relief from the boredom is now available with the start of the second test match.

19th September to !st November

19th September 2012

We drove just out of town to another rainforest walk of about 2kms which we did in the morning before it got too hot as the weather has improved significantly. We are now getting 19°C nights and 30°C days. We took Foxy for a beach walk in the late afternoon when it had started to cool down.

21st September 2012

We finally moved on from Mission Beach to Ingham which was a fairly shot drive and we left earlier than usual to get there for an early lunch. The idea being to arrive, have lunch and head out to Jourama Falls. We noticed on a map that they are fairly close to Ingham when we were checking the whereabouts of Wallaman Falls in relation to Ingham. We drove out and then walked the 1.5km track to the falls lookout along a reasonably easy track with lot of photo opportunities at rock pools. The last 300 metres was hard work we survived to take in the view of the falls across the other side of the creek with no way down to the base, or to the top, but still enjoyable. We then drove on to look at both Big and Little Crystal Creek. Big Crystal Creek had Paradise pool as it attraction whilst Little Crystal Creek had several small pool with rock slides into them. Both of these attractions required a far amount of walking so we rounded the afternoon off with a drove up a narrow winding road to McClelland Lookout, near Paluma Village, which had views to the ocean and had passed over a bridge which had another waterfall by it. On the precarious descent we stopped off by the bridge and walked down to the creek to get some photos of the bridge and the waterfall leading up to it and the smaller one after it. We then headed home feeling rather worn out but satisfied with a good afternoon out. The is a lot to see in the is area and should have come here a week earlier so that we don’t rush it but it’s too late now as we have to get on to Mark and Jeane’s place so we will only spend three days here.

22nd September 2012

This was an easier day with a short drive around town in the morning which included a visit to a remarkable Italian Cemetery where they obviously spend heaps of money on their dead relatives. In the afternoon we drove to several relatively local beaches and finished with a look at TYTO wetlands in the hope of seeing a few birds and came across some Red Browed Finches and some Crimson Finches.

23rd September 2012

We set the alarm to get us up early so that we could be out at Wallaman Falls nice and early to beat the worst of the heat now that the temperatures are hitting the low thirties. We drove the 50 odd kms to the carpark which involves the usual steep twisty road up the required 1200 feet.

We then took the 2km walk back down to the bottom of the falls via a narrow rocky track to the final lookout. There is no further official track but people obviously ignore this and clamber down the last little bit but at our age decided against that. Once the photography bit was done we then had to climb the 1000 odd feet back up, and being in a gorge meant there was virtually no breeze which left it very humid. The waterfall is claimed by the literature to be 305 metres high, and the highest single drop fall in Australia but the sign in the carpark stated 268 metres but we don’t know who is wrong. Either way it is a long haul to get back out and all up took us 2.75 hours to do the return trip. We then used the top viewing platform for some more photos before heading home to get out of the heat.

24th September 2012

We set off southwards to stop overnight at the Home Hill free camp alongside the town and railway where we have stopped twice before.

25th September 2012

Continued our southwards trip through McKay to Sarina where we stopped for one night before moving on to Mark and Jeane’s place.

26th September 2012

We moved up to Mark and Jeane’s place and arrived just as the last of their BBQ guests were leaving. We had a break with them and then set up the van.

27th September 2012

We helped Jeane prepare for another function she was having in the front garden with a shade house and games, and at about 10.00am around 20 plus Red Hat Ladies turned up. The noise level was remarkably high from the chatter and no-one was doing any listening. We kept well out if the way, as did Mark, until he had to do the sausage sizzle for them. At 2.00pm the noise level dropped off to a normal conversation level and we helped pack everything away again.

1st October 2012

We are now well and truly established at Mark and Jeane’s place and fully instructed as to feeding the chickens, operating the ride-on mower and the water tanks pipework, what to do with the lantana bushes and where the new paver path needs to be, etc. We have had two sessions of cutting out lantana bushes and poisoning the remaining stumps to get rid of it. A 5 acre block is capable of producing a lot of unwanted lantana, plus we have to work around a sleeping python. Foxy is in her element here and loving it with the chickens to herd and mice to catch.

