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.

BALGAL BEACH

BALGAL BEACH
 Wednesday:  It’s hard to describe the feeling of relaxation that this beautiful place evokes. Balgal Beach is a scenic beach north of Townsville and south of Ingham. The best part is that there is a free campsite right on the beach. We arrived here about 3pm after bypassing Townsville, to find the free camping was full.  However, we were allowed to camp right outside the designated area. There is a lovely grassy foreshore with a barbeque and tables right in front of us and we can see the islands from our front door and listen to the gentle lapping of the waves – no big surf here because of the reef. What a magnificent place!! There is a fishing club here and it is said that the fish and chips are to die for.
There is a creek on one side which has 3 resident crocs and they can swim out to the beach so I decided its best not to go for a dip here!!
Thursday:
Several people moved out of the designated camping area so we moved in and have a great view from our van.
After setting up we felt we deserved a sumptuous breakfast of eggs and tomatoes, toast and coffee on the BBQ overlooking the beach.  It was so relaxing and we stayed and chatted to some others campers. The rest of the day was spent going for a walk, taking some photos and getting some tips on all the best places to stay.  I even managed to hook up to the internet by connecting to power at the fishing club shop which is right beside the creek.
You wonder what you do all day but the day passes very quickly.

BOWEN

BOWEN
We were very lucky to get into Bowen for four days. It is a very popular spot. Our site had a beautiful shady tree over it which was great as it was hot and dusty in the park. We arrived on Sat and went to visit Scott (Brian’s son) Heather and little Nikki who is a cute 2 &1/2 year old. That evening we had yummy fish and chips by the Queen’s beach. It was a beautiful mild evening and a lovely setting.
The next day we went to the beachside markets and had a lazy morning sitting on the foreshore with all the clan. Nikki enjoyed throwing shells into the sea and showing off his ball skills. Afterwards Brian and I went for a drive up to Flagstone Hill where there is a beautiful lookout. You can see all the islands, the blue sea and the harbour. That evening we went back to the Lampe’s for a roast dinner –YUM.
We had a leak in the water pipe on the van and as we couldn’t get the part in Bowen we had to go to Airlie Beach so we all went down for the day. Unfortunately it was overcast so it wasn’t as sparkling as usually is. We had our lunch on the beach. There are so many boats moored off shore. It is very pretty but very much commercialized. It started raining on the way home but not for long.
Another beautiful sunny day dawned and I was keen to go snorkelling. Bowen is one of the few places where you can snorkel off the beach and see coral. We all went to a delightful beach called Horseshoe Bay. It is a small beach surrounded by round boulder type rocks and it looks out over the islands. It is a very popular spot as there is a caravan park and a resort there. The snorkelling was fascinating and I saw lots of coral and some tropical fish. The water was beautiful although the locals thought it too cold to swim. I really enjoyed it as I love swimming. There is a lookout you can walk to which gives you a 360 degree view. The water here is such a brilliant blue.
Brian and I had a pie for lunch at the pie shop where Hugh Jackman bought pies when filming the movie “Australia”. A lot of the movie was filmed in Bowen and there is a lot of memorabilia in this shop. Merle, the owner, showed Baz Loman around and explained all about the history of the place without knowing he was a film director and was instrumental in Bowne being chosen for the location. There was a bus tour in the shop at the time and I listened in on the talk about the filming.
After shopping we went back to the Lampe’s and as Heather had a bad back, I did ‘surrogate’ grandparent duties and helped with the washing. My gosh, you forget how much washing you have when you have little kids and that’s without washing nappies!!
We had a great time in this town as it’s such a lovely place and I would like to have a long stay here.

Cania Gorge to Bowen

Cania Gorge to Bowen:
Still On the Way to Anywhere but still at Cania Gorge. We went for a walk to Dripping Rock and the Overhang which was less strenuous. We ambled along a narrow track surrounded by beautiful dense rainforest.. The track then took us up alongside a steep wall of rock on one side and overlooked the gorge on the other side. We came to Dripping Rock where the water is continually dripping from the rock and of course there are lots of ferns and greenery. This was very refreshing after the dryness at the campsite. As we advanced further we came to some sandstone caves displaying some amazing colours and finally we came to the Overhang where this huge rock is leaning right over to create another cave.
In the arvo we took our computers to Cania Dam picnic area where we were able to connect to the internet. Here we were in the middle of nowhere still using technology!!
That night we had a bush poet who lives in the area and so he gave us some history on the area through his poetry and was very good. Of course yours truly recited some of her poetry as well.
 
