CALLIOPE TO MOREE

CALLIOPE TO MOREE;
From St Lawrence we headed to Rockhampton to buy an air filter so once we found the Nissan dealer and bought the part we headed for Calliope River which is a popular free camp by the side of the river. We found a great spot overlooking the river which was pleasant. Once again it was very dry and a bit dusty but very picturesque. People are allowed to camp both sides of the river but fortunately it wasn’t too crowded.
The next day we drove into Gladstone to try and find the right a tool to undo the plug on the oil so Brian could change it. We visited the Marina there which is a beautiful area of lawns, playgrounds and parks as well as the boats. It was very relaxing. The tool we bought didnt fit so the oil remailed unchanged.
After leaving Calliope we headed inland towards Biloela. This is quite a lot of mining in this area so it is a thriving community. From there we headed to Theodore as there is a free camp right by the Dawson River and it even has hot showers. The countryside was very dry and drab. Theodore is a very neat little town and as you enter there is an avenue of palm trees. It was Sat when we arrived and the shops are closed and the town deserted.
The next day we went to Glebe Weir which is a popular spot for fishing and water skiing. Well what a shock we got to find the weir had virtually no water in it. However there was one benefit. There was only one other person there so it was very peaceful. The bird life was amazing and as we were 25kms from the highway it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. There was a large flock of emus grazing in the next paddock and lots of white cockatoos and galahs. A blossom tree was covered in large native bees as well as attracting butterflies and honeyeater birds.
A strong wind blew up the next morning which made it very dusty. As we were camped under a tree we moved to a safer spot that was grassy and we had a quiet day.
After leaving there we continued our journey south through a lovely little town called Taroom. In the main street is the Leichardt Tree where the explorer Ludwig Leichardt carved his initials in a tree on his one of his explorations. It is a massive tree but of course you can’t see the initials as it has grown over. It is the pride of the town.
Continuing south we passed through Miles. There is the most amazing Heritage Village here. You can walk into the post office, the bank, the grocery store, the hospital, the school, the barber, the butcher, the bakery, etc. Each one is set up as it would have been in the early days. If you ever pass through Miles make sure you visit this wonderful exhibiton and be prepared to spend hours there.
We found another free camp out of Condamine which is on the Condamine River. The reflections in the evening were beautiful. It was really cold that night so we knew we were heading south for sure – back to jumpers and jeans!!
We had an early start the next morning for the run to Moree. We stopped in Goondiwindi for a coffee. What a delightful town this is on the Queensland border.
When we arrived in Moree, I went into the hot artisan pools which are in the caravan park. They are very popular as the mineral waters are very good for you and supposedly help with arthritis and other aches and pains.
Tomorrow Jenny and Doug arrive in their new caravan and we will spend a few days with them before heading home.
This will be a great end to a wonderful trip On the Way to Anywhere.

BALGAL BEACH, ALLIGATOR CREEK & ST LAWRENCE

Balgal Beach, Alligator Creek, Seaforth and St Lawrence:
On the homeward run now but still OnTheWaytoAnywhere in that we don't really know where we will be staying next or how long we will stay.
We decided to return to Balgal Beach as it is such a great spot right on the beach and is also free. We arrived reasonably early and were lucky to get a spot. It was a hot day but if you sit up on the green grass on the foreshore in the shade you are very cool. We stayed for two nights here and then to Townsville for some shopping.
After leaving Townsville we found a great place in the Bowling Green National Park called Alligator Creek (no crocs and definitely no alligators!!) It is a peaceful place and we found a beautiful swimming hole which has pristine water surrounded by smooth rocks. It was lovely to cool down in the clear water. There were fish in the water so I came back with the snorkel and was surprised to see some big fish. In the leaf littered campsite the bush turkeys were scratching around and we saw some wallabies as well.
After leaving Alligator Creek we headed to Bowen again to catch up with the rellies and to do some more snorkelling. We all went to Horseshoe Bay and once again the water was as blue as blue. It is such a lovely area. We had a barbeque at our van site and Nikki was fascinated with the “caraban” and jumped down the step all evening.
Seaforth is a small town about 40 klms north of Mackay. You pass through some very pretty countryside and lots of cane fields to get there but unfortunately our GPS led us through some narrow dirt roads to a dead end, so the shortcut turned out to be a longcut!! The council park is right on the beach front and it overlooks the islands but the weather was overcast (first time in the whole trip) so they were hazy.         Some whistling ducks and lorikeets came scavenging for some food and were quite entertaining.
The next day we checked out Ball Bay which is nearby and it was a beautiful bay.  There was no-one in the campsite and we found a great spot but then were attacked by mosquitoes so reluctantly decided to move on.
We spent some time in Mackay replenishing supplies and then headed out. We don’t really like staying in the larger towns.
St Lawrence is a tiny town halfway between Mackay and Rockhampton. Anyone travelling this route knows it is a long boring drive so it was good to break the trip halfway. Better still there is a free campsite here so it is very popular with the grey nomads and there are even hot showers. The campsite overlooks some wetlands which are mainly drylands at the moment although there is a small lagoon that supports quite a lot of wild-life that can be viewed from a hide.
Driving into St Lawrence is like going back in time and the local grocery store was originally the local picture theatre is all made of corrugated iron which has rusted with age. The town suffered badly with the amalgamation of the councils which happened recently in QLD and any funds they had disappeared and now they are a forgotten little town.

