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Published: August 12th 2011
Cardwell cyclone damage
This area was severely hit by cyclone Yasi. Most houses had new roofs or were being repaired.After an early breakfast and hugs and farewells to Michelle and Paul, and we were on our way. The Jeep didn't miss a beat and the tension in both of us started to subside. It appears the repairs have been successful.
The 100kms or so to Ingham, the next major town, passed quickly with everything going as it should. Here we stopped for a break and walked down the main street with its older type shops lining it, a wide, grassed median strip dividing it. The town was celebrating an Italian/Australian show over the weekend but this started later and was on the edge of town. Even so, you could see the Italian influence in the town with its cafes, grocery shops, and the people about you. It seemed like a friendly town, Judy enjoying her window shopping and finding a bargain T-shirt.
As we passed through the next towns, Cardwell and Tully, we could see the damage the cyclone, Yasi, had done earlier in the year. Pine plantations, where most of the leaves had been stripped off, lined the road, and the native trees had all their leaves stripped off and now had
Cardwell
The leaves were just starting to regrow on most trees the re-growth coming through.
In Cardwell, where we stopped for lunch, we could see the damage done to many houses, they were now either having new roofs fitted or in the process of getting one. Many were still as they finished up after the cyclone, abandoned or the repairs still not started.
Here, we also caught up with John and Marilyn, the couple we met at Armstrong Beach and who we were hoping to meet at Flying Fish Point, just out of Innisfail.
As it was, we found ourselves only a couple of vans away when we finally set up camp later in the day. We managed to book in for 3 days here, although we have to move to another spot tomorrow. Don't think we'll want to stay longer than that, the heavens opening and we are getting the first rain we have had for quite some time.
For the evening we went to a bbq put on by the management, $10/head giving you steak, chops, sausages, onion and mushroom, plus some curried vegetables. Huge serves and when we were all sitting down, Andre the manager, comes around and forces more on to you! The
Ella Bay
Just around the corner from Flying Fish Point. We loved the name as its our grandaughter's! cost includes being part of a raffle, this drawn later in the evening. Rags won a bottle of red, this going where a lot of other wine had gone that evening. We met several more caravanners and had a most enjoyable time.
Sunday 7th August 2011 We were woken by torrential rain at 2am, this continuing for most of the rest of the night, not easing until about 9am. When it rains here it really rains. Between showers Rags had prepared the van to move to a nearby spot, luckily it was nice and dry when we actually moved.
It was near to 10am when we had everything set up again and the new spot was actually in a better position than the last as there were no trees above us dripping water and for once all the taps, switches and drains to connect onto the van were at hand.
We drove the 6 or 7 kms into Innisvale and walked around the main streets, this being another town with wide streets and lovely old buildings. When it started to rain we hopped into a cafe for a coffee, meeting two of the people we
Saturday BBQ
Our hosts Andre and Nita cooked up a feast! met last night doing the same.
The early part of the afternoon was spent with Judy going for a walk with Marilyn and Rags getting his fishing gear in order to try a little lure casting for flathead. Later, he went off with John to try his hand at throwing lures from the shore. Both were ok at it but neither brought home a fish!
There is a table at the campground that John and his friends have used over the years as the centre for 'drinks at 5'. This table has been resurrected and a group of 10 or so, met at the allotted time. Some fun reparteee and an enjoyable hour or so was had before we adjourned to the van for a chicken stir fry and a typical evening.
Monday 8th August 2011 By 10am John and Rags were off full of intentions to catch plenty of fish. John was so certain of success he had Rags leave his fishing gear behind, it is not heavy enough for the fish here. So much for that, after 3 hours of trolling and bottom fishing near a reef, John had one small mackerel, a
Innisfail
Another fine old building small samson, and Rags had caught and released a small remora.
Judy meanwhile, spent the day in a more productive way, marking even more uni assignments.
Dinner tonight was at the Brothers League Club in Innisvale. This was to join John and Marilyn to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary with 2 other couples. The club sent out a courtesy bus to pick us up, it being available to take us home when needed.
Dinner was a buffet, lots of deep fried food, some roast, and lots of vegetable dishes plus salad. Good value although the two of us ate far too much!
On our return to the park we joined John and Marilyn for coffee before returning to the van for more marking and some reading by Rags. An early night was had, both of us feeling very bloated and ready for sleep, even though both of us only had a couple of drinks all evening.
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Caravan Parks
I can remember going to a meal in Brownsville that the manager of the Caravan park organised when I was with Pat and Reg in Texas. Seems parks the world over do the same type of things ! The Courtesy Bus sounds a great idea to me, because you can drink without having to worry about being picked up for DUI. Makes for a much more relaxing night. Perhaps some of the homes you saw in dis-repair belonged to people who had no insurance. It sounds like you have met some very nice people along the way. Good to know people when you pull into a park I should think. Happy Travels.