Advertisement
Published: September 2nd 2009
Our alarm was set for 3.30 am and we set off for Cairns Airport at 4.00 am to meet Nigel and Michele off their 5.00 am flight. Still dark, the mountain road down from Mossman to Cairns is quite hazardous but very little traffic was coming through at that time of the morning. Their flight was on time so we set off back to Mossman where they were booked in to a cabin on our caravan park. We stopped off at a viewing point on the way back and saw the sun come up over the Coral Sea, just beautiful. Before we left home Trevor put a loaf on to bake in our bread maker and it was just finished when we got back, oh the aroma. We cooked bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes and enjoyed our first breakfast together with Pat and John too. plus our beloved dogs of course.
Day 2 we visited the Mossman Sugar Mill which is extremely interesting. This whole area is a sugar cane growing area and we saw the cane being harvested and brought into Mossman refinery by truck and on the sugar trains. From there we followed the various stages the cane goes
through to become raw sugar and walked through the factory complete with hard hats and ear plugs. Unfortunately there is a strong odor coming from the refinery which initially smells like sour milk but is actually molasses but thankfully you soon become indifferent to it. Although the sugar cane looks so lovely growing you need to give it a wide berth as snakes, cane toads and other creepy crawlies call it home. That night we dined at the Tin Shed, a place loved by locals and folk who have visited before. The Tin Shed is situated on the edge of the Mossman River and all the boats going to and from the Great Barrier Reef pass by, giving it a million dollar view. The menu is big and varied and the prices just great. Our favourite is the Chicken Oscar, a huge chicken breast topped with a garlic sauce, avocado, prawns and scallops, accompanied by a delicious salad and beer battered chips. Yum.
The following day poor old Millie, Buddy and Freckles headed to the kennels to allow us to do dog-unfriendly things, and although we were sad to part with them we headed off to Kuranda for the day.
We have been up to Kuranda twice before so opted to drive up and back but we delivered Nigel and Michele to the Skyrail station first and they arrived 1.5 hours later at the top of the mountain having seen the most amazing scenery and waterfalls. Kuranda is a beautiful village nestled in the Atherton Tablelands and has interesting shops and markets, it is tropical rain forest and the trees and foliage are lush, green and gigantic. Their day was completed by a ride down on the Kuranda train, which stops on the way down the mountain to enjoy the magnificent views of the Barron River and we met them with the car at Freshwater.
When in Mossman a visit to the Mossman Falls is a must. Even in the dry season the waterfalls are vibrant and noisy and so unspoilt. Sadly the final path which takes you up to the bridge was closed for repair. All this and a lovely 99 ice cream to follow - lovely.
We decided to drive up to Cooktown ( the furthest point north on sealed roads) and stay in a motel as our 2 caravans could not accommodate 6 people, so we booked
into the Alamanda Motel on Hope St, and this was a nice clean base for our exploits, situated under the coconut trees. Cooktown was named after James Cook the explorer when he beached his HM Bark Endeavour in 1770 to do some repairs to damage he had sustained when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef. His bronze statue stands on the foreshore near the actual place of his arrival. Similarly the Endeavour River was named after his ship. A drive up the Grassy Hill in Capt. Cook National Park gives a fantastic 360 degree view out into the Coral Sea and back inland to Cooktown and the meandering Endeavour River below. Apparently Capt Cook climbed this hill on several occasions to view the surroundings reefs enabling him to navigate a safe passage out to sea after he had finished his repairs. (Quite a feat as it was a very steep drive up even in a 4 wheel drive) From there we drove into the Botanical Garden which is a magical place dating back to 1878. These gardens fell into disrepair in 1910 and were brought back to their former glory in 1980. A short journey on along an
unmade but good road brought us to Finch Beach, a pristine beach with a stream entering from surrounding hills. Beautiful but dangerous when you read the "Beware of Crocodiles" signs everywhere. I saw photo's in the museum showing young people back then enjoying their day off at Finch's Beach, playing such games as "drop the hanky". Young people were certainly easy to please back then.
The James Cook Museum is housed in an imposing building originally built by the Catholic Church as a convent for the Sisters of Mercy, but used as a museum since 1970. It houses many pieces of James Cook memorabilia with originals of his sea diaries and charts and even the actual anchor and one of its cannons which were dumped overboard from the HM Bark Endeavour to lighten its load when it hit the reef. These have only been recovered in recent years and brought back to their original glory and are now housed in special glass rooms with the correct humidity to prevent any further ageing.
We took a drive out to see the Endeavour Falls but unfortunately being the dry season there was very little water coming over the rocks, but you can't
win them all, as they say. Another ice cream made up for it. Nigel is an icecreamaholic so almost every outing included a trip to the ice cream parlour or the ice cream cabinet. Not that any of us complained.
We were in Cooktown for 2 nights and both evening meals were enjoyed at the RSL club. Beautiful meals and for those amongst us who like a little bet there were pokie machines. I think everyone came out with a little more than they went in with, which was good.
