Blogs from Cardwell, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

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Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell April 27th 2019

"Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else." - Lawrence Block After a delightful four day stay in Cairns, it was time to move on and Cyril duly obliged pointing us on an inland routing to Yungaburra.This looked far more interesting than the A1 down to Townsville which did not hug the coast and probably traversed endless sugar cane fields. Talking of sugar. SA produces about 2 million tons in a good year whilst the Aussies are more than double at 4.5 million tons. Almost 95 percent is grown in Queensland and with all the rain, heat and sunshine, the cane stalks are impressive in height. The routing meant that we had to once again work our way through the Rain Forest mountainous ... read more
Aussie Icons
Lake Tinaroo
Petersen Creek

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell November 13th 2012

Mission Beach – Tully – Cardwell – Ingham –Toomula Leaving Mission Beach we were looking forward to our trip south towards Townsville along the coast. Our first stop was Tully and the ‘Big Gumboot’. Tully is another sugar town, and arguably the town in Australia with the highest rainfall, although it tends to fight fo this title with Babinda. Tully receives over 4134 mm of rain per year and is nestled between Mt Mackay and Mt Tyson and as you would expect it is very green. Tully is the administrative hub for the Cardwell Shire, making it a busy town. There is a distinctly rural feeling to Tully which we enjoyed. Tully, originally known as Banyan, was first settled in the 1870's as a sugar cane and cattle farming town. In 1927 the name was changed ... read more
Tully
Tully Sugar Mill
Tully Sugar Mill

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell August 20th 2011

On Saturday 20th we decided to have a drive a bit further afield. Our first port of call, barely 40 kilometers away, was Tully which was easily noticeable by the huge chimneys that could be seen from a long way away belching out what appeared to be steam. The chimneys are from Tully Sugar Mill which dominates the town and is where the sugar cane is processed into raw sugar before being shipped elsewhere for refinement. The reports we had read said that Tully was devastated by Cyclone Yasi but the centre of town at least seemed to have recovered well. Apart from sugar cane there are huge plantations of banana trees in the area and many of these were ripped apart and we saw some of the remains that still had to be removed. Now, ... read more
yes it is a CASSOWARY!!
and we thought this would be the only one we saw today!
The smoking chimneys of Tully are visible for miles

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell August 19th 2011

Thursday 18th - Our journey today was to be a fairly short one so we weren’t in any rush to pack up. We did it very casually and were ready to hit the road at about 9:30am – quite late for us. We hadn’t determined exactly where we would be heading for but we knew it would be one of three places. The first was Ingham and we arrived there fairly early but realistically, it was always going to be unlikely that we stayed there even though we had identified a possible caravan park. It was only mid-morning when we arrived so we found a picnic area and stopped for our morning cuppa and cake. Innisfail was another place we considered and was the furthest of our three choices. It would have been easily manageable when ... read more
As we went further north the terrain began to change with picturesque hills in the background and sugar cane plantations in the foreground
Tractor with its load of sugar cane luckily didn't go far along the highway
The first of many sugar cane trains that we were to see

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell August 4th 2009

On Tuesday we went to Tully Sugar Mill to have a tour. The first machine we went to was called the Tippler. It was called the Tippler because it tipped all the sugar cane out of the sugar bins. On the way in we saw a kookaburra looking for a snack lurking in the sugar cane bins. ... read more
Tully Sugar Mill
Sugar Mill - Tippler
Sugar Mill - Cane trucks

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell October 28th 2008

As we left Carmila Beach heading north we passed the Sarina showgrounds with a massive market in progress, it was a little short on fresh produce but we picked up some Jabotibotica jam (South American grape vine.....apparently) and a few other very yummy condimental jars of goodies. Sarina is just south of Mackay which we had as our destination to receive our first relayed mail delivery. Mackay was very quiet and it wasn’t until we found the Post office that we realised it was Sunday! Doh! So we booked into the Halliday Bay van park about 15 mins north of Mackay - really nice bay and surroundings but karappy facilities. Got the mail the next morning and headed for Dingo Beach which is about 20 mins north of Airlie beach. We had a recommendation to stay ... read more
Lucinda sugar jetty
The view
Tony's pad

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell July 16th 2008

After leaving behind Magnetic Island we sailed towards Palm Island with a stop at Havannah Island as we were told there is good snorkelling, but the weather lately has been cold and raining so its no good for water sports. Rex’s son Andrew has been with us, and as a young person keen on being on the move we headed to Palm Island for the night. This island is inhabited by an aboriginal community, its not recommended to visitors but we had no problems going ashore to shop at the supermarket and watch on the main plaza a display of their local dance, very interesting. From there sailed to Orpheus Island, Orpheus is a national park were a very exclusive resort who is strictly out of bounds to non guests and the James Cook university research ... read more
Lucinda's lead lights
Andrew's first crab
Locals dancing

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell April 23rd 2007

One week before the big trip Jack and I trek across Hinchinbrook Island, one of the most picturesque treks (and longest waiting lists ) in Australia. We decided to go north to south which we believe was a good choice as the first two days were the most strenuous. Taking the ferry from Cardwell, we landed deep in the mangroves behind Ramsay Bay. A short boardwalk took us out to the beach which we traversed the length of before entering the forest. The first day took us about 5 hours with a side trip up to Nina peak with fantastic views back across the mangroves. Continuing on, we climbed through a saddle making our way down to Little Ramsay Bay where we camped that evening. Day two.... yes, well everyone we talked to who had ... read more
Ferry to the Island
Ramsay Bay
Mangrove Swamp

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell April 12th 2007

New words: Wobbly, an alcoholic beverage. Bitumen, the asphalt road. Our last day in the Cairns area we checked out of our hotel and went to pick up our new home for the next 2 weeks... the campervan! Travellers keep in mind that when dropping off the car there is about 30% in service fees and taxes. Also, that you will receive a better price if you prebook the car. The campervan rental is the same whether in person or prebooked via the web. By 11:00 am we're on the road. Because we started out late we only plan to drive about 250 km to Cardwell. Cardwell is a very small seaside town. We stayed at the Beachcomber. It was a clean campsite that offered the usual camper kitchen, BBQ, shower and Bathroom (always called ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cardwell December 22nd 2006

The reason for my stop in Cardwell is rather funny. On the Greyhound-bus timetable 'Cardwell' is printed in bold letters... So I thought it must be something important... Well well it is the Greyhounds Lunch brake. hahaha . But suprisingly there is something... close by lies the Hinchinbrook Island. It is famous for its Mangrove vegitation and the wonderfull landscape. click here for more information on the government homepage. The Island was just like a little Eden. So after all it was a coincidence - a very beautiful coincidence. Like I always say enjo the pictures.... read more
Stranded on Hinchinbrook
Mangroves
Hinchinbrook




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