1st November 2012

There has ben a blank spot since our last posting and between 1st October and November as the computer died,  Fortunarely it had a 3 year extended warranty so it was still covered and now returned and in action again. During the missing month Barry has layed a pver path along two sides of the vegie patch and through two gateways which involved the preparation work and about 800 pavers. 

Whilst doing this paving Barry had to attack it in short bursts, partly because the temperature have risen and partly to avoid a conflict with a nesting Yellow-Bellied Sunbird which has its nest hanging in the vegie patch so he did a time share arrangement.  The eggs eventually hatched and a lot of feeding activity happening and then nothing.  We assume the young became a preditors dinners as they were only four days old so didn't fly away.  According to the internet these birds only have a 20% success rate.  Meanwhile Merry has been busy chopping out the lantana and neatly stacking the cuttings either for later removal or to rot down, but the area that has been cleared is large and looking good.  The chickens are producing three eggs a day so we are now inudated with eggs.  On one evening trip to the hen house to tuck them up for the night we had to persuade a python to move out off the doorway to let us in, an on anothe occassion had to chas a bandicoot out.  Foxy had an incident with a snake that decided to come out from under the veranda but Barry yelled 'No' to her as she attacked the snake and she turned away as the snake reared up about a metre to turn on her.  Foxy was out of strike range so the snake retreated under the veranda with its tail still coming out as the head went back in, making it about 2 metres long and probably a pyython, but it all happened so quickly that Barry didn't get to check out the colour scheme.  We haven't seen it since.  We have also had keep her away from a largish Lace monitor that has decided the increased temperatures are to his liking.

During this month long period Barry has had blood tests done and the results led to him having a biopsy procedure in Mackay which has cleared him of cancer.

31st August to 14th September 2012

31^st August 2012

We packed up yet again and moved on to South Mission Beach, we stayed at North Mission Beach once before in a very basic caravan park whereas this one is really nice. It is only a few minute walk to the lovely beach, although there are still signs of cyclone Yasi, with views of Dunk Island a few kilometres out to sea.

2^nd September 2012

We took a casual drive around the Mission beach area to check out the other bays, beaches and couple of lookouts.

4^th September 2012

We went to the visitor centre in Mission Beach and did some tropical fruit tasting with about 12 different tropical fruits and then drove out to Lacey Creek and took the 1.1 km rainforest walk which is different to other rainforest.   On the way home we had a cassowary cross the road ahead of us and slowed to a stop to photograph it but some idiot raced past us and frightened it off so Merry only got one shot.  We took Foxy for a stroll along the beach for a bit of exercise and freedom as she is allowed off the leash.

11^th September 2012

Rather amazing but we haven’t done anything of significance in the last week with just the odd beach walk and socialising with the neighbours.  There are at least half a dozen couples that congregate here every year for about 3 months as the majority of them are into boats and fishing, which is about all there is to do.  The objective being to fill a freezer each with fish before leaving, but when you consider the number of times they come back empty handed, and the cost of the fuel in the process it makes you wonder whether there is a financial gain.  We took Foxy for a walk along the beach today to the end of the Wongaling Beach and beyond, about 1.5km each way and watched skydives, with passengers, come in to land on the beach.  It looks like good fun but costs over $300 a shot so we won’t be doing that.

14^th September 2012

The dull showery weather has cleared so we took advantage of the opportunity to finally visit Josephine Falls.  We passed the turn-off to these falls on several occasions in our travels between Innisfail and Cairns but we were always doing something else or it was raining.  We passed it when Richard, Jack and Rory were with us which is a real shame as there is an excellent swimming hole at the bottom of the final drop with a wet, smooth rock to slide down into the pool. 