On the way again we headed to Biloela. Once again this countryside would be very pretty if it weren't so dry. This is quite a nice country town and is same distance to Rockhampton or Gladstone. We headed on to Rockie through Mt Morgan which seemed like a very interesting old mining town with lots of history but we needed to press on to get some phone coverage. We were amazed at the milder night in Rockhampton.
 
In the morning we set off on the boring long drive between Rockhampton and Mackay. I had to buy a new chair before we left so had a later start and we had forgotten what a long drive it is and realized that we should have broken the journey with a n overnight stop on the way.
We did stop at Clearview for lunch which is a little town on the water and it’s a welcome site to see the tropical blue water after all the drab of the old gum trees. If you ever travel on this road, stop here but you have to turn off the highway. The local ladies have a little craft stall here and you can get tea and coffee as well. I bought so some home grown tomatoes which were delicious.
 
The road north of Mackay is so pretty with green hills,palm trees and canefields.
We discovered a lovely free camp about 40 kms north of Mackay called St Helens Beach. There are toilets and a cold shower and lots of lovely trees. It is right on the beach and there are lots of islands around. Of course the water is really blue. The tides are huge here and the locals all own a tractor to tow their boat out to launch it. When the tide was out we walked right out and stayed out there to watch the tide come in and I lost my watch. For those travellers this is a well recommended stopover. Turn off highway at Calen (north of Mackay) and it 15 kms through some pretty cane county.
 
From here we had a short trip to Bowen which is a beautiful place.
 
 
 

Home To Cania Gorge

Well here we are On the Way to Anywhere and we are now at Cania Gorge which is inland and south west of Gladstone.
Our first stop was Nangango which is one of those delighful Queensland counrty towns with wide streets and a laid back atmoshpere. There was a big timber cutting industry here and in a the main street are a series of chainsaw sculptures depicting the the past industries ? mining (gold), timber cutting and farming. There are also some great murals in the town that tell the history of the area. An interesting industry that has sprung up is a dragon fruit farm.
For those travellers, the Twim Gums caravan park is only $16 per night. Also the fruit shop on the left as you come into town from south is very very cheap. It was a very cold night ? went down to 1 degree but we were snug and warm in the van.

On our way north we stopped at Goomeri which is famous for its annual Pumpkin Roll Festival held at the end of May. It is such a sleepy town with a really relaxing feel but the population of 600 trebles when the festival is on. We had coffee and a delicious pumpkin pie here.
Heading north again we can to a stopped at Ban Ban Springs for lunch and came across a large flock of Wandering Whisling Ducks. As I crept up on them to get a closer look they started whislting. They are tan in colour with stripe son their darker wings.
On through Gayndah and Munduberra, both of which is a big citrus growing area so lots of oranges and mandarins for sale. We stayed in Munduberra at the Big Manderin Caravan Park. It is one that caters for the fruit pickers so was pretty basic. If the international backpackers do fruit picking for three months they can have their visa extended for an extra year.
The next day we headed for Cania Gorge. The whole of the South Burnett region is very dry and have been in drought for years. We stopped at Monto for groceries and just as well as all the shops shut at 12.30 on Sat. There is a fantastic cultural and historical centre here on the outskirts of town. We found ?Spook?, a local character, in the restoration and machinary shed where he spends all his time restoring old machinary. Brian really enjoyed a chat with him.

Cania Gorge is 24 kms from Monto and the caravan park (Top Tourist) is very peaceful. There are lots of native birds and you look up at the sandstone cliff face. Unfortunately its very dry so there's no green grass. There are quite a few walks so we decided to stay for 4 nights. There is bird feeding at 4 pm where the lorreekets enjoy as feast so slops and honey, the resident chooks get the leftovers and the crows and currawongs hang about as well.
Every evening the camp-fire is lit and travellers gather around to share a yarn and tips on the best places to stay. We missed the Friday sausage sizzle but are looking forward to bush poerty on Tuesday.
We went for a 5.3 k bushwalk which crisscrossed over the dry creek bed until we came to the fern pool which was surrounded by green ferns and a small pool of water. This walk would be amazing if there was water in the creek. We did see a big fat goanna. The walk took us up a lookout from where you could see to the other side of the valley. The track down was quite steep and edged by grass trees.
Today we went for a drive see the Cania Dam which is only 3% full. There is a beautiful picnic area here with some lovely green grass. We had a picnic lunch here and I was able to do my yoga exercises overlooking the dam. It was very peaceful and no-one in sight. Near by is the remains of an old gold diggings and you can see lots of holes surrounded by a mound of dirt where hopeful prospectors tried to strike it rich. You can just visualize the activiy that took place here.