MMISSION BEACH TO PARONELLA PARK

MISSION BEACH TO PARONELLA PARK
After the busy day at the reef I felt rather tired so we decided to stay another day at Mission Beach for some R & R (haven?t had much of that lately!!) We stayed in the Dunk Island View Caravan Park and our site (19) was grassy and surrounded by trees so it was quite pleasant. This park is actually at Wongaling Beach between Mission and South Mission. You just walk across the road to the beach for a great view of Dunk Island and of course other islands as well. The sea is very blue so it?s a pretty scene. Lots of Victorians stay here for the winter and they all ride their bikes on the beach.
This whole area is the habitat of the cassowary which is becoming an endangered species as the dense rainforest is being diminished by greedy developers. The town planning schemes allow for a population of 18,000 at Mission Beach which has a current population of 4000. At present cassowaries occupy 100% of their available habitat. When the chicks are eighteen months old they are chased away by their parents to establish their own territory. As all the territories are currently ?occupied?, the chicks will not be able to establish their own areas unless there is a death and therefore they will likely die of starvation or predators such as dogs. So they are really an endangered species!! Luckily there seems to be a rather enthusiastic environmental group in the area so hopefully they will be able to fend off the sharks.
PARONELLA PARK
Paronella Park is south of Innisfail and north of Tully at Mena Creek on the Cane Cutters Way which used to be the old Bruce Highway. It is the work of one man, Jose Paronella who had a dream to build a castle. It was recently voted as No 1 out of the 150 ?must do? in Queensland.
Jose arrived in Innisfail from Spain in 1913 to make a new start. He worked hard for 11 years creating wealth by buying, improving and selling cane farms. He found a beautiful selection of virgin forest alongside Mena Creek Falls which ideal for his castle. He returned to Spain to discover his fianc? was married so he proposed to her sister and they returned to Paronella Park, built a cottage and Jose started building his castle. The whole castle, with turrets and balustrades and all the surrounding buildings, were designed by the enterprising Jose and built from cement using the sand from the creek. He first built a giant staircase to carry the materials up to the castle site ?an amazing feat.
He built the first hydro electric scheme in North Queensland to power the park. In 1935 it was opened to the paying public and became the entertainment area of the district with a picnic area by the waterfall with boating and swimming on the lake. There was a tennis court, a cafe and changing rooms for the swimmers. He built a theatre which also acted as a ballroom with live bands playing on the weekends. The park was always popular meeting place.
Over 7000 trees were planted including an avenue of kauri that now tower over the forest. There are paths winding through out the forest with bridges and waterfalls and even a lovers tunnel. Jose was continually adding more features and buildings.
In 1946 a flood destroyed the refreshment rooms and a lot of the trees but 6 months later the park was reopened for business.
Jose died in 1948 and the park was run by the family until 1972 when it was sold. A fire later destroyed the castle leaving only the turrets and the walls. Floods and a cyclone pounded the park and it fell into disrepair and became overgrown. In 1993 Mark and Judy Evans, the current owners, rediscovered the almost lost park and set about restoring it. In 2006 it was battered by Cyclone Larry. The concrete in the remaining buildings have concrete cancer as Jose used old railway lines for re-enforcing steel so there is huge restoration work to be done.
Today visitors are taken on guided tours by day and night to relive the story of the amazing achievement of this one man. Patrons can spend many hours wandering through the rain forests in the park and is now once again a popular and unusual tourist destination.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF AND MISSION BEACH:
One if the things on my bucket list (must do things before you kick the bucket) is to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef.
As it was nearly time for us to turn around I decided to do this trip from Mission Beach instead of Cairns so early on Sunday morning we left Bramston Beach and headed south to Clump Point Jetty at Mission Beach. Brian dropped me at the wharf as he didn’t want to go.
What a fabulous day I had!! The boat went to beautiful Dunk Island first (which is very close to Mission Beach) to pick up some passengers. I met a nice couple from Melbourne and we had time to have coffee at the beachside cafe there before we took off again.
We then headed 20 kms out to sea to the outer reef. We had been told that on the last few trips they had seen whales on the way out so with great expectancy we kept our eyes peeled. Sure enough before long we say the spurt of water of whale breathing. It was a baby having a wonderful time frolicking around, splashing and leaping. The boat headed towards it so we could get a closer look. We wondered where Mum was and before long we saw this massive black back appear on the surface of the water. She obviously was keeping an eye on her little one as all mothers do. Soon she led him away and we continued out to sea.