There are three viewing platforms on the gradient beside the falls with the lower one offering additional steps to the water’s edge for swimmers.  The middle and top platforms do not have the extra steps as you era not allowed to swim in the larger pool at the base of the main fall.   The outgoing water is through a narrow gap between boulders and therefore fast and rough.  Also you never know what may come down with the water, such as tree.  These falls are a three tier arrangement and very impressive to the point of jockeying for first place on our most beautiful list.

18th July to 3rd August 2012

18^th July 2012

Richard and the kids took a long walk/clamber over the boulders beyond the wallaby feeding area in the morning to a waterfall and back in the morning and went swimming near the weir in the afternoon.  We did some shopping in Mareeba in an effect to keep up with the way food seems to evaporate with Ric and the kids around, but Barry mainly rested his foot which has developed a problem with the Achilles heel which has brought him to a standstill, hopefully temporarily.

19^th July 2012

Barry’s foot is better to the point that he can hobble short distances so didn’t go with Ric, Rory, Jack and Merry on the walk/clamber to the waterfall to show it to Merry.

20^th July 2012

We drove to Tinaroo Dam wall and then on around the Lake to the Cathedral Fig Tree and then stopped off at Lake Barrine for a picnic lunch.  We then moved on to Lake Eacham where they could have had a swim but chickened out as it was a pleasant but breezy day so took the hour plus walk around the lake whilst Barry continued resting his dodgy heel which is slowly improving.

21^st July 2012

Richard and the kids spent their last totally free day in the rocks and in the water hole plus feeding the turtles, birds and wallabies.

22^nd July 2012

We packed up the tent, etc in the morning and took Ric and the kids to Cairns airport to catch their flight out to Brisbane where they part, with the kids flying to Canberra and Ric flying to Perth.  We made our way back up the mountain to Mareeba were we will be remaining for a couple more days. Ric and the kids had made friends with the woman managing the campground and as a result chose not to charge us for the extra two days that we elected to stay here for.  That was accepted gratefully.

23^rd July 2012

As it is an overcast day with a cold breeze we chose to do the bulk of the remaining washing, cleaning and packing.  Barry’s foot problem is still improving so tomorrow could be the day to walk/clamber to the waterfall.

24^th July 2012

The weather is much warmer, no cold breeze, so we tackled the 2kms walk/clamber over the rocks where the kids would have been rock hopping.  For us it was a struggle but we survived and Barry’s foot doesn’t seem any the worse for it.  We only met one other group of three much younger people on the route so despite the number of people in the campsite, which seems to be very popular and includes day tripper and bus tours, it appears not too many get much beyond visiting and feeding the wallabies, which seems to be a big deal for overseas visitors.

25^th July 2012

We finalised the packing and moved off to the Daintree Rain Forests on Cape Tribulation with a stop in Mossman to do some final shopping to stock up for a week as there is only a small, expensive IGA store in the Cape.  The alternative is an 80km trip back to Mossman which would include having to use the ferry each time at $10 per return trip.  We then caught the ferry across the Daintree River and made for Lync-Haven Caravan Park which is quiet, restful and very dark at night with several rainforest walks available and there are several cruises available, either on the Daintree River or the Coopers Creek, to see the wildlife including Crocodiles.   We set up the camp and then discovered there is no Internet, no TV and very limited phone access.  In our case, we were able to set up our satellite dish on the other side of the road to where we are parked with the cable running across the ground so that the dish could see the sky through a gap in the tree tops at the correct angle, and elevation, and were able to watch TV.

