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Published: September 24th 2010
Big Crystal Creek
Only Finn would brave the waterIn true Queensland style, much of the last fortnight was spent in the water. It was either beautiful and sunny - so we lazed on the beach, or it was pouring with rain - so we just got wet whatever we did. We arrived into Cooktown after a very short drive from the Lions Den. Paul spent the afternoon trying for that elusive fish, whilst the kids and I spent time at the foreshore at the playground and the musical ship. We checked out the James Cook Museum, where an anchor from the Bark Endeavour is displayed. We also spent some time at The Botanic Gardens. The interpretive centre there housed a huge collection of reptiles of Cape York, which particularly impressed the boys. We farewelled the family we had been traveling with and headed for Palm Cove. It was now time for a bit of beach fun and some relaxing in the sun. Palm Cove was the perfect place. We found it hard to drag ourselves away from the beach but there were other things to do. I had a “ladies lunch” with some of the girls we have met on our trip. We went to a restaurant called NuNu
Mission Beach
Jack and buddies and thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon without the kids, dining on delicious food. Of course there were cocktails and wine too. In the late afternoon, we managed to peel ourselves off our seats and head back to camp. The “dads” by this stage had decided they would head off to the pub to watch the footy. Luckily dinner had been prepared and showers done. Thanks honey. We didn’t manage to leave Palm Cove the next day (no wonder) and spent some more time on the beach. Our journey the following day took us to Paronella Park. This fabulous garden and building was built by a Spanish immigrant, in the style of a Catalonian Castle. As he had used railway track as supporting structure for his building (he was a baker not a builder), much of the concrete has cancer and is decaying. It was however spectacular and we enjoyed walking through the grounds during the day and the night. The boys also got to feed the ugliest turtles we have ever seen. I think they were a little scared of them too. The waterfall in the grounds provided the hydropower for the whole establishment and the caravan park we stayed at
too. After a touch of history it was back to the beach again. This time Mission Beach. From the camper there was only about 20 metres to the sand and the fabulous aqua water. The beach here was so perfect that even washing the dishes was a pleasure. We ate coconuts that fell from the trees and ate freshly caught fish. The kayak got a good work out. So did the kids. We literally spent all day on the beach, with one of us returning briefly to the camp for more food at times. The day we decided to leave was the day the rain came down. Once it had started it just didn’t stop. As we couldn’t get any power from our solar panels we decided to book into a powered site at Crystal Creek, just south of Ingham. It rained pretty solidly for the next 2 days. Jack moved into the camp kitchen opposite us, as it had a couch and a TV. He was so happy and didn’t want to leave “those peoples living room”. We took a drive up to Paluma. The narrow winding road up to the town took us through some very dense rain
Mission Beach
Our camper is centre of the photo forest. It also took us into the clouds. We couldn’t see more than 10 meters in front of the car. The Paluma National Park (at a lower altitude) had some very pretty creeks and great bush walking. Finn took a dip in the water at the Rockslides at Big Crystal Creek. It was too cold for the rest of us. With the rain still coming down we spent dinner time in the fabulous camp kitchen again, much to Jack’s delight. We would head to Townsville in the morning and hopefully some better weather. We are in Queensland in the wettest September in 60 years. Oh well.
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