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Monday 17^th September

I finished Paul’s cassowary!!!! He is sooooooooooo cool!!!!

Tuesday 18^th September

 

We attempted to leave this morning but Indie had other ideas……he would not start at all!  After 15 minutes of turning ignition keys and getting nothing but a clicking sound in response, he finally condescended to start up. We drove to two mechanics, two auto electricians and a battery seller who ruled out fried battery and assured us all of our batteries (including the house batteries were in fine working order). The earliest anyone could see us would be the 25^th September.  Ron finally got on to a mechanic who could see us on Thursday.

Wednesday 19^th September

I went into town with Ben so he could get some New Guinea money for his trip which has by the way now been further postponed till 28^th September. I bought myself another frock. This one is dyed in shades of dark blue and rust with a few other colours thrown in for good measure.

Thursday 20^th September

We took Indie to the mechanic. They finally rang us back late in the afternoon to tell us we need a new starter motor. It is so annoying; we were sooooooooo spoilt with Arlo. Every time we turn around Indie needs something and if that’s not bad enough, everything takes several weeks to do!!!!! We have to take Indie in on Monday now to get the work done.

Friday 21^st September

Today Ron and I went to the movies and saw ‘The Watch’. It was quite good. I enjoyed it. It wasn’t uproariously funny; it had a few good one – liners and an average story line; one for a Sunday afternoon on video.

Later we went for a walk along the Riverway, a beautiful park, swimming pool complex, stadium and art gallery on the banks of the Ross River.

 

Saturday 22^nd September

We spent the day at home. Ron and I took Dollar for a walk and wore him out.

 

Sunday 23^rd September

Mainly, we stayed home. Ron and I went to Willows Shopping Centre and bought a thermos flask. Ben, Ron and I took Dollar for a walk.

Monday 24^th September

We took Indie in to get his starter motor replaced. All good, and the warranty company even paid out!!!!!

I finished knitting my little rabbit (that I started yesterday) for my new grandson.

We started packing to leave tomorrow and said good bye to Anita.

 

 

 

Tuesday 25^th September

Dollar ate my shoe!!!!!!!! I could not believe it…..the first time I have left anything in the lounge room. He also demolished a roll of toilet paper…..bad dog!!!

Anita had witnessed the scene of the crime and gone to work. By the time we had found the evidence, too much time had elapsed to punish him. I think he picked up on the vibe of our displeasure though because he adopted that ‘sad puppy dog eyes’ look and skulked about looking quite remorseful.

Ron and Ben and I went off to Maccas for breakfast and then we bought a Jerry Can for Indie and filled it up with diesel and new shoes for me.

We were headed back to Ben’s so we could leave when I suddenly realised that the mechanic had not returned our warranty book. I walked into the office and he handed it to me straight away without my having to ask and said ‘yeah, I realised as soon as you left yesterday that I forgot to give it back.’ I said that it was just as well I remembered or we could have been half way to Darwin and he just laughed……like, would it have killed him to ring me yesterday and tell me?!@#$% Why is it when everyone is so plugged in and wired up to face book, twitter and all this social media rubbish that no one can make a simple phone call or display any kind of good manners? OK, soap box finished for today!!!!!

We did finally leave Ben’s at around elevenish and headed north.   

Rollingstone to Ravenshoe

Tuesday 25^th September

We decided to make our first stop at (36) Bushy Parker Park a free stop just north of Rollingstone. We made camp and it was really hot so we went for a walk and a paddle in the creek.

 

Luckily for us, the only Crocs in the water were our shoes!!!!

 

Later in the afternoon we took our chairs, wine and crisps to the large park next to the camp spot where we were joined for Sun Downers by Lizzie, a lady who has been travelling, with her little dog, Raven for fifteen years. She was an absolute hoot and told us about lots of her adventures

Wednesday 26^th September

Just think, three months from now, Christmas will be over!!!!

After a really hot night, we woke to a really hot morning. Summer is a-coming! We left Rollingstone early and drove through to Innisfail where we stopped for provisions and lunch in the park. Then we headed up through the Atherton Tablelands again and turned west to Ravenshoe – Queensland’s highest town (according to the sign).