27^th July 2012

The day started with a Cassowary visiting the campsite before we drove to the Daintree Rainforest Discovery Centre and enjoyed the walks and the view from the tree top tower, but unfortunately didn’t see any wildlife.  The entry fee for the Centre initially sounds a bit high but it includes the use of audio units with keyboards to type in the displayed numbers and then listen to the information related to that particular area, and also a booklet that you keep which costs $9.50 if bought separately, that contains a map of the site and explains the flora, fruit and poisoning effects of the fruit.   The entry fee is valid for a week which allows multiple visits if you so desire and is well worth the visit.  That took us up to lunch time so drove the short distance out to Cow Bay Beach and used one of the available tables for our picnic lunch prior to taking Foxy for a walk on the beach.  We then drove back to the ferry to find out the details of the river cruise which operates from the other side of the river.  We didn’t want to pay to use the ferry again so we phoned and booked for tomorrow and they collect us from a small landing beside the ferry docking point.  On the return journey we turned off to a lookout with view over the bay and then continued on to check out the details of the crocodile cruise on Coopers Creek.  This amounted to a phone call again which didn’t raise anybody but may have been returned later in the day but the reception wasn’t good enough to talk to anybody.  We drove on to Thornton Beach and took Foxy for another walk along the beach back the Creek estuary but staying well away from the water’s edge so as not to offer ourselves up to any crocs that may be lurking in the shallows.  On the way home we stopped, once whilst a Cassowary crossed the road a few cars ahead of us but by the time we got to it we only photographed the back end disappearing into the bush, and again at a roadside stall to purchase some locally grown Daintree Tea.

 28^th July 2012

As arranged, we met the solar driven cruise boat alongside the ferry and being the only passengers at this point we had the pick of the seating, and as luck would have it chose the right place, at the front on the correct side of the boat.  The boat cruised along one side of the river which was on the side of the boat that we had chosen so we had an uninterrupted view of the bank and the crocs that were sun baking there.  The passengers on the other side of the boat got the same on the way back but didn’t get to stop at each croc like we did on the outward trip.  

We saw four crocs from very young to quite huge plus a green frog and a Striated Heron, however, having seen crocs before it wasn’t a particularly enthralling trip for us but it was quite cheap, and the overseas visitors were obviously impressed.   We decided not to bother with the cruise on the Cooper Creek as that is another croc hunt in the mangroves.

29^th July 2012

As Barry started to take Foxy for her morning constitutional walk they left the caravan and  almost walk headlong into a cassowary with its chick walking past our bay, so retreated with Foxy who wanted to take it on, and grabbed his camera.  Merry extracted herself from her bed and hurriedly dressed and immerged with her camera in time to see them both retreat into the bush.  Barry was more successful with several good shots and some video.  This is the fourth Cassowary that we have seen since arriving in the Far North of Queensland despite the fact that their numbers have declined since cyclones Larry and Yasi.  The chick is old enough to have outgrown its striped appearance and now has a brown appearance, the equivalent to our teenage years, and has yet to turn black and develop a coloured neck and head.  After lunch we drove out to Jinbalda Boardwalk which is a 700 metre walk through the rainforest, however on arrival we found there is a second walk 2.7km long on a rough steep track, so naturally we took that walk which lived up to its description but offered little for photographs.  When it rejoined the boardwalk track we did that circuit also which didn’t offer much more other than a smooth surface to walk on.

30^th July 2012

Had a lazy morning but took the on-site rainforest walk and found some Penny Turtles and a spotted fish in the creek, but no cassowaries today.

31^st July 2012

We drove to the end of the bitumen and visited a look out of a bay and then did the 1.7km rainforest walk and then on the return trip stopped for a bought lunch and then walked another boardwalk out to the beach.  We continued the return trip with another stop at yet another boardwalk which was different to the previous ones, and diverted to the beach which turned out to be the same beach as before but further along it.  We then had another stop for another 1.2km boardwalk but this time through a swampy area and we were lucky enough to photo both male and female Shining Flycatchers.

 1^st August 2012

This was a big day out with a drive along the 30kms Bloomfield 4WD track to visit the Bloomfield waterfall.  The track is only classified 4WD only because the extra ground clearance is an advantage as there are five creek crossings to negotiate although not particularly deep at the moment.  Some patches were rough but in general quite reasonable and we never had the need to use 4WD, however we did require bottom gear on several occasions to get up the hills.  A couple of the severe hills have been concreted and are so steep you feel that the vehicle will tip over backwards and without the concrete road would need the use of the low range gears.  The final river crossing is across the Bloomfield River via a culvert type bridge that is waiting for repair and then turned upstream for a few hundred metres to the waterfall car park.  We had taken a chance and taken Foxy with us but there were no ‘No Dog’ signs so she got to walk with us.  The last part of the track involved rock hopping which she managed better than us most of the time. 