Soon we saw some white sand in the middle of the ocean which is a sand island. We pulled up nearby and you could see turquoise blue water and the darker patches of the reef.  
They feed the fish from the back of the boat and soon there were lots of bright blue fish with yellow tails plus a large fish that looked like a groper (it was some sort of cod) and a large long silver fish -you can see I’m not up on fish types- swimming around the boat.
Donned in a wetsuit I was keen to jump in and see this underwater wonderland for myself.  The beauty and the colours are just amazing. I saw so many varieties of fish, large, small, tiny, colourful, striped, spotted, some in large groups and some feeding by themselves. Some just swim slowly and others dart around feeding of the coral. There were some giant clams and the flesh around the shell was a deep purple dotted with iridescent green spots. They have a large mouth at on the end which opens and closes. The coral is all sizes, shapes and colours and changes depending on the depth of the water. The blues, yellows, purples, greens and pinks show up during the day and apparently you see the reds and oranges at night.  Quite lot of the coral was damaged by Cyclone Larry and some of it died but there was a still lot that has grown back.  I also saw some blue star fish and lots of thick sea slugs on the seabed. There was one small shark lying on the bottom (thank goodness.)  Every moment you discover something new or see another variety of fish. It is fascinating and very beautiful.  We had three hours here and I was in the water most of the time all though I did take a trip to the sand island on the inflatable boat which they provided. It was strange to be standing on this little bit sand in the middle of the ocean. I also went in the glass bottom boat which was nothing compared to snorkelling
A delicious lunch was served but I asked them to keep me a plate as I was too busy enjoying myself.
Finally very wrinkled and waterlogged it was time to leave the reef. On the way back we spotted some more whales and once again the boat went over towards them. They are so graceful and when it was time for us to move on one “waved” to us.
Back to Dunk Island to drop of some passengers and then back to the jetty after a wonderful day and an amazing experience.
I can thoroughly recommend Quickcat Cruises at Mission Beach for a great day out with friendly staff who are just out to give you a good time and are very easy going.
 I asked Jenny and Gerry, my new found friends back to the van for “happy hour” so that was a great end to fabulous day. They were keen to see the caravan as they are thinking of buying one. They live at Doncaster and that is where Jenny and Doug are staying in the caravan park there in Melbourne. Small world!
 

iNNISFAIL TO bRAMSTON BEACH

TO INNISFAIL TO BRAMSTON BEACH:
We needed to go to a powered caravan park to catch up on washing etc so we found a great little place 7 kms out of Innisfail called Flying Fish Point. I don’t know about flying fish but there were thousands of flying butterflies fluttering amongst the trees. We had a drive through site surrounded by golden cane palms so it was like our own private outdoor room. There was a happy hour put on by the park on Wed night so we were able to meet the other “residents,” mostly southerners who make an annual trek here and stay for a couple of months.
Innisfail is a lovely town with many old Art Deco buildings. There is a magnificent Catholic Church and many other well preserved buildings. The wide Johnstone River runs through the town.
After leaving Innisfail we headed to Josephine Falls which are in a beautiful dense rainforest. The track winds through the forest by a pristine creek. The water is so clear you can hardly see it. The falls drop down three levels with such force the resident animals have specially flattened bodies to survive. Imagine what is like in the Wet season.           To get there we had to pass through beautiful tropical countryside of green cane fields with a backdrop of blue rugged mountains. It is very pretty and well worth the detour.
We then headed to Bramston Beach. The council campground is right on the beach overlooking the islands. Most people come here for a night or two and stay for a week or more. It is such a well kept village with neat gardens, huge beautiful trees, buttflies fluttering everywhere and beautiful scenery and oh so relaxing!!
Everyone sits on the lawns in the shade to relax, read or just talk and some try their luck at fishing. In the late afternoon we all gather on the point with our chairs and drinks for “happy hour” to watch the sunset over the hills
The barbeque was right across from our van so barbeque tea was in order both nights.
There is a beach cafe nearby and they serve a delicious coffee. It it is the only shop in town and a popular meeting place.   
                                                                               