We arrived at (236) Archer Creek Rest Area at about 3.30pm and set up camp. It was still unbelievably hot so we went for a walk to the creek and decided to take the plunge – literally – our first swim

 

 

 

 

Thursday 27^th September

We filled the bucket with creek water to do our load of washing and waved adieu to Archer Creek and sallied forth on our next adventure.

Not more than a few minutes down the road we arrived at Innott Hot Springs. There was a van park that contained several hot and cold swimming pools but we opted to swim in the creek that fed them.

Unreal…….soooooooooooo lovely and warm. Now we have experienced the real deal in hot and cold running water!!!!!!!

We stopped at Mt Surprise for lunch and drove Indie through the roadside washdown facility to get all the weed seeds off him

 

 

 

 

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We drove on through Georgetown and finally camped at (249) Cumberland Mine Historic Site complete with chimney and billabong (but no water or toilet – just as well we are self contained!!!).

The chimney is apparently all that is left of the gold crushing plant built by Cornish masons and the billabong is full of all kinds of birds and water lilies. There were also hundreds of termite mounds. We went for a bit of a walk around the water’s edge after I hung out the washing and then again on sunset. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was incredibly hot and totally still. There was no respite at all until about 8.45 pm. We were not actually next to the water but over the hill in a semi-shaded area.

 

Friday 28^th September

After we went to bed, the breeze picked up and it was quite pleasant. We have decided to stay on here today as well because the breeze is still here and although it is very warm, we are going to have a rest day.

Towards mid-morning, Ron and I set off to see if we could circumnavigate the billabong. Turns out we could…..we saw so many lovely birds, even two Brolgas and a Jabiru.

 

 

 

 

We watched Farmer Browns cows watching us from the safety of the other side of the fence, only to find out when they started running at quite a fast pace that we were all on the same side of the fence. Fortunately they were running away from, not towards us!!!!

 

 

 

As we completed our trek, we met David and Val who had just pulled in and were deciding whether to stay or not. They were from Reedy Creek and we chatted on for ages. They were camped on the other side of the hill next to the water.

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men…..the lovely breeze we were enjoying and the reason we stayed, suddenly stopped dead at about 3.00pm (which is about the time we arrived yesterday.)

We were very hot again today and spent most of our rest day doing exactly that. It was so hot Ronnie even found his Sulu (that we bought on our honeymoon in Fiji) and wore that around for half the day.

 

 

We sweltered through and waited for the cool breeze which did not eventuate and as we sat watching for satellites David and Val popped by for a chat.

The breeze finally arrived around midnight.

 

Saturday 29^th September

David and Val called round this morning to say good bye and we headed off to Croydon. It is imperative that we find television reception for the Footy Grand Final on Sunday. The Bulldogs are playing!!!!

We arrived at Croydon about lunchtime and booked in to the Caravan Park. It is a Council Park, $30.00 for a powered site and Ron can get TV. (Woohoo!)

I washed our sheets and a few odds and sods and hung them out and we ate lunch and then went for a swim in the pool. We are now three for three (three days, three swims).

Later, I spoke to another camper, Shirley and she invited Ron and me over for Sun Downers with her and her hubby, Peter.

In the afternoon, I took a walk down to the pub. The AFL grand final was in full swing and there were about a dozen or so people, locals and visitors all watching and cheering. It was actually quite a nice atmosphere. I spoke to a family from our caravan park and the young daughter (about 8 I suppose) offered me her Hawks scarf when she found out I didn’t barrack for either team.

We had a big downpour at about three o’clock but it stopped again so we went over for a drink and ended up staying till 8.30. They are a really lovely couple. They used to own a seafood business in Tully and after they sold up,  travelled quite a lot and usually work in fruit packing sheds for about three months to get the money to travel the other nine.

So after a late dinner it was off to bed until the storm hit in the wee small hours. There was a bit of thunder and lightning and fairly heavy rain but it was over in a short time.

Sunday 30^th September

The day has dawned brightly for Ronnie; he has really good TV reception and although the big game does not start till 5.15pm the preamble starts at about 10.00am so he is firmly ensconced in front of the telly never to move till tea time.

I was walking back from the office when the little girl with the Hawks scarf from yesterday sang out and gave me three magazines from her Mum. They were off today – heading to Darwin and down the west and back to Victoria by the end of January, early February.