The waterfall is on the other side of the river, which you don’t go too close to as there are crocs in there, but you can get a good view of the Falls.  We parked up near the river crossing for our picnic lunch and then headed further northward towards Cooktown to the turn off to Hidden Falls which requires a half hour walk each way from the carpark.  It took us about 45 minutes each way as the last 500 metres is a clamber/climb scramble over boulders and includes a river crossing.  Foxy did very well considering how small she is but was helped on to a lot of boulders and carried some of the way including over the water crossing.  It was tough going but we made it and passed several minor waterfalls on the way.  On the way back we came to a T junction and looked for the pink ribbon indicators to guide the way which turned us to the right, which led us up a strenuous hill climb which neither of us remembered coming down but continued following the marker ribbons.  Eventually we gave it away and turned back and discovered the track we were on went to an old mine works, and that had we seen any pink ribbons to make us turn left we would have had a very short level walk to the carpark.  We estimate half an hour was wasted climbing the hill and back which was daylight time we would have preferred to use on the Bloomfield track but we did actually arrive home in daylight, but only just. 

2^nd August 2012

We re-visited the Discovery Centre to cover the part we missed as our entry fee entitled us to re-visit as many times as we like within 7 days of the original entry.  In the afternoon we started the packing up process ready to move out tomorrow.

3^rd August 2012

We started out with the intention of stopping at either Mossman or Port Douglas but as we approached Mossman we changed our minds again and took the long haul back up Mount Malloy and then headed north to Cooktown.  That was about a 300kms journey over several mountains that took nearly 5 hours including the lunch break, whereas the 4WD track would have got us there in about 2 hours but is far too rough for the caravan. The only bitumen road means heading 80kms south to Mossman before tackling Mt Malloy in a westerly direction almost half way back to Mareeba before heading north.

5th August to 25th August 2012

5^th August 2012

In the afternoon we walked through the Botanic gardens and took the path out to Finch Bay which was mainly steps either up or down over the coastal hills to the very pleasant beach.  The tide was well and truly out when we arrived there which gave Foxy plenty of room to explore whilst we walk the length of the beach.  The sand at the creek end of the beach was very soft and left very deep footprints making the walking hard work.  We returned to the visitor centre carpark via the gravel road which was no shorter, but without the steps. 

We then drove into town and took our tourist photos of the array of monuments along the bank of the Endeavour River before driving up the very steep winding hill to check out the lighthouse that provides a great view over the town and the river.  We decided to revisit the lighthouse as a morning trip because the sun was not helpful for photographs.  Apparently Captain Cook ran his ship the Endeavour aground in the Cape Tribulation area and after refloating the ship, came into the mouth of the river to do the necessary repairs.  When you look out to sea from the lighthouse, which was Cook’s lookout, one can see the same sandbars that he was faced with to get back out to sea, and forced him northward.  The lighthouse was built much later in his honour. In 1885 the town council sent a message to Brisbane requesting guns and ammunition plus an officer to protect the town from Russian invasion.  Brisbane sent one cannon, 3 cannon balls, 2 rifles and an officer.  Fortunately the invasion didn’t happen.

6^th August 2012

We did a walk through town and took a few more photos and included a drive out to view the jetty and then revisited the Lighthouse for a morning view of the town and river which now had the tide in.  In the afternoon we left Foxy at home and went to the Cook Museum which is worth the visit with plenty to see. 