I mention the Lions Den in my next paragraph but it really needs a mention of its own. It is a pub in the middle of nowhere, open to all the elements and adorned with everything you can think of. Tee shirts, underwear, bank notes etc., and walls and walls of signatures and messages from previous visitors. In the park along side the pub we saw a monitor lizard about 4ft long, he suffered our cameras and oos and ahhs for a while then retreated up a tree where he lay in a comfortable spot and completely ignored us. Again the plants were magnificent but one stood out from the
rest. It was called an Avocado Cannonball and had exquisite pink flowers which, because of their intricate make up, were obviously self pollinating, and after the flower falls off a huge cannonball shaped fruit grows, about the size of a rock melon.
There are two routes to reach Cooktown, the one I have mentioned which is on the bitumen road and the other is along the Bloomfield track. One day we drove out to have a drink at the famous Lions Den Pub which is at the northern end of the track and after chatting to two motor bike riders who had just come through that way we decided to give the track a go shortening our return to Mossman by 100km but through the Daintree Rain Forest and through river beds and along unmade roads. The first park of the trip was fantastic, nice bitumen roads and we began to wonder what all the fuss was about when folk refer to the Bloomfield Track. About halfway along we hit the pot holes, dry river beds etc., but managed very well and arrived at Cape Tribulation very pleased and proud of ourselves. The vehicles were very dirty but hey you
can't do a trip like that and stay clean. Incidentally, when we reached Bloomfield village we stopped at the water crossing and were looking through our binoculars when an aboriginal chap stopped to speak to us. He pointed to something downstream and said that was a croc. On further inspection we saw the biggest croc we have yet encountered (and we are always on the lookout for them - naturally) but unfortunately we could not a photo of him, so you will have to take my word for that.
On arrival back in Mossman Trevor commented on a noise under the vehicle but on closer inspection could not find anything amiss. The following day we drove into Port Douglas and the noise was definitely louder, again an inspection but nothing apparent. We decided to take the vehicle into Cairns the next day to see if the Toyota Garage could find anything. As I mentioned before, the road to Cairns is quite winding and along the top of a cliff at times and as we went along the noise got louder, and we told Pat on John in the other car by CB that we were having problems. Problems !!! The
understatement of the year. Suddenly the noise was very loud and the steering jerked and Trevor managed to get us off the road onto a grassy bank, we leapt out and found the rear passenger wheel had come off !!!! Impossible as it sounds all 6 wheel nuts had come off and the wheel was tucked up under the bodywork. Luckily we are in the RAC and soon a truck arrived to take us into Cairns to the Toyota Garage - not the way we originally planned to arrive. Nigel walked back along the road and picked up 4 of the 6 nuts and they had come undone, not sheered off. It must have been some prank by some half wit who thought it would be fun to loosen all 6 nuts and see what happens. We were so lucky we were off the mountain road as there was nowhere to go there but off the cliff. the Toyota Garage was marvellous and sorted it all out for us and we were able to pick the car up later that after noon, and as we were planning a service in the next month they did that too. The whole thing
came to about $1,000 and all but the service is claimable from our insurance. As Trevor said, he has been driving for 50 years and he has never lost a wheel. We had a huge service before we left Busselton and had done 9,000km since then so it had to be intervention by some crazy person.
Before leaving Nigel and Michele took us all out to dinner to celebrate Trevor's birthday and also the end of their holiday. We all went to the Hog's Breath and enjoyed a lovely meal on the side of the Mirage Marina in Port Douglas.
One day we called into Palm Cove for a coffee (VERY upmarket) and was amazed to see plunge pools in place of balconies, several storeys high. Very hard to explain so I have included a photo. They really tickled me !!
Poor Millie, Buddy and Freckles took a week to get over their trip to the kennels. First Millie came out with a nasty bite on her neck which won't heal. Buddy started coughing, followed by Freckles and Millie, all had Canine Cough, but Buddy with a worse case. Millie had fleas and Pat found a brown tick on Freckles
which hopped out of her fingers, and today I found one on Millie which we think could be the stray one. All are on anti-biotics and are now feeling much better. A very expensive exercise all in all ad it will be a long time before we try a kennel again. Freckles had an expensive but necessary visit to the vet dentist and is now showing off her pearly whites with pride.
Nigel and Michele were deposited back at the airport tired but happy after their first trip to far north Queensland and I think it will be the first trip of many for them. They arrived home safe and sound to rain !!!
We are off on our travels again and will talk to you again soon.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.125s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 12; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0682s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jude
non-member comment
Sad old memories
You are truly stirring them up. You two are seriously good tourists - you actually look and react to things around you - rather than the "it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium" approach. My Molly is well but I have put out the word that she needs a small companion. Her blindness is so isolating and I now fear we are becoming too needy with each other. It still breaks my heart. Stay well you three - when are you coming home? I need a haircut! Love to you both - I do miss you. Jude