I read the Women’s Day and did a couple of crosswords. It is beaut sitting under our new awning – lovely cool breeze blowing through.

Hunger drove Ronnie out for a moment and we decided on take aways from the shop across the road – Chico Rolls and Coke – Real footy food.

Paradise Found - Palm Cove

Saturday 8^th September

We left Port Douglas and drove on to Palm Cove. Talk about Paradise Found!!! We stayed at (10) Palm Cove Campground – a council caravan park right on the beach. We ended up staying three nights for a total of $75.00. The first night was an unpowered site ($19.00) and the other two were powered ($28.00 each).The weather was not real crash hot but the beach was beautiful to walk on and there were beautiful gardens and the shopping precinct had lots of little cafes and restaurants. There were heaps of resorts and holiday apartments and it had a really nice atmosphere. There is a little jetty at one end and we saw three beach weddings.

Sunday 9^th September

Today we did our ‘must do’ tourist trip up to Kuranda on the scenic railway and down again on the sky rail cable car

 

 

 

 

 

We met a lovely couple from New Zealand, Sue and Graeme, who gave us their address and insisted we visit if we get over there. We travelled with them in the train and bumped into them on the way back down on the cable car.

The weather was a bit iffy when we started out and it got worse as the day went on. Kuranda is very set up for tourists with lots of shops and cafes. The weather was a bit drizzly and by the time we came down at 3 o’clock it was looking grim. That’s the Wet Tropics for you.  

 

 

Monday 10^th September

Today was a day of rest, strolls on the beach, reading and generally being lazy-Yum! We have to be back in Townsville on Friday to get our awning done.

Paradise Lost – Cairns to Townsville

Tuesday 11^th September

We left Palm Cove and drove south. We stopped at a couple of the other beaches, Trinity Beach and Yorkeys Knob. Neither was a patch on Palm Cove.

Then we drove through to Cairns. It was just another big town so we didn’t even stop.

The weather was getting worse and we stopped at (14) Babinda Rest Area, a free spot at the east end of the town.

Babinda is known as the Umbrella Town and they seem to compete with nearby towns of Innisfail and Tully for the highest rainfall. No wonder the boys hate going out bush around here!!!!

The camp was quite nice, on the creek and all grass with new hot showers.

 

Wednesday 12^th September

We stopped at Lacey Creek and went for a 1.5km bush walk, still searching for the elusive cassowary but secretly hoping not to come face to face with one.

 

From there, we drove through to Innisfail and bought morning tea and ate by the junction of the North and South Johnstone Rivers. Innisfail has the most incredible Art Deco architecture. Nearly every building is in that style.

We drove to Bingil Bay for lunch.

It was very pretty as well but again, the weather was not too good.

 

 

 

After lunch it was on to (26) Hull Heads Recreation Area south east of Tully -$15.00 per night and free hot showers! When we arrived, it was still overcast but we braved the elements and went for a walk along the beach. It was lovely. The care taker came to collect the fees and showed us photos of what Cyclone Yasi had done to the area and also a photo of a big salt water crocodile taken across the river in May this year!!!!

Later Ron had a bit of a rest and I went back and took some sundown shots – not award winners but quite pretty.

 

 

 

 

Thursday 13^th September

We arrived at Ben’s in the mid afternoon. He and Anita were still at work but Dollar was really pleased to see us.

Friday 14^th September

We took Indie down to get the awning replaced – Total $1315.80 – Lou had failed to include GST on original quote.

We also went to the Motor Registry and hooray, the rego is finally in my name!!!!!

Saturday 15^th September

Ben had duty so Ron and I went for a drive to The Strand and walked along there and had fish and chips by the sea for lunch.

We went out for dinner to ‘Outback Jacks’. I don’t particularly like steak so I ordered the salmon. I was quite taken aback when the waitress asked me how I would like it cooked……I thought there was only one way to cook salmon and after I described it to her she decided to mark my order ‘medium rare’…….any way, it was very nice. Ron and Anita had steaks and Ben had a plate of ribs that he could not jump over….it was huge!!!!!!

Sunday 16^th September

It was just a stay at home and do odds and sods around the house.