7^th August 2012

We left Foxy at home once more and drove northwest for about 30kms on a combination of bitumen and gravel roads to the Endeavour Tourist Park where one obtains permission to walk through the private property to Endeavour Falls.  It obviously hasn’t rained for a while up here as there wasn’t a great amount of water in evidence so our photos don’t match the photos in the local literature that where obviously taken in the rainy season.  The same applies to the Isabella falls about 10kms further up the road but were still impressive as the road crosses the river via a ford beside the Falls.  Unfortunately on this trip, our 3 month old windscreen collected several stone chips and a crack.

8^th August 2012

In the morning we visited the Cemetery purely because it on the tourism listing but it did give an indication of the history and how tough life was in the 1800s in this area.  There is a 300 metre walk ay the back of the cemetery that leads to a Chinese shrine as there were a lot of Chinese in the area during the Gold rush days.  In the afternoon we returned to the Botanic garden and walked most of the way to Finch Bay again but turned off up the track to Cherry Tree Bay which is a secluded bay that can only be reached by foot.  It was a rough track with a lot of steps, some of which were quite high and difficult and littered with fallen leaves that made them slippery.  The bay is quite small with boulders adding to the picturesque view but still has the threat of crocodiles.  There is an alternative track that leads up to the lighthouse but added to the distance from the lighthouse back into town and out to the botanic gardens was not practical.  We returned the way we had come and combined with the cemetery walk would have been about 3.6kms for the day’s exercise.   Foxy did particularly well as most of the numerous steps required her to jump and must have used up a lot of energy as she waited to be lifted into the car which she can usually just manage since having the suspension raised to give us greater ground clearance under the body.

9^th August 2012

Another gruelling trip to a waterfall but this time heading back down the Bloomfield Track to Home Rule Resort were we obtained permission to pass through their land out to the waterfall.   The track was good for a while and then got rough and uphill and then became very rough following the pipeline that runs from the falls to the homestead, and included some very steep stretches. 

The end of the track revealed the best waterfall that we have seen in Queensland.  The main falls are a 4 tier arrangement with the top 2 tiers coming forward and the third tier sideways to the right and the fourth tier forward again into a pool, but by moving around the pool to our left as we look at the falls, another smaller stream of water also drops down 3 tiers before joining the bottom tier of the main falls.  From the pool the water drops through several minor falls before dropping into an almost sheer sided 4 metre granite crevasse to a lower pool, and the creek.  It is a really beautiful place in the middle of nowhere with only the sound of the water and birds which made it hard to leave, and the thought of the arduous return trip didn’t help.  It took us about 2 hours to complete the journey including the time taken to achieve all the photos we wanted.  We had our packed lunch in the car when we arrived back where we had parked it and then returned to Cooktown.  It was a bit too late in the day to turn off to Trevathon Falls as they are reportedly hard to find and we didn’t have time to search for them or the inclination for another long hike to reach them.  We accept the fact that we will not get to see every waterfall in the Queensland, just as we know we missed at least 2 in Tasmania.  At the moment we have visited 24 in Tassie and 39 in Queensland and know of several that we will not get to visit.

10^th August 2012

We packed up and moved back to Mossman where we were rather lucky to be able to get a bay at the second park we phoned.  The phone cover on the way was very spasmodic and we only made scratchy contact as we started the steep zigzag descent from the Tablelands.  The bay we are now in is tucked away in a corner but acceptable and the ablutions are good.

12^th August 2012

Although we were lucky to even get a bay in the park as they are very busy and the only other park that takes dogs had no vacancies at all, we have found that the corner we squeezed into has nowhere tp sensibly park all of the cars, and ours in particular.  This means that if are at home and any of the neighbours want to go out we have to play musical chairs with our cars.

13^th August 2012

Now that the weekend is over the park has thinned out a bit and we have moved to another bay which gives us much more room for the car as well.  This took most of the day with taking down the annex, dog fence, etc and then re-erecting it but should be worth it, although we now have some road noise but less noise from the local sugar cane mill.

15^th August 2012

We drove through to Port Douglas for some shopping and a quick look at the town which is very busy, tidy and tourist orientated with numerous resorts.  We will be returning for a more thorough look in the future as there is a lookout among other things to see.