 
 

KURRIMINE BEACH

KURRIMINE BEACH:
We are still On the Way to Anywhere and don’t know where we will end up before its time to turn around. Each place we visit we decide to stay an extra day or two.
To get to Kurrimine Beach you pass Tully, the wettest town in Australia. We called into see the Big Gumboot as we had seen a doco on the making of this icon. The Gumboot is the height of the record amount of rain recorded in a year which is 75 feet!! You can climb up to the top to look out over the town.
Kurrumine Beach is a lovely peaceful little village overlooking the islands. We camped in the council campground which is right on the beach and sitting in our outdoor lounge room you can see the island framed by palm trees. There were lots of coconuts so we had some fresh coconut for tea.
The tides are quite big here so the boats have to be launched by tractors.  They have to get back from there fishing trips before the low tide or they will be high and dry. It’s quite a hive of activity and we took our chairs onto the beach to watch all the boats being towed in. The big pelicans hang around waiting for some leftover fish.
There is a long reef that is exposed at low tide so of course the boats have to be very careful. The day we were there was the lowest tide for the year and you can wade out to the reef to see the coral. There were heaps of little starfish. It was fascinating to see them foraging in the puddles. We also saw some large, red and black starfish. One was stranded out of the water and its tentacles were all curled up. Brian picked it up and put it into deeper water and it uncurled. Fascinating!! We had to make sure we came back before the tide turned or it would be very hard to get back.
I went for a walk along the foreshore here and was amazed to see such modern and new houses and then realized that a lot of the homes would have been destroyed by Cyclone Larry. Every house had a new roof, even a little old beach shack. Although there has been amazing recovery of the vegetation you can see lots of evidence of the devastation. There are tree stumps and broken branches and a lot of the trees just died. I saw a photo diary of the event which makes you realize the power of the wind. The community really rallied together and life goes on.
It’s very hard to decide which is our favourite place but this one near the top of the list.
 

TO HULL HILL

One of the benefits of travelling, besides the beautiful places you see and the relaxing lifestyle, is the tips you receive from fellow travellers on where to stay and what to see.
We found out there is a beautiful large swimming hole 9 kms from Cardwell. The water is pristine – so clear you can see the fish swimming and you can see the bottom even though it’s reasonably deep.  It is surrounded by drooping gums and massive paper barks. I even saw a bright blue butterfly fluttering around. There is a ladder to descend into the pool and the water was very invigorating.
We were able to camp in a secluded spot a few hundred yards from the pool and it was very peaceful. We told another couple of our find and they stayed too so we still had our happy hour.
The next morning we stopped in Cardwell from where you can see Hinchinbrook Island just to have a look around. This is such a pretty part of far north Qld. Then on to Hull Head which is east of Tully.
What a beautiful place this is and one of the reasons we headed here is that we had a tip that the Tully Coast Guard put on a fabulous all you can eat fish smorgasbord once a month.  The locals come from everywhere to participate and so do the grey nomads!!
The activity started about one o’clock when the volunteers turned up. Out came the mechanical potato peeler and then the chip press. Others set up the tables, put out 300 chairs and made salads. The set up was like a well oiled machine. Well over 200 people turned up to devour as much fish, chips and salad possible on a beautiful evening overlooking the islands. All of this for just $10.
The campsite is right alongside the large river which goes out to the sea and you look over the beach and lots of islands. It is very picturesque and oh so peaceful. Stress is word that doesn’t enter the vocabulary in this neck of the woods!!
We decided to stay another day as it is such a beautiful place. The day is spent sitting by the river watching the boats going out and some people fishing on the river edge (even though there are crocs in there) reading and talking.
We ended the day with barbeque by the river on a balmy evening.