17^th August 2012

We had some rest days including some rainy ones but today we achieved our main reason for stopping here, to visit the Mossman Gorge.  It involves parking in the large new carpark and passing through the ticket office where you acquire a return ticket for the shuttle bus that takes you about 2kms to the drop off point to start the 3.5kms walk with some of it alongside the boulder strewn river.  There are no waterfalls as such but plenty of rapids for photographs and a lot of rainforest with some elevated boardwalk towards the tree tops. 

The Gorge doesn’t compare with Karijini or Carnarvon Gorge, but it does have a fairly reasonable cafe in the new building with a very young garden.  Later in the afternoon we took Foxy out to Newell Beach for a walk along the beach.

21^st August 2012

We drove out to Daintree Village to see what its attractions are which didn’t amounted to much other than a very small, toured dedicated village with cafes, multiple river cruise options and a very good wood gallery with some beautiful, expensive items for sale.

23^rd August 2012

We took another trip into Port Douglas to do more a thorough inspection after checking out Cooya Beach on the way, but that was a copy of the other beaches in the area.   At the beginning of the road into port Douglas is the Wildlife Habitat combined with the visitor centre, and from there the road is lined with resorts, hotels and other accommodation until it turn left and continues as the main street through the town which has tree lined central median strip.   Other than the central shopping centre the rest of the retail outlets are all tourist orientated with a market feel sprinkled with pubs and food outlets.  We initially drove to the lookout which provided only a narrow view of the beach on the other side of the peninsula so we descended into Anzac Park where the Sunday Market is held and on into Rex Smeal Park at towards the end of the point.  This is the river estuary side of the peninsular which has the bank protected from rough seas with granite rocks, the smaller ones of which are used by the visitors to build an array of small cairns. 

In the park are The Old Court House and St Mary’s by the Sea, a non-denominational church originally built in 1880 which has a big attraction for weddings.  Instead of an altar, it has a large clear window showing the palm tree lined park with the ocean in the background.  We then drove to the other side of the point to the main ‘4 Mile Beach’ that appears to live up to its name.  From the town end of the beach we walked up a pathway to the top of the cliff for another view along the beach and then backtracked to the car as continuing would take us back into town, which was not an option.

24^th August 2012

We took a short trip out Hugland Art Glass to see the display of specimens produced by world acclaimed Glass blowers and confirm that their work is excellent but way too expensive for us, and not entirely practical other than purely as ornaments.  That tends to sum up art in nearly all forms.  On the way there we stopped at a WW2 bomb site. Apparently5  Japanese bombs were dropped on Queensland and this one in the middle of nowhere with only one house anywhere in sight.   It missed the house but one child was slightly injured by shrapnel.

25^th August 2012

Being a clear sunny day we drove through to Cairns predominantly to visit Yorkey’s Knob as it is mentioned on TV quite often, but did continued on to the Jayco caravan agency which to our surprise was closed on a Saturday of all days.  To get there from Mossman is a lovely twisty road with much of it being along the coastline with ocean views with a roadside lookout at one elevated point overlooking a sandy beach.  Most of the other beach area had been stony with rocky outcrops.  We drove into Yorkey’s Knob and strolled along the beachfront and up about 80 steps expecting there to be a lookout but that wasn’t to be, however, the top of the steps served the same purpose.  We retreated into the Cairns seafront area which is all parkland and had our picnic lunch before taking Foxy for another walk along the front to the area where dogs are prohibited.  Merry continued on into the Lagoon area which was supported by the weekend market while Barry and Foxy waited patiently in the shade.  We moved on to Clifton beach which also had steps up to a lookout which we took advantage of before heading for Palm Grove which had been recommended to us.  This allowed another walk along the seafront parkland strip with resorts and cappuccino strip on the other side of the road with large paperbark gum trees lining the road.  We walked to the jetty before retreating to the car and heading home along